Now and Again
"Lizzard's Tale"

Airdate: March 31, 2000

While trying to keep a petulant Michael (Eric Close) from going even more stir crazy, Theo (Dennis Haysbert) takes him along to a medical conference where they come across the good doctor's roommate back in his med school days. Dr. Freddie Lizzard (Bob Balaban) is there to recruit his friend, Dr. Morris, for his firm, using the promise of limitless funding for his research and untold riches as a result of serving the medical needs of his wealthy clients. At dinner, while discussing the offer, Michael's secret is revealed.

And it couldn't have happened in front of a worse person.

Dr. Lizzard owns and operates a "chop shop", where he murders people so that he can provide healthy organs for the highest bidders. After watching how Michael's skin heals before his eyes, he realizes that his old friend has been hiding the amazing results of his research. Instead of being at the point where he can almost grow skin in a petrie dish, Lizzard now has proof that Dr. Morris has successfully synthesized an entire body whose miraculous healing properties could negate the cost of continually procuring donors for his clients.

As expected, the morally challenged Dr. Lizzard kidnaps Michael and plans to use him as some sort of organ farm. But he knows that Dr. Morris must confront him so he uses his best salesman's pitch to get Theo to go over to the dark side and join him in this venture. While an unconscious Michael lays strapped to the operating table (wearing only a sheet -- and only from the waist down!), he first promises untold riches and then adds the threat of breaking down the blood sample he had already taken and selling the information to the Chinese.

What follows elicits both goosebumps and a sense of moral justice having been served. While Theo has always been painted as ruthless, his conversations with Michael in this episode reveal that he is equally dedicated to contributing to the good of all mankind through the use of his talents. His driving forces have been his egotism, his patriotism, and more recently his deep-seated loyalty to Michael. The latter two are called into play when he makes Freddie donate quite a few organs after the man foolishly ascribed to Dr. Morris the vice which ruled his own life, greed.

Although the manner of Dr. Lizzard's death is definitely dark and disturbing, I'm afraid I can't agree with those who criticize Theo for his part in it. Never has it been more clear that, despite his true age, Michael is, for all intents and purposes, Theo's child. And Freddie, a cold-blooded murderer, didn't just kidnap and threaten someone that Theo has come to love (which would have been bad enough), he did it for the money. And to add insult to injury, he admitted that he was willing to become a traitor to his country in order to quench his lust for cash.

Kidnapper, murderer, thief, and traitor?

As one of my favorite literary characters would say, "He dealt the play."

Meanwhile, when Lisa confesses to Roger that she is afraid of losing her desk at the realty office, he offers to let her list his house. In no time at all an offer is made for almost a quarter of a million dollars more than it is worth. But while Roger is excited at the prospect, Ruth Bender is less than happy. When he insists that they sell, she kicks him out of the house and he ends up sleeping on the Wiseman couch.

All I can say is that Roger and Ruth had better not get divorced before I see Christine Baranski, damnit!

-- Linda M. Najera

Now and Again airs at 9pm EST, Fridays on CBS.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this review. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com

< Previous Review