For a first half of a first season episode, "The Poison Pen" is okay. Colin Fox makes a decent villain, even if isn't as good as in his future appearances.
Micki's complaining is annoying, and they got rid of that after they dumped her fiancée Lloyd in a later episode. She's more interesting when she's fully onboard with the antique hunting, and later when she becomes the voice of experience to Johnny.
Ryan is... Ryan. Chris Wiggins gets a chance to cut loose a little, and he's always fun whether Jack is oohing and ahhing over 14th century parchment, or chuckling at his own cleverness about forging a fake pen in a gambit that never comes to anything.
I like Arrupe, who gives a little kick of his feet before hopping into bed. After he gets the message that he's been promoted to abbot. I can't tell if he's kicking off his slippers or kicking his feet in joy. The little smirk he has suggests the latter. And why does he have such a big bed, when he was just promoted?
The episode is hurt by the bad CGI and the nonsensical plot device. Abbot Capilano flying into the air, and the guillotine blade swooshing after La Croix, are both bad examples. Fortunately the show would improve on the F/X, mostly sticking to practical effects. The bad CGI tends to take you out of the episode.
As far as the nonsensical stuff, the curse is inconsistent. The pen's prediction forces Currie to kill himself, but it doesn't make La Croix kill himself. Instead it levitates a guillotine blade around the room. Wha? And why is there a guillotine in the basement of a Canadian monastery? Yeah, Ryan mumbles some explanation, but it still doesn't make sense. And why does Arrupe rip the canopy from his face but still die? Did it crush him to death? If so, what was the point of him showing him clearing a hole for his face?
Having Micki disguised as a boy doesn't really work, either. Louise Robey as a man? Perish the thought. I guess becoming a monk makes you blind.
But overall, it's a decent episode from the episode's early run. La Croix basically defeating himself by signing the invoice he's signed with his real name, is an example of the cleverness the writers would display later.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Micki's complaining is annoying, and they got rid of that after they dumped her fiancée Lloyd in a later episode. She's more interesting when she's fully onboard with the antique hunting, and later when she becomes the voice of experience to Johnny.
Ryan is... Ryan. Chris Wiggins gets a chance to cut loose a little, and he's always fun whether Jack is oohing and ahhing over 14th century parchment, or chuckling at his own cleverness about forging a fake pen in a gambit that never comes to anything.
I like Arrupe, who gives a little kick of his feet before hopping into bed. After he gets the message that he's been promoted to abbot. I can't tell if he's kicking off his slippers or kicking his feet in joy. The little smirk he has suggests the latter. And why does he have such a big bed, when he was just promoted?
The episode is hurt by the bad CGI and the nonsensical plot device. Abbot Capilano flying into the air, and the guillotine blade swooshing after La Croix, are both bad examples. Fortunately the show would improve on the F/X, mostly sticking to practical effects. The bad CGI tends to take you out of the episode.
As far as the nonsensical stuff, the curse is inconsistent. The pen's prediction forces Currie to kill himself, but it doesn't make La Croix kill himself. Instead it levitates a guillotine blade around the room. Wha? And why is there a guillotine in the basement of a Canadian monastery? Yeah, Ryan mumbles some explanation, but it still doesn't make sense. And why does Arrupe rip the canopy from his face but still die? Did it crush him to death? If so, what was the point of him showing him clearing a hole for his face?
Having Micki disguised as a boy doesn't really work, either. Louise Robey as a man? Perish the thought. I guess becoming a monk makes you blind.
But overall, it's a decent episode from the episode's early run. La Croix basically defeating himself by signing the invoice he's signed with his real name, is an example of the cleverness the writers would display later.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?