The Player Is Still Playing... For Now #ThePlayer #NBC
All pictures courtesy of NBC
The latest episode of the as yet not officially canceled The Player
(#ThePlayer) started with a boom. So how is the show whose episode
order was cut down to nine doing? It's moving along.
Still in search of his wife, this week Kane and the big guy took a
trip to Chicago where a bank bombing occurred. Not just a normal
bombing, Kane detects that the explosion was lateral enough to take
out only the floor with the bank lawyers on it and not the entire
building. While all other governmental and reporting organizations
think it is a terrorist attack, Kane and Cassandra don't find enough
clues that add up to say as much. Instead, they follow a different
theory.
The bomb had been made with syntex meaning the bomber knew how to
make professional explosives, however, it also meant that the bomber
had to have an illegal supplier as syntex is not sold at your local
Target. They track down the buyer which produces a list of how much
of the dangerous chemical was bought.
The illegal dealer also happens to have cameras outside of his legit
place of business which Cassandra hacks into and searches for the
license plates of the potential buyer. The one clue the seller gave
them was that the man had an authentic construction worker city badge
given for government demolition jobs like bridges and whatnot. A
little cross-referencing and they find the name and bio of the man
who built the bomb. Alex makes a trip to the man's house to find a
foreclosure sign up outside. As it turns out, the bank that currently
owns his house was the same bank that months earlier told him they'd
be able to modify his mortgage so he and his family could keep the
house after he lost his job--budget cuts. But the lawyers screwed him
out of the money by filing the foreclosure paperwork months earlier
and milking the family for their last few cents before taking the
home. They were going to flip it for a profit.
Not a terrorist but a vigilante, he has a list of people who he
thinks should suffer because of what they did to his family. Finding
his wife and children living in a cheap motel on the outskirts of
Chicago, Alex learns that they tried telling their story to an
award-winning blogger. A black woman fully down with this Latino
family's struggle, she changes colors when the bank asks her to
squash her story in exchange for a lump-sum payment to clear her
student loan debt. That just made her the second target on the
bomber's list.
Strapping a vest to her chest in an elevator, he shows his face to
the elevator cam and sets the bomb to blow a few seconds after he
exits into the lobby. So shocked most of the waiting lift passengers
were to see the bomb vest that no one dared stop him as he coolly
strolled into the crowd and out of the building undetected. Alex
arrives just in time and removes the non-booby-trapped vest seconds
before it explodes. Pushing aside the fact that it was stated that
there was enough syntex to take out the entire lobby of the building,
he manages to get up and carry the journalist out to safety. A hero,
he has to escape from bloodthirsty reporters as The Player can't be
captured or otherwise he no longer is the player. A brief aside
revealed that Wesley Snipes used to be a player; in fact, he was the
highest rated most favored player in game history. Apparently all pit
bosses were at one point players themselves--something for Alex to
look forward to and an interesting twist if this franchise ever takes
off or is rebooted or something magically allows it to gain more
fans.
Back to his pursuit of the bomber, the last name on the list is the
CEO of the bank. While the man doesn't set any of the policies and
wasn't directly responsible for the predatory and dastardly business
practices, just him being a figurehead was more than enough to be
blown up in his own house. Alex shows up just in time there too, and
talks the bomber out of blowing the man up as the CEO undoes the
ropes and tape and escapes out to call the police. The game won
without another casualty after the lawyers, Alex gets the guy to go
to the police with him, but not without Wesley first blowing up the
CEO's house as retribution.
The side story for the night dealt with Snipes' character's past as
we learned he grew up in the streets of Chicago but made a name for
himself. After visiting an old friend who is also involved with the
game thing, his trust for Cassandra is called into question as he is
currently keeping secrets from her. When he goes to meet with the man
again, he finds him with a slit throat inside of a burial house. Who
this man was, who killed him, and who really controls the game are
all called into question.
The pursuit for Kane's non-dead dead wife continued too as her mother
came into town to settle up what to do with her house. She tells Kane
that her daughter was a big liar who kept secrets and he doesn't know
what to think of that but grabs a set of keys with her name on them.
Meanwhile, Cassandra thought she discovered where Ginnie was but when
she arrived at what looked like a safe house, all she found were
appliances still left to run as someone had recently left.
At this point, I think the bigger mystery lies within whether this
will continue to stay on the air or has any chance of being picked up
for another season. With the episode order so short, and the word
canceled all but written all over it, I am struggling to keep my
interest in a show I think will soon be gone forever. Why they
haven't tried moving this show to Tuesday night where it clearly
belongs, I will never know, but since they insist on keeping it right
where it is, I am already saying my adieus and goodbyes.
What do you think? Have you given up on the show too? Were you ever a
fan? Did the show ever sound like a good concept to you? Let me know
in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see
no comments).
If
you’re looking for a scare
check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or
#ThePowerOfTen.
For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check
out #TheWriter.
The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you
like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow.
The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on
Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my
blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, "it's like they
say, don't hate the player, hate the game."
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