NJRadioGuy

We were in Bawlmer in 1998, and I made a point of visiting Fells Point. They were just wrapping up filming and I managed to get a call sheet autographed by Clark Johnson (Meldrick Lewis). That was the highlight of that trip for me. What made H:LoTS so riveting was that it was real stories acted realistically with only minor embellishments for the first three seasons. Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon's book (Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets), on which the show was based, had him embedded with the real BPD Homicide unit for a year, and most of the material from seasons 1-3 came from that book and Simon's experiences. The child murder case (Adena Watson) was based on the real-life death of LaTonya Wallace, whose murder has never been solved to this day. Series producer Tom Fontana said, at the time, that Adena Watson's murder (on the show) will not be solved until LaTonya Wallace's killer is arrested. Sadly, he never was. In later seasons H:Lots went further away from what made it successful initially, but it was still great. They were one of the first shows (if not the first-ever) to use popular music to add emotion to a scene in the wrap-up as well. The other Homicide: Life On The Street reference that I saw in my favourite true crime series, A&E's "The First 48," I forget which squad this was, but one of the real-life detective's coffee mug is a well-edited mug from that show that was sold by NBC at the time, which consists of the red outline of a body with the words "Homicide: Our day begins when your day ends." One other H:LOTS reference that I will always remember fondly, in one episode while going after a perp, the guy they're chasing gives himself up to a bunch of cops, who, as it turned out were actors filming a TV show about Homicide police. The twist? The "actors" were the actual real-life Baltimore PD Homicide squad detectives on which the H:LOTS detectives were based (Harry Edgerton become Frank Pembleton, Jay Landsman become John Munch, etc), who agreed to do cameos.

I'm fine with Bode saving the day, especially in these early episodes. How else are you going to sell a redemption story of a convicted violent felon in a handful of episodes to a public with a short attention span? They basically had to turn him into Super(Fire)Man for in the first 2 or 3 episodes to set the hook. It worked; they got a full season order and are pulling acceptable ratings: 5.1M viewers for this week with a 0.4 share--a rating that would have seen the show cancelled without a second thought five years ago, but welcome to the New Normal and all that. I hope they start showing some shades of gray with Bode in the back half of season 1, but with network TV's famous lack of 3-dimensional characters I'm not so sure they're going to do it. I'm still enjoying this show quite a bit despite several big eye-rolls. The characters are interesting and the acting doesn't completely suck, which is more than you can say for a lot of TV. If they can just stay away from the usual TV tropes it'll do fine.

Oh lightning fires are definitely a thing, but the CGI lightning from benign clouds that cannot produce thunderstorms was just so awful it was laughable. Cumulonimbus cloud bases have a very specific look, and these weren't them. You should give the show a try, though. It's actually not horrible and the characters are written (and acted) much better than Chicago Fire. IMHO it's the best new show of the season.

With the Alaskan fishery closed for 2022/2023, I wonder if it would be possible to bring a properly-fitted Alaskan style fishing vessel across next summer. You know that the closure is going to bankrupt a handful of less-than-profitable vessels in North America, how hard would it be to bring one or two of them through the northwest passage and register them in Norway (or wherever) for a few years until Alaskan stocks return to normal. It seems to me like the Norwegian vessels shown are ill-equipped to handle deep water crabbing like the boats we see in the main show. Also, what time of year is red king season in Norway? My understanding is that in Alaska it was October to December or something like that. And of course, Sig lands on the crab (for whatever value of 'on the crab' you want to use) and Jake couldn't find a crab if it bit him on the nose. Par for the course, naturally.

Considering it's a show about fighting wildfires, you kinda have to show wildfires and rescues. But with that said, the interpersonal/family drama is what makes this show so compelling to me, and why, through three episodes, it's pretty nicely balanced IMHO. The fire camp is just the hook (and ladder). Face it, it's pretty much impossible to sell a primetime TV drama that isn't about cops, firemen, lawyers, hospitals, or some kind of military agency, so it's probably best just to roll with it. After being greenlit they had 13 episodes to play with, and they had to clearly and quickly establish who's who, what their damage is, define the major story arcs, set the stage, and drag the viewer up to speed with enough of the technical/procedural aspects so they don't feel lost. It's simply too early to delve into the nuances of secondary and supporting characters. I have no doubt that will come in time, but for now, I think casual viewers have enough on their plate. I'm sure that by the midpoint in the season we'll see more about the other inmates and their situation, and hopefully Gabriella (please, show, don't call her Gabby...). As for the other cons, viewers who enjoy CBS-style procedurals likely wouldn't have a lot of sympathy right off the bat for violent convicts potentially rehabilitating themselves ("Kid....have you rehabilitated yourself?"), so that will almost certainly have to be approached in a way that the average 70 year old retiree won't clutch her pearls every time she sees a guy in orange. And I think that's also why Bode has to be shown as a badass with all the answers early and often. OK, so he robbed a liquor store at gunpoint, and deserved the five years he got for doing it, so show us early why such a violent felon is worth rooting for. And of course root for him we do. We have just enough of the back story to understand why he spiraled out of control so by the end of probably the fifth or sixth episode they'll start to fill in the secondary characters more. The big question is how to you keep this premise up if this show's audience keeps growing and it ends up getting renewed for 4 or 5 seasons or more. Do you make Bode relapse and get sentenced to more time (which would be complete bullshit lazy writing), or do you turn him into the new Manny--likely after killing off the old Manny in a fire.

Just watched the first two last night. It's somewhat enjoyable if I handwave the firefighting aspect. Edited to add that I have zero point of reference for CalFire or wildfire suppression in general...or California. All my experience and knowledge comes from urban/suburban firefighting protocols on the east coast and in Toronto. From a dramatic presentation standpoint this is working for me and there's nothing too cringe-worthy, except maybe how lightning seems to come out of benign altocumulus skies for some reason. Probably because...California or something.

Who's worse: Stella, or the all-seeing, all-knowing Gabriella Dawson, First Of Her Name? Sorry, but I'll take Stella over Gaby every time. And I kinda like Kidd to begin with, even though she's been more annoying lately. Just less Stellaride and more Everything Else.

That's the mark of a good actor...that they can make you love or hate a character. I first remember her from Homicide: Life On The Street. and enjoyed her there. I like the character, and they could do worse that pairing her with Danny. But unlike most other modern procedurals, the writers here seem to be deathly afraid of anybody getting romantically involved unless it's Eddie.

This is my biggest complaint with the show. The character of Upton could be amazing (for good, evil or somewhere in the middle) if portrayed by a more talented actor. I have nothing personally against Tracy S. but as an actor she's just not that good, and playing the lead on one of the highest rated shows in the country is a waste of a good part. For a lead actor, male or female, I want that actor's character to make me cheer, curse, laugh, cry, feel aroused or repulsed...or just plain old feel something. Marina/Burgess can do that. We feel every blow her body takes in those heartbreaking scenes, and the unimaginable personal loss she endured. Hailey? I just feel empty. I look at my watch, scritch the cat, refill my soda or hit the loo when she's on. That rooftop scene was her moment to shine, to connect with both Abby and the audience, but there was nothing there. And after Abby jumped, where was Upton's anguish? I can tell you if that had been me up there I'd have been inconsolable after she jumped. Is Upton (the character) that immune to personal torment? Or is it the actor's range? Both?

If I had to guess, Trident is helping to bankroll the show (or perhaps some boats) to some degree so long as they get their branding in each episode. Note that on the main show, as soon as Steve "Harley" Davidson (ick) started sporting the Trident label he stopped getting the asshole edit.

I rag on Upton a lot (deservedly), but here she was competent and did what any good detective would do...start connecting the dots if something wasn't adding up. So kudos for putting the pieces together. There There was some great acting on that rooftop. And it was all done by Abby. The young lady in that role nailed the part. Come to think of it, anybody having to listen to Felony Barbie prattle on like that would want to take the Newtonian way off that roof. When they were hauling Abby's remains away at the scene I figured it would just be another tragic ending to a CPD story involving Upton. I really wasn't expecting them to go where they did, and honestly I'm glad they did.

This one's actually easy and very real. Where I go wild camping in Vermont there is extremely limited 1X or 2G coverage--just enough for a text message to get through if everything is just right. It's extremely spotty coverage. Now probably around Bear Mountain it's not quite so bad, but still it's quite possible. What idiot attorney would even entertain the notion of a felony plea for his client on that bullshit charge? That's a battle you fight in the media as soon as the ink is dry on the fingerprint form. And at trial, what jury would convict given the evidence.

Best part of the whole thing was all the kiddie clowns and Brett's horrified expression. Priceless. Once again, the Waterless Fire Department springs into action. I mean why is there even an Engine company responding?

I think I'd rather have that little trash panda as a pet than Hoover.

Jamie and Trudy are two peas in a pod. They'd be slamming back the Finnerty 18 at Molly's in a heartbeat.

So now he's in "intelligence." Does the NYPD intelligence division have a torture cage in the basement, with all the emo detectives boinking each other? Asking for a friend in Chicago. Too bad this is a CBS show and not an NBC/Dick Wolf show. Put Jamie into Voight's unit for a week and he'd be curled up into a quivering heap after an hour. Or put Voight under Commissioner Reagan's command...now that would be an interesting show to watch. Here, though, my guess is they'd be setting up deep undercover operations, gaining insights into potential terrorist activity, rooting out dope importers on an international and inter-agency level and stuff like that. But of course, since it's this show, it will be trivial stuff that would normally be handled by street crime units, guns-and-gangs squads and the like. To me, intelligence is "big picture" stuff that wouldn't make for good television. As for this episode, good ghods it's back to detective idiot again. So your person of interest is banging a hooker; big deal. They're all big boys and girls here, they all know what's going on so just tell him "I don't give a crap who you were screwing, and I have no intention of being indiscreet unless I have to be to find the perp." You have to put the subject of the inquiry at ease if you expect truthful answers. Instead he's back to being a brain-dead bull in a china shop. How to lose friends and alienate people. Now granted in this case the victim would never have given his daughter up anyways, but still. Jobsworth hotel managers have bosses who don't want hassles with law enforcement. And jobsworth hotel managers also probably don't want to get popped for interfering with a police investigation--legit or not--or run the risk of concealing a criminal. Erin's story this week...who cares. Don't like the Intelligence move at all for this show. Easy answer is to have him become a patrol supervisor on a different shift or in a neighboring precinct. So long as he's not supervising his wife that should be all that's needed. That job really suits Jamie, and also is in keeping with the tone of the show IMHO.

Cleaning I can see, but repainting? Enamel doesn't dry in 30 seconds so was the truck out of service? Might have been damned inconvenient for the bells to go off with the K12, ropes, SCBAs and cribbing on the apparatus floor and the compartments still wet, donchathink? And fleet services would have her boobs for bookends for usurping their jobs. The beer stein subplot was cringe-worthy. Almost as bad as those awful C-plots with Chet and Johnny in the real firehouse 51 in LACo. Gallo, for as good as you are on the fireground, get a bottle of Growacet and tell Hermann that you're dating his niece, that you care for her very much--and promise to be good to her. At least Hermann's not his LT so he won't be painting the engine's compartments. Damn, Violet (and her actor) nailed it again this week. I like her a lot. I've always been a Stella fan, but she's really pissing me off with how she's treating Carver. Time for the writers to just get to it already. Boden is still awesome. Bunch of my wife's friends are into Manga. I'd rather eat my own spleen with fava beans and a nice chianti that hear about it. May we never see Medic NoName again. The two kids at the end was just so nice.

He and Wilder get close as things get worse and maybe she becomes Luna's guardian/foster/whatever? Since it was brought up at this point in the final season it definitely smacks as being Chekov's cancer. I really hope I'm wrong.

I have a gut feeling that the cancer recurrence is endgame for Max in the series finale, or perhaps the penultimate episode with the funeral and postscripts for all the characters in the finale. It would really be fitting. Bonus points to get a cameo by Freema there holding his had when he runs down the curtain and joins the choir invisible. I actually didn't hate this episode, although I think I may need to find an ophthalmologist from all the eye-rolling I was doing. And like everybody else, I never want to hear about Iggy's sex life again.

I really like this, but as I mentioned when Sig went to Norway earlier in the main season, WHY IS EVERYBODY SPEAKING ENGLISH? I'm good with subtitles and it would certainly make thins appear so much more realistic. When everybody is speaking English it just takes me out of the story.

And cue South Park: "OMG...they killed Hawkins. You bastards"

Really awful VFX. What theater today isn't rigged with sprinklers in the first place? Hint: the lights were on and the movie was still running. A handline down each aisle and it's out. P.S. cinema wallcoverings must be as close to completely fireproof as possible to achieve. I worked in the industry for a while and got to know all about that. Why were there flames on the roof if the interior wasn't fully roaring? Did anybody bother to see if there were someone trapped in the projection room? Although sadly these days there's no more film and booths are generally unmanned. But still. As for Hawkins, what, didn't they have a helicopter they could drop on him? Definitely a better way to go out than a lousy fake building facade. I hadn't read or heard any spoilers so I had no idea someone wasn't going to make it out alive. Hanako Greensmith did a great job in that scene; my hat's off to her.

Loved "Candidate" Javi. Absolutely loved everything about that story.

Here in NJ, there are umptyzillion privately-run imaging clinics dotting the landscape. Even my small town of 5300 residents even has one. It would not be a big deal to make a few phone calls offering to buy/trade/etc for what's needed until the usual supply chain can be reestablished. Complete BS storyline.

I agree, but if they had an actor for the role of Hailey who had more than one facial expression that might be different.