Date of airing: October 16, 1999 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 10.76 million viewers, 6.7/13 in Households, 3.2/11 with Adults 18-49
written by: James Stanley, Diane Messina Stanley
directed by: Scott Paulin
The show is now three episodes after the exit of Gary's supposed love Erica Paget, and the writers already had Gary fall straight into the next woman’s arms. And this time, the relationship is a little bit hostile and adversary, with both of them seeing crazy people in the other. Not that I mind Gary potentially ending up with returning love interest Toni Brigatti, and having her fun character be more involved in the series, but it seemed a little convenient that the story was mostly about Gary and Brigatti and not the jewel thief and the heist during the fourth act. I can only assume that the writers realized that their jewel heist was not interesting enough, so they did the only thing they could do: focus on the bickering couple that is Gary and Brigatti. Luckily for this episode, however, Brigatti is not a bad character at all, and there was some charm in the standard hate/love relationship between the two lovebirds. Not to mention that there is more chemistry between Gary and Brigatti in the three episodes they have been dealing with one another than what Gary and Erica had (or did not have) after an entire season. It is almost like Constance Marie was the better actress here, and the decision of the CBS executives to cast Kristy Swanson over Leslie Bibb (who was originally cast for the role of Erica Paget, and then "fired" while on her way to Chicago to shoot the show) has shown once more that it was the wrong decision.
 |
| Meet Gary Hobson, the man who is always in a foul mood. |
I was a little surprised though that the entire episode was about a fake marriage, and how the writers tried their best to make Gary and Brigatti as "romantically linked" as possible for the hour. Not to mention that Gary was essentially an undercover cop here, and I do not think that was quite legal in the world of policing and federal agents. Even the teaser of the episode went straight into it, not wasting any time to deliver the premise, and the writers did not let go of it until Gary and Amber had that nice chat in the convertible, making me think how Gary even deduced that the Iceman was Amber. Granted, it was quite predictable from halfway into the episode, but that does not mean it was predictable for Gary. It was more fun when Gary had to run away from his protection detail the first time Brigatti was in his life, but even the writers realized that this premise would have been repetitive in this episode, hence the bickering and fighting, and the shiptease this story essentially turned into. The only thing that is really missing from this point on is that Gary and Brigatti truly get together – she is contemptuous about life having a man at her side, he is happy that he does not have to be alone any longer, and they can live a life of romance that does not necessarily see them together all the time, since both of them lead their own lives.
It did not hurt to ship a little Gary and Brigatti. Yes, it was obvious they would share a moment at some point in this episode and be interrupted doing so, but now I sort of want them to be together, even if just for another individual storyline, just to show that Gary can stop being a moody dude who puts on unhappy faces every time he runs around Chicago and stops people from dying and buildings from exploding. The writers have gotten the gist of how to include recurring characters in the show, so it only seems logical that Brigatti gets another shot or two in the series, so that her story with Gary can continue, especially now that Erica is about to become a forgotten character.
Meanwhile, the titular Iceman was the anchor of a very boring and predictable plot. Never let Danny Ocean’s crew be involved in this kind of heist, because it would turn out to be a sleeping pill of a movie, although I would love to figure out and see how Amber switched the necklace in the store. However, Amber was not the smartest of the bunch though. Yes, she delivered a "thief" to the police, but it was not a secret that Paul was a suspect in the heists, so the need to stage a theft during the ball might have been unnecessary, especially when Amber already had the diamond and all she needed was to take off or maybe stick around a little longer and play the loving girlfriend. Why even deliver the "thief" to the police when you can play a longer cat-and-mouse game with them and rob the people of more diamonds in the process?
 |
| Meet Gary Hobson, always saving lives. |
Finally, there was a moment of lifesaving when Gary stopped a dog from running in front of a biker to paralyze him. Gary stopped that accident from happening by planning it through: buying a hot dog, throwing a piece to the dog, the dog jumping up to catch the piece, and the biker is safe from getting his back broken. His face when the dog caught the piece of meat was great. This guy does not know a lot about the world to be not excited by the serious jump a dog makes for some food. By the way, the story itself felt like a typical EARLY EDITION filler, making me think about the possibility that this may have been a scene specifically shot to add running time to an episode when needed, and there may be more scenes like that out there, which were not added to episodes.
