February 4, 2007: What If He's Free?
The opening of this episode had something that I love to see on
Day Break and don't get nearly enough of: Watching a short piece of a day over and over again as Brett tries to figure out precisely the right set of actions in order to get what he wants. Here, he's confronted with a hostile prison warden who's not letting him see the legendary prisoner Miguel Dominguez. First he just tells Brett that Dominguez is in solitary confinement. Then Brett realizes the warden is a part of the conspiracy and tries to pretend he's there on Detweiler's orders. Finally, he's able to make his answers to the warden's questions believable and detailed enough to get access. Sometimes
Day Break can seem like a really good noir that just happens to have the clever twist that Brett Hopper is repeating the same day over and over again; I always appreciate it when the episode is edited in such a way that we see him really taking advantage of this fact rather than just seeing a whole day at a time. Although, what does Brett do for the rest of the day, since he has to wait a whole 24 hours in order to get his next chance? I guess I'd kill time at the movies, since you're not wasting any money (it would all be back in your wallet by the next day), and it would be hard for Spivak and his SWAT team to find you in a darkened theater.
And once again, I have to applaud the show's writers for their consistent sense of cause-and-effect. When Dominguez showed up at Rita's apartment to kill her and Chad, I was wondering why this had never happened before. But then the answer became clear by the end of the episode: Alma isn't an innocent, she's actually the "Crying Man's" dispatcher and sister. She tips him off after Brett comes to visit her and tells her brother to get rid of him for asking questions.
I was a little less clear on who exactly the dead guy was in the bathtub in the apartment above Brett's own (that's apparently been bugged). It seems that he's another victim of Dominguez, and that Fencik and Buchalter were responsible for the body disposal and just left him there for the time being. If there was another connection to the conspiracy, I think I missed it. But I assume that whomever this dead guy is, he might be crucial to the final three episodes and to figuring out what else Hopper needs to solve in order to see tomorrow.
I'll get to that last revelation in a moment, but first, a few more small details to point out. Andrea continues to get funnier with each episode, or at least, she's the character that's been given the writers' best lines. When Spivak gets in her face about searching cold case files and tells her to stop it if she wants to "play ball," she snaps back: "I've got a better idea. I'll pull all the cases I want, and you can play ball with yourself." I was also amused by Brett's landlord, aka the Worst Liar Ever. His alibi for where Hopper is when he's told to stall for time: "I think he's taking care of the dead man in the tub!" At least we got more proof in this episode that Spivak isn't evil. After he's presented with solid evidence that Dominguez killed Garza, he's willing to let Brett go and not push things any further. Hey, a little fairness is all I've been asking of the guy.
But, obviously, the big question left to deal with is: How exactly will Brett make the day stop repeating if it's about more than solving Garza's murder and clearing his own name? I have to admit that I really, really like this plot twist, because I think it suggests that Brett is trapped in this endless loop for larger reasons than himself. It isn't enough for him to turn the worst day of his life into a good day where he gets to live, escape incarceration and protect the people he loves. I wonder if the key to seeing tomorrow is to make it the best possible day for every single person Brett can influence. For example, what happens to the woman who gets hit by the bus if he's not there to save her? And frankly, there are a couple of unanswered questions about the conspiracy, as well. Who is Booth's boss? (It's been implied that there's someone in power above him.) What are Rita and Chad's dark secrets, and are they somehow connected? I'm envisioning some kind of
Groundhog Day scenario in which Brett has to run around the city doing every single good deed that he possibly can, while at the same time clearing his name and shutting down the conspiracy entirely.
Or, maybe my guess is way off. Anyone else got any theories on what it will take for Brett Hopper to see the sun rise?
