"13 O'Clock" is good, both for the cinematography, the sound effects (I like the echoing effect when time is frozen), and the plot itself. There are some interesting POV shots when the non-frozen person walks through frozen time. The black-and-white time effect is cool, and is kinda explained when Ryan describes it as a frozen photo. That seems like a very Lewis kind of thing to do.
The whole backstory of the watch is interesting. In that Lewis took a watch pawned by Henry's father, who worked at the Castle Hill station (cute Stephen King reference) and swore revenge on the people who fired him for drinking on the job. And that the father pawned the watch and got it back with the curse attached. It's something we haven't seen done before on the show, but it seems like a very Lewis thing to do. I don't think they ever returned to the idea of Lewis acting as a pawnbroker again.
Ingrid Venninger has a better role then she did in last season's "Vanity's Mirror", and Gwyneth Walsh makes an effective female villain. The bit where she tells Skye she grew up on the streets hints at some back story. She doesn't appear as tough when simpering over Eric, but everyone has to have a weakness.
David Proval doesn't make much of an impression as Eric. Ron Hartmann as the initial villain isn't bad, although his relationship with Walsh's Reatha is creepy. "Call me daddy" and all that. Female empowerment was never one of the show's strengths. Ditto for Ryan blaming Micki for the car breaking down. But hey, it was the eighties.
The regulars are okay. I find it hard to believe that Micki was ever a gymnast: she doesn't have the *ahem* build for it. But maybe she was trying to get into Skye's good graces. Then again, why does Skye believe it? Robey doesn't overact during the final subway chase, the way she did in earlier episodes. Jack's penchant for quotes is out of nowhere but seems appropriate. Lemay is decent at the action sequences.
There really aren't any bad things about the episode. The fact that Ryan and Micki stumble across the station and the watch is a bit coincidental. And the timestop rules are never clearly explained, making the ending somewhat inexplicable. So Reatha and Eric are frozen in time in the middle of the tracks. Doesn't anybody wonder why they're there frozen? Ryan and Micki can clearly see them. Do the lovers just get run over by the next train that comes through? Since they're frozen in time, wouldn't they make perfect train stops?
And why does taking the watch from Reatha leave her and Eric frozen in time? The ending happens just because... the ending happens. It's very dramatic, with the slo-mo effects and Ryan having to race the evil duo to the station and grab the watch. But why what happens happens, I have no idea. Magic, I guess. Or it's just a show, and I should really just relax. Maybe the frozen couple were carted out and are sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
Overall, there's nothing bad with "13 O'Clock". It seems padded, but I suppose that's how things happen in a "real" episode. We get to see Henry use the watch, and Reatha take it from him by killing him, and Skye seeing Reatha kill Henry. Why Reatha is so worried that Skye will testify to the police, I have no idea. Why would anyone believe Skye's story? What evidence does she have? Reatha makes bail, uses the watch back at the station, and kills Skye. End of story. But Reatha is portrayed as a not particularly smart person (even though her piecing together how the watch works is mildly clever), so I can see why she has a "Witness against me? Kill them!" attitude.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The whole backstory of the watch is interesting. In that Lewis took a watch pawned by Henry's father, who worked at the Castle Hill station (cute Stephen King reference) and swore revenge on the people who fired him for drinking on the job. And that the father pawned the watch and got it back with the curse attached. It's something we haven't seen done before on the show, but it seems like a very Lewis thing to do. I don't think they ever returned to the idea of Lewis acting as a pawnbroker again.
Ingrid Venninger has a better role then she did in last season's "Vanity's Mirror", and Gwyneth Walsh makes an effective female villain. The bit where she tells Skye she grew up on the streets hints at some back story. She doesn't appear as tough when simpering over Eric, but everyone has to have a weakness.
David Proval doesn't make much of an impression as Eric. Ron Hartmann as the initial villain isn't bad, although his relationship with Walsh's Reatha is creepy. "Call me daddy" and all that. Female empowerment was never one of the show's strengths. Ditto for Ryan blaming Micki for the car breaking down. But hey, it was the eighties.
The regulars are okay. I find it hard to believe that Micki was ever a gymnast: she doesn't have the *ahem* build for it. But maybe she was trying to get into Skye's good graces. Then again, why does Skye believe it? Robey doesn't overact during the final subway chase, the way she did in earlier episodes. Jack's penchant for quotes is out of nowhere but seems appropriate. Lemay is decent at the action sequences.
There really aren't any bad things about the episode. The fact that Ryan and Micki stumble across the station and the watch is a bit coincidental. And the timestop rules are never clearly explained, making the ending somewhat inexplicable. So Reatha and Eric are frozen in time in the middle of the tracks. Doesn't anybody wonder why they're there frozen? Ryan and Micki can clearly see them. Do the lovers just get run over by the next train that comes through? Since they're frozen in time, wouldn't they make perfect train stops?
And why does taking the watch from Reatha leave her and Eric frozen in time? The ending happens just because... the ending happens. It's very dramatic, with the slo-mo effects and Ryan having to race the evil duo to the station and grab the watch. But why what happens happens, I have no idea. Magic, I guess. Or it's just a show, and I should really just relax. Maybe the frozen couple were carted out and are sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
Overall, there's nothing bad with "13 O'Clock". It seems padded, but I suppose that's how things happen in a "real" episode. We get to see Henry use the watch, and Reatha take it from him by killing him, and Skye seeing Reatha kill Henry. Why Reatha is so worried that Skye will testify to the police, I have no idea. Why would anyone believe Skye's story? What evidence does she have? Reatha makes bail, uses the watch back at the station, and kills Skye. End of story. But Reatha is portrayed as a not particularly smart person (even though her piecing together how the watch works is mildly clever), so I can see why she has a "Witness against me? Kill them!" attitude.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?