Numb3rs season 2
Paramount Home Entertainment
Revisiting Numb3rs in season 2(CBS Paramount) is a lot like revisiting old friends. Well drawn characters with just enough peccadilloes to be real and not cartoons and chemistry to spare between Alan, (Judd Hirsch) Don, (Rob Morrow) and Charlie, (David Krumholtz) as father and radically different sons. Their interplay is low key magic.
I came late to the party as the premise-Genius uses math to solve crimes-sounded like a yawn to me. It’s not, in fact the deftly handled segments have become another character and I look forward to the two or three interspersed in the action. Which brings me to two of my favorite players: Navi Rawats’ Amita should put to bed the old saw that guys don’t like smart women. She’s big time smart and girl-next-door sexy. Yum .And Peter MacNicols’ Professor Larry Flienhardt is masterful, eccentric in just the right degree and at times heartbreakingly wise. One of the great characters of recent memory.
The players seem more at home in their respective skins than ever which is all to the good. Charlie having bought Dads’ house when he sold puts an interesting dynamic in the mix, along with his deepening involvement with Amita and the new depths of respect and affection between he and Don.
The six disc set has the full twenty four season 2 episodes of an above average cop show with the above first rate elements, along with cast and crew commentary and blooper reel and an interesting section on the math that’s worth a look, plus some behind the scenes looks for the curious.
Diane Farr replaces Sabrina Lloyd as the woman of the office. I’m sure her mother’s pleased. With a voice that could etch glass one wonders how she got into acting school, much less out.
On a happier note, Lou Diamond Phillips reprises his role as the aptly named Edgerton, a thoroughly dangerous man, in Toxin, with a very nice twist at the end. And Amita takes on her largest role to date in the disquieting Harvest, a shaming look at organ buying from the poor of the third world.
The series gives you a lot to like and not much to dislike, which puts it head and shoulders above most TV fare.
Lee Crawford