Second Chance 1.07 “That Time in the Car”

We’ve worked our way through the Pritchard men and their estrangements, now it’s time to cope with Jimmy’s daughter Helen. Of course we do it, in this pretty macho show, through the rubric of another male, her renewed high school flame played by sexy nerd Breckin Meyer.

Meyer could do this sort of performance in his sleep, but he’s needed to give some character and depth to his hapless parole officer, who is being bullied by a murderous parolee. Jimmy is on him like the avenging father Helen doesn’t know he is, but as she admits to him the times Jimmy hurt her feelings in the past, he sees she deserves more sensitivity than he often gave her, and he takes Wally on as a project of sorts.

He’s figured his workaround with Arthur, the semi-sentient computer that knows no surveillance system it can’t hack, but such approaches don’t work as well with Mary and Otto, who are generally too smart or too withdrawn for him to reach.

It’s nice to see Duvall accepting assistance from his bizarrely resurrected father, and Tim Dekay has a strong presence as the straight man foil to Jimmy’s unpredictable extremes. The b-plot (the criminal mystery of the week that is) is a rather interesting one, as a shark-like Wall Street investor who made millions illegally still has access to his hidden funds, and uses them to buy escape and revenge under the clueless eyes of his wardens. There’s a real bitterness in his campaign against the judge who put him away, and his hired thugs are ruthless if not quite willing to be cop-killers.

But does any of that matter so much against Helen’s love life, or Otto’s mental retreat on the anniversary of his parents’ deaths (for which we learn he blames himself). The crime is intriguing, but it has little relevance to the personal stories that are the most interesting part of the show, and could have really been seen on any cop show.

The sub-plot that does cut closer is the betrayal by Girl Friday Alexa of Mary’s trust, stealing tech to cypher off to Mary’s lover (and frustrated business partner). Even Alexa has a noble goal, as she’s trying to keep her ailing father alive. At least we think so, until he refers to her as his (impossibly young) wife. Some sci-fi business going on there, maybe, it all keeps me longing for a real super-villain to come along and challenge our Wonder Twins and their postmodern Frankenstein on a level field. But I’m beginning to think he may just be his own worst enemy after all.