November 1, 2006: "All About Eva"
Tonight really was "All About Eva." What I found most interesting was how easily Nick and Kathryn's opinion of Eva was swayed. Granted, there was some convincing evidence that she may have been involved in the robbery, but the bond the hostages share seemed so strong that I was a little surprised that they seriously suspected that Eva was an accomplice. In the flashbacks, Eva does appear to behave suspiciously, and the connection between her ex-boyfriend Carlos and Randall seemed a bit too coincidental. In fact, the writers did such a terrific job of convincing me that Eva may have been involved that now I am not completely satisfied with how she was exonerated; there are some loose ends. One example: what did Randall say to her when she came back with Lucas? Another example would be the plane tickets to Phoenix, which are particularly hard for me to understand. It never seemed like the connection between Nick and Eva was that strong. It appeared that they had a simple flirtation - not enough of a relationship that Eva would move plane tickets three times hoping he might ask her out. Perhaps I am being too hard on the show, but some of these things were not fleshed out enough for me. I am still very interested in the story, and a lot of that is due to some strong performances on the part of the cast.
Chi McBride's character is more likable as each week passes. He does an excellent job of simultaneously portraying strength and vulnerability. I feel very sympathetic toward him. Juggling work at the bank and his feelings of responsibility to the other hostages (including the security guard who lost his life) as well as to his family must be completely overwhelming. What I found particularly perturbing was the bank's offering the security guard's widow $43,000 as a settlement. Essentially $43,000 for his life. It's chilling to think about how much your life is "worth." And apparently when bidding on a life, it is best to start low and see if you can get any takers.
Again, Randall was humanized a bit more this week. In the flashbacks, he shows some compassion toward the security guard. Actually it is Lucas who seems cold and calculating - running to find a getaway car, forcing Eva to talk on the phone, taking her outside of the bank while holding a gun to her head. Surely as more of the robbery is revealed, Lucas will emerge as the "good" one, unless we are being completely misled as to the hostages' feelings toward him. But I have to admit that - based solely on what we have seen so far and while I understand why Lucas helped to save his brother's life - I feel some sympathy toward Randall. The sob that escaped him as he realized Lucas' intentions was really gut-wrenching. Betrayal is a very disturbing thing, especially between family members. Yes, I am sure that Randall was an absolute monster inside the bank. But the thought of completely abandoning your brother also seems like a monstrous thing to do.
One final thought: the flashback scene - in which Eva confided in Nick that she felt her luck was about to change and all the hard things she was going through were about to end - was extremely sad. Usually on television, when a character is in a life-threatening situation and says that he has a feeling he will be fine and make it through, he does. Not in Eva's case. And that felt very real. The fragility of life is not always candidly addressed on television (for obvious reasons), and the people behind
The Nine should be proud that they touched on something honest.
