Date of airing: December 7, 1996 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 15.1 million viewers, 10.0/18 in Households
The show started with the inexplicable separation of Gary and Marcia in the pilot episode, without Marcia having been given a proper face, and the actress (then played by Marianne Hagan) being more of an extra than a meaningful role. But for some reason, the writers thought there was an idea in bringing the character back, and this time properly, with a face and character edges and a backstory. Therefore the character was given an actress for follow-up episodes (this time, it's Rya Kihlstedt). It was kind of a fascinating beginning to the show, because either the writers never cared to give a reason why the divorce happened or they didn’t give a reason on purpose, since every once in a while, not having all the information is the better thing for the audience. Also, maybe even Gary didn’t know why he got divorced, and this was all just a plot to get into the head space of the character during the pilot?
In hindsight, the throwing out of Gary’s belongings in the pilot doesn’t fit into the narrative at all, but at least now you could think about how Pritchard might have been the reason for the divorce and that Marcia may have separated from Gary because she was having an affair with another man. Or that might just be me spitballing here and there still isn’t a reason why Marcia and Gary split up after three-or-so years, but this episode gives you a few bullet points and you can form your own thoughts about what happened here. Especially since EARLY EDITION is clearly something of a show not giving a damn about a timeline or character-based mythology, so you can make up your own timeline and backstory. And yet this episode somewhat gave a back story to a moment in the pilot you probably would have forgotten about if it weren’t for Marcia’s return.
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| Freshly divorced, but still not over it. |
This episode was quite good. Instead of Gary Hobson, guardian angel, this episode was all about giving him a character arc, and considering how the show started, it might have even been necessary and important, especially after the backstory of the divorce didn’t come through before this episode and made Gary question his life choices. What currently screws up his life is the paper, which means he has a good chance of getting over Marcia immediately, while still being emotional about being the recipient of the paper, as well as being lonely because he doesn’t have a wife (or anyone else he could be in love with) to fall back on when things get a little too hard every once in a while and he needs someone to talk to.
Still, it was a good enough hour of television to just have Gary get over Marcia and maybe turn her into a forgettable character after this. After all, she has been a recurrence in the show and Gary’s life since the premiere, and maybe the writers planned something with the character for the long run, yet the show turned out to be a little different, so the ex-wife needed to be retired properly. The fact that the writers cared this much shows you how good the show sometimes is. Normally you wouldn’t waste an entire episode just to write out a recurring character who hasn’t even had more than three minutes of screentime before this. Then again, all of this could have been on purpose, to show the viewers that the writers still care about Gary’s character arc now and then, and that he isn’t saving lives in every episode without moving forward with his own life. Does it mean a new job will come soon, as well as a move out of the hotel room? Has Gary truly moved on by the end of this episode?
Phil Pritchard was a terrible character. I’m drawing a blank as to what Marcia would see in him and I have no idea why the guy needed to behave like a Nazi around his staff. One can only hope his entire team was making it like Harrison and quitting after this. Otherwise, Pritchard will have to watch over his shoulder eight hours a day for the rest of his life. It was fun to see Gary handling the gun at the end – even unintentionally pointing it at Pritchard – and seeing the car explode, although it’s pretty much getting weirder when it becomes clear that Sam wasn’t the only one interested in offing his boss. Heck, two staff members had thoughts of murdering Pritchard – the guy should be running out of Chicago, never looking back. But yeah, it was obvious that Harrison wasn’t the one about to murder Pritchard. The “anonymous” part of the news clipping prepared that story, potentially making Gary a suspect, especially after Harrison was already predicted to jump to his death, and since the episode only introduced Sam as another character in the office, there was no surprise at all that he was standing above Pritchard and ready to put bullets into the bully’s body. I guess you could file that under “lazy storytelling,” but is it really when the majority of the episode was about Gary moving on?
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| This evil man is on fire. |
I would have hoped for Gary and Marcia to have had a talk at the waterfront instead of Gary and Pritchard. Maybe with Marcia, it would have made the story more permanent for both of them, especially since it was Marcia who was involved in Gary’s life and Pritchard was just here for the episode. Who knows, maybe with Marcia by his side, he would have been able to move on from her for real, but then again, it might have just been another moment on purpose. Maybe Gary was supposed to have a guy moment with his greatest enemy? Even when his ex-wife turned out to be something of an enemy in this episode as well?
Meanwhile, no B plot had Chuck involved in any kind of shenanigans, and I was absolutely happy about that. I suddenly feel much more refreshed, sort of like Sam after deciding he would quit the job as a day trader and forever be freed from the Nazi that is Phil Pritchard. Chuck not being involved in an annoying B plot makes EARLY EDITION a better show. Chuck not being in Gary’s life would make Chuck more bearable. Because he wouldn’t be in the series in the first place.
