Julie's Review of Long Way Down

Woody makes room in his apartment for Jordan, but is his heart still crowded by the ghost of Lu? When a female officer is shot and killed, Woody experiences post-traumatic stress and superimposes elements of the current crime with Lu's death, affecting his job and his relationship with Jordan. Meanwhile, Lois Carver and Garret investigate a what appears to be suicide by jumping.

Strengths

Storyline: The storyline related to the death of the female officer and Woody's subsequent reaction to that was extremely well written. Woody's pain and grief was palpable, and it was difficult for Seely and Jordan to deal with his reaction to the situation. Dialogue: Writers Bourbon and Nynaeve1723 absolutely nailed the dialogue. There was not one line that would have readers saying "he's/she'd never say that".  The essence of Garret was so completely displayed in his reply to Lois "And what…? Decided it looked like a nice day to take a header off a twenty-six story building?" during the crime reenactment.

Artwork: BigCJFan's, from banner through the end, was detailed and complex. The episode banner was fascinating because of 2 elements: the fading of Lu's image and the reflecting of the jumper's image in the building. Placement of the artwork in this episode assisted in the reading of this episode; pictures appearing to the right of text allowed viewers to read and see the corresponding pictures at the same time.

Music: Musical selections were especially poignant and effectively reflected the mood of the episode.

Personal development: For most of the episode, it seemed like there was very definite emotional backsliding on Woody's part. First, Lu's picture was in the bedside table. Then he experienced PTSD and came off as a real jerk. But in the end, it was admirable how he confronted the issues and really talked it out with Jordan. So progress was definitely made. The old Woody/Jordan relationship would have had them leaving things unsaid.

Continuity: This episode made references to several past episodes, sometimes subtly (Bed…this side is yours…of course) sometimes not so subtly (when Woody flashed back to Lu after she was shot).

Favorite Quote: There were several candidates in this episode, but Seely was just so Seely in the following quote: You need to meditate. Get a chai or something. When we’re doing good cop/bad cop, and I’m the good cop…?

Areas for Improvement

Storyline: Though the murdered cop story was strong, when I saw the jumper story, even before the bullet was found, I was reminded of the urban legend that's been circulating the internet since 1994 about a jumper who was shot on the way down. That legend can be found at the following address: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/opus.asp.

Medical fact: There was one medical fact that was off in this episode. When I read the statement about ribs one through fourteen on the right side…There are 12 ribs on each side.

This Virtual Season 7 episode, brought to us by writers Bourbon and Nynaeve1723 and artist BigCJFan, was a good work of fanfiction with excellent dialogue and one strong storyline. I'll give it 3.25 scalpels out of 4 for an entertaining effort.