Holy TV goodness. If this is the last episode of the series Life, at least we’ll be happy with the completeness of it all. I can’t deny, though, that I’d do a little Snoopy dance if it came back next season. Seriously. Hold on to your laptops because we find out why Charlie went to jail and what the hell Roman has against him.
Reese is still missing. Charlie and Tidwell know they have to find her or she’ll die at the hands of Roman, who is paying some one to serve his sentence for him. Before they can even gather the troops, they receive a tape from Roman featuring a tied up Reese telling Charlie he needs to bring Rayborn to Roman in order to get her back. Oh yeah, the Rayborn that was mysteriously killed on his boat. Only they never found his body. And if Roman didn’t kill Rayborn, chances are he wasn’t killed. Especially since the main suspects then become Charlie and Dani.
Rayborn is easy enough to chase down, even though the entire LAPD is after Charlie. Once Charlie hooks up with his FBI friend, they figure out that Rayborn would still have to get his treatments if he is sick and is still alive. They visit his doctor and Charlie figures out that Rayborn wasn’t sick, he was stockpiling his blood. Nice, right. So if Rayborn isn’t dead, why does he want everyone to think he is. What exactly is he hiding? Right now, though, the more important question for Charlie, Seever, and Bobby is where is he hiding. Turns out that all of Rayborn’s money has stayed where he left it but he did have a few homeless shelters he opened. And, naturally, there’s one that he never visited. Told you it was pretty easy enough to find him if you have the right incentive.
While on the way to free Reese, though, Charlie starts to question the whole reasoning behind his life. Why was he in jail? Why would his friend get involved in money laundering? Did he not know him at all? He did know him. That’s all he can think of. Charlie knew his friend and he knows that he wouldn’t have done what Rayborn said he did. Thanks to Seever’s photographic memory, Charlie can prove it. According to the police reports of the murder, there was a job application in his friend’s desk. Why would he need a second job if he was not only getting money for laundering it but also skimming it off the top? True story, he wouldn’t.
Turns out that the only reason Rayborn tried to recruit Charlie’s friend into the business was to get to Charlie. Seems he had his eye on Charlie since the academy. With him and his friends looking at retirement, they needed some one on the inside. If they could get Charlie’s friend in trouble, he would turn to Charlie and then they would have him, too. Only problem was the friend wasn’t so easily convinced and so instead of having Charlie on their side, they sent him to prison. Rayborn swears that wasn’t what was supposed to happen but it did happen so here we are. Before Charlie can do anything about Rayborn, though, he knows he must meet with Roman to get back Reese.
Just when Crews had it all figured out, he talks to Roman. Why would Roman be after Rayborn so hard. It couldn’t just be because he wanted his money. There must be more to it than that? Oh, and there is. Roman idolized Rayborn. Turns out there was a little good old jealousy in Roman’s motives. He wanted Rayborn to choose him instead of Charlie but it wasn’t meant to be. Before Charlie could turn Rayborn over to Roman, Rayborn and Seever were taken by the LAPD. Of course, Rayborn said Seever saved his life so now she owes him but more importantly, Charlie no longer has Rayborn to swap for Reese.
The only thing Charlie has now is himself. He trades himself for Reese by telling Roman that he knows all of Rayborn’s account numbers and can get all his money. He then said he couldn’t, however, get what Roman really wanted, which was Rayborn’s approval. A swift punch in the mouth only served to egg Charlie on more and, in his Zen mode, he showed Roman how he survived in prison for 12 years. With one smooth movement, Charlie whacks Roman in the throat and kills him in 10 seconds flat. Roman’s guys turn to Charlie but now that their leader is dead, they run for the hills. You would think the end would be a bigger fight but Charlie is sneaky like that and he just knows when to strike. That’s why Rayborn chose him and not Roman.
At the end, Charlie and Reese drive off together and Ted is on a quest to find Olivia in Spain. Seriously, if we begged NBC to bring Life back, they just might listen. How often do you get complex characters that are still likable, proactive and not whiny? I know. I suggest we start this begging thing right now.
