Brief Synopsis:
The entire staff searches frantically for Abby when she goes on the run after
being involved in gang shotting.
Dreamland was a very solid episode. It
carried three themes—addiction (in more than one way), a
mother’s grief, a friend’s support and love—through the
entire story arch, weaving them together in a powerful
way.
Dreamland featured our entire staff
working together in an urgent, real, gritty, riveting
storyline. Within this search for Abby was more than
just a father’s desperate quest to find his daughter.
Garret truly came face to face with the extent of his
addiction and admitted to himself that he needed help.
Jordan was there for Garret. And Lily guided two women
through the lost of a child.
The writing was particularly strong and
compelling. The angry words between Garret and Jordan,
the sounds of hopelessness as Lily couldn’t get through
to a grieving mother and Abby and Garret finally having
a real conversation—where powerful and moving scenes.
The acting obviously stood out for these scenes, which
were delivered with complete, total, conviction that
left no room for doubt in the viewers mind.
The music was wonderful. I was leery
going into it, because I’m not fond of Hip Hop, but I
was blown away. The mix of Hip Hop and the softer music
when Garret drives up to the pay phone in search of Abby
was perfect, brilliant—I loved it. The music set the
scenes so well and really aided in the overall feel of
grittiness and urgency that this episode was meant to
portray. And the Spanish ballad at the end was perfect.
Garret:
Garret’s got many demons he’s dealing with and they all
came to a head in this episode. Garret loves his
daughter. He might not show it well, but there’s no
doubt of his love. That makes this episode even more
bittersweet. Here’s a father who is not only worried
about his missing daughter, but blames himself
(partially) for her downfall.
His genuine worry and grief he felt for
Abby won’t make things any easier for the two them
though. Despite their heart to heart talk, their
relationship will always be a tough one—loving but still
tough. They’ve never been able to truly open up to each
other and put all reservations, doubts behind them.
Maybe part of this is because of Garret’s own
childhood. And probably part of it is because of his
own rocky relationship with Maggie. The end result
though is Garret doesn’t have a ‘solid foundation’ upon
which his relationship with Abby is built, and in the
end that will always give way to some rocky ground. At
least they seemed to come to the understanding that
each—in their own way—really loves the other and would
do anything for them.
As for the speech Garret gave Abby at the
end, well that was for both of them. It took more than
an arrest for DUI, more than Jordan talking to Garret,
even more than Jordan yelling and threatening him, it
took seeing himself in his own daughter to realize just
how far he’d fallen and just how much he needed help.
The morgue staff is there for him. Now
the question will be can he do it. Will his will power
and resolve be strong enough? In those deep, dark
moments when no one is there to stop him will he have it
in him to not give in? The dumping of the booze at the
end was symbolic. His way of telling the gang—without
speaking—he knows he has a problem and he plans to get
help. Now it’s time to wait and watch. There are sure
to be some more fireworks before this is all done.
Jordan
and Garret:
I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction between Jordan and
Garret. They’ve always had a friendship that goes
beyond boss and employee. Jordan’s always called him
Garret, not Dr. Macy. She’s pushed him to his limits.
He’s let her get away with everything but murder. They
have a special relationship that goes beyond simple
friendship. Those two have a ‘special love’. Not
romantic, but not just friendship, probably closer to a
father/daughter family sort of love. (Kind of ironic if
you think about it, since he has such issues trying to
express that support and caring for Abby).
Anyhow— Jordan and Garret have an
intricate friendship. And Jordan didn’t play nice. She
really took charge of things when she had to. Garret
was spiraling out of control and Jordan, after being
worried, after trying to reason with him, after
threatening (mildly) him, finally brought the ax down
and gave Garret an ultimatum. Leave or never set foot
in the morgue again. How hard must that have been for
Jordan?
I think it’s amazing the growth we’ve
seen in Jordan. In season one or even two she’d never
have been able to take charge. She’s become much more
responsible through the years. Still a bit irrational
at times, takes risks, disobeys orders, but she’s become
a person who you’d trust in charge. People respect her,
she believes in herself, and she, I believe, is mentally
able to handle people now.
Side Note: Loved the look Jordan made
when she sipped Garret’s coffee by accident.
Lily:
It was wonderful to see Lily back in her element. She
has a caring and compassion for people that is beyond
normal. She can comfortable with a hand touch, she can
reassure with a look, she can make a point without
saying a word. She’s always there, always offering
herself to anyone who needs her. She can see so many
sides of grief and deal with each of those facets just
the right way.
The story of the two mothers reacting
totally different was heart wrenching. And showed
another aspect of the parent-child relationship. There
was a mother who loved her son as he was,
unconditionally. Another mother who tried best she knew
how and believed she’d failed. She loved her son, but
was unable to show him this after a certain point in his
life and gave up on him. Then there was Abby and
Garret’s situation as well. Love is shown (or not
shown) in many different ways, but all these parents
have one thing in common, they loved their children. I
thought it was a wonderful storyline and a great balance
to the urgency of Abby’s disappearance.
Jordan
and Woody:
I suppose I should say a few words on these two. I was
happy with how it was left. One, with the drama of the
past few days for those two, the last thing they needed
was to end up alone in Jordan’s apartment. Second,
Woody’s right. Right now Jordan doesn’t see him as
‘Woody’. She might not think of him as the ‘rebound
guy’ but that’s how she’d be using him at this point in
time.
Jordan needs to take some time to grieve
over the lost of JD. Then she needs to think REAL hard
about what she wants with Woody and if she can
give it to him. Then she has to tell him, talk
with him, and together they have to decide where they’re
going. No more dancing, no more maybe we are together
today, but not tomorrow…NO MORE. The DANCE IS OVER.
It’s time for those two to commit to each other.
Just not at this moment in time. I agree
with Woody. Jordan needs to take some time and really
think things through. The good, the bad, fun, sad…what
being in a relationship with Woody would involve. Then
those two need to have a talk. I still think there are
a few issues from Jump Push Fall that Woody needs to
talk to Jordan about. We’ll see were it goes, but for
right now a little timeout is a good thing.
GREAT episode. Awesome music. Fantastic
storyline. A solid episode, 4 out of 5 dead bodies.
