I DO like Moonlighting I haven't seen it in years, and just started to re--watch the series.
Starting at the beginning, I'd never seen the pilot before. It's a good kick-off; snappy repartèe, the characters are already very solid, and it's also a delight to see how different this series was from similar series of this time.
Yes, there's always a formula (i.e., the set-up is done before the first commercial break,, as well as the initial problem, etc), but even though that's a given, Moonlighting was different; yes, the case-of-the-week aspect was important, but of equal importance was David ('Addison', his last name, which Maddie would usually refer to him by as the series'went on), and Maddie.
This being the pilot, we're told the set-up; former successful model, Maddie Hayes had had all her bank accounts drained. All she's left with are some tax-shelter businesses, one of which was a detective agency (the Blue Moon agency), which was purposefully not supposed to be profitable.
But, now that Maddie needs to regain her financial footing, she comes in, with the intention of shutting the agency down and selling it off.
David tries to prove to Maddie that even though Blue Moon had been a financial sinkhole, it was only because that's what they were supposed to do, and if she just gives him a chance to prove otherwise, he's going to show Maddie that Blue Moon CAN be profitable.
The first case is one they literally stumble in upon; a pockmarked, Mohawked man tries to get a jogger in am out-of-the-way location for some reason, but when the targeted man notices, he beats a retreat - only to get hit by a car. The Mohawk man goes over to him - under the guise of giving aid, but actually taking something from the man and running away.
At the same time, Maddie's on a date with the most irritating plastic surgeon imaginable (is that an oxymoron?) When she (and David) are leaving, the Mohawk man stumbles into them, forcibly hands an item to Maddie... and drops dead.
The cops bring the pair in for questioning, and after they're released, they're caught by the episode's baddie a man named Simon (
Dennis Lipscomb).
Here's where I have problems; I checked Mr Lipscomb's résumé and I really can't recall having seen anything he was in, but this series had a history of hiring good talent, I just don't get why he was hired as this guy. He's one of those well-dressed,, soft-spoken, (supposedly) intimidating (some examples of this type, think of
Joseph Wiseman as Dr No, or Messers
Bruce Glover and
Putter Smith as Messers Wint and Kidd, respectively - the deliciously psychotic killer-couple in - yes, yet another Bond flick,
Diamonds Are Forever (1971). The character-type is NOT limited to only Bond films - I just can't think of any generally well-known of this type, offhand).
His 'iciness' which should send chills through (not just their on-screen opponent, but the viewer, as well) is missing). This powerful, reserved character, instead, comes off like a pissed librarian and rather than being even mildly creeped out, I was laughing - something I rarely do.
Part of the enjoyment we get from watching a filn or TV show is where we become 'one' with it. In other words, with a really good show, reality fades from us, and we enter into the film/TV show's reality, instead.
It's similar to drifting off to sleep - it's a totally subconscious thing when it happens, but, when it does, we're really 'there' - be it our REM sleep, or, in the film or TV show's reality.
But here, in this episode, I really was getting into Dave and Maddie's world, when all of the sudden, I'm yanked - hard - out of the show's reality, when Mr Lipscomb's character, 'Simon', appears - wearing the perfunctory skin tight black leather gloves, talking in his sing-song-y whisper.
When he first appears onscreen (in a car - the - at-this-point, totally terrified Mohawk man is just plain freaked, trying to out-run the pursuing baddies' Cadillac. We still haven't seen who/what's in the car, but Mohawk is clearly terrified. Then, the Cadillac pulls up alongside, the window rolls down... and what's there? At first, I swear it was
William Daniels. I really like Mr Daniels, but by no stretch of the imagination world I every think of him as intimidating, scary, menacing.
If one would either pay (if they enjoyed a film or show), OR - conversely - WAS paid for having a portion of their life irrevocably taken away by something bad, the performance of Mr Lipscomb, alone, would be responsible for paying ME back,as well as many others who I suspect were just as annoyed by his performance.
That means I can't give this episode as many stars as I would've liked. The episode - definitely better than an average (5) would've been a '9' from me, had someone else been cast in this role.
Sad, because, other than this - single, but vital role in the pilot episode, everything else hums asking, like a finely-tuned engine - a rarity, because when one looks back at a series' pilot after it having had a long airing, it seems wooden, by comparison. Not here. Not in this show's case. This show was so well-crafted, it left the starting gate highly polished, and as close to it's ideal form as possible.
