Lara's Review - Loves Me Not

There is so much to say about this episode it is hard to know where to begin. The first time I watched it I let my Woody/Jordan shipper out of her box to watch it with me, then I put her back and re-watched as me. I have a lot of thoughts on this episode, so please bear with me as I attempt to go through them all.

This wasn’t the best Crossing Jordan I have seen, there were plenty of great things going for it, but there were also some not so great things. I think the writers and producers had to squeeze so much into this episode that it became over loaded at times, and felt rushed and when this happens something often has to give, and for this episode it was the cases.

The best thing about ‘Loves Me Not’ were the interpersonal dynamics that were advanced, and in the case of Jordan and Woody, took a whole new turn. I think this episode will forever be remembered as the episode that took the Woody and Jordan relationship to a whole new level. First I will say that what happened in this episode between the two characters needed to happen, there was a stalemate between the two had there needed to be some development, we now have a whole new set of problems and will make the rest of the season fun to watch.

The writers did a great job by taking Woody and Jordan out of Boston. I feel like that they wouldn’t/couldn’t take the next step if they were in the morgue environment; they needed to be away from the other major characters in order for them to a) start rebuilding their friendship and b) move the “romance” forward. Whether or not the friendship between Jordan and Woody will survive the aftermath of their sexual encounter is yet to be seen, but we did get to see the beginnings of the rebuilding. I do not believe they are past the issues that occurred between them in ‘Jump Push Fall’ and ‘There’s No Place Like Home II’, and I hope that they will be brought up at some point this season.

I liked the last scene because it felt smooth and natural for the two characters, there was no awkwardness, it wasn’t planned, it was impulsive but not rushed and I think that because of this the issues that Jordan and Woody will now face are going to be more complicated as they will not be able to write it off as a “drunken mistake” or “in the heat of the moment”. Though I am still considering the last scene, I was surprised that it went as far as it did, I was not expecting that, but I do know that the writers and producers have a plan for the two characters and I do not doubt that we will enjoy what is to come, good, bad and ugly!

I said in my review of Road Kill that acting on television is in the eyes, for this episode it was no different, the looks traded between Jordan and Woody were essential to the development of their storyline, for me the verbal communication between the two is secondary to the visual communication, there is an understanding between the two, this brings a uniqueness to their chemistry. Jill Hennessy and Jerry O’Connell do an amazing job at bring it to the screen, it is not forced, it seems natural, and it is what makes the possibility of a Jordan and Woody relationship real.

I am glad JD is still in the picture, I was shocked that he told Jordan he loved her, then just to add to the shock he had a ring. The duality of the conversations between Jordan and Woody, and Nigel and JD, was interesting, they were essentially discussing the same issue. For Jordan, her analysis of her relationship was somewhat less enthusiastic than JD’s. While JD wants to take the relationship a huge step forward, Jordan wants to take a step back, now add on her changed relationship with Woody, it is going to make the next few episodes a lot more interesting. I personally believe that it was more than ‘love’ motivating JD in regards to his feelings towards Jordan. I think that, as we have seen in past episodes, JD is incredibly jealous of Woody, he seems to have assumed much about Jordan and Woody’s relationship, thus far we have seen little of others trying to convince him of otherwise. I feel that JD’s motivations behind declaring his love for Jordan had more to do with claiming his territory from Woody than an actual feeling for Jordan. BUT, then we see JD with a ring, which makes me then consider that he genuinely can not see his life without Jordan. This basically adds new complications to the already loaded set of issues to be dealt with; therefore, do I think the Jordan and JD relationship will survive? No, sorry, but I think we will see plenty of fireworks before it is over.

One thing I realized during this episode that Jordan is changing, slowly but surely, I am not denying that she still has issues, but some of the walls she has put up, certainly regarding men are beginning to be broken down, one brick at a time, the walls are still there just not quite as high as they were, and giving credit where credit is due, JD has been has been an influencing factor in this, he has been a catalyst for Jordan, may be to lead her back to Woody, but certainly for Jordan to allow herself the possibility of falling in love.

While I was watching the whole Jordan, Woody and JD storyline play out, and certainly at the end of the episode, I felt something off, and I feel that the best way to describe it is to poach from one of Kathryn Hahn’s movies (Win A Date With Tad Hamilton), essentially I think it will be very hard to deny that there is something between Jordan and Woody, whether you are a ‘shipper’ or not. But I think that within the whole story arc of Crossing Jordan, Woody is Jordan’s ‘Great Love’, it is the love that changes your life, the love that you never get over, the love that will stay with you forever, whether you are with that person or not, therefore I think I felt a little strange about it, is because JD is still very much in the picture for Jordan, the writers somehow have short-changed the GREAT love moment between Jordan and Woody, I feel sad for the characters, because I know it is going to be a bumpy ride for them, and their ‘perfect’ moment was some how diminished by the presence of JD. But this is reel life, not real life and therefore it is all part of the course – the road to true love never runs smooth – and it definitely doesn’t in TV land!

OK, to the next set of interpersonal dynamics, Lily-Bug-Jeffery. I am not sure where this triangle is heading, I thought that, despite Bug always having ‘romantic’ feeling for Lily, there was a move away from this romance, but over the past 2 seasons Lily has had two suitors in Seely and Brandau. Bug’s feelings are now resurfacing in an obvious way and it will be interesting to see where the story goes. My personal feeling is I like Matt Seely, I like the reactions he creates from the other characters, I like that he is arrogant and at times rude, whether he is a good match for Lily or not I don’t know, but I think that despite being occasionally disgusted with Seely, Lily is some what intrigued by him. I am interested in seeing where this triangle heads, but I am not sure if I really care for it at the moment, but at last we get to see Kathryn Hahn back to her best and having some major storylines, rather than being on the sidelines at the beginning of the season.

I have to say something about Nigel, poor Nigel, I think he will always get the short straw, because he is a romantic; he is looking for that perfect love. And I hope that one day he finds it.

The cases in this episode left me feeling rather flat, I guess I was looking for more in them. I like to feel empathy towards the characters, while I was watching the storylines play out, I felt nothing towards the characters, which is very unusual. The Alvarez case was perhaps slightly better than the ‘Lizzy Borden-esque’ story line at the inn. But I don’t think that either convinced me enough to care about the victims and villains. I didn’t care about ‘who did it’, I feel as if I was just watching them play out and at times I felt that the characters boarded on ridiculousness, one dimensional rather than the two dimensional characters that we are used to watching. But, it is common knowledge that this episode was written in a short space of time after another episode was scratched, therefore I am able look over the flaws in the ‘case’ storylines, because in this episode, as with Death Goes On, it was more about the interpersonal development than the cases. However, I do look forward to up coming episodes where I feel the ‘crime’ part of Crossing Jordan will get back on track now the character storylines have developed.

One of my absolute favourite parts of this episode was the photography, it was amazingly beautiful in this episode, visual effects were unbelievable and the editing worked so well. I love episodes where the photography tells the story and the words enhance it. The snow scenes worked almost flawlessly, and created the perfect atmosphere needed for the Jordan and Woody storyline. The cut editing for the vital scene between Woody and Jordan, and JD and Nigel, enhanced the scene beyond belief, as I watched it I felt as if I was watching one smooth conversation, I almost forgot I was cutting between two separate conversations – credit must also go the writers for their great skills. Credit must also go to the music choices, as usual the guarantee of perfect music was delivered, which enhanced the various storylines that played out. Allan Arkush did a fantastic job at directing this episode, if you watch back the episodes he has directed there are certain nuances that are classic to him, he has such an understanding of the characters and how they interact with each other, he brings this into to his directing, and for me, it is this that tells the story rather than the articulation of words.

This is a very long review; there was so much going on in this episode that it is hard to get all my thoughts down. I don’t know if this episode will be counted among my favourites, but I do think that this episode was essential for the progression of Crossing Jordan, there needed to be the development of the Woody and Jordan storyline. Despite the weak ‘case’ storylines, the interpersonal dynamics that occurred made this an episode not to be missed. I am looking forward to the fireworks to come in the rest of the season and overall I think the writers and producers have stepped up to the plate and gone all out this season, it is good to see as it makes every episode interesting.

All in all I think I will be thinking about this episode for a long time to come, yes it was a good episode, and well worth the wait, I am just looking forward to what is to come.