Unforgettable “Line Up or Shut Up” 

The past couple of episodes of Unforgettable I would not call great by a long shot.  Ever since the season premiere, it’s felt like the show has been stuck, with mediocre storylines and very cheesy attempts at humor.  However, I am glad to report that last night’s episode was exceptional, and so, hopefully, this is a sign that the show is getting back on track.

The episode begins with a high-speed car chase between the police and a red Ferrari.  The young driver seems to be having a lot of fun in his attempt to out-smart the police, and in the end, it works and he is able to get away.  But, the guy’s luck doesn’t last very long because he is found dead just a few hours later due to a gunshot to the head.   Carrie (Poppy Montgomery) and Al  (Dylan Walsh) first suspect that this is just a rich kid who decided to take a joy ride in daddy’s car.  However, this changes when they discover that the car actually belonged to a Swiss diplomat, Lukas Emminger (Dennis Christopher).  Their victim, Ezekial Nadel, was simply the delivery guy for the car.

With this discovery, Carrie and Al begin to believe that perhaps Emminger was the real target, and Ezekial was killed due to mistaken identity.  However, after completing the autopsy, Dr. Webster (Jane Curtin) throws a wrench into this theory when she reveals that Ezekial had been shot point-blank.  The gun was just a few inches from Ezekial’s head, and there was no way the killer could have mistaken Ezekial for Lukas Emminger.  Carrie and Al now know that Ezekial was the real target, and they are basically back to square one.

The only real clue they have at this point is something that Carrie remembered when they visited Ezekial’s home to interview the family.  In Ezekial’s brother’s room there was a sign that said “Line Up or Shut Up XXX”.  At first glance, this appears to be gang-related, but as it turns out, XXX is a street racing club.  Both Ezekial and his brother, Francisco, were members with Ezekial being the better racer of the two.  Because of Francisco’s poor racing record, he ended up owing the leader of XXX, Stevie, more than $10,000, and Ezekial had promised to pay off his baby brother’s debt.

This is where Carrie and Al get their first big break and where things get interesting.  Stevie is adamant that he had nothing to do with Ezekial’s death but does reveal that Ezekial tried to give him the Ferrari as payment for his brother’s debt.  But, Stevie would have nothing to do with a hot car and instead, suggested to Ezekial that he try to sell it to a chop-shop.  This is exactly what Ezekial tried to do, and the team finally tracks down where Ezekial tried to sell the car.  The owner does admit that Ezekial was there, but she wouldn’t buy the car because it was a fake.  Yes, a fake Ferrari.  Heck, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as car knock-offs!

Now, Carrie and Al have a new theory.  Could it be that some angry buyer had killed Ezekial?  This eventually leads back to our Swiss diplomat, Emminger.  Emminger had bought three cars from the same dealership, and we can assume that all three were fakes.  He had spent over 2 million dollars total on the cars, which gives him a big motive for murder.   Emminger does turn out to be the killer, but not why you think.

The real motive turns out to be much more personal.  Emminger’s daughter, Celine, had been dating Ezekial, and they were planning on running off to India.  There was no way Emminger was going to allow this loser to take his daughter away, and so, he killed him.  Whew!  After about a dozen twists and turns, we finally get our answer!

Besides having an excellent storyline, this episode also had some fantastic character development.  First, we have Eliot Delson (Dallas Roberts).  Before the season began, most people (myself included) thought Delson was going to turn out to be a bad guy.  Granted, he is very diplomatic and has kissed some serious bootie to get where he is today.  However, from what we’ve seen thus far, his heart seems to be in the right place, and for the most part, he tries to do the right thing.  I especially loved the ending scene that dealt with the question of diplomatic immunity regarding Emminger and his crimes.  It would have been easy for Delson to just let it go and allow Emminger to walk free.  But, he helped fight to have immunity waived, and in the end, he won.  I didn’t think I would, but I’m starting to really like this character.

Besides this, we also got some good moments between Al and Jay Lee (James Liao).  Lee may appear to be an uber tech-geek, but he’s turning out to be a really cool guy.  Among other things, Lee is a big fan of sports cars and as we find out, Al is too.  This gives them a common ground, which made for some really good scenes of Lee and Al reminiscing about the chic-magnet cars they had in their youth.  On the other hand, the same doesn’t go for Murray (Tawny Cypress).  We are in episode six of the season, and I still don’t think we know where exactly Murray fits in.  She does seem to be a good interrogator, as we found out in last night’s episode, but honestly, Carrie could have done an equally good job.  That brings us back to the same question: why is Murray even there?

All in all, I thought this was an excellent episode, and I’m glad to see the show finally getting back in its groove.  It’s just in the nick of time too.  Next week is the summer season finale, with a very long hiatus before the final episodes of season two airs.

The summer season finale of Unforgettable airs next Sunday at 9/8c on CBS.  No airdates have been officially announced for the remainder of the 13-episode season order.