TV: Crossing Jordan

I watched Crossing Jordan last night, for the first time in a long while. I used to watch every episode, back when it first premiered in 2001. I liked the cast, including the always-entertaining Miguel Ferrer; Ken Howard, the ol' White Shadow himself; and the smokin' hot Jill Hennessy, who played the lead role, kind of a Quincy in belly shirts. I liked the characters, but the show in general was a fairly generic medical/crime drama, like... well, Quincy. But with CSI-style cadaver-invading FX.

Last night's episode featured the return of Ken Howard -- apparently, he's been missing for a while. That's not why I watched it; it was just random chance I happened to check it out. But I'll tell you what, I'm sorry I did. The actors are trying their best, but that was some of the worst writing I have ever seen on TV. It was just horrible. Awful, awful, awful. Insanely stupid plot twists, laughably unbelievable revelations, holes you could drive a bus through, characters acting like complete idiots. I could give examples, but it makes my head hurt to think about it for too long. (Okay, here's one: while Jordan and her kind-of boyfriend, a cop played by Jerry O'Connell, are searching the apartment of a murder victim, the lights suddenly go out, and O'Connell gets locked in the bedroom. He calls out to Jordan, who doesn't answer. Now, keep in mind: he is a cop. Does he immediately realize Jordan is in trouble? Does he bust down the door, or shoot the lock with his gun? No, he rattles the knob weakly and says, "Come on, Jordan, open the door. Jordan?" And so on. Meanwhile, the bad guy is cracking Jordan's skull against the wall and kidnapping her. Cop: "Come on, open the door!" That is the worst cop ever. And that is supremely bad writing.) And it wasn't just a bad new writer; the episode was written by Tim Kring, who created the show. How the hell did this thing survive into its fourth season? (Oh, yeah: Jill Hennessy = smokin' hot.)

After letting Jordan slip off my schedule midway through the second season, I gave a couple episodes a chance last year, and was disappointed enough to give up watching again. They featured a new, incredibly obnoxious character, played by the incredibly obnoxious actress Jennifer Finnigan, who has since gone on to star in Committed, which I hate, hate, hate, and which proves that Finnigan either has tremendously bad luck in choosing projects, or tremendously good luck at finding her appropriate level in the TV spectrum.

I think I've been cured of any desire to ever watch this show again. If I need a dose of Miguel Ferrer, I'll watch RoboCop. Hell, I'll watch RoboCop anyway. You can never watch enough RoboCop! And if I need some smokin' hot Jill Hennessy, I'll watch Law & Order. I'm sure there must be some station somewhere that shows repeats of it.