I consider the highlight of this episode to be the introduction of Nash’s father and sister. James Gammon is terrific as the father, Nick Bridges, who seems to be a bit of a ladies man but also suffers from Alzheimers. Stacy, Nash’s sister, is played very well by Angela Dohrmann. She doesn’t appear in all that many episodes, but I thought she did a solid job portraying the tough, but concerned sister of Nash. Stacy and Nash both have to try and deal with the fact that their father has a terribly cruel disease.

Nash Bridges talks to Omega

As far as explosions go, the one in the beginning of the episode was excellent. It wasn’t all CGI. Nash’s jacket caught fire in one of the outtakes according to the writers (in the writer’s roundtable discussion extra on the DVD). It looks much better than some of the CGI used in the series.

I don’t have a whole heck of a lot to say about this episode. The investigation was straight forward, but the bomber was a lame character. I didn’t feel as though there was much character development done there. I know it’s a show about Nash Bridges, but we should know a little more about the villains sometimes. Still, I love the father and sister characters introduced this week.

Rating: 7.1

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I initially liked the tip-off from the homeless man. It looked like a good way to fool the other homeless men while Nash could also get some information from his CI (confidential informant). We got to see more of Nash Bridges’ magic tricks when he slipped money into the man’s wallet, but the man’s immediate wallet check looked very suspicious. If I were one of the homeless men, I would have some questions about that.

Cheech Marin as Joe Dominguez

With Joe still hanging around Nash’s place, Nash and Harvey tried to convince Joe into seeing a marriage therapist. It didn’t go nearly as well as planned. Joe knew the woman from a previous relationship and after an interesting meal, it turned out that Joe was very lucky their relationship failed. The woman’s list of problems was long and hysterical. Laxative abuse?!

The crime of the week came from a drug deal which went bad. A pair of family members is expanding their territory to include San Francisco. Apparently Detroit isn’t quite large enough. One of the cliches in many cop shows and movies is the inevitable confrontation between the cop(s) and the criminal(s). Often times in TV shows, this takes place early on and this is especially true this week. Nash is all over Roscoe, warning him numerous times to leave the city. This can be repetitive at times, but this time around, it worked well.

We saw Joe back on the force for the first time this week. He learned he didn’t have enough time in to retire thanks to a clerical error. His work as a traffic cop was hysterically bad. I really enjoy Cheech Marin as Joe Dominguez. He really lightens up the show sometimes.

Having seen the entire series, I always find it odd to see Joe’s wife Inger in the early episodes. Inger gets played by different actresses and there’s quite an age gap between Victoria Smith and Caroline Lagerfelt, or at least it appears that way on film.

Rating: 7.7

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The style of home invasion here surprised even Nash. A Chinese family was burglarized by another group of Asians. Nash noted that it’s odd for Vietnamese to steal from the Chinese; Asians apparently tend to steal from their own apparently. This made Nash and company look in a different direction. They would eventually learn that the new gang responsible for the home invasions was a group of guys who were kicked out of other gangs.

Joe (Cheech Marin) tries to make sure Cassidy doesn’t fool around with her boyfriend

Nash, Joe, and Evan put a little pressure on the Terry Wong to give up the identities of those involved but he declined Nash’s original request. Terry is a great character, portrayed by the terrific actor James Hong who’s been in a lot of TV and film projects. Terry would eventually come around when Nash made a deal with him to save face among his own people. This was something Terry was most concerned with; he didn’t like the fact that he looked soft by not getting the thieves, but Nash took care of that problem.

Joe was in some unusual problems. With this the second episode, Nash Bridges hasn’t had a whole lot of time to go into Joe’s history a whole lot, just Nash’s. But it seems Joe is having some issues with his wife, Inger, due to some sharing problems.

The show is a lot of fun to watch. It’s not just the action that keeps me interested but some of the hysterical stuff that goes on sometimes. That scene where Joe tried to keep Cassidy away from her date was a little tough to watch, but I give Joe credit for doing his job when Nash wasn’t around. I know Nash would appreciate it.

I have very few complaints about this episode, but if I had to be picky, I’d have to point to Lisa’s reaction to the shooting and then the final chase scene. Nash didn’t have a whole lot of time to safely hide Cassidy from the burglars, so I was surprised at Lisa’s “I can’t believe you would put our daughter in danger” reaction. What was Nash supposed to do? Put on his Superman cape and fly her to safety?!

The last chase scene was good, but I couldn’t help but wonder about that ramp. If the earthquake took out a portion of it, wouldn’t you shut down the entire thing? If so, why were there still cars coming in Nash’s direction? It may have made for a more exciting chase scene, but I still say it looked a little strange.

Rating: 8.5

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The series is set in San Francisco. Nash Bridges is a San Francisco Police Inspector (basically a Detective) who’s been married and divorced a number of times but still remains close to a few of his former loves. While he’s divorcing the sexy blonde, Kelly (Serena Scott Thomas), Nash is also close to Lisa (Annette O’Toole), whom they had a child together (Cassidy – Jodi Lyn O’Keefe).

Joe, Evan, and Nash walk into their semi-demolished police station

The relationship with Kelly never seemed to work out because her family is rich and she sort of expected Nash to pick up his life and work for her father and well, Nash isn’t one to do that sort of thing. He’s much more independent in nature. As for Kelly, well, Nash cheated on her, missed anniversaries, etc. I guess that’s typical when it comes to cop shows, but Nash isn’t the typical cop in my opinion. He’s a lot smarter and funnier than most of the other cops on TV.

The case Nash worked in the first episode focused on a computer chip theft. A group was trying to sell them and smuggle them back to China for military use. Nash got himself in over his head a few times but always managed to escape through trickery and deception. The guy’s not your typical flat foot.

The cops don’t have a typical office to work in. Being set in San Francisco, there are problems with earthquakes, so Nash and company had to work out of a building which is in constant repair as the engineers try to make it safe. This takes a little getting used to because there’s always work being done in the background.

I have very, very few complaints about the episode. As a pilot, it did a superb job of setting the scene for everyone. The biggest problem I have with cop shows in general is the pointless confrontations the police have with the suspect. It’s more about intimidation than questioning and yet it still happens in shows which are still airing and I don’t see this act ever coming to an end. I love the characters and the actors just make everything work. It’s a show which not only makes you think, but there’s plenty of action and comedy to keep you entertained along the way. Who doesn’t love a decent car chase in the crowded streets of San Francisco?!

Rating: 9.8

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