abby82 | "Do you smell pina coladas?"

So I was on call to serve in a federal jury for the last two weeks. The first time I went (dad drove me) I lucked out and got sent home but I had to keep calling to check in the second week. On the last day to call in I thought I was home free but lo and behold I got called in again but rather than the 9AM call time I had before this time they wanted us there by 7:30AM. As it is in most cities parking downtown is predominantly parallel parking which I haven't done since my driving test years ago so I was going to have to park at the one available parking garage open to the general public. Also, I'd never driven downtown so armed with my dad's directions and a map from mapquest I made it there ok. Although I did get turned around a bit and a street I was expecting to pass disappeared. Go figure. Well long story short they were selecting for two similar cases and I was the very first person selected that day to serve for a two day trial. Thankfully it was a 9AM start time so I didn't have to leave home at 5:30AM like I did for the 7:30AM call time. I left home at 6:30AM and allowed plenty of time to deal with the construction outside of town, all the heavy truck traffic from the gas rigs, and early morning school and work traffic once I made it into the city.

That was the first time I'd ever served on a jury and while I certainly believe that it is our civic responsibility to serve when call upon to participate in the justice system it did leave a troubling feeling. The decision we made would have a profound affect on the life of the defendent. Either all charges would be cleared or there would be time behind bars. I really couldn't get over the similarities between the prosecution's case and another recent case that hit closer to home. The difference being that the latter had a very wonderful feeling of elation and relief and the former, when we decided on a verdict, didn't. It was an interesting experience but I certainly hope it's a while before I'm called to serve again.

On a slightly different note, there were time in that courtroom when we were completely bored out of our minds. The amount of time spent on the dimensions of a window in county lock up had even the judge annoyed. I'm a little embarassed to admit that during the brief pauses I found myself thinking about the Forever Knight episode "False Witness" when Nick claimed to have seen the murder of their informant by a slippery pornographer. Granted the Canadian and American judicial systems do have their differences, as is often the case a lot of Americanisms creeped into the show.

I kept flashing on Natalie's "Do you smell pina coladas?" query when Nick walks by her into the parking garage elevator. Oh Natalie if you only knew. That's not Nick's regular aftershave, lol.

So here's a Forever Knight picspam from the trial portion of "False Witness".

Toronto during the day

Normally Geraint Wyn Davies is the one shown driving the Caddy through the streets of Toronto but in this scene it's Catherine Disher. Just before this shot she's shown changing lanes and I wonder how difficult it is to maneuver such a huge vehicle.

Yay! A parking garage

This never fails to crack me up--Nick in the trunk. I wonder how many times they had to shoot Catherine Disher driving in and parking with her co-star in the trunk.

Yeah sorry not the greatest tie. Nick rarely wears a tie and if this is any indication of the kind of ties he has then I'm eternally grateful. The sad part is that's it's probably supposed to be some expensive designer type. It feels very 90s.

"Do you smell pina coladas?" This was originally a cut scene from the version that used to air on Sci-Fi. When I got my season one DVDs and saw this I burst out laughing so much. The idea that Nick actually went through with the Skin Pretty sunblock amuses me to no end not to mention the delivery of the line. Comedy gold I tell ya.

Establishing shot of a real courthouse in Toronto using Forever Knight's signature dutch angles.

I love the rich red carpet in here and the lamp overhead. The federal courthouse where I served jury duty was pretty impressive as well. It had some really nice high ceilings and windows up top that showed the clouds outside...that is until they shut them closed.

"Nice suit Captain."
"Thanks my kid made it for me at school."
Hee!

That's right kids smile because it's all down hill from here.

So much for Nat's sabotaging skills. That guy didn't seem to have much trouble opening the blinds.

Nick has enough things to worry about like premeditated lying on the witness stand. The last thing he want to worry about is potentially going up in flames in front of an audience.

Now preciding...the Honorable Natalie Lambert. With that dress and hairstyle she looks like she could be a judge.

You want to know one difference between the Canadian and American judicial systems? Exhibit A: robes and a quasi ornate bowtie.

Yep that's exactly how we looked during the case.

I just like this image of Nick and Nat side by side.

You know a character reading the newspaper isn't something that Forever Knight really showed. I think did about two or three times during the run of the series. It's just such an ordinary thing for him to do and I like when they show him engaged in normal everyday things.

Schanke I love you but you aren't exactly helping here.

Yeah this sunglasses don't do Nick much favors. So here's Nick an enigmatic, lone wolf of a detective getting ready to go out into the world and he reaches into his pocket to fish out his shades and what we get are this round Ringo like sunglassess. Way to ruin the image guys.

I liked GWD's posture in this scene. He looks like a condemned man here and in a way he is. He's about to lie in court.

The hand grab always gets to me. Yay first season Nick and Nat!

OK I was disappointed that people don't actually get sworn in on an actual Bible. Several of the witnesses got sworn in together just before the start of the trial and the pledge was sped read by on of the clerk's like she was going for a world record.

This is just a nice shot. GWD is a very handsome man.

A Canadian legal eagle. Neither the prosecutor or the defense attorney got nice and cozy with the witnesses.

It sure looks like Nick's guilt is starting to get to him. No confident witness would be dawdling by looking at their hands during testimony.

Nick's guilt from a different angle.

I love all the stock shots of the sun peering over the buildings in Toronto.

Potential trouble looms

When I first saw this episode during this point in the scene I honestly thought Natalie was going to step up and do something to distract from Nick's obvious problem with the encroaching sun. Since she already attempted to destroy city property for Nick I figured a public fainting spell wouldn't be too far off. However in retrospect that really would have been over the top.

I like the shift in Nick's posture in this and the next shot. He's already retreated a bit because of the sun and it's distracted him a bit.

Here Nick is no longer in control and while he could still commit to lying like he'd planned, physically he's telling a different story--that he's not comfortable with what he's already told.

I imagine that in reality if a cop had lied about actually witnessing a murder and let it progress this far to the point where he's already on the witness stand he'd be in some pretty hot water afterwards. Later Nick tells Stonetree that the impression he's getting from everyone is that they were angry that he don't go through with the lie. Regardless if that was what everybody was thinking Nick presented false circumstances I wonder if off-screen land had any consequences for him.

That look says a lot. Thankfully Schanke backs up his partner when everybody else turns on him.

Sorry Nick but you must be feeling pretty rotten.

This is interesting. Througout this entire sequence Natalie looks like she's proud of Nick for not going through with the lie. She wasn't very happy about it and she said so as recently as the parking garage.

But here she looks like she's realizing that Nick is going to have it pretty rough for a while because of his actions.

And does as well.

But it's ok. Nick does guilt like nobody's business.