There once was a love that filled Eugene Gardener with such life. Although he kept his feelings inside he could never hold them back all the time when he would see Babette. She be stilled his heart and made him feel good about himself and gave him hope for life while he felt like an outsider for a deformity that he had to live with for so long. Alas, Babette turned away from Eugene and found herself next to the handsome and powerful Artemus Worth. Worth was just beginning his campaign for the Mayor's office and that turned Babette on since she has an affinity for men who are wealthy and in power. Eugene was devastated and took the pain very badly but he had to have Babette back at all costs. Being the gardener he was, he created a couple of plants to corner the City of Angel's oxygen supply and get rich by selling the antidote plants for an outrageous amount of money. He would become the richest and most powerful man in the City of Angels. Babette and Mayor Worth are on shaky terms and Eugene is ready to put his plan into action. As the villain Greenthumb, his message is clear "Roses are red, youre dead."
In this latest entry, I had the distinct feeling something was off from the very start. You know when something is wrong and you can't put your finger on it. The story was solid and very sound. It was a great little background story on Babette and Mayor Worth and how they found each other. It was sad when Babette just ditched Eugene, dropping the flowers he gave to her, for the mayor. The story was nicely written and was a touching and useful entry in the development of Babette and Mayor Worth. Yet, it just didn't feel quite right.
Shae Marks as Babette was finally given an episode to shine in. Although her character is a bit of a ditz, Shae Marks brought out the innocence and naivety of Babette when she Mayor Worth for the very first time. She was so taken by him, it really made her more believable that way. Following Babette throughout the episode, she had a sharp transition between the person she once was and the person she is now. I thought that was very intelligent of the writers, not in keeping true of her characters affinity for men in power, but for the fact that she had changed. She was furious when the Mayor thought of his wife on Valentine's Day, asking Babette to order flowers for her. She Marks had a chance to show off in this episode and she did an excellent job interacting with Robert Pine and David Landers whom she had a nice chemistry with.
Robert Pine, himself, the veteran did an outstanding job as Mayor Worth. I really like seeing this guy do his thing in any given episode of Black Scorpion. He is without a doubt one of the reasons Black Scorpion is a show living up to its potential. He doesn't have to be in every episode to make his presence felt, but he brings out the best in every actor he works with. Robert Pine is a versatile yet generally under-rated actor who has a big fan base. It's nice to see him bring the terrific charisma he has to Mayor Worth. In this episode he had to go from one end of the emotional scale to the other almost every other scene. Not many actors can pull that off without losing a bit of the energy and charisma along the way. However, that was not the case with Robert Pine who was in over-drive the entire episode and gave the best performance in the episode hands down. My only regret was we didn't get to see more of him, nor interacting with Michelle Lintel.
One of things that was off about this episode was Michelle Lintel was hardly in the episode at all. We spent most of the episode with Greenthumb, Babette and Mayor Worth and rightfully so, it was their episode. I think it's great Michelle got a break from her duties with this episode, but she was missed. It was nice to Darcy Walker laughing and smiling, and even though Darcy was supposed to be sick she still looked beautiful and classy like she always does. The most interesting aspect about this episode was the dark side Black Scorpion is really becoming. As of late she's let super-villains die while she barely flinches. I don't recall a series like this doing something like that. It's like catering to fans that appreciate strong direction and development in a character like that. It is gradual yet profound and that is what makes things interesting on Black Scorpion.
In the end the episode felt a slow and was not quite up to par with the episodes as of late. The writing was good but the pacing was off, the episode just didn't feel quite right. Everyone turned in a good performance and David Russell turned out one of his best scoring efforts, he made this episode more haunting and brooding than it was. The next episode features the return of not one, but two super-villains in Inferno and Medusa, who have their sights set on pulling Mount St. Helens on the City of Angels.
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