Dowel Jones

Do not fear. This show is a snark target and many of us will be back when it comes around again. We all need the humor.

I thought this show had already set the low bar for absurdity, but this week's medic-centric episode topped even that. Those two are lucky they didn't get fired, and if any cars crashed because of that ridiculous chase sequence, a good attorney would own CFD. But of course, Station 51 is the bestest group of first responders in the city and perhaps beyond, and there's no reason why any of them shouldn't insert themselves into a situation no matter how dangerous. After all, they have a gravel-voiced boss who never disciplines anyone. There, rant over. So Cruz doesn't want to be a lieutenant now, just because Severide patted him on the head and said "Good job."? Okay then.

And a shoutout to Jarritos Sodas (looked like Mandarin, my favorite) at the tar pit scene. Note to writers: Releasing the water from a dam will not put the fire out. It will simply follow the path of least resistance, i.e., a channel, and not over the flaming trees. And instead of the woefully inaccurate pistol work, why not get everyone on the rope and pull?

In the real world, Severide shouldn't have a damn thing to say about Cruz's desire to promote.

Defensive mechanisms can range from helpful to ridiculous/absurd in many cases. Years (decades, actually) ago I worked for a rural county fire department here in California. I dug up some old pamphlets from the 60s that directed all the fire stations in the county to change their identifier (Station 1 would be Station 20, etc.) as instructed in case of nuclear attack. The belief was that it would confuse the Russian bombers as to their location as they flew up the Valley in search of their targets. Really.

I half-gasped at the recruiting poster briefly shown in one of the scenes: "The Greatest Job in the World! Work and Travel the Globe!" Build a railroad through Thailand,and watch thousands of your colleagues die in a horrible manner. Suffer through the intense heat of the Sahara as you advance and retreat over worthless desert and see thousands more of your colleagues die. Such is the nature of recruitment.

Especially when it's Francois that does all the heavy and dirty work of starting and keeping a coal fire going.

It would have been cool if Gavin had retorted something about a "flashy thingy" when he was told about his memory loss. Oh, and a PSA: Kids, even if you can't remember that chemistry stuff for your midterms, it's not okay to dose yourself with psychedelic mushrooms in order to get your memories back! What a great idea! Start a fire next to the pool of flammable liquid! I realize that TV can expropriate names and locales for dramatic purposes, but "Madera AFB" made me laugh. I live a ways south of the actual Madera, CA, and it's a small town mostly dedicated to the surrounding agricultural businesses.

This has just started on Showtime and I think I'm going to need a shower after each episode. That was brutal.

And the first thing he says is "I could use a drink." That's William.

I was kind of leaning toward Hermann, just because of the way he was acting throughout the episode. We'll see.

Hermann was incredibly stupid to pick up a box with likely explosives in it, especially when it was in an isolated area without any danger to people around it. And Boden wrestles a guy out of the car (fortunately, as always, he's the real suspect and not someone who panics and runs), despite the fact that the suspect has been trying to kill firefighters and is in a car. Good thing he stopped when Boden yelled Stop! I can't imagine the zoo that would result by adding another 4 firefighters and 2 medics on every shift to the already crowded Station 51 (10 people). If I had a vacant lot I would make a mint charging for parking.

So, fooling the pterodactyl that its egg is far away from the settlement means that the predatory instinct of this flying dinosaur is completely exorcised and the village is safe now, right? Well, at least look for an egg in the village nest and make a humongous omelet for breakfast.

Unfortunately, Blossom's time is still limited. Dairy cows must give birth in order to lactate and provide milk. This means that Blossom will have to be inseminated, naturally or not, again in order to start the process all over, and it didn't look like she was in any condition to bear another calf.

I remember the scene in the series Band of Brothers where the soldier picking up laundry simply holds his palm out with the change and the laundress picks out the correct amount with a smile.

Eliza disguising her identity at the funeral home by using the alias Miss Manners. Heh.

Paramount doesn't show any upcoming episodes for the next two weeks on my calendar.

The patient usually needs an immediate injection of handwavium to save him.

And it turns out to be some kid in LA with a snow globe of La Brea.

I would have thought that Rose's body would have been pinned in the rocks below the casino and thus brought infamy to Dannioli and his mobster friend. Jeez, Victor. I know the game was rigged in your favor, but you went all in on Aces and Eights? Ain't you got no culture? (Although the actual hand was 2 pair, not a full house). You were lucky to get out of Portofino with your life. All told, it was delicious watching Cecil's fall from power. Nice review of the hotel for the faux-Michelin guide. Oh, and for those fans interested in the scenery and such, PBS has a special episode next week (at least my station does) of a tour of the actual villa.

I always chuckle at the extended goodbyes featured in war movie scenes such as Harry getting sent off to rescue. Notwithstanding the possibility of getting ambushed by a patrol, there's always time for a heart to hear talk and embrace. If it were me on that meadow and she said "Go. Go now", and then said "Harry...", she'd be talking to herself. I hope that stupid brother of Marga's gets into that Wermacht battalion that attacks Brad Pitt's tank in Fury in a couple of years. He deserves a bullet. Did they miss a continuity factor in that radio broadcast? The newscaster mentioned the battle of Stalingrad (1942+) but I also thought he implied that the US was not involved in the war yet.

I was just staring at the photo of the Dad, thinking it was the old arsonist and he really was the guilty party, and then I thought that maybe the diver wasn't really dead (no body recovered) and he had come back years later. It wasn't till I watched the interviews after the end that it was made clear to me. Sometimes I'm clueless. This had better lead to another season. "Because I deer-ly love you" Oof.

I should have been a bit clearer on that. I was referring to the characters, rather than all of us out here. I would think anyone working on a secret government project would have at least heard about, if not known about, the history of space flight during the Cold War. And in truth, that's all the space race was about in its early days. Kennedy even said that if we couldn't beat the Russians, he wasn't interested in budgeting a program to go to the moon. And we see just how fast interest dropped off after the first mission was completed.

And as soon as they can get a hold of a DeLorean we'll start seeing trailers for 2044, 2064...

I had just the opposite reaction - Is there anyone who hasn't heard of the use of German scientists during the Cold War? Does the name Werhner von Braun ring a bell? For those interested in a bit of satire, look up Tom Lehrer's savage parody of von Braun on youtube. Secondly - Are they saying that in 50+ years, no one in that library noticed that the clock was a few minutes fast and went to reset it? Hannah - "Tell me something about the future." Ben: "Microsoft. Intel. Google. Facebook. Oh, and the Red Sox in '04."