TV-Reviewed

This week, Finch’s (Michael Emerson) secret machine spat out the social security number of a judge. It was pretty clear that this was going to be a fairly straightforward kidnap and ransom case, but there were still a few mysteries to solve along the way to keep things interesting.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the first half of the episode. Everything went along pretty much how you expected. The big mystery came when Finch and Reese (Jim Caviezel) had to try to connect Angela Markham (Meredith Patterson) to the kidnappers. The likely connection was a personal relationship, but it proved far more juicier than that. The gang members responsible for kidnapping Sam Jr (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) were in business with one another. Her little piece of technology proved very lucrative for the gangs. Laundering money became a cinch.

Jim Caviezel, David Costabile

I had a bit of a problem with the writing on this part of the story. They claimed she shut down her software at a specific time every day to allow money laundering to go undetected by the bank she worked for. Unless she’s the only one monitoring the bank’s security, I find it hard to believe that someone wouldn’t catch on to the security program going offline at the same time every single day.

Another problem came when it was time for Judge Samuel Gates (David Costabile) to delay the court’s proceedings. His behavior was ludicrous. It was so unbelievable that it was made it difficult to watch as the lawyer representing “the people” complained about the judge’s behavior. I really don’t think the writers planned out this part of the story well enough.

I was pleased to see Detectives Fusco (Kevin Chapman) and Carter (Taraji P. Henson) working together in the field. Carter’s one smart woman and seems to smell something is up with Fusco. I think it’s only a matter of time before Fusco gets himself in trouble with Carter. She knows something isn’t right with that cat.

While “Judgment” isn’t a terrible episode, I can’t give it high marks because of the poor writing that was prevalent. The script as a whole was fairly good, but the portions I outlined earlier are hard to overlook. The script simply didn’t hold up to the show’s terrific cast. They deserved so much more.

Rating: 6