Stalker

[AntiArbitrator]

Synopsis: Strong and focused, Lt. Beth Davis is an expert in the field of repeated harassment, driven by personal experience of being a victim. She heads the LAPD's Threat Assessment Unit, which investigates cases of stalking -- including voyeurism, cyber harassment and romantic fixation. The history of recent transfer Jack Larsen -- whose personality and questionable behavior have been an issue in the past -- may help him in his assignment to her team. Her other detectives are young but eager Ben Caldwell and deceptively intelligent Janice Lawrence. Together they try to stop situations from spinning out of control -- and to keep their personal obsessions at bay.

[AntiArbitrator]

I am enjoying this series and the cast (Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott). The life of the Threat Assessment Unit members is as interesting as the perpetrators they hunt. Lt. Beth Davis has been stalked and when she is home, she continues to exhibit the behavior of victims who have been stalked. She does not like the latest member of her team who transferred from New York to L.A.

Jack Larsen transferred to L.A. to be close to his estranged wife and son. He stalks them. Interesting touch to have a member of the TAU who stalks his ex-wife. In addition, he claims he did not know the ex is affiliated with TAU so, of course, they will come in contact with each other on the job. She is very hostile to him. It is not yet clear what horrible thing he did that caused him to not have access to his son and there is a restraining order that was requested by his ex. 

There is a guy in the unit who wanted the position that was given to Jack so there is obvious tension and dislike from him.

There is also a loose cannon who was introduced in the pilot. A rich guy stalked and insisted on friendship with a male student who declined his friendship. Beth jacked the young man up in a parking garage and told him to leave the student alone. Now the rich guy (around 20 years old) is stalking Beth and her associates. In the meantime, he approached Beth and told her he knows he needs help and is sorry. He lied.

Each episode takes me into the mind and motivation of stalkers, which is very exciting.

[AntiArbitrator]

1.04 Phobia - Jack and Beth track a stalker who exploits the phobias of his victims.


I am enjoying the show's focus on the victims and why the stalkers attack them. The show does not rely on bloody images or graphic violence.

The first victim was afraid of the dark…very afraid… which was apparent when she went into total panic mode and injured herself although the stalker never touched her. The stalker had removed the lights and made her house very dark while she was in the shower. He was a sadistic stalker who got off while watching and videotaping his victim’s terror.

The next victim was scared of snakes and the stalker placed 32 snakes in her house. When she went to bed, she felt one of the snakes and fell onto the floor where she encountered the other snakes. None of them were venomous, but knowing that would not have lessened the fear of the hysterical victim.

Detectives talked to a woman who might have been his first victim. When she dated him, she was afraid of sex (genophobia). He kidnapped and raped her and told her he was helping her to overcome her fear. She said the guy was afraid of heights and gave a possible location.

While Beth and Jack were watching a live feed, the stalker was sneaking up on them. Beth spun around and prevented him from stabbing Jack. She then directed a smirk at Jack and quipped “You’re welcome.”

It was rather predictable that Jack would take the guy to the roof of a high rise to scare him into telling them where the latest victim was, but it was still entertaining to see the guy groveling in fear. Detectives arrived in time to revive the fear-of-drowning victim.

Personal encounters:

Jack invited Beth to have co-workers drinks. She declined and Jack asked her again about her fears. Jack said he has a fear of making the same mistakes over again. Beth said she has a fear of people getting to know her.

Jack asked Det. Janice if she wanted to have a drink and they went to Jack’s place to engage in more than drinks.

The 22 year old stalker, Perry Whitley (played by Erik Stocklin), has been hooking up with Beth’s BFF and digging into Beth’s past. He just learned that Beth became “Beth” 12 years ago when she entered the academy.

“Every Breath You Take (Re:Imagined)” by Demark+Winter played while Perry printed graphic-novel images depicting scenes of him with Beth.

[Deleted]

How do people like this show?

[AntiArbitrator]

I had to marathon six episodes and I am now caught up. It took 20 episodes for them to eliminate two of the main stalkers. I am glad that arc is not carrying over into a second season. 

I like all of the cast members and they make a good team. Each week, they have a "stalker of the week" and that madness is eye-opening. A recent unusual case was group stalking. A group of people followed a woman and individual members of the group kept bumping her as she bought a meal from a food truck. She finally realized something was wrong and hurried to her vehicle, but the group surrounded the car and just stared at her. That was frightening.

This series shows that people of both genders and all economic status are stalked. It affects everyone. Often, the first thing friends and family want to know if the person is being paranoid. You are not being paranoid if the person really is stalking you. It is dangerous because it escalates. "Stalker" does an excellent job of portraying that.

[Kimba116]

I am just now seeing this thread...

Apr 28, 2015 18:40:09 GMT -5 AntiArbitrator said:

I had to marathon six episodes and I am now caught up. It took 20 episodes for them to eliminate two of the main stalkers. I am glad that arc is not carrying over into a second season. 

I like all of the cast members and they make a good team. Each week, they have a "stalker of the week" and that madness is eye-opening. A recent unusual case was group stalking. A group of people followed a woman and individual members of the group kept bumping her as she bought a mean from a food truck. She finally realized something was wrong and hurried to her vehicle, but the group surrounded the car and just stared at her. That was frightening.

This series shows that people of both genders and all economic status are stalked. It affects everyone. Often, the first thing friends and family want to know if the person is being paranoid. You are not being paranoid if the person really is stalking you. It is dangerous because it escalates. "Stalker" does an excellent job of portraying that.

Wait! In the last episode i saw, Ray had succeeded in kidnapping Beth. Are you telling me there are new episodes? I better get on that.

I completely agree about the cast and everything in the last paragraph.
Not only is no one completely safe from stalkers but there are many different types as well. I feel that not only am i being entertained by watching this show, but i am also learning as well.

[AntiArbitrator]

1.19 Love Hurts (5-11-15)

Beth is faced with a tough decision about her future; the TAU investigates a series of murders.

[AntiArbitrator]

1.20 Love Kills (Finale 5-18-15)

The search for an elusive killer leads to a revelation; Vicky makes a discovery about her ex.

[Kimba116]

I still have these 2 episodes to watch. Have you seen them?

[AntiArbitrator]

Yes. They were good. That last episode ended in a cliff hanger.

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[Kimba116]

I saw the first of them. Idk what it was but it seemed to be lacking something. Perhaps b/c Beth wasn't the "lead"? Idk when i'll get around to watching the final episode. Oh, and i heard that this was cancelled. That makes it even more difficult to watch it knowing that it doesn't get a fair ending.

[AntiArbitrator]

I watched the final episodes because I wanted to see how they resolved the story arc for Beth's stalkers. It was exciting.

[Kimba116]

It turns out that was the final episode. Oops.

At least they would able to resolve that part of the show, even if we don't get everything settled.

[Deleted]

Never understood this show and why it was made.