I watched the first episode of RAINES last nite. It stars Jeff Goldblum as a LA police detective who sees dead people.

Okay. Except for Jeff Goldblum, it sounds discouragingly unoriginal. But because of Goldblum, I was willing to give this a go. In the end, I thought the pilot was pretty good and I will tune in for more.

Let me admit to a bias: Alexa Davalos (Gwen Raiden from ANGEL) is H-O-T-! And she's this episode's murder victim whose ghost Det Raines sees and who helps him in his investigation. She has dark hair and looks just as yummy as when she appeared in ANGEL. My knees went weak. My mouth went dry from vapor loss. My head is still spinning.

But, I assure you, I was conscious enuf to see some virtues in this show. It flowed in an original way. And I didn't predict the ending (other than that the murder would be solved). The visuals are little more low-key than I like, but they aren't gray or depressing. And Jeff Goldblum is his usual potent self.

Linda Park of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE makes an appearance as a uniformed cop. I don't know whether she's a regular tho.

FYI, I first noticed Goldblum in 1980 when he and Ben Vareem played an unlikely private eye team in TENSPEED AND BROWNSHOE. Vereen's character was streetwise and grounded. A very young and skinny Goldblum played the naive accountant who read too many mystery novels.

RAINES seemed almost to play homage to that short-lived show when Goldblum's voice over told of how, as a kid, he dreamed of becoming a PI but as a long-time cop, he has come down to earth. Sorta.

I watched this a while ago, seemed interesting. And anything with JG is usually worth a watch :thumbsup:

Episode 2 clarified (?) the situation that Dec Raine's finds himself.

He isn't seeing ghosts. His mind is projecting an imaginary vision of the homocide victim that he is investigating. He used to imagine talking to victims. But that was an image in his head. Suddenly, they begin appearing to him as someone outside his body/mind.

These images don't know amymore than he does. So, they don't lead him to their killer. Instead, his interaction with them helps his investigation. The image will change as he gains new information about them.

Ep 2 was slower than Ep 1. But the resolution was neat.

Perhaps due to the stiff competition, RAINES will be moving to Friday. Sometimes, that's an ominous sign, but it paid off for NUMB3RS.

RAINES had its season finale -- and perhaps series finale. I thought it was a pretty good episode even if it used the old "ex-wife returns" plot.

RAINES had a unique style, dark with the wry humor that befits Jeff Goldblum. Once it discards the "seeing ghosts" premise (to seeing what Det Raines imagines), it made it much more interesting.

The scripts needed improvement, but I bet that that's all it would have taken to make it a special show rather than one with a clouded future.

And... Bump.

Hurray, finally getting the show ! :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: fantastic

too bad it has been cancelled after seven episodes (according wikipedia)

I think we get to see the full 12 or 13 episodes. :unsure:

I enjoyed it for the most part. The second episode explains the situation in a way that made the whole thing kinda interesting (it wasn't a "I see ghosts" premise).

It was a very stylish looking show. Goldblum was his usual exceptional self and there were good actors around. Decent plots, clever dialog. But, the dark quality may have turned off viewers.

let's hope so :unsure:

I think only 8 episodes were produced. :unsure:

Correction: 8 episodes written -- 7 filmed.

Ooops, my mistake - the Radio Times does say 1/7 . :)

darn, kind of short :ermm:

but i guess the show had good critics if ITV is willing to buy a very short cancelled TV serie :unsure:

Ok so I had no intention of watching this as the basic premise as I understood it cop sees dead people didn't appeal much but I was flicking around at 9:00pm last night and there was nothing on that I was interested in when I found this on ITV3 and so I thought I'd give it a try and I was really enjoyed it. :)

Jeff Goldblum is great and the premise is a bit more original in that he doesn't see the ghosts of murder victims but is hallucinating or projecting them as he investigates their deaths ( I thought of that scene between Wes & Lilah in Angel when he's having a conversation with her after her death but then it always comes back to Buffy & Angel with me and I really have to stop doing that :rolleyes: ). The way they did it was really interesting in that when he find's out the victim was a hooker he for a moment start's to see her looking more tarty. It wasn't perfect in that you could see the 6th Sense moment with the partner coming a mile off and the actual reveal of the who and why of the murder was a bit weak but it was pretty good and certainly enjoyable enough for me to want to give it another go. :thumbsup:

One slighty anal thing that someone who watched this might be able to help me out with, there were a lot of references to film noir, PI fiction and Marlowe in the episode and I wondered if anyone has seen the Robert Altman / Elliot Gould 70's film version of The Long Goodbye because I'm sure that the apartment the victim lived in is the same one that Marlowe lived in in that film or if not then a very similiar one which must have been another deilberate reference. Anybody else recognise it ? :shrug:

I really enjoyed this too. :thumbsup:

Really liked the look of the show and I thought that JG`s acting was superb ; I rarely get all :tear: at TV shows but I certainly did for the last few minutes of this episode.

Unlike Tom, I didn`t see the twisty bit with the partner ( :p ;) :lol: ) and am left wondering if the partner is a ghost and the victims will all be hallucinations. :ponder:

Laughed my socks off at the bit at the end with the zombie reference. :lmao:

I can already see myself getting the DVDs of this , if they appear - and if the standard continues. :)

Can`t wait for the second ep. :thumbsup:

Tom, that tower lift thingy looked very familiar to me as well - it wasn`t in LA Confidential, was it ? :unsure:

EDIT _ www.thenq.ca/category/television/ More info....

Ooh, I missed the Maltese Falcon but I noticed the poster. :)

I should of said that I got a bit :tear: by the end as well and I also thought Alexa Davalos was very good as well. Hadn't thought of the partner being a ghost and all the rest hallucinations. :ponder:

I spent a while googling after watching Raines and I found the same site. :) I spotted the posters but missed the Maltese Falcon as well although I did recognise the actor playing the detective who finds the dead PI - he was in the creator of Raines ( Graham Yost ) other show Boom Town and I was wondering if he was playing the same character and according to IMDB he was;

Nice subtle reference I thought. :)

Liked the second ep. :thumbsup:

Wasn`t sure about the way the dead detective and the murder victim vanish now; I didn`t think it was done as subtly as the pilot episode. :unsure:

Yay, Madeleine Stowe ! If we`re playing film noir- type connections, she was in the follow up to Chinatown. ;) Not sure where the Goldblum/Stowe storyline is going, but I loved the Not a Goat line. :lmao:

Lots of lovely sarcasm . :thumbsup:

I liked the victim storyline, although the `surprise` near the end wasn`t too much of a surprise. :)

i suppose once the fact that raines see/imagine talking to the victim was clear, the writers thought they didn't need to be subtle

i like the shrink, i am sure it's going to be develop and hopefully the :lol: "not a goat" going to be explain (surely an episode all by itself :rolleyes: )

I agree that the 'surprise' at the end wasn't much of a surprise but I enjoyed the second ep as well. :thumbsup:

Madeline Stowe is a nice addition and I can imagine a nice sparky relationship between her and JG's character.

raines telling the shrink about him "seeing" the victim and going a bit mad at the last victim in front of her :ermm: nope he is not mad, he is just afraid he will go crazy :unsure:

i like the scene with the release of the ashes

Nice to see the wonderful Laurie Metcalfe again. :thumbsup:

The show seems able to combine hysterically funny moments - like the bag lady in the French maid`s outfit :lol: - with quite poignant bits. :tear:

raines hearing a noise in the bathroom and finding the "ghost" and his reaction and cover up :lol: :rolleyes:

i love the evolution of the "ghost" in function of raines discovery (talk/outfit/...)

Didn't recognise her at first but yeah she was great.

And your right it does a good job of being funny at quite moving at times. :)

1.4 raines and the drug dealer kid

raines and jack (charlie's son) scenes were really good each time

:lmao: @ samantha: i am really good with people unwilling to come to see me

The retired drug-sniffing dog !! :lmao:

:lol:

i also like the scene where raines told the comic book owner that the kid (jimmy) died because he wanted to protect him as he was like a dad for him

Such as shame this was cancelled as I'm really enjoying it and I think Jeff Goldblum is fantastic :) he's a really good leading man, someone really should give him another show.

Enjoyed last night`s ep. :)

Thought the long scene with Raines and the Judge was superb, really gripping performances. :thumbsup:

Hee, Raines keeps imagining the victim and her girlfriend. :lol:

:rolleyes:

it was an ok episode but if raines was friend with the judge, how did he not know how the victim look like? :ponder: :unsure:

the return of charlie, i think it was because of cops trouble with shooting so i suppose his death was part due to an incident involving guns but where did the shrink go? :unsure:

raines and the judge confrontation was really well played

Another excellent episode. :thumbsup:

I think Raines and the judge were friends through thier work and the judge had talked about having him around for dinner to meet the wife but it had never happened. :lol: @ Raines desperate to see a picture of the wife so he can picture her with a head.

yeah but didn't the judge have a photo of his wife in his office or he didn't want suspect to see it? :unsure:

1.7

it look like raines can see more than one dead people at the same time and have vision or flashback of a happy life for the dead man :unsure: . The ending with Raines telling the mechanic killer about all of the passengers and seeing them all and then they disappear was really good.

an ok episode with raines investigating the murder of the husband of his ex-wife and having to face his demons

:lmao: @ andrew praising raines and commenting about how pathetic it is that raines makes him say that

Final ep. :(

Good dialogue ; I liked all the femme fatale stuff at the swimming pool and then how the man turned out to be her brother. :lol:

they should have ended the episode with raines discussing with the shrink about facing his demons (even if he still see/imagine dead people)

too bad it was cancelled :ermm:

Just watched the final ep. :(

A real shame it was cancelled imo. :rolleyes:

I really liked the series, too - I`m guessing the only thing that was `wrong` with it was the ratings. :shrug: