Sunday, March 13, 2016

Legend -- Episode 8: Bone of Contention



Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:
Bartok is approached by a student who hands him a dinosaur bone just before dying.  Bartok and Legend investigate the murder and try to figure out how it relates to the dinosaur.

Memorable Quote:
She said to me that in your drugged stupor you were calling for your horse.  ~Bartok

Highlight:
I like the interplay between Legend and Skeeter in the saloon when Skeeter is trying to get his attention.

Lowlight:
The plot in this episode confused the hell out of me.  I'll concede to being pretty tired when I watched it so it may just be me, but I wasn't able to follow the characters' motivations and the basic storyline.  Here are just a few of the things that I didn't get:
  • What was the point of the federal agent being "undercover," and why did he steal the bone from Legend and knock him unconscious?
  • Why was it necessary for the kid to make a deal with the oil company over the excavation site?  Couldn't they have done the excavation and finished most of it before the oil company would find out? 
  • What did the professor gain from killing the kid?  And presumably the kid was already pretty close to Bartok when he got shot (or else he wouldn't have made it that far), so why was he going to see Bartok before getting shot?
  • If Bartok figured out earlier that the professor was crooked, why keep that to himself and take the professor along to the site?  And why separate from him when they were down in the caves?
  • Why did the oil company lady and the federal agent go to the caves on their own? What were they planning on doing there?
  • How would the professor have been able to take credit for the excavation site when the bones were already put together after decades of work from the Hopis?
  • How does the federal agent get shot but then later get right back up with no sign of injury?

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
  • The scene in the beginning with the little people called to my mind the opening of Eye of Osiris where MacGyver takes on a knife-wielding little person.  I like the Wizard of Oz reference when they're chasing Legend and one of them says, "Follow the yellow suede suit."
  • I didn't recognize her at first, but the actress playing the oil company lady was one of the alien con artists in The Visitor
  • I like the black leather sleeping cap that Legend wears by the campfire.

Final Analysis:
I don't have too much to say on this one since I wasn't following most of it.  I did like the cave setting at the end, and similar to last episode I like that Bartok has been getting more involved. Ranking it #6 out 8.

8 comments:

  1. I had a similar reaction to this episode. I wasn't sleepy through it but had a few distractions in the first half of the episode that left me confused as to what was transpiring in the second half. I kind of went along for the ride and thought it was a fairly enjoyable 45 minutes despite some of the "wait, what?" moments you correctly cited that I shared. This episode was in many ways the opposite of the previous week where I really enjoyed the action but the action was generally mediocre. This week's had some visuals, starting with the opening sequence pulled from Pratt's book to everything involved in the cave, ranging from his repelling from the helicopter into the cave to the collapsing door that sent Pratt, Bartok, and the agent and oil company lady into the subterranean portion of the cave containing with the dinosaur carcass. That scene reminded me of a mix of the acid pool from "The Human Factor" and the Alexander the Great tomb from "Eye of Osiris" (two "Eye of Osiris" references in one review....you have that episode rated WAY too low!!). I did recognize the oil company lady as "Mrs. Rigel" from "The Visitor" right away.

    I guess I'd rate this episode fourth overall because it had a few things for it, but to be fair I'd have to watch it again to see if the plot question marks are more coherent on the second viewing than they were on the first. That was an advantage to my rankings for the "MacGyver" episodes. I had seen the episodes so many times that I knew all the ins and outs about the plot and characters, and in some cases repeated viewings greatly enhanced my enjoyment of certain episodes.

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    1. Speaking of the benefits of a second viewing, you'll be happy to know that while I don't plan on moving Osiris up, I have moved Doomsday down! I was rereading my post on it recently and couldn't believe that I had it so high -- check out the end of that post for more of an explanation.

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    2. So you haven't rewatched "Doomsday" but just reviewed your ranking and acknowledge that it was too high? I read the update and that was my takeaway.

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    3. That's right. Despite the fact that I was more impressed with Doomsday than I was expecting, I don't have any emotional attachment to it since I've only seen it once, so having it ahead of episodes like the Pilot and The Madonna (just to name a few) seems sacrilegious. Once I watch it a second time I will have a better idea of where it belongs.

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    4. re: Doomsday - I still think you have it too high. Then again, I ranked the thing at the bottom. *g*

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    5. Its interesting to think of Doomsday now, in the light of John Considine saying it was produced as a more 'adult' MacGyver. It makes more sense but doesn't necessarily make it any better! (Its still an improvement on Atlantis though).

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  2. My sister and I finally got to watch this tonight, and we really liked the involved plot. We were looking especially to see if we could follow any of the confusing points, and a couple of them made sense to me.

    The federal agent was undercover because he didn't know who to trust. He knocked Legend out because he thought he was recovering a vital piece of evidence from the murderers (or conspirators).

    Perhaps Miles went to the oil company because they were poised to find the site anyways, and it would be better to have a partnership where the scientists could excavate, then the oil company would come. Or he might have just wanted to prove that the two could work together instead of Rudy's idea of every man for himself with violence.

    It's also possible that Miles already suspected the professor, and was headed to Bartok for advise with the bone as proof. Killing Miles also cleared the way for the professor's long time dream of fame and would also allow him to give the oil company the degradation he thought they deserved.

    Bartok probably brought the killer along to keep an eye on him. Separating at the caves did seem foolish though, and almost ended with their deaths.

    The agent and girl were probably looking for more clues about the murder, but it doesn't stand to reason why they would try to kill Legend just on a suspicion of conspiracy. And I'm not sure about the agent's miraculous healing from the bullet wound, unless he was faking to gain an upper hand and Rudy actually missed.

    We enjoyed it, especially Legend's quip about having to try out the questionable rope. "Oh, yes, Earnest always goes first" He sure is a trooper though, because he always ends up doing it.

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  3. I worked out, like Rebekah, that the agent was undercover because he thought Pratt and Legend might have been involved in the murder but beyond that, I was pretty dazed and confused.

    There were some amusing scenes; Bartok's explanation of why deserts are cold being cut short by Pratt and the Skeeter/Pratt exchanges in the saloon also, enjoyed by Nick. I quite liked the cave scenes too - and like you all, immediately thought of Macgyver, especially when Pratt slid down the wire, used, possibly once too often, in our favourite show! I also learned a new word; diatomaceous, which is always a bonus in my book!.
    But beyond that, the plot and tangled motives were impenetrable and I found my interest waning. I'd put it between Custer and Knee High I think.

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