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Firestarter Rekindled
Part 2
When we left off, Charlie had run into the super kids of Rainbird's latest experiment. These include a kid who can force people to do what he says, a telepath, a kid whose screams are like shockwaves, a telekinetic and one particularly creepy kid who is an energy vacuum. This last one absorbs Charlie's fire blasts and nullifies her. Her new boyfriend manages to save her but gets himself captured in the process.
Outside, Charlie is planning to run for it again until she meets Richardson (Dennis Hopper). He was with her parents in the Lot 6 experiment and has the ability to see the future. He's a bit of a fatalist as he's realized over the years that he always knows what is going to happen next but is powerless to change it. He meets up with Charlie just because it's what happens next. A talk with Richardson, coupled with an intense guilt attack from her inner child, causes her to head back to save Vincent.
Rainbird has been busily torturing Vinnie with the aid of his little mutants. We realize that he has a serious bug over Charlie and will throw away just about everything for her. I won't really go into the plot past that other than to say that it revolves around the plans for the little mutants and Rainbird's obsession with Charlie.
This episode is a bit better than the first for several reasons. First, the characters have been well established so we can now just watch them go through their paces and explore more complexities. Second, the direction is improved with some scenes that carry some real impact. One short scene in particular is surprisingly creepy. Another startled me with the boldness of the script. This is not a story that takes the easy well trodden path.
The acting is a bit better as well. McDowell seems to really relish his villain role and clearly enjoys himself. Dennis Hopper turns in a nicely understated performance. His character is pretty unstable mentally but Hopper avoids his patented crazy guy act in favor of a far more subtle approach. Nucci comes off better as well, perhaps due to less time in the shadow of Charlie's pyrotechnics. Finally, Moreau is every bit as good in this section as the first. She has a nice combination of looks, talent and presence that make her a good lead. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of her in the future.
There are some missteps here and there like a subplot involving Vincent's dad that seems to materialize out of nowhere. But these are fairly minor and don't detract from an otherwise well done production. It's a nicely entertaining mini-series that's worth a look.
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
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