The Finder returns tonight [Fox, 8/7C] with Life After Death, an episode about stolen lost tracks by a promising rapper who was murdered before that promise could be fulfilled.
The Finder’s eighth episode continues to smooth out the show’s rough edges – without losing the eccentricities that make The Finder, Walter Sherman [Geoff Stults], such an interesting character: his knack for finding stuff better left hidden in the course of his cases; the unique constructs that he uses to get his mind focused on what he’s looking for; his knack for saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time.
In this case, he takes on the tricky case of tracking down lost tracks from a long dead rapper in order to hook his partner, Leo [Michael Clarke Duncan], up with a beautiful woman from his past. Athena Brookes [Eureka’s Salli Richardson-Whitfield] is the attorney for Big glade [Jackson], a hip hop mogul whose contract with the last rapper J-Stryke makes those lost tracks his property.
Walter encourages Willa [Maddie Hasson] to break her probation by tracking down the pirate who’s been broadcasting the lost tracks over the internet – continuing the trend of making the teenaged gypsy girl a well-developed character, while relegating Walter’s girlfriend and U.S. Marshal, Isabel [Mercedes Masohn] to a plot device [the sole negative aspect of the episode].
The plot also involves J-Stryke’s brother, Trey, and their mother in an arc that is poignant and unexpected.
Life After Death was written by Nkechi Okoro Carroll and directed by David Boreanaz. Between them, they have put together a well-paced hour with plenty of character beats, a decent amount of action and some twists that rank up among the best on any kind of mystery series this season. Plus, more Walter dancing!
While The Finder hasn’t performed all that well in its run on Thursdays, perhaps it might fare better on Fridays, where it won’t need to pull huge ratings to warrant a renewal. With Life After Death, the series definitely shows itself worthy of viewer consideration.
Final Grade: B+
Photo by Jordin Althaus/Courtesy Fox