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Touch 2.11 "Accused" TV REVIEW
THE ONE WHERE Martin takes Amelia to see the police and they reveal all about Aster Corps – but just when it looks as though the law is finally on their side and justice will be served, Martin is arrested for Lucy's murder. Meanwhile, Avram and Jake hunt down a member of the 36 being treated at the sleep clinic – until Avram is kidnapped...
VERDICT We're rapidly approaching the end of the season and here's yet another episode that's disappointingly average; Lucy's murder a few weeks ago aside, shouldn't the writers be kicking things into gear by now? Overall, season two has been watchable but rarely compelling, and it's this sluggishness that's probably condemned Touch to the scrap heap. Make the most of the final two episodes after this one, guys, because although Fox haven't confirmed it yet, Touch looks highly unlikely to touch us for a third year...
Which makes “Accused” all the more maddening, because nothing seems to be getting resolved. Characters are merely repeating behaviour they've exhibited all year long, from Martin running around yelling “Jake!” to the Aster Corps team being panto-villain dastardly. While there are some nice moments – Amelia crying for her mum particularly stands out – we're growing a little tired of everything else.
Take Martin talking to Detective Lange, for example. It repeats Lucy's experience earlier in the season, except that it takes a little longer for the cops to doubt the story; and Aster Corps' slimy way of pinning Lucy's murder on Martin isn't much of a surprise. He's also bailed out of jail so quickly that there isn't even a moment's worry – what was the point? Sure, so Lange might be a good cop and eventually he may rally to Martin's side, but Martin accusing Aster Corps and being rebuffed has been done to death by now. Arrrgghhh!
There's also one other major issue with this episode, which we will charitably put down to a scene possibly being cut, or bad editing, or just lack of foresight. When Martin discovers that Avram and Jake have left Avram's apartment, why doesn't he call Avram ? Instead he drives to another house and gets Amelia to play human bloodhound for ages... but Avram has a phone! When Martin finally catches up with him, all it would have taken was one line from Avram saying, “My battery died,” and Martin's hysteria would have made sense. It's so frustrating when you're trying to get involved with the action on screen and all you're thinking is, “Call him, you fool!”
NUMBERS GAME This week's Touch is brought to you by the number 3021, which turns out to be the ID code of a missing person's casefile and also a bus route. Hilariously, Avram wonders what they mean, adds them up, gets the number 6, knows that it's the mystical number for healing, deduces that they're looking for a doctor, and finds the guy they need in the space of a minute. Credulity took a holiday during this scene.
DID YOU SPOT? The doctor Avram and Jake hunt for is named McCormick, after Touch producer Nelson McCormick.
SECURITY ALERT Martin asks the police to arrest Aster Corps' Tony Rigby, and Detective Lange tells a colleague to bring him in for questioning. Well, actually he asks for an APB on the guy, which was rather forward of him, given that Martin hadn't really supplied a shred of evidence. And weirdly, when we join Rigby as he buys a bus ticket out of LA, that APB has turned into a full-on Homeland Security alert. Don't Homeland Security deal with terrorists? Very peculiar.
BLING THING The amulet Ortiz wore around his neck, which Jake took from him after he died, is the symbol of its wearer being a protector of the 36. Ortiz apparently didn't get the memo. And hey, now it’s in Jake’s hands, he has a job!
BABYSITTING BLUES “Jake, your father made it very clear we were not to leave this apartment,” says Avram as he babysits the kid, except that Jake simply opens the door and waits patiently for Avram to follow (which he does, because he's Avram and he trusts everything Jake does). It's both sweet and unintentionally amusing, as though Jake is Lassie and Avram has to follow him so he can find young Timmy, who's fallen down a well.
DOUBLE-CROSS? Calvin bails Martin out of jail because he knows that he didn't kill Lucy, then admits that he hates Aster Corps now because they killed his mum. So is he planning a giant double-cross at the sleep centre later? He's certainly got Nicole Farington fooled. Or maybe we're supposed to think that.
WET, WET, WET It's not often shows filmed in LA have to cope with weather as bad as this. And yet Avram's ringlets stay beautifully curly – what's his secret?
BEST LINE
Jake: “I am one of 36 people responsible for maintaining balance in the world. There are dangerous people trying to prevent that from happening. They are getting close... but so am I.”
Jayne Nelson
Touch season 2 is currently airing on Sky1
