Carnelian, Inc. (24 Mar. 2009)

The Attorney General receives some strange email, CBI is ordered to investigate. They're soon investigating a high profile murder that involves a company's executive board.

Director:

Kevin Dowling

Writers:

Bruno Heller (creator), Bruno Heller,

Stars:

Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Simon Baker	...	Patrick Jane
Robin Tunney	...	Teresa Lisbon
Tim Kang	...	Kimball Cho
Owain Yeoman	...	Wayne Rigsby
Amanda Righetti	...	Grace Van Pelt
Susan Chuang	...	Joyce Tran
Myndy Crist	...	Jessie Skelling
Rodney Eastman	...	Lee Skelling
Patrick Fabian	...	Rand Faulk
Scott Klace	...	Mike Spruell
Scott Lawrence	...	De Shaun Braemer
Adam Lieberman	...	Bomb Squad Officer
Peter Mackenzie	...	Holman Perry
Jaime Murray	...	Nadia Sobell
Muse Watson	...	Jake Cooby

Storyline

On a Mojave desert spot, indicated by an anonymous note to the governor about a 'bad man', team-building skydiver David Whittaker falls to his death before the CSI team's eyes. He was human resources manager at Carnelian Prime trust, Rand Faulk's private equity fund, which makes lots of enemies by 'restructuring' companies. His parachute was sabotaged, but not individually assigned according to instructor Mike Spruell. More 'justice' is announced to the press. Faulk continues the weekend; so does the saboteur, but no longer random. Lee Skelling had motive and opportunity, but has too much to lose. Jane keeps looking and sets a trap.

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Plot Keywords:

fall | father son relationship | bomb | sabotage | redhead

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 March 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

J.M.J. Ranch - 930 W Potrero Road, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A carnelian is a deep-red variety of the gemstone chalcedony. So by naming both the company and the episode tt1388591, the tradition of referencing red (or some hue variation of red) remains intact.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the episode the location Lisbon reads out is 35.04N 116.49W. She then tells Jane that this location is in the Mojave, about 1/4 mile off the highway. Actually it is just under 1 mile north-north-west of I-15.

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Quotes

Rand Faulk: We stay. I'm not letting some random lunatic disturb Carnellian. This is a test of our strength. David would want us to continue.
De Shaun Braemer: Yes he would. Yes, he would. David would never back down.
Patrick Jane: David wouldn't want you to respectfully acknowledge his tragic and untimely death? Oh, you wouldn't want it to interfere with your kayaking schedule.

User Reviews

Now this is more like it! (Than the previous one.)

After the mess that was the previous episode, comes one written by Bruno Heller himself. And the difference is remarkable. From the *brilliant* teaser (Who saw *that* coming? You're lying!) almost right to the end, this episode beats the previous one with one hand tied behind its back.

First of all: no illogical plot twists (only one slightly implausible, more on that later). Second: no handy "coincidences". Third: no characters stupid as rocks (only one of inconsistent intelligence, more on that also later). Then there are those brilliant character moments: Jane "throwing 'a blind cat' into the group" is hilarious as is him admitting that he just likes to know that he's right, being the smug bastard that he is. And that's why we love him. And then we are shown that even he can't figure everything out - at least not immediately. All this makes him more human.

Unfortunately this cannot be said of certain other characters. Faulk is a 2-dimensional character (there is *no* such thing as "1-dimensional character" as anything 1-dimensional is a straight line, whereas those industry-famous cardboard characters are 2-dimensional): he is a stereotypical profit-driven corporate head - he even has a sexual relationship with one of his underlings (pun intended).

Then there are the characters of Van Pelt and Rigsby. After what happened between them in the previous episode, it feels like a cop-out that they are conveniently separated in this episode, even if it is just an honest coincidence resulting from episodes not airing in the order they were shot (or written, for that matter). This kind of apparent Reset-Button Use brings back painful memories of all those old episodic TV shows where nothing that happened mattered in the next episode.

These and one last thing make me give this one "only" 8/10. Now who hasn't seen the "I'll expose the bomb-maker by forcing him to disarm his own bomb that is now harmless, just in case I'm wrong" plot device? That's another cliché that should have been left in the 1900s. Hasn't Faulk ever seen that ruse used in fiction? His own plot is ingenious, yet he is stupid enough to fall into Jane's trap. Sorry, not buying that.