[S13.E04: Sorry For Your Loss]

Okay, look, we get it. Kilbride thinks anyone younger than forty is basically a lazy a$$ with no motivation and expects participation trophies. 

That would all be fine and good if he were talking to a thirty year old who was sitting on the couch with a Nintendo controller in their hand and not a trained agent who's been in life-or-death situations.

Him looming over Fatima and talking to her like she stole a cookie, was totally demeaning

I have three words for you Kilbride: tone. it. down.

I appreciate what he did at the end, but can he not belittle before he does something nice?

[Season 1 Talk: Childhood Games Turn Deadly]

On 10/12/2021 at 12:30 PM, ctmd said:

so I've obsessively watched and read so many things about Squid Game after completing it, but have not seen a single message of the cop/frontman's exchange and why cop said "you know" when frontman asked why he couldn't come with him. Did I miss something that I was supposed to know? Or is it just the obvious "you know I can't let you not kill me when I now know you've killed hundreds of other people." 

This is why I'm convinced the cop isn't dead. We never got to the bottom of this mystery. They never cleared it up.

[S13.E03: Indentured]

I liked that they made the girlfriend against type, and didn't make her either meek and too scared to move or someone who eats nails and spits them out.

Was kind of shocked Kilbride just kind of let it slide with Sam going behind his back, but I guess he had to build up trust, and that's the way they chose to go about it.

 

[S13.E03: Indentured]

Sam and Kilbride clash when a case involving an arms dealer responsible for the slaughter of ATF agents leads them to a well-connected colonel and friend of Kilbride, accused of supplying militia groups with guns. Also, Kensi and Fatima go undercover at a rehab facility to question the arms dealer's girlfriend.

[S13.E02: Fukushu]

I  saw there wasn't at first, but it was while the show was still on. I'll make one if there still isn't one.

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:50 PM, Danielg342 said:

I'm not sure how often actors who are only recurring get articles announcing their departure from the series. I don't think I've ever seen one, except when that character was a "big bad" or a major part of a major arc (like a temporary love interest). Karen Street was never more than a part of a recurring subplot- the biggest part, yes, but it was still just a subplot. Don't think Karen ever had a huge part in any episode.

While searching, I found a ton of articles that she joined the show, so I figured it would be just as big news if she left.

She's still a pretty big name, and she was a major story arc for a major character. For her to end her arc offscreen with no real fanfare, seemed odd to me, so I figured there must be a story behind it.

And yes,  in terms of a show, it's much easier to take existing characters and throw them together. Unless you establish a relationship as the show starts, and that person is a regular, such as on Walker, Texas Ranger, where they're also super cool and a fan favorite, then it's pretty much a given that the two leads, if close in age, attractive, and single, will eventually become a couple.

On Bones it took forever,. Again, they followed the formula of each person getting into serious relationships, where the fans inherently hated the significant others, because it got in the way of the OTP. Everyone knows it's going there, so it just gets really annoying for them to have these awesome relationships with fantastic people you absolutely know are not going to stay around.

On The Mentalist, they had the awesome Pedro Pascal, and I was still like, "Can we get ON with it already?"

I think it would have been better if Streetlonso was already together when the show started, like Hondo was, and made Hondo completely single. Having Street Devastate Hicks' daughter like he did, wasn't a good look for him and made him unsympathetic. The jump to Christina was too soon after demoralizing a woman who did nothing but love him. The whole thing was botched in a big way.

[S04.E06 Laughter and Hope and a Sock in the Eye]

1 hour ago, bros402 said:

TIMOTHY OMUNDSON!! THIS EPISODE IS NOW AUTOMATICALLY THE BEST OF THE SEASON SO FAR

He makes everything infinitely better, doesn't he? He's a national treasure. Also, not that old. 

He was in Psych, Supernatural, and Lucifer. 

I really liked this story line, mainly because these two actors totally sold it.

It's weird, because with Sharpe wanting a baby so badly, I kept thinking her problems could be solved if she just got together with Max, and maybe it would be better if they did it while Luna was still a baby.

Now, I wonder how she would have functioned if she'd actually had a baby, as she's treating them like they're alien creatures and never even thought about having one of her own. It's like that whole story line existed in another universe/

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

11 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

Probably since there seems to be some determination from TPTB to push these two together?  I know people can have high stress jobs but they do have friends outside of their work place (heck I know firefighters).  They don't all just clump together with their own.  On TV apparently, no one can have an outside group of friends or loved ones.  It's just lazy and tired.

They've been pushing these two together since episode one.

The show has absolutely followed the WT/WT playbook by having both of them in serious relationships, with the other one being jealous, and then getting rid of said relationships, so the pathway is clear.

It's been more Street being all moony-eyed over Chris to the point he tossed his relationship out like yesterday's garbage on the off-chance she felt the same way.

They've telegraphed it, so it will happen.

Unfortunately, once a relationship becomes clear, anyone from the outside, no matter how awesome, becomes canon fodder.

They're playing that game on Magnum, P.I. right now.

It's exhausting, but every show that has two people on a team or become partners, etc., who are attractive and around the same age, are immediately set up for eventual partnership, but not before we go through the tiresome relationship dance.

Here's hoping we're on the last stage of this, where the only obstacle is the job.

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

I've checked to see if Sherilynn got a new gig, but I can't even find an article about her no longer being on the show, which is really odd.

19 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

It makes sense that the stress of losing his mother means he can no longer deal with the situation with Christina- which is already stressful to begin with. That could have been used as an explanation too.

 

3 hours ago, nittany cougar said:

I think that he was lashing out due to grief.  I think he was confused and was angry with his mom for OD'ing, and he was taking it out on Chris.

Literally any other explanation other than, "HOW DARE YOU come here and comfort me when I can't touch you!  would be acceptable for me.

I'm hoping that he apologizes in a future episode and that he says exactly this. It's understandable that he'd lash out at people. His mom is a complicated issue for him. So if he does a mea culpa, I will consider it done. 

I just wasn't happy with Chris looking sheepish, as if she'd done something wrong. She didn't.

 

[S13.E02: Fukushu]

I don't really buy into pithy sayings as anything people should live by. Some of these sayings are attributed to companies that merely say they support certain communities. I take things on a case-by-case basis.

I think it's fine if these shows want to tackle some real-world problems, but I do agree that it can be given a lighter touch. We don't need to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer in the dialogue. Let the story tell the story. Let it breathe. We're intelligent enough to get the point without long, drawn-out speeches. 

The son throwing away his entire career was ridiculous. Those statements could have been gotten in a much more humorous way, with the rest of the team in on it. 

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

It goes with the problem I'm having with S5 in general. @Sweet Tooth, you have far more trust in the writers than I do, because I side with @milkyaqua that it sure feels like the writers are making things up as they go along. Nothing at all feels "natural" or "organic" about how these stories are playing out in S5. I'm not really seeing a "grand story" here- I fear the show will deal with Sanchez, put Hondo back in charge and then go back to the Cases of the Week.

I guess only time will tell. It seems to me that "The Mayor" is Chehov's g*n. He has to go off some time.

I can't see them removing Sanchez and thinking they've solved the problem, when they know it's systemic. I mean, they could still find a reason to keep Hondo down and just put another Sanchez in there. Sanchez made it clear Hicks has no power to stop this train that's already left the station. It seemed pretty clear that Sanchez's bravado came from knowing he had support from on high, and I can't see them giving up that easily unless forced.

Deacis trying to change the system from the training stage, which is a really good start. 

I'm hoping my faith will be rewarded, because if they make Sanchez the problem, they really are bad at this and don't understand storytelling at all.

I really hope I don't have to eat my hat on this one.

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Street could have also told Christina that the two of them need to figure out where "the line" is between them being friends and them being in a relationship, "but that time isn't now and I'd like our relationship to be simply be cordial and professional for the next little while".

YES! If Street had put the blame on himself and said, "Look, I understand you're here as a friend, but I'm all confused right now, and I have to figure out how I'm going to be around you, while knowing we can't be together," that would have been fine.

Putting the blame on her for merely being there was a pretty rotten thing to do. She didn't come on to him. She didn't touch him. She came there as a friend he regularly confided in. I mean, if she could handle it, why can't he? 

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

On 10/23/2021 at 3:14 PM, mythoughtis said:

I wish every episode didn’t have such clunky dialogue that’s always a long long  comment about some social issue.   I feel like I’m constantly getting lectured  when I’m not In positions  to do anything about the topic. The testing standard was this weeks. The price of insulin too. Although I did like how they got the Sentinel app reward money to go to the mom for insulin for her daughter

I agree that the clunky dialogue is undermining what are good messages. It's a very tell, don't show moment. It's like they get their point across with the story line but then act like we're not smart enough to pick up the message.

These are all real issues, and they can address them without going, "Hey do you know the price of insulin?" "NO! What  is it?" "Well, it's up to $300 a bottle!" "You don't say!"

Danny feeling like he had no other choice but to resort to these extreme measures, was understood. 

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

2 hours ago, Evagirl said:

What you said.  I work for a police agency (in a civilian capacity).  We had our first female try-out for the K-9 Unit.  All of the females (sworn and non-sworn) were pulling for her.  But when it came time to lift the dog over a fence during the try-out, she couldn't do it.  I know on TV they show dogs leaping over fences, but often when officers are in a foot pursuit, the dog doesn't have enough room to make the leap, so the officer has to lift the dog over the fence.  Our candidate just didn't have the upper body strength to do it.  A lot of female officers got upset, saying it was rigged against women blah, blah, blah.  However, being able to lift a dog over a fence is part of the actual job.  There is no way around it.

This makes sense, as she was being trained for what would actually happen in her job. She absolutely needed to get that dog over the fence, I agree, because it might be required of her at some point. If she can't do it, then she should not be accepted.

But in this case, we're talking about apples and oranges.

At first I was on the, "Well, no. You don't want two sets of standards" thing. But then they explained that the exercises, and that's all they were...exercises...were specifically geared toward men. It had absolutely nothing to do with what would be required of them in the line of duty. Chris suggested weight-lifting, etc., which would much better show that they're able to lift people, etc., in the line of duty.

Deacon even brought it up, and Chris asked if he ever had to challenge a suspect to a set of push-ups. 

Certainly if you need to figure out stamina, etc., you can figure out alternate ways to do it. They do not need to do push-ups in their job.

9 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Durham's story also set in motion the chain of events that led to the intriguing narrative of Hondo getting demoted and paying the price for doing what he felt was right.

This has to be setting up a chain of events.

As Sanchez stated, he's merely a tool of the brass. They're the ones pulling the strings. He even said that if it wasn't him, it would be someone else.

The reason Sanchez is so one-dimensional is because he's merely a tool, a symbol of how broken down the whole system is. 

This is also going to set in motion a much bigger domino effect, which I feel they were setting up from the moment the whole racist cop story first appeared.

They're trying to show that it's not one or two bad apples. That the problem is from the top down. Getting rid of a couple of racist cops isn't going to change the system. Even Hondo making it public offered no change to the actual system that created the racist cops.

So, yes, I feel the Sanchez story fits into a much bigger picture, and that he's purposely a throwaway character, because it's not just going to be Sanchez taken down, as again, he's a symptom of the problem, but rather the whole system being shaken up.

[S13.E01: Subject 17]

Holy crap, was this the "EVERYONE'S annoying now" episode? 

I think the only person I still liked was Sam.

I loved Kensi and Deeks, but I don't want to hear the word pregnancy again.

I thought we were done with Callen's past. But him demanding answers like a pampered little schoolboy had me grinding my teeth.

Joelle can die yesterday. But Sam throwing her into the water was awesome.

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

58 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Sanchez doesn’t know that Luca and Deacon knew about his mission. The question now… how is he going to “poison” the rest of the team and turn them against Hondo under the disguise of “leadership”?

Judging by the preview for next week's episode, Sanchez is going to use the team's loyalty to Hondo against him. 

As we've seen with Hicks, he's not interested in hiding anymore and trying to make friends. He's glad he's out in the open, so now he can be as blatantly evil as he wants to be.

My guess is that this reveal happened so early for this very purpose. He doesn't care who knows, because he has the brass behind him, so he feels he can say and do anything at this point. I mean, Hicks told him he wouldn't sign off on anything, and Sanchez was like, "Yeah, that doesn't matter." 

I think they're setting him up for his hubris to cause him to fail. 

[S05.E04: Sentinel]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Honestly, since the show is married to the Sanchez storyline, I would have preferred that the show at least play the storyline different.

Have the mole gain respect for the underling he's trying to get fired and make him realize the error of his ways. Yeah, it's the same kind of story Criminal Minds did with Emily Prentiss and was largely done so that Prentiss could stick around as a main cast member, but it at least brought a different kind of take of how stories involving a mole usually go.

I think Prentiss was on board to sabotage Hotch because of what she was told about him mishandling things. She was told he wasn't good at his job and was put there as more of a spy, feeding information to the higher-ups about how Hotch was screwing things up. This left room for her to realize Hotch was in fact good at his job and did not deserve this kind of treatment.

Sanchez is much more devious. He's been sent there to punish Hondo and force him to quit. 

Like I said last week, Sanchez didn't rise through the ranks because he's a team player who is loyal to SWAT and wants to make sure it's run right. He's a tool and absolutely doesn't mind being one. The man has no shame or principles. He's in there to purposely sabotage one man, and one man only. To make his life miserable and trip him up, and it has nothing to do with how Hondo does his job, which the higher-ups never had a problem with. It has to do with them having egg on their face.  

Hondo brought up the racism issue, and Sanchez basically laughed it off and mocked Hondo for it. 

I think Hondo acted exactly as expected in the final hostage situation. He saw Danny's face and could tell this wasn't a man serious about killing that dude. He was scared. He wasn't a guy ripping off Brinks trucks. He was trying to get insulin for his little girl. He wasn't doing it the right way, certainly. But in the end, his intentions were good.

Hondo sized up the situation and knew he could talk Danny down. After the earlier experience where he was trying to figure out what was going on before Sanchez ordered the tear gas (and as stated, this was something they could get in big trouble for), he was trying to avoid always using force, which is totally the way Hondo does things.

I got mad at Street saying, "What are you doing here?" to Chris, as if merely being his friend, which she has been to this point, isn't enough. She went there to help him out and comfort him, and he's like, "If I can't have sex with you, what's the use of you hanging around me?" Put it in your pants for a second, dude. I hated that Chris kind of hung her head rather than reminding him they had a pretty killer friendship before he decided to throw away his relationship and make her his one and only twu wuv. 

I liked that both Chris and Hondo apologized for having their heads up their butts for a while and are now thinking about other people. 

 

[S04.E04: Red Hot]

I'm definitely suspicious of Bailey based on their meeting and her insistence on trading war stories. I think showing her fighting skills might be a clue as well. Like because of that and how she's a firefighter, she's able to handle dudes way bigger than she is.

The whole relationship seems weird. 

[S05.E03: 27 David]

10 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I'll agree this will be worth it if it involves shaking up the LAPD, if not City Council. Of course, in that case, I'd like it if the show cast some characters to play the Mayor and other power brokers whom Hondo will take down. It'll be no fun taking down the Empire if we don't see the Emperor fall from grace.

That is true. I hadn't thought of it that way. 

Yes, the mayor, etc., are just this faceless, evil blob, orchestrating things behind the scenes.

I know sometimes people talk about the monster before you see it, to sort of drum them up, but he's literally just "the mayor." He might even be Mayor McCheese. We don't know!

[S05.E02: Madrugada (2)]

26 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I assumed when the episode aired that Deacon assumed the role of 20-David because, in order for 20-Squad to remain, they would have needed a Sargent to lead them and Deacon was the only one. They made no indication that someone else was coming in take charge of the team.

I can see where that assumption could be made. It was all a bit ambiguous. 

[S05.E03: 27 David]

2 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I get that. I'm just tired of these one-time characters whose only job on the show is to get their comeuppance and do little else. I've lost my interest in these kinds of characters.

I'd rather have Deacon be in charge of 20-Squad and see how he deals with Hondo because I know and care about both characters as opposed to having to slog through watching a character whose essentially a plot device I couldn't care less about.

Sorry if it didn't seem that way, but like I said, I totally agreed with your assessment.

He is a plot device. If he has some long-lasting impact, like the team becoming more cohesive, then maybe he will have served his purpose. I guess they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, because Deac just isn't the guy who would take Hondo's position under those circumstances, especially since he feels that Hondo stuck his neck out, while he ran back for safety. It was a tricky hole to fall into.

Perhaps this will lead to an entire shakeup of the LAPD hierarchy.

5 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I get that companies hire "moles" all the time. One of my workplaces had one of those types. He only lasted a day but he was there.

I just don't know how realistic Sanchez's career trajectory is. He went from SWAT, a team position, to the Mayor's detail, which, I presume, is another team position. He was also a long time police officer, another team position. How long can someone who is not a team player be in team positions, especially one where the concept is as crucial as it is on SWAT?

Sanchez might have worked better if he was hired in Cortez's old position and had a career where he managed security companies, perhaps even one that the Mayor used. I'm not sure I would have liked the character any better, though.

Again, I don't think they hired Sanchez for his "team player" skills but rather his ability to brown nose himself up the food chain. If they valued team players and admired those whose team looked up to him, they would have brushed aside what Hondo did. But I think what they're trying to say is that they value someone who is a good little soldier and will follow orders no matter what. That's what they want. 

Kiss-ups can last quite a while. I've seen it happen. Like I said, he has an artificial charm. They can send him out to shmooze and talk to the public and know  he'll toe the party line and lie if he has to, in order to make the department look good.

I think the higher-ups are making  it quite clear they'd rather have one Sanchez than a hundred Hondos. 

They definitely did not want the audience to like him. He seemed opportunistic even before we knew what he was up to. He was condescending to the guys who just have to take it at this point. 

Perhaps the problem is that he's a mustache-twirling villain. Maybe if he'd been an old member of the gang who was well-respected and actually did a good job, that might have created some conflict as well. 

But I presume the show decided to go in this direction so that this blows up into something much bigger, like I said, where people at the top come tumbling down. This will probably be how Hondo gets his job back. A change at the top of the food chain.

[S05.E03: 27 David]

On 10/15/2021 at 7:28 PM, Danielg342 said:

We all know that Sanchez is going to be exposed and, through some machinations, Hondo gets to be team leader again.

Could not agree more. This is exactly the way it has to happen. There is no other solution.

We weren't supposed to like Sanchez right off the bat. He has the kind of artificial charm that just oozes insincerity.

I'm really glad they didn't just put Luca as the boy who cried wolf and that we don't have to guess what Sanchez is up to.

But I just knew that there was no way Deac would accept command without talking to Hondo first. It's absolutely not his style. Glad to see I was correct ant that he wouldn't feel right getting the job this way. 

I really liked that Hondo is getting some positive feedback for what he did. 

On 10/15/2021 at 7:28 PM, Danielg342 said:

There's absolutely no way that a guy like Sanchez would move up the ranks of the LAPD, let alone be in a position to rank high enough to become SWAT leader.

It sounds like they just want him to play the role of SWAT leader and not actually be one. As the woman said, his sole purpose is to get Hondo to quit. He wasn't hired for his ability to be a team player.

He is a brown-noser, and it seems the higher ups aren't interested in someone who plays nice with others. They want someone who will toe the line and not cause trouble, and Sanchez obviously does that well. He takes his orders and follows them up. He doesn't even hesitate to take down a former team member. He wasn't hired by Hicks. He was put there by the very people trying to get Hondo removed.

 

[S05.E02: Madrugada (2)]

On 10/8/2021 at 6:37 PM, Danielg342 said:

Not sure how the town's police chief could overlook that, especially when Charles said, in the last episode, that the chief would never look the other way over murder.

To be fair, he said that before he became disillusioned with his boss when he brought him the hammer that killed the dad, and he was like, "So what?" And basically he only did the right thing at the end to save face, not because it was the right thing to do. Charles thought he wasn't corrupt and then found out how wrong he was.

That chief was so corrupt, that once the big cheese lost all his power, he didn't care who did what. His officer could say he killed the kid, and the chief would be like, "Okay."

I didn't see the chief caring much about anything except looking good, so that was a handwave for me.

On 10/8/2021 at 6:37 PM, Danielg342 said:

Oh, and four, Deacon calling back to the episode where Hondo stood up for Hicks was a fantastic reminder to Hicks not to be so smug about his own job.

That was an excellent moment. he really was patting himself on the back there, before Deacon put him in his place. Deacon really is the parent of everyone, scolding those who need to be scolded. 

On 10/8/2021 at 6:37 PM, Danielg342 said:

It feels like a great disservice for the talk Deacon and Hondo had to occur off-screen. That's too important a narrative point to wave off.

I didn't get the feeling they talked. Deacon was just about to hand out the new assignments and was going on about what Hondo WOULD say. He seemed just as surprised as everyone else. 

On 10/8/2021 at 6:37 PM, Danielg342 said:

...and I guess "Streelonso" is a thing now. Oh well.

Like we ever had a doubt. We'll see what happens now that they know they're staying on the same team.

Sorry. Was away for a bit and was catching up on the episodes.

[S04.E01: Life And Death]

10 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Her puppy will move in with her, and she'll become even more codependent than she already is.

It's like you're psychic...

[S04.E01: Life And Death]

55 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

...unless said show kills off half of that devoted couple, which did happen in the premiere season of Chicago Fire (which I have LONG since abandoned), so the woman pining for the guy no longer had competition. (Of course they did get together - and didn't last, either, because the actress later left the show.

I've heard about this show and the utter disaster they made it into, completely ruining characters, etc., which is why I've stayed away, even though it had Jesse Spencer.

SPOILER ALERT FOR NEW AMSTERDAM: 

They killed off the lead guy's wife, but nobody really liked her, and pretty much everyone wanted him with his co-worker, so that worked out. They'd always planned on killing her off from the beginning, which helped. Also that these two had ZERO chemistry. If she'd played his sister, it would have been more believable.

1 hour ago, CooperTV said:

The biggest advantage this potential romance has in terms of the writing (that on this show could be quite mediocre) is that they have legitimate reasons not to get together. The drama could be more or less solid, if the writers go there eventually.

Unlike the writers from the show Manifest who manage create melodrama out of thin air to keep their god-forsaken triangle of doom going.

Manufactured melodrama makes me run from shows. I didn't tune in to watch a soap opera.

They definitely have legit reasons not to get together, and the drama would be real. I mean, though Tim has come a loooong way, he still has the ex-wife baggage that who knows how much it messed him up in terms of a relationship. 

They both have some baggage, above and beyond the whole dating your superior thing. 

It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out.

[S04.E01: Life And Death]

There are many shows where two extremely attractive people develop a buddy/buddy, brother/sister-type relationship. On Walker, Texas Ranger, they gave his adorable female partner a smoking-hot boyfriend she's crazy about and is friends with the gang.  

This is not the pattern they're following here.

Usually if they show at least one person in a solid, loving relationship right off the bat, they won't go there. 

However, once they start with the almost-kissing and ramping up the sexual tension, it usually follows a certain pattern. One or both of them get into a semi-serious relationship. Check. Then something happens to separate them. Check. Dance....dance...dance. Check. And just when everyone can't stand it anymore, they get together.

One of the smoothest transition from buddies to sexual tension to loving relationship I've seen is Kensi/Deeks on NCIS: LA. They have real relationship drama that normal people go through, but you always know they love each other and will work their way through it. I wish more shows would understand you don't have to manufacture drama in a relationship, because it gets exhausting for the viewer. 

I'm hoping if Bradford/Chen happens, it's not the exhausting kind of relationship. We'll see.