Danielg342

Was Commander Hicks referencing Criminal Minds, specifically "In Plain Sight" (CM S01.E04)? That was when Spencer Reid told Hondo Derek Morgan, "we're really looking for a needle in a bunch of needles (because) a needle would stick out in a haystack". Meta jokes aside, we had a middling return from the winter finale, where, once again, we had the ingredients for a good episode but we were left with a concoction that is more befuddling than satisfying. To be fair, there were some great moments, like seeing Emerson Brooks (Doubs) again, the moment at the end with Powell and Neesy, and Trey Williams' story (and Hondo eventually becoming a father figure for him), plus the old guy at the end coming through for Hondo. There also were times when the tension rang true and the pacing was great. ...but... Like a lot of episodes of late, the writers seem to just jam too much into one episode and hope it works. Maybe the show's one-too-many brushes with cancellation is catching up to the writers, because they're getting too afraid of not being able to tell the stories they want to tell, which is why they jam too many of them into one episode. As much as I like Neesy and Doubs, those stories could have been episodes of their own, as could a broader episode be made about SWAT Academy. I'm not really sure the Tan-Deacon drama is a great narrative choice, but if they were going to do something with that story, then do something with it instead of just tying it off with a few lines. ...and no, Tan and Deacon don't have to be at each other's throats...but seeing Tan navigate the Academy, Doubs' training and seeing Deacon help Tan out (because Deacon probably would in Tan's first go-around with the Academy) could have been a great story to follow. I grant we still may get that story, but it's important that we give it it's proper due and not just give it a few lines per episode. This show may still have some legs left in it, but to utilize them it needs to start having a better direction- and not run around all over the place aimlessly like they have been doing.

"Are we digging our own graves?" Is that the show's characters talking, or is it the writers talking about the show? I can't quite figure it out. Maybe it was the slow pacing. Maybe it was the fact the story went in many different directions all at once. Maybe it was all the bad CGI that was used to recreate the Chezem Valley fire. Or maybe it was Gabriella's Emmy-baiting scene in a cringeworthy performance. I don't know. I mean, I will say this episode wasn't completely a trainwreck, because there was some nice touching moments between father and daughter in Eve and her dad, the brief moment between Vince and Bode and the long overdue moment between Manny and Gabby. ...but...this episode was a real slog. Kind of like a lot of Fire Country episodes of late. Now, a word about Gabby. I did some thinking...though it's easy to blame the actress, the problem isn't really with Stephanie Arcilla. No, Arcilla is simply doing what she is told, and she's selling the heck of what she is doing. The problem is how she's being directed. See, either the writers or the directors- or both- are telling her that to perform her character properly, she needs to act like a whiny child...and Arcilla is doing that. In fact, she's going over and beyond...I mean, she's certainly noticeable, isn't she? The only thing I might say is that she's not seasoned enough as an actress to learn that there are times when you need to dial it down and not always go all out, but she'll learn that with experience. Of no doubt is that she certainly has the ability to be a great performer...the problem is the direction she's being told to project her performances. It's like Jake being the drill sergeant earlier this season. Jordan Calloway sold the performance extremely well and absolutely delivered on what the script called for him to do. Except that the script should never have gotten him to do that in the first place, because it was the wrong writing choice...but, that's not on Calloway, who can only portray the character that he's given. Why this rant? It goes back to a long recurring theme with this show in that the writers seem too content to force the characters into the narratives the writers want instead of taking what the actors and the stories give them and build from there. I'm not sure what the show would have looked like if they stuck to that principle but I sure know it would look a lot better than the mess they're left with now.

From The Futon Critic

From The Futon Critic

I could go on a rant and say "we don't have feminism in the West. We have a patriarchal, performative version of 'feminism' that pays lip service to women all while simply being a tool for powerful men to keep their power and to continually hold back women and lesser men", but I'm not sure that's appropriate for this thread. Honestly, I watch the video and think- after I cut out the obvious emotional elements- that maybe I'm some kind of an outlier. I'm not sure the "general consensus" is that Blake Lively is wrong and Justin Baldoni is right. Because I think it sure is the opposite. Look. Lively is no Hollywood neophyte, and if there's anyone who could definitely give her pointers about building and maintaining a positive image it's her husband, Ryan Reynolds. So Lively's not going to be the type to bring forth some frivolous lawsuit on some flimsy premise- there has to be very much a kernel of truth in what she is saying. Now, of course, I'll reserve full judgement until the case is finally resolved, which may not be for years yet, given how tangled a mess this lawsuit is shaping up to be. That said, I'd have to wholeheartedly disagree with this video creator's assertion that no one will believe Lively even if a court of law rules in her favour...because I will, for whatever that is worth.

Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just posting what I found. I still think there will be a lot of details that will still emerge and, whatever you think of Amanda Palmer, her reason for silence on this matter is still reasonable.

Take it for what it's worth but Amanda Palmer on her Instagram page posted that because the divorce process is still going, she can't comment publicly at this time. I wonder if she was trying to get ahead of the Vulture piece.

Maybe it's just me (in more ways than one), but I did dream of having sex with my favourite celebrities when I was 13 (I still do...). I think the difference between then and now is that, at 13, I would dream of an idealized version of love and sex and not really understand the realities. It's the perfect opportunity for a predator because a predator would be able to talk a naive youngster out of their insecurities and into having sex they don't want because the youngster is dealing with feelings and emotions in the moment they still don't yet understand or grasp and likely won't until they're older.

I'm not sure that, in the '70s, "no one cared"- it was more like underage relationships were easier to hide and that people were less sensitive towards them because we didn't yet understand the true impacts those relationships would have on those involved. Heck, I'm sure even today people like Diddy, Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Jeff Epstein, et all believed they were "above the law" because they wielded so much power and influence. They weren't the first and, sadly, they won't be the last. The only real difference between today and the '60s and '70s (and before) is that today we have better avenues for survivors to come forward (with social media) and we have a better understanding of the physiological and psychological damages that these kinds of relationships bring. As far as Diddy was concerned, running unregulated parties meant he had a lot of leeway. I'm sure many girls got in who were under 18 but looked older, or Diddy and/or others running the party thought they were too good looking to care that they were not 18. "You say you're 18? Come on in, then!" There probably were controls- or there were supposed to be controls- that would nominally prevent underage people from getting into Diddy's parties, but I'm sure a well-placed bribe, a real convincing act or just simply Diddy making a decision meant there likely were plenty of exceptions. Yeah...not that it excuses anything that happens to them, but I could see a lot of underage girls as being very naïve. I knew a girl in high school who really, honestly, believed she was going to marry Nick Carter (I still think she does). I'm sure there are other 14-year-old and 15-year-old girls that dream of falling in love or merely having sex with Harry Styles or Ed Sheeran. The girl at the centre of the Jay-Z allegations likely thought, "wouldn't it be so cool to get into one of Puffy's parties?" and she talked the doorman into letting her in. What happens in these situations is that, once they're actually experiencing their "dream" situation, they either realize the situation wasn't the dream they thought it would be or they get so caught up in the moment that they may not realize until years later that they've been taken advantage of. There may be a tiny few that really do have a great experience, but they're probably not going to make allegations years later.

I get what you are saying about the cynicism aspect. It can be hard to stomach all this poor quality and wonder if there's any way out. Maybe it's just the optimist in me, but I think there may be a way. I mean, maybe we'll never see a show get to the literal heights of something like Dallas or Seinfeld but we can still get something nearly as culturally dominant. If Hollywood wants such a show- and I believe they will- they'll eventually have to wake up to the fact what they're producing just hasn't been good enough. Hollywood has "played it safe" for too long. They're either trying too hard to be "edgy" (learning the wrong lesson from off-broadcast shows that have generated buzz, like Game of Thrones) or they're doubling down on tropes that have worked before in the hopes they'll work again (Fire Country). At some point, Hollywood will realize that the only way those "buzzworthy" moments work are with stories and characters the audience actually cares about.

There's two ways to look at its ratings. One, yes, in terms of where it stands among all the TV shows on air, Fire Country does do better ratings that most TV shows. However, TV ratings themselves- particularly on broadcast TV- have experienced a substantial freefall over the past few decades. In 1991, the 30th ranked TV show in terms of overall viewers (The Wonder Years) drew 14 million views. In 2001, #30 (a three-way tie) drew 8.6 million viewers. In 2011, the #30 number fell to 6.9. In 2023, the #30 number was 5.94 million viewers. Further, as recently as 20 years ago, you'd have the top 20 TV shows drawing at least 10 million viewers. Last season, only one scripted TV show (Tracker) accomplished that feat. The 18-49 ratings (the ones TV networks really care about) are even worse. In 2011, 130 shows scored a 1.0 or better. Last season? Only three, and none were a scripted TV show. Now, there are plenty of reasons why ratings are down, and the actual numbers and what they mean are debated. However, I truly think the TV landscape, especially in Hollywood, lacks that truly "buzzworthy" appeal. I remember, when I talked about the end of The Blacklist that Hollywood has seemed to move on entirely from making shows that have broad, mass appeal. FBI and Fire Country seem to be attempts to buck that trend (FC is going to get its own spinoff for the 2025-26 season in Sheriff Country), but I don't know how well it's working. Not sure how many people gather around the water cooler and talk about Bodiella...let alone can pick Max Thieriot out of a police lineup. Another point about FC's strong ratings is that its Reddit community, which is far more active than these boards, is tearing the show to shreds. Now, I know Reddit might not be representative of FC's total audience, but to see a place where many comment and they all say the same thing tells me something about where the overall audience reaction to the show may actually be. If these boards and Reddit hate the show, maybe it's not doing as strong as it thinks it is. Personally, I try not to dwell too much on how individual shows are doing. All TV shows inevitably decline, and FC is no exception. Plus, given Hollywood's recent struggles with scripted TV (and movies, for that matter), it seems like they have bigger concerns that the quality of an individual series.

I really don't understand why shows rely on soap opera plots. Nightmate S.W.A.T. is doing the same thing and it's dragging that show down too. I get that characters are what drive a show, but I say leave the soap opera plots for the soap operas, because they can better handle those plots and better develop them. Character drama for "shock value" has never worked, especially on shows that are not designed for them.

This is part of the problem with litigating cases after so much time has passed- memories fade, and memories become garbled. Trauma can exacerbate these effects. The sad truth is, she may have been really assaulted that night but because so much time has passed, her memories of the event may have become so distorted that she has messed up or maybe even outright forgotten many of the actual details. I'm not sure Diddy's parties would be so rigid with their security systems. They likely had doormen, there may have been a list of people who were actually invited to attend the party, but I'm sure- because his parties were unregulated events- that if there was someone Diddy or one of Diddy's trusted associates wanted inside the party, they could be brought in. This could include a woman who may look 18 even though she's actually 13, because she could be brought in and all they may care about is her word that she's of age.

I like this idea and I believe you're correct in your interpretation. I just feel that, if we're supposed to have this interpretation as an explanation for Bode's heroic recklessness, the show should better explain and establish this. This episode had a perfect opportunity when Bode could have had a picture of Riley in his firefighter hat instead of a picture of his entire family (though that picture may have had all four of them). I also feel like the show's "Flanderized" Bode in this way, in that now his entire character is about him being recklessly heroic. Now, I'm not sure how well developed Bode was before and Bode having one identifiable trait seems more than most characters on this show, but it does feel like Bode does nothing else except trying to be a hero. Gabriella, too, seems to be similarly reduced to simply being the whiny, petulant child. She doesn't seem to do much else any more now. The show doing this is not a good sign, especially because- rarely- is there any way back.

There'd be no drama either. He's a producer on this show and the main character...unless there's something big we don't know about with Shemar Moore, there's no way Hondo is leaving the series.

Would it actually be safe, with the fires burning around you, to stick your head out of the water from time to time?

Another addendum: Perhaps any of our resident firefighters can clarify this for me, but ChatGPT told me that it is, in fact, legal for firefighters to break a car's window to fit a fire hose to a hydrant or make any other modifications to a car if there's an emergency and the car is obstructing the fire hydrant. Evidently, too, Cal Fire and the state are exempt from liability in this case. Stealing the car's gas...that might be harder to defend, though perhaps Gabs could argue (or should have argued to Jake) that her stealing gas allowed someone else to evacuate.

I'm not sure it's exactly the same comparison because De'Vondre Campbell had been on the bench and refused an order to go out and play whereas Gabriella was already out on the field, let her emotions get the better of her and walked away, but I'd agree it's equally as unprofessional. If Gabs isn't dead to start the second half of the season she should be reprimanded severely by Cal Fire for what she did.

Beyonce says she met Jay-Z- who is 12 years older than her- when she was 18, which was in 2000. Beyonce says, further, they didn't start dating until she was 19, in 2001. These allegations stem from the 2000 MTV Awards, which aired on September 7, 2000. So, according to the timeline, Jay-Z was not attached to Beyonce at that time. Make of that what you will. If Jay-Z actually committed the act, I wouldn't say he cheated on Beyonce (though I'm not sure that's really relevant given the grievous nature of the act in question).

Oh no! There's a hit on someone from 20-Squad! Who will it be? Tune in...next time! In January, when the series comes back! Uh...um... Different Bat time! (Friday, 10PM) ...but... Same Bat Channel! *sigh* Has S.W.A.T. passed into the threshold from "bad S.W.A.T. television" to simply "bad television"? I mean, I'm not sure this episode plunges to the depths of Season Four's "Crusade" or the ridiculousness of the first six episodes of Season Five...but those episodes failed more in their execution than in their crafting. This episode...while also failing to execute (obviously), failed in its crafting. Lazy writing abounded almost everywhere, and this was about as uninspiring a performance as you'll see anywhere on TV, especially by Hollywood standards. I mean, I'm not sure it's really worth it to get into the nuts and bolts of this episode because I believe this episode exposes the show's gashing wound, the kind of fatal wound that dooms all TV series eventually. When you get to the point, as you do here, where the show relies on cheap antics to generate drama, rests on contrivances, doesn't develop anything and talks more than it shows, then you have a show that's really just going through the motions. ...and when the writers get so lazy that they feel they can just rely on some kind of "formula" and put in little work to give their episodes any kind of depth at all, that's when you know the show is in trouble. People like to talk about when shows "jump the shark". I think, after reviewing so many TV shows over the years, it's better to talk about the moments it became clear the shows' writers and producers stopped trying. Just like the "jumping the shark" moment, the moment "the writers stopped caring" is also difficult to pin down. Calling it "in the moment" is even more difficult because, as long as the show is still airing, there's always a chance it can bounce back. However, I do feel pretty confident that, when I look back at S.W.A.T. as a whole, once it's all said and done, I'll look at S8 and think, "this is the moment it all started to really go downhill without any chance of turning back". There may still be some moments of brilliance later, but I think it's (almost) safe to say the halcyon days of this show are over.

I really thought this episode had a lot of potential...but man, did it become a dumpster uncontained wildfire in a hurry. We know Bode will live. Gabriella, being a main cast member, has a chance too. So that leaves Audrey James, who's just a recurring character. Which would be a crying shame, because Levin Rambin has more than earned her place to stay on this show or have a show on her own. ...and, honestly...though I hate to trash actors, I have to call out their performances when they're not up to par and, well... Let's be honest...pouty, whiny, childish and ridiculous Gabriella has more than run her course on this show. Rambin's Audrey James would be a significant upgrade over Gabriella. ...but... What do I know about running a TV show? Perhaps the only good part about this show was seeing an older Jackie Chiles Elroy Edwards (played by Phil Morris) tear Eve a new one after Eve and Vince could not save his ranch. It looks like a situation where the character is just there for a one-off appearance, though part of me hopes- if only for meta reasons- to have Elroy in a courtroom suing California and Cal Fire for the loss of his home. Oh, and the joke about "the stubborn old man" and Vince realizing it was him was absolute gold. Other than that...well, the show used the well-worn trope of the characters getting into trouble by simply being idiots. I mean, did Gabs owe that woman and her daughter anything? Yeah, Gabs is a dumpster fire herself right now, but an experienced firefighter knows not to get in too deep with strangers, especially on a call when things could go sideways. (...and Gabs is an experienced firefighter. She's been one for two and a half years now) Further to the point...can Cal Fire really break your car if you're parked in front of a fire hydrant? I figure there are less destructive methods to get a car out of the way. Still, Gabriella stealing gas, whining about it, whining about "why no one understands me" and then walking into the fire was...well, stupid. Of course, in true FC fashion, she's not the dumbest one on the show, surprisingly enough. Because there was Bode...oh, Bode, Bode, Bode. It's a broken record at this stage, Bode being heroic stupid. Maybe Audrey stands a chance because the writers won't want Bode's actions to have too serious of consequences. Then again, Bode facing real consequences for his actions would be the only meaningful narrative that he has, and I might enjoy watching Bode get knocked down a peg from his pedestal. I just wish he wouldn't take one of my favourite characters down with him.

Via Paramount Press Express:

Via Paramount Press Express:

Make of it what you will, but according to this timeline by ELLE magazine, Beyonce didn't start dating Jay-Z until 2001 and they didn't marry until 2008. The accusations against Jay-Z date to before they were a couple.

I completely understand and agree that sexual violence is a serious and widespread issue that demands urgent attention and resources. It’s heartbreaking that someone experiences it every 68 seconds—that statistic alone shows how much work we have to do to address the problem. At the same time, I think it's important to recognize that ensuring fairness and due process in how cases are handled doesn't take away from supporting survivors. In fact, a justice system that is consistent, impartial, and fair strengthens everyone’s trust in it. False accusations may be rare, but they do happen, and acknowledging that doesn’t mean minimizing the epidemic of sexual violence—it just means holding space for fairness for all parties in every individual case. Which is another part of the broken system that needs fixing. Wealth and power should be meaningless in a truly fair and impartial justice system.