Mars477

This episode was so goddamn dumb. Why would the veteran hired guns choose death/suicide over capture? What was the point of the monster truck scene? Why did neither the second hitter or Steve or Quinn bring long guns to the third mobster’s house? Why the Christ would any mob loan shark use a car bomb to punish someone for nonpayment when that is perhaps the one thing that can bring the full weight of the US government down on your podunk little operation, especially in 2004 during the height of the Global War on Terror? It did get Katrina Law on side, though, so it did what it had to do. The writing for her was pretty dumb (aforementioned monster truck scene, the armed standoffs) but the characterization could work out down the line. And props to a network show for not actually killing a regular character that was leaving I suppose. Sure Chin and Kono both survived, but could you imagine the backlash the showrunners would’ve faced if they killed off the show’s two Asian main characters because the studio kept mistaking Scott Caan for a leading man?

I grew up around Boston, so I know the chorus. It’s an ear worm.

Stumptown (the comic that is the source material for the series) is pretty heavily influenced by the Rockford Files. Also I don’t understand objections to the fight scene. She loses the first time due to being cold cocked and, while she can put up a fight her impairment and disadvantages in numbers and mass prove insurmountable. She only wins by using the environment to her advantage (even small fire extinguishers are made of metal and can pack a wallop) and separating the thugs so she can deal with only one opponent at a time. She isn’t knocking people out by her fists or anything like that. I genuinely don’t understand people who think women are dainty waifs liable to fall over to a slight breeze. As for the nascent love triangle I like that show Grey is less wrapped around Dex’s finger and more able to stand up for himself than comic Grey is. Comic Dex kind of strings Grey along so he’ll do her favors while in the show it doesn’t seem like Dex is taking advantage of their friendship and Grey’s feelings for her to the same extent.

"Dex" is short for "Dexedrine". In the comics her mom was a hippy. And any number of your gripes are just as flawed (like, you've never seen a mob flick or any media where a kidnapee is transported to a secondary location to be killed?) Anyways I finally watched this on Amazon. I may be biased because I read the comics way back when but I thought it was really good. Cobie Smulders is able to blend intensity with her normally flippant affect very well. I thought the actress who played Sue-Lynn was also pretty great. Introducing the shared backstory between them with Benny was a nice touch, and I imagine she'll play a bigger role in the series. And Jake Johnson's Grey seems like he can hold his own better. Kinda bummed that they turned Detective Tracy Hoffman of the PPD (who may or may not have had a history with Dex) into Detective Michael Hoffman, but then again Michael Ealy acquits himself well in the role. And judging from the trailer for the next episode making her a beginner PI instead of a veteran was done to open up story options (and bring in Donal Logue, which is exciting).

There are a lot more depictions of male veterans dealing with PTSD in media than there are with female veterans, so this is unlikely.

Honesty I was disappointed that the big threat this ep was yet another Muslim terrorist.

So the writers are too dumb to know that Cleopatra was Greek and not Egyptian.

AZ-5 was the emergency shutdown. You better hope there’s an equivalent button haha.

A Middle Eastern person, be the main character? Surely you jest!

I don’t know why I expected historical accuracy, or even authenticity, from this show, but this was pretty awful even for Hollywood. Why did the writers think that Cleopatra was Egyptian, or that she would be entombed in a pyramid? The last pyramids in Egypt were built over a millennia and a half before she came to power. And the Ptolemies were Greek, not Egyptian, with Ptolemy I being one of Alexander the Great’s generals who created a successor state in Egypt and the Levant upon Alexander’s death. It’s like the only thing the writers know about Egypt is the story of Exodus bullshit and not a history that spanned three millennia.

The real Legasov had a wife and son, so them. If you listen to the companion podcast (also called Chernobyl) the writer/showrunner basically says that they didn’t include his family because they didn’t add anything to the story.

Kind of a bummer that they made Dex’s friend on the force that she has a romantic entanglement/history with a guy. She’s a woman in the comics, and Dex is bisexual.

This show looks like ass, but I’m getting so much joy out of seeing the Military/Veteran twitter accounts I follow slagging it endlessly.

It bugs the hell out of me that American operatives like Will have codenames, especially unwieldy ones like "Whiskey Cavalier". As I understand it codenames are for agents (as in the enemy agents that are subverted by friendly intelligence personnel and turned into sources). If Will were working as a nonofficial/illegal officer he might use a pseudonym (that isn't as unwieldy as "Whiskey Cavalier") and if he communicating tactically over comms he'd use a callsign (that is... short). Yeah, this is why I couldn't hack it through Covert Affairs. Really the only reason I have to watch this is that Lauren Cohan is extremely pretty and I liked her in the first few seasons of TWD that I watched. And yeah, the whole "FBI overseas" thing is dumb. FBI agents may be involved in investigating crimes against Americans overseas (see the FBI team sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist bombing on a military base that formed the premise for the movie "The Kingdom") but they're not going to be there doing counterterrorism in allied countries that have their own counterterror forces. And there's no way in hell they would be doing counterterrorism without working under local leadership (although that would open a pathway for our rugged white American hero to come into contact with a serious but sexy French DGSI officer). A better alternative to the FBI vs CIA dynamic with both American leads would be to make both Frankie and Will CIA, but have one of them be Special Activities Division and so playing outside the rules. Probably Will, since he's the cowboy.

I’m watching Season 1 of Flashpoint again (before it got kinda Hollywood) and it’s crazy how much better it is than SWAT. Not everything is shootouts and explosions, and I really like that the SRU is activated when called in by first responders instead of being first responders.

CIA officers are still trained to use firearms, so she should know how to perform a press check on an unfamiliar firearm to verify that it’s loaded.

This show is into its sixth season. Both white boys have gotten multiple love interests, including regular cast members. Also, love the dog whistling. Nothing like calling people angry about cops beating and murdering black people simply for existing “obsessed with race”.

Gotta love how, since Ruzek and Halstead are the pretty white boys, they’re the ones getting all of the love interests. Guess the Blue Lives Matter crowd isn’t interested in seeing a black man get some action.

One huge misstep they made (alongside all of the other missteps) is that they made Magnum and company elites when there's nothing about their behavior that suggests they were elites. Magnum certainly doesn't behave like a SEAL or any other kind of elite special ops badass. They could have made him just a generic Navy guy, like a Master at Arms (Navy MP), and not have him appear poorly when contrasted with the likes of McGarrett from Hawaii 5-0 come the inevitable crossover. Even Burn Notice, which was pretty comedic, had the protagonist very dryly sarcastic instead of being a smarmy joker.

It's pretty common in terrorist bombings for additional bombs to be placed around the target site that are timed to cause maximum casualties among first responders. The US has even "borrowed" that tactic by firing missiles at the rescuers who flock to the sites of drone strikes. It just shows that she has experience working in Counterterrorism. As someone who quit Rookie Blue due to not being able to stand all of the relationship drama, I like how professional and competent the characters here are. I feel like more media could stand to go the "Competent professionals" route instead of turning everyone into a 5 alarm fire of personal baggage like certain shows out there (ahem SVU).

You really don't see why Ukrainians would want to help people who are sticking it to the Russians, huh?

Some of the military peeps that I follow on Twitter were snarking about the trailers for this one. Like, "I don't care how much valor she has, she needs to police up that hair!"

Cassie the CIA Officer (thank you show for getting this straight) was pretty cool. She had some moves, so good on the trainer and choreography team. I agree that the team calling Dalton "Top" is annoying and unrealistic. I don't know why he needs to be an officer in the first place, since senior NCOs can easily lead small teams. Some of the action and motion scenes felt a bit wonky, but I may just be spoiled (by Strike Back). There were bits that felt considerably more Network than the pilot, but then again the pilot had more "spooks" and less "troops". Let me second whoever said that they don't want anything to do with Dalton/Jaz. Hello no, he's her CO. And they have more of a big brother/little sister vibe anyways (commander/subordinate notwithstanding). The controller team still has yet to make a real impact on me, but it looks like the next episode is going to be all about Hannah's backstory.

Incirlik has a massive US presence (it would be awkward if relations between the US and Turkey deteriorated badly IRL and we got kicked out of the air base), so I'm sure there's an airman or two who knows to keep an eye out for the dog.

It's a good thing nobody's being presented as a rebel/loose cannon type, then?