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« Day Break
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?
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Feb 4, 2007 10:01 PM
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Nice recap, Jack. I have to say I think I agree with you. That the unfinished business has to do with Chad and Rita's secret and the possible big boss.
I, too, was glad to see Spivak wasn't toatlly evil. That's something else we don't know, though. What Spivak has against the Hopper family. Maybe that's the truth that needs to come out. What actually happened to Hopper senior and where did he get all that money? It sounded like he was a good cop doing his job and close to solving Isabella's murder, then suddenly it all changed. Since the day also seems to be about Brett clarifying the relationships in his life and seeing people for who they are, he hasn't been able to do that about his Dad yet.
I thought I eard the landlord say he dead guy in the tub was the real plumber, and Fencik and Buchwalter(sp.) killed him for being in the way.
Gotta say, Taye did a great job at the end of this episode. When Brett woke on the same day again, how devestated he was. So close and yet so far.
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Feb 4, 2007 11:25 PM
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I just got the next episode over at abc.com and DANG. It's going to get worse before it gets better for him.
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Feb 5, 2007 11:25 AM
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No the dead man in the tub was renting the apartment. He came in early to clean the apartment and suprized the ex-cops that were bugging Hooper's apartment and they kille dhim and left him in the tub. They were discussing it in the dinner.
That is another part of the conspiracy that hasn't been explained yet. The one guy said I cased the place for a week and no one was ever there before.
That means things were already in motion before garza was murdered.
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Feb 5, 2007 11:37 AM
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Me too, Collette! Holy crap, how they made things worse is beyond me, but they did it.
One thing I'm still a tad confused about is why Spivak kept saying they had Garza's murder weapon w/ Brett's prints, when the whole time it just had the one print from Dominguez. How could he say that if the gun hadn't even been swept for prints yet and then was checked out under Spivak's name later in the Day. So basically all they really had was Garza's wife and the bloody shirt at Rita's.
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Feb 5, 2007 1:07 PM
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Holy crap! Here I thought Hopper had it all figured out ... but no! Keep the blogs coming, Jack - they're great and appreciated despite the lack of feedback you're getting here ...
which surprises me, frankly. After all the harping about not getting the whole story, we can have it (albeit online) and hardly anyone is posting!
C'mon people! This show ROCKS! Let's talk about it!
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Feb 5, 2007 5:18 PM
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Thanks for the kind words HeyHeath30. I think the number of feedback comments might be lower because I wrote four blogs last week instead of the usual one. So before any back-and-forth conversations could get started, there was already a new entry up.
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Feb 5, 2007 6:19 PM
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so i'm definitley thinking that the next thing he has to figure out in the day has to do with rita..everyday she gets a phone call sometime in the morning, we've only seen it a few times like in one of the first days when they try run away and in a few of the days that she is taking him to the airport.. but she gets a call from someone and we have never found out who. so thats my theory.. but i have no idea what that will have to do with anything else..
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Feb 5, 2007 7:08 PM
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I think Hopper is going to have to fill in the missing blanks and change everybody else's day (like he did with Jennifer & Andrea/Ed). I think Jared is going to play a big part in ending the day too. Obviously by the last line in his episode, we pretty much know for a fact that his day is too repeating. Perhaps if Hopper truly helps him get out of that day, he will too.
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Feb 5, 2007 10:45 PM
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