Facets

  

Directed by Kim  Manners

Written by Diane Saunders

Synopsis: A jeweler, Leo, goes to London to purchase a 16 carat diamond and as it shipped home to his store. When the package arrives, however, it has been replaced by an inferior stone.

Leo hires  the Simons to find out what happened. He's sure his competitor, Carton,  set up the switch to ruin his reputation.

The  Simons bring in their friend, Ditto, to check the envelope the diamond arrived in to see if it had been tampered with, which it had. It was obviously not the same envelope that had left London, and since the paper  on the seal came from New Jersey, it had to have been switched here.

Leo's  daughter, Andrea, is having a Romeo/Juliet affair with Carton's grandson, Jerry. She suddenly suspects he knows something he's not telling her and  dashes off feeling betrayed.

The  Simons, who are staking out Carton's place, see Jerry leave the store and  heads into the back alley. They follow and find themselves targets to  gunfire. AJ shoots back reflexively, but when they go to where the shots  had come from, they find Jerry wounded and unarmed.

AJ is  horrified by the thought that he'd shot an innocent young man, despite the  fact that someone else in the alley had fired at them. Jerry's parents and  Andrea blame AJ, too. The Carton's family preacher  talks to the guilt-ridden AJ. As he tries to give a little comfort, he tells AJ that if he's so troubled, maybe he should find another  profession.

The next morning, AJ is still deeply troubled, which sends Rick into mother hen mode. When AJ is obviously looking for an argument, Rick tries to be as inoffensive as possible, but AJ starts one anyway. Rick tries to get to the bottom of the real problem, his brother's feelings of guilt,but AJ can't stop blaming himself.

Through their  connections, the Simons arrange a meeting with the person who is trying to sell the stolen diamond. Rick goes in first, but the seller cunningly  hides in shadow so Rick can't see his face. When he tries, the seller  pulls out a gun and starts firing. Rick calls desperately to AJ, but AJ is terrified and doesn't go in. He manages to fire a shot randomly that scares the seller off. Rick charges out to find out why AJ wasn't there  when he needed him, but AJ can't answer. He locks his gun away and withdraws into himself.

Cecilia arrives  at AJ's house to talk to her hurting son. AJ is hitting a punching bag  like a man possessed, and Rick tells her to let him work through it alone.

When AJ is ready, he appears at Mom's house, ready to talk. He's thinking about quitting the p.i. business. Cecilia has always worried about her sons'  professions, but she knows that AJ is talking out of pain, not desire. She urges him to let go of the guilt and tells him to visit Jerry.

When AJ  arrives, Jerry is quick to tell him it wasn't AJ's fault. It was just a stretch of bad luck - he'd been mugged in the alley and the mugger had  shot at the Simons.

AJ still wrestles with his conscience, but when Rick gets a lead on a smaller  diamond cut from the 16 carat diamond, AJ insists he go along. They bring  Leo and can tell by the cutter's mark on the stone that Leo's own employee, George Caesar had cut the stolen stone.

The Simons head  back to the jewelers; stores and once again see Jerry heading to the alley  alone. With his heart in his throat, AJ accompanies Rick into the alley to  see what's going on.

Jerry, meanwhile, is meeting with Carton and Caesar to tell them they have to give the diamond back, unaware it's already been cut and sold. When the Simons show up, Carton and Jerry dive for cover, but Caesar pulls out a  gun. When told to put the weapon down, he swears he's not going to jail  and starts to fire. AJ wounds him, saving not only Rick's life, but also Carton's and Jerry's lives.

AJ releases his  guilt, Carton and Leo make peace and Andrea and Jerry are finally free to be together.













Review:

The interesting part of this episode, to me, wasn't the  jewel theft or the frustrated young lovers; it was the Simon family  dynamics.

We get a peek into how Rick and AJ were as boys and how they related with Cecilia. Rick, the oldest male in the house, has always gone off to solve his problems on his own. AJ, on the other hand, always ended up bringing his problems to his mother so she could help with them. It's  endearing that they stick to this as adults.

Rick is adorable as the older brother who knows his kid  brother too well. He knows AJ is going to try to pick a fight with him and  is remarkably solicitous to him the next morning. Rarely does Rick move so fast to get Marlowe out of a chair or promise to replace the eggs so readily. I just love his comment as he retreats when AJ asks him if he's  going to say anything. "Ah. no...I don't think I will." He's right, even when he just says he won't say anything, AJ gets mad. Rick is astute enough to know AJ's not mad at Rick's comment, he's mad at himself and  trying to take it out on someone else. It's just great that he could see that deep into his brother's heart and get down to what was really  bothering him.

I can't blame AJ for shooting Jerry - he was aiming for the  guy shooting at him and the kid just happened to be in the way. But AJ can sure blame himself, can't he? We've seen him stony-faced before, as he was with Rick - holding everything inside because if he doesn't, he might lose control. But rarely do we see him as he was with Cecilia - lost, scared, trying so hard to hold it together but unable to do so. Though JP did a  magnificent job of that scene, I've said it before, I'll say it again - bad things just shouldn't happen to the blond boy.

Mary Carver is wonderful, too, as the concerned mother. She  can't help going to her youngest son's aid, but smart enough to listen to  her eldest son. The hug between Rick and her is just beautiful. And when AJ finally was able to come to her, how smart to tell him to go see Jerry.  It's just what her son needed to do.

As I said, I wasn't all that captivated by the plot or the young lovers, but the Simons' interactions make this episode worth four  Camaros.

4 out of 5 Camaros

  

 

 

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