Dowel Jones

Did anyone think to look in the judges' chambers before sending them off for a group time out? I can just imagine the uproar and calls for a mistrial in each of those cases where the judge was bundled off. And, of course, the Resslers forgot to put guards from the NYPD at the entrances to the courthouse, leaving the 4 3 FBI agents to chase the bad guy all over downtown (Scola deciding in the middle of a manhunt for a maniacal killer that he should be at the hospital instead).

Which was discovered when an unsuspecting buyer tried clean his 'authentic, original' Picasso, and underneath found an illustration of four dogs playing poker. Other than Meera having a crooked bone in her body (sorry, Dr.) and Mrs. Sutton getting the stamp, which will put Siya onto the trail of Officer Sutton and perhaps her own mother, this episode was pretty much forgettable.

Oh, dang. Here I thought that S2 was Bodie escaping from a train wreck on the way back to prison, and the entire season would be him trying to escape the clutches of the evil investigator while he searches for the real drug smuggler at Three Rock.

Perfectly on par with this show's tenuous connection to reality.

Because we all know that a serious kidney disease can be mitigated by a course of antibiotics, like the doctor said. What always puzzles me about this, and every other cop show, for that matter, is that convicted inmates, having been through the system and are theoretically completely aware of their rights, never, ever say "I want to speak with my attorney." I get that it's a plot roadblock to do that, but, please.

Well, I'm glad there was hardly anyone in that resort, because the crews quit looking after they found the people connected with the stars of the show. And I bet that USAR teams in the entire country are going to use this episode to teach proper search and rescue techniques, and USAR operations. With only a few words: "Just don't do this." Early in the episode Manny is in the back of the crew bus briefing the crew. So, who was driving?

Does anyone at 51 have any sense of ethical behavior or boundaries? Kidd decides to go do some informal 'witness tampering' because she knows in her heart that it's what's best for Shep. She was obviously counting on the likelihood that his mental state would result in dropping the charges, but if he didn't, his attorney would mop the floor with Kidd, Carver, Boden, and the CFD. And Carver. March right into IAD's office and buffalo the assistant to get into the Chief's office. Just once I would like a Chief to say "I'm busy, I don't care if you're from 51, the bestest house in all of Chicago, get out of my office. Now." And his response to the three prior incidents of physical violence? "Those were nothing. My methods might be rough, but I was trying to protect someone." Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. And Boden defended him on it, because, hey, if Carver maybe put a guy in a choke hold and killed him, there was obviously a good reason. All those firefighters are leaving themselves wide open for disciplinary action if they're really posting the kind of stuff while on shift that they're bragging about. Sylvie tracking down the foster parents on her own, against DCFW policy, just was all kinds of wrong. Plot twist - They discover that Wiggy has been attending the same arson investigation school as Severide and she hasn't reported back to duty either.

Absolutely. The crew would get rolled up off the fire, return to camp, and Manny would be interrogated to within an inch of his life, which is a good thing. He is incompetent. Ah, the deux ex machina. When you're losing control of the fire, throw a rainstorm into the mix. And that was one whopper of a storm, too. Of course, if any of the firefighters could actually put fire out with a hose, it wouldn't have been necessary. Apparently, Nozzle can afford a $40 million dollar Blackhawk helicopter. Premiums must be good. But, sorry, Sharon, you really don't get to boss them around on their client's property. She has a legitimate beef that they started an illegal backfire, and she could reasonably seek assistance from law enforcement to remove them from the fire, but they can't be forced to work for CalFire. I can't remember for sure, but in my time in the camps, if someone turned up a positive test, they would get sent back to the Center to sit and stew for awhile (30-60 days), and then be reassigned to another camp. I don't think anyone actually went to the big house. And, If Bode was 2 days away from parole, first, he would be assigned a camp job and off the fire crews, and second, they'd probably just blow off the positive test and kick him down the road. Less paperwork. By the way, Vince, since you're apparently in charge of the engine, you would be staying there at the station, not hopping home for a quick drink of wine during the night.

As one of the cops said, "All I saw was you on top of the other guy, pummeling him into the street." It looked like an assault to them, so he gets popped. They should have arrested the homeless guy too, as they have no idea what started the fight. They also have no idea whether Stella and Carver are lying about being firefighters, although the show makes it seem that Stella should be the face of CFD. It all gets sorted out at the police station later. By the way, since Severide is detailed to Arson Unit, he would be working 8 hour shifts, and be home at that time. Yes, Taylor Kinney is off the show for now, but did they explain Severide's absence? That was great. I remember back a few seasons when the 51 crew had to cover CFD Station 19, and they just unloaded on the condition of the firehouse. However, Mouch might not be too pleased with Stella's crew at the scene of the truck rollover. Not one of them was wearing a helmet.

Anyone think that Brett has suddenly developed a case of baby rabies? I can't believe Kidd. Living in Chicago, even in a good neighborhood, and she worries about calling the cops on a guy who evidently stalked her from the firehouse to her own house. Carver could have, and should have, tried to de-escalate by backing up and deflecting Shepherd's anger, but his hot temper had to come to the surface. Are they setting up Kylie for a recurring role next season? And who was the new guy from the station sitting in the bar with everyone? And don't any of these people have a home life? There really wasn't any excuse for the other shift's lack of attention. Work the overtime and put your rig back together first. The teen mom did the right thing, but I don't think it was Brett's place to go to her house and investigate. That's the entire purpose of the baby 'drop boxes'. I still think that alarm is way too loud.

My first reaction was 'Go fuck yourself, Maggie, and that horse named Self Righteousness that you rode in on.' If I were that NYPD cop I would walk into the office the next day with 100-200 (out of 23,000) reports of missing persons in NYC, hand them to Maggie, and say "Here, put your resources to work on this. Forget anything else, like terrorism or drug dealing. Oh, and if you get bored, take a tip from another TV show and investigate the disappearance of indigenous women in New York State, because that really is your business as the FBI."

Unfortunately, Reddington also erased any mention of them, too.

Well, the private fire agency recruiter shouldn't have any problem bringing the inmates along with Manny. It's obvious that they're all innocent and unjustly convicted.

And that's just one more con for the show. FF 5 1/2 years and it's David in DC "I know I promised not to run for re-election, but our country is at a crossroads and we can't let the other party win control of the Senate and ruin everything we have accomplished blah blah blah...." Maybe they graduated from the Agent Ressler School of FBI work.

Best part of the episode is the exasperated Reddington changing the brim on his hat for the fall guy. Didn't Wujing and Co. head for the fake PO, where he met his fate? If so, that is not federal property. Sorry, Panabaker. Dembe must have shed some brain cells when he joined up with the FBI. Someone who worked with Reddington for so long would know his MO in a situation like that.

Props to the writers for mentioning Ferndale (during Sharon's rant), a small town in Humboldt County. Home to the original Kinetic Sculpture Race and where much of the Dustin Hoffman movie 'Outbreak' was filmed.

I have to wonder about that hospital's security when he told the nurses to not admit anyone to his room, yet Sharon just waltzed right by the nurse station and on in. Once again, Manny shows his ineptitude as a supervisor, not even knowing what's going on with his crew on a fire. Sleeper takes a bite out of Bode's arm with a chainsaw and he just gets a bandaid approach (from Gabrielle, of course) at the engine. No report, no investigation. Sleeper gets arrested, but, THIS AIN'T OVER!, meaning, he'll find some other actor who's free for at least one episode to show up and put Bode in extreme peril for the cliffhanger season finale. Hey, any insurance company would be glad to have a crew of inmates watching over their client's house. What could possibly go wrong?

What's the over/under of Kinney getting written out if he's not back next season?

Spoiler Alert! Station 51 in peril! After all his time in CFD service, Boden hasn't learned the simplest lesson of city politics? He got played like a violin. Guys, just stick with being firefighters. You ain't cops. You know, if Mouch was such an accomplished magician, why didn't he step in for the day and thrill the kids?

Anyone who's ever seen a gangster movie on TV would know that!

Does The Postman deal in rock hammers and movie starlet posters, by any chance? Let me get this straight. Guy gets convicted on proper evidence 30 years ago, but exculpatory evidence was withheld. He spends all this time in a prison cell with a brilliant chemist, gets out, and wants to take his revenge by setting up an incomprehensibly complex system to deliver product by drone to the inmate chemist in order to make an extremely rare poison, and then builds a container to deliver it to the Federal Building where the old ADA now works. Okay....I guess just shooting the prosecutor was not in the cards. Sounds like the guards at that prison were somewhat less than competent, if they never saw a 1' drone flying around the complex. And inmate Campos picked the best spot in his cell to hide the terribly dangerous compound - the A/C duct! I loved it when Reddington pounced on Cooper by saying "You know more about Sanders than I do." Good old Red, 10 steps ahead. The thought occurred to me that he is playing another long con here, and grooming Dembe to take over the business after he's gone, with Agnes on line for the future. Start with chess; it develops that instinct.

Not in the writers' room.

Points to Jubal once again for his attaboy to the analyst: "You got a future in this business, kid."

It's pretty discouraging when the highlight of the episode (for me) was the snippet of a John Prine song. Bye Hank.

On top of all that, in real life inmates are rarely sent to the conservation camps with anything more than two years left before parole. What was Freddy doing while waiting in prison? There's plenty of jailhouse lawyers in the system, and even some access to programs outside to review a wrongful conviction.