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One change I would make and then you would be good to go on that WGA card: Bode's ex-girlfriend, whose name is Cara, is confused about the father of her child because she was impregnated at a party where she was hopped up on all kinds of drugs. She then realizes that Sleeper raped her, using drugs to do it. Because Sleeper drugged her, she can't remember the assault, so Sleeper skips the charges and gets away scot free, all while flashing that idiotic smug smile of his at Bode and Cara while he does it. This leads to Bode now having to defend the honour of not just Cara's child but Cara herself, and he's joined on his quest by Jake and Freddy. They find Sleeper (who managed to sweet talk the DA out of sending him back to prison, because Sleeper is Teflon, after all), beat him to a bloody pulp, throw away his body in some field where no one will find it for twenty years. The episode then ends with a slow motion "victory" walk by Sleeper's murderers conquerors. Of course, that's still not the end of the story. Oh no. The police will still question Bode about Sleeper's disappearance. Bode then makes some grand speech to the police about how they're useless and how the world needs people like Bode to exact revenge "the justice this world needs" and the police are so moved by Bode's bad attempt at Shakespeare that Edgewater holds a ticker tape parade for Bode with President Joe Biden making a cameo just to award Bode the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Fade to black on the season, right? Wrong! In the closing moments, we see Sleeper's badly decaying body in all its glory, because CBS has selective standards and has paid off the FCC. We see some strange ooze seep into Sleeper's body, which, before you know it, Sleeper transforms into a fearsome anthropomorphic wolf, letting out a good howl for good measure. He is then reborn as Wolfman, and he has one thing on his mind! The episode then fades to black as ominous music plays, as, though he doesn't yet know it, Bode's nightmare has born anew! There. Put all that in and you won't just get your WGA card...we might as well hand you an Emmy too.

I'm going to throw this in here because, after some reflection, it deserves a place in the conversation at least. The S1 finale of Fire Country. I've seen a lot of moments on TV that made me irate, but none have ever made me so mad that I decided to quit watching a show. Until now. Before I begin, I may have a detail or a few wrong because FC's writers wouldn't know "consistency" if it hit them in the face. Anyway, the story goes like this: FC's main character is Bode (played by Max Thieriot, one of FC's executive producers and a co-creator), who once lived in the fictitious small California town of Edgewater until he made a choice that landed him in prison. To get his sentence reduced, he decides to volunteer for a state-run program where inmates are used to help fight fires. It's all gravy until he learns the program will send him to an inmate camp near his old hometown, where Bode has- supposedly- a ton of baggage. Anyway, Bode settles in at this camp and makes a best friend along the way, a man named Freddy (played by the electric W. Tre Davis). For reasons that don't need to be expanded upon (because it will make your head hurt), Bode becomes a model inmate and a shining star at the camp, and, wouldn't you know it, Bode gets a parole hearing at the end of S1. Meanwhile, Freddy is wrongfully convicted, because he couldn't provide his alibi that would take him away from the crime scene. Don't bother trying to figure out the details because the show didn't bother themselves. Anyway, two people agree to look into Freddy's case and they actually make progress. The first one was an inmate who was once a lawyer (and inexplicably killed off by the show) and the second was an Edgewater firefighter (named Eve) for reasons I still don't understand. While that stuff is going on, Freddy and Bode fight numerous fires and are quite good at their jobs. Along the way, they meet some vagabond who hands them a bag of cash (containing tens of thousands of dollars), Also along the way the inmate camp gets a new addition- a man named "Sleeper" (the show never gave him a name). Sleeper is heavily into drugs and drug running, and he continues his tricks at the camp. Bode tries to stop him, but Sleeper retaliates by trying to frame Freddy for the crime, but Bode foils that attempt. Should be the end of the story, but, like the one-dimensional villain that he is, Sleeper promises Bode that "this ain't over"...and, sadly, it's not. In the penultimate episode of the first season, Eve tells Freddy that, while she was able to find proof of his alibi, the courts are so backed up that the new trial date would only happen after his sentence concludes. So Freddy is resigned to his fate, even though going through with an appeal might actually benefit him (since he could clear his record). We get to the final episode. Bode's parole hearing is coming up. However, a complication arises in that Bode- somehow- tested positive for drugs. What drug we're not told. Bode knows right away that Sleeper had something to do with it, but no one believes him (except Freddy). That's not the only complication. Just before his parole hearing, an investigator comes up to him and accuses Bode of running a drug ring. Her only proof? Bode's failed test and that bag of money. This investigator also says that the delays in Freddy's appeal aren't due to a "court backlog" but the investigator's investigation, and if Bode would just fess up to running the drug ring, Freddy walks out of camp a free man. What does Bode do? Well, despite: Knowing the whole thing is a setup Invoking his right to an attorney Likely knowing the investigator has no actual proof that Bode ran a drug ring at the inmate camp (the show doesn't say that anyone else tested positive for "drugs", just Bode) The fact that Freddy's case is easy to solve, so the investigator can't hold up his appeal for that much longer The fact that Sleeper himself was caught red-handed dealing drugs since he was caught on camera doing so (the show did make that clear) Despite all that...Bode decides to use his parole hearing to fess up to his non-existent crime and go back to regular jail, just so Freddy can be released. The show tried to frame this as a "noble sacrifice", but all it did was make Bode look incredibly stupid. Bode knows a few more weeks' worth of investigating- proper investigating- would reveal Sleeper's involvement and Freddy gets to walk out a free man anyway. Plus Freddy could get a lawyer himself and get the investigator off his trail because the investigator has no proof that Freddy was involved at all, apart from being Bode's best friend. So why did Bode make his choice? I can only surmise it's because the writers- and Thieriot- wanted to have this big "angsty" moment where the writers think they're being clever by ripping away Bode's happy ending from under his nose. All so Thieriot make his best attempt at crying and looking sad (which occurred at the end of the episode) so he can get that Emmy. I can only hope the Emmy committee would look past that obvious pile of hubris. Could the show bounce back in S2 and make up for this metaphorical train wreck? Maybe, but the odds are not high. Bode's decision means that the same story that played in S1- where Bode had to repair all the bridges he burned in Edgewater- is going to play in S2, since his "confession" burned all those bridges again. Having sat through shows who have hit "the reset button" before, I know those narratives don't end well, so it's highly unlikely I'll return to this slog.

The Mentalist. Patrick Jane was a big tea drinker. I don't have a hard number for this, but I'd imagine there are few though that number may be rising (since most criminals are men but the participation of women in crime has grown in the past few decades). I'd also imagine that, of the women that are successful at becoming kingpins (queenpins?) there are quite a few of them who did so via sex appeal. Someone who is sexy and confident can be quite intimidating and what better way to keep your male underlings in check by being a constant tease?

I'm just going to throw this out there, given the reaction to this episode: Is Bode going to prison one of the worst TV train wrecks of all time? (By "train wreck" I mean a narrative moment or choice that made the TV show basically irredeemable) It's hard for me to say. I've seen quite a few train wrecks in my day, but I'm not sure I ever saw one that got me this upset. Then again, Bode's terrible decision is still fresh in my mind and that may be clouding things- once the dust settles and I can truly see it for what it was against all the other worst TV missteps I can see if it truly ranks among the worst.

I'm not talking about the police side- I'm talking about the person getting interrogated. A lot of people falsely think the police are "on their side" and are "only interested in the truth", which is why a lot of them will not invoke their right to counsel. Quite a bit of this is influenced by TV, because there's the sense that if you're invoking your right to a lawyer, you must have "something to hide", because that's how TV usually plays it. Reality is, everything you've said is why you want to have a lawyer present and to insist on that right before the interrogation can really proceed. Since it takes a lot of work just to get an arrest and because, in the public's mind "arrested=guilty", law enforcement will not give up so easily on the interrogation suspect even if that's "the truth". So, without a lawyer by your side to steady the proceedings and ensure your rights are respected, it's very easy to get caught in that crossfire and wind up getting convicted for something you didn't do. Further to the point, the police will use the suspect's sensibility that the police are "interested in the truth" against them, because that's how they'll get the suspect to open up- and eventually stick their foot in their mouths. There is a limit to how far the police can go. In 1991, in Austin, Texas, four teenage girls were brutally murdered at the end of their shift at a yogurt shop, with the culprit burning the shop down in a bid to hide the evidence. The police wound up arresting four suspects and wound up convicting them on nothing but their confessions- but, later, all four convictions were quashed because it was ruled the police used faulty methods to secure the confessions. One of those confessions occurred because the police kept the suspect at the station for over twelve hours, with interrogators eventually "convincing" the suspect they had committed the crime even though, earlier, the suspect insisted he didn't do it. To this day, the murders remain unsolved. What does that mean for this episode? It further reinforces how silly Bode's interrogation was, because, not only did Bode realize the façade and worked to counteract it (by bringing in the public defender), he still played along with the investigator even though it made no sense for him to do so. Furthermore, the investigator cannot create a crime out of whole cloth, verbally coerce a confession and think that's all she needs to do to convict Bode of the crime- the Austin murders show that the police still need more than just the suspect's word to prove they have actually found the person who committed the crime. All the investigator has is Bode's "failed" drug test and that bag of money. The bag is suspicious, but, by itself is no indicator that crime had occurred. Neither is the drug test, because that doesn't prove a drug ring infiltrated the camp. To my knowledge, the investigator does not have eyewitness testimony that Bode and Freddy were dealing drugs or proof that anyone else failed a drug test. Furthermore, to expand on the faulty logic, if eyewitnesses had claimed that Freddy and Bode were both dealing drugs, then Bode's word that Freddy wasn't involved would not exonerate him. Now, if this was Gabriella being accused of running the drug ring at Three Rock then maybe the investigator's story could have stood despite the flimsy evidence. Gabriella was definitely seen at the camp numerous times, especially around Bode, so if the investigator wanted to weave a narrative that Gabriella was feeding Bode drugs it could have worked. Gabriella would be naïve enough to think "the truth will set me free" and thus she would be, more believably, susceptible to the investigator's suggestive and coercive tactics. Yeah, the investigator would have no hard proof that Gabriella was slinging drugs at Three Rock, but, based on what we have, there would be enough optics to make someone logically believe that. "Gabriella was seen at Three Rock. Bode failed his drug test. How did Bode get those drugs? Gabriella must have given it to him". Sure, dig deep and it falls apart- but, at first glace, doesn't that make sense? At least more sense than some convoluted narrative of "Bode is slinging drugs along with Freddy unless Bode admits Freddy wasn't a part of it"? Oh well.

It's a pet peeve of mine too but is one that is, sadly, not unrealistic. The vast majority of interrogation subjects don't call a lawyer for their interrogation, thinking they can "outsmart" the police or erroneously believing that "nothing can go wrong because I have nothing to hide". So, in most TV interrogations, I can accept the suspect doing that. In this case, Bode knows the system and how it works. He even invoked his right to counsel- and yet, for some reason, he caved to the interrogator's wishes even though he didn't have to (and the counsel would likely tell the investigator to take a hike). I have a low bar for idiocy in interrogations, but Bode's here has to take the cake. By far. Rebecca is one of those examples of this show's faulty writing. She was a useful character beyond being a potential love interest for Bode, because, as a former lawyer, she would be a valuable asset for the inmates at the fire camp. It would have been far more believable that Rebecca worked to get Freddy out than Eve did, because Rebecca knows the laws. ...but, Bode and his gang need angst and heartache so "let's waste Rebecca" and thus waste a character who could have been useful as the series progresses. I agree. It's downright infuriating that the show thinks I would buy this stuff. I do believe that the show wanted to frame Bode's admission as some kind of "noble sacrifice" where he sacrifices himself for arguably his best friend at the fire camp (if not overall). Which is fine, but there are other ways to go about it. In my alternate narrative for Fire Country, I envisioned a storyline where Bode got into so much trouble in Edgewater that he went to jail for it and the town has largely shunned him. In S1, Bode comes back to Edgewater via Three Rock and claims he's a new man and wants to atone for what he has done. We would spend quite a bit of S1 with Bode genuinely trying to be better, leading to a thawing between him and the town. However, lurking in the background is the "old" Bode, the one who got into all that trouble. Sleeper, here, could have made sense within that story, perhaps as Bode's former friend who led him down the path to destruction in the first place. Bode tries to resist the urge to go back but ultimately he can't. He is still successful for a time in hiding his relapse, but then it blows up in his face when the drug tests come back. Maybe the investigator here makes sense, because now it's a case of confronting Bode about admitting the truth, with perhaps the added stipulation that, in admitting the truth, Bode saves Freddy as well. Yeah, the audience might still be disappointed that Bode is going back to jail, but at least there's a rational and relatable reason why that is happening. We've all been faced with an issue where lying would be more beneficial to us- but is it really worth the risk? Ultimately, what dooms this show is all the corners the writers cut. There's a principle in writing to explain in the narrative only what you need to explain, and to not worry about too much about things you've overlooked. No writer is perfect, so even the best will leave stuff out of their narrative because they just simply didn't realize they were doing so. However, such a concept only goes so far- the writer's task is to still craft a story that, despite its inevitable holes, still will make sense to the vast majority of people. You don't want your audience to be confused about how you reached your conclusion because if they have to think about it too much, they'll just check out and move to a story that makes more sense. In short, we can accept, say, the detective finding the perfect parking spot in New York City as soon as he arrives on the scene even though we know that's practically impossible, since parking is not important to the plot. The writer leaving out all the evidence that detective collects to put away the perpetrator is a bigger mistake to make, since the evidence would be important to the plot. Far too often shows believe they're doing the former when they're really doing the latter, and Fire Country is a prime example of that.

I think of that as more of a "it's in the back of my head" thing as opposed to something the show would be expected to do. Yeah, in the midseason of S3 I wouldn't believe for one second that the show would go all the way with a main character in peril, but when it comes to this finale and into the next, final, season (where the show might not worry about audience retention or not having the character for the future, since the show is in its concluding stages), the chances of a main character getting killed goes up. I mean, the chances go up from 0.00000000001% to maybe 10-20%, which means it's still not likely but it at least could happen. I'm not sure I want it to happen anyway but I'm not ruling out the possibility next season.

Well, I'm out. I mean, I called it from the minute Sleeper showed up at Three Rock. From my review of S01.E19: Watch Your Step: Perhaps I didn't see, exactly, how Sleeper would wreck his havoc on Bode's life and it was good, at least, that Freddy is out (though I suppose this means Freddy probably won't appear much in S2, if at all). Perhaps, also, I don't know how many episodes of "Bode in jail" that we'll get...it could be two...it could be just the one, or it could even be as high as four but... That doesn't matter. The Sleeper storyline played out exactly as I thought it would and it's so frustrating and infuriating that I can't really put it into words. OK, yes, as I've said before, the Sleeper storyline in of itself is not a bad story to tell, and the idea of Bode sacrificing himself to save Freddy is also not a bad story choice either. The problem, as it always is with this show, is how the show arrived at those story choices. Once again the writers, in an ever apparent need to be "clever", or "artistic", or "unexpected" or whatever superlative you want to use, have contrived the story's events and its characters to get the plot to do what they want them to do, instead of letting the events and the characters organically lead the writers on their journey. The investigator character introduced in this episode is a prime example of that. She- literally- comes out of nowhere and, also out of nowhere, declares that she is the entire reason why Freddy's case is backlogged in the courts and that if Bode would just admit to running a drug ring inside of Three Rock (an allegation that also comes out of nowhere because she has literally no evidence of that), Freddy can walk out a free man. ... ... ...OK, everyone, you can stop laughing now. Ladies, gentlemen, Romans...you can stop... Oh, forget about it. I can't help it either. The show's own logic is so ridiculous that it's hard not to laugh at their own hubris. I suppose I'll give the show this much in that they have decided- for now- that Manny wasn't the one who set Bode up for his failed drug test (since Manny could have access to the drug test vials and switch them around), because Manny is far more interesting as a reformed criminal and one who is on his own path to redemption than as someone who is outright bad and thus isn't worth redeeming. Not just because all of Bode's looking up to him would go for naught, but also because Kevin Alejandro (who plays Manny) played a shady, shifty guy in Golden Boy and I'd rather seem him play a character here with more depth and nuance. It doesn't matter anyway. This show has no idea how to do nuance or subtlety and has absolutely no redeeming qualities about itself that would make it worth a second look come the fall. To wit: The characters are meaningless husks because none of them behave in organic or natural ways. They just decide to be randomly smart or stupid based on what the plot needs them to do, so there's no way to get an accurate read on who any of these characters really are. The show wastes wonderful acting performances by people like Billy Burke, Jules Latimer, W. Tre Davis and Diane Farr (though I may be on my own with that last one). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that actors of their talent level struggle on this show because, as I said in the previous point, I'm not sure anyone could succeed with what this show calls "characterization". The writers themselves waste wonderful ideas and premises by twisting around the story and forcing it to go into certain places all because the writers are too obsessed with arriving at a particular destination instead of letting the show's events and characters naturally take them there. As seen with this episode's "shocking" final moment, the writers want to have "moments" but don't want to put in the actual work so that those moments are actually earned. All so that the first season ends just so the writers can have their "reset" button, because now there is nowhere left for the show to do- once Bode gets out of jail- except to have a repeat of S1 where Bode goes back to Three Rock just so he can earn the trust of his family, his friends and his captain. The writers have thus proven they're so bereft of ideas and have no idea about long term planning because they have shown they are literally writing this show in circles, and we know how shows like that end up. So this means so long show. Farewell...but, unlike your Emmy-baiting main character, I'm not crying about never seeing you again.

The episode overall gets a ...but the grade the ending gets is: Leave it to this show and its extremely talented group of actors- spearheaded by the soap opera vet Shemar Moore- to make a scene that, in worse hands, could have been tacky, cheesy and overwrought and made it something that is truly joyous, special and magical. Plus Hondo joking "I still haven't gotten an answer yet" was a nice touch. If that scene didn't move you and leave you misty-eyed...I'm not sure you have a soul. Anyway... As for the episode itself, it was serviceable enough. Street making a joke in the line fire was a great moment, and I'm glad the show didn't go with the obvious and make the DEA guys bad guys like I thought they would. We also had the entire (main) cast in this one! I don't understand why Tan wasn't in the previous episode, but at least, for the finale, we got the whole gang. I also thought, despite the show playing well-worn beats, they rang far truer in this episode because we're at the season finale and (most) of the usual rules of plot armour get thrown out the window in this case. Watching this, I do have to wonder if there were two versions of this episode filmed, with one version being the one we got and the other version to be used if this was going to be the series finale. The amount of times that it was implied that Hondo was going to be a goner makes me wonder if that was going to the plan in case we didn't get a S7. Which I'm glad we got and I hope that the show won't think to off, well, anyone next season even if it is the final batch of episodes because I believe this show deserves a happy ending. The characters have been through so much (especially Luca, in peril for two straight finales now) that they deserve it. The only real issue I have with this episode was Marcos, because his heel turn was pretty disappointing. I understand why he did it but it doesn't make it easier to take, because he was much more interesting as the character that stood in between the frontiers of law and gave a rarely seen human element to criminal activity that this show likes to ignore. Here's hoping that Marcos comes back around to that in S7, so that Luca's unbridled faith in the good nature of every person doesn't go for naught. I'm also hoping that in S7 Zoe will get to meet Thomas and we can have that happy reunion. Man, was Zoe ever magical being doubled-over in happiness and giddiness when Deacon delivered her the good news...I can only imagine how she will be when she sees her son for the first time. If Anna Enger Richt can bring more that side of Zoe to light, she just may win my heart after all. On to the final 13 episodes...I can't wait.

I'm glad my nickname caught on (with additional credit to you, Mrs. Sow, for adding "Great" to it because it just fits). So, here's The Great Broode Sue ("Broode" being not just a play on the name of "Bode" but also being a reference to "brooding", which is all Bode seems to be able to do). Ready to be Photoshopped into any scene you'd like- even if it makes absolutely no sense, since the character makes no sense:

I guess when you're the great Broode Sue, people can be convinced of anything...

It's especially egregious this week because you would think Eve would know better than to deliver emotionally deflating news to someone when there is a task at hand. You need them to be focused, and delivering bad news is a sure way to break that focus. Perhaps the show should think about having two incidents in one episode, so that the characters can resolve one and then go back to the station/camp and discuss whatever plot relevant drama they need to discuss. Then again, maybe they'd run out of ideas too quickly that way.

Maybe it's not the way we thought it would get there, but was there any doubt that Sleeper would find a way to destroy Bode's chances for parole? (Yes...I know the show has not outright said that Bode's positive drug test was due to Sleeper...but, c'mon...what else could it possibly be?) ...and so this trainwreck of a show continues. Perhaps I should have seen it coming when Freddy was told that he wouldn't get his conviction cleared that quickly. Perhaps I should have seen it coming when Bode repeated Sleeper's last words to him ("This isn't over") as if the writer of this episode lazily cut and paste the line from the previous episode into this one. Perhaps I should have also seen this coming when Faye broke up with Manny. Or, maybe I should have also seen it coming when Gabriella finally said "it's time" and found a way to have sex with Bode because "I can't wait anymore!" ...but that doesn't undo how terrible and stupid the show is with its storylines. I have complained, time and again, that the writers on this show contrive their stories far too much to fit the narratives they want to tell, instead of letting the characters and events organically guide them. Bode's positive drug test is just the latest example of that. Perhaps there's hope that, with this development happening in the penultimate episode of the season we're still going to see Bode getting released and paroled for S2. Since we know that Bode will get his name cleared of the drug test. What's more likely is that Bode gets cleared of the drug test and then the prison will have to make a decision about whether or not to bring Bode back to Three Rock. The episode fades to black, creating a faux cliffhanger because we all know this series wouldn't be a series if Bode isn't at Three Rock. Meaning- probably at least before the end of the second episode of S2, because I'll never underestimate Hollywood's attempts to be "clever"- Bode eventually gets back to Three Rock where we can spend S2 doing what we did in S1. Rinse, repeat...snooze.

From one "S.O.S." ("Save Our S.W.A.T.") to another "S.O.S." ("Same Old S.W.A.T.") I mean, I didn't see Shorty getting...well there's a pun there in his demise but I won't use it out of respect. I also didn't see that the main bad guy would also be eliminated tonight, so credit to the show for that. However, the show still seemed to play their tired beats. Lots of feints, lots of misdirects, lots of "you know this won't work because it's too early in the episode for it to work". ...and, though I don't know for certain, I'm sure DEA guy Mack Boyle (played by Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton) is somehow involved in this cartel and is likely a bad guy all along. For sure, what I do know about Boyle and the DEA is that they still played the old cliché of "outside agency coming in to the police department and acting like jerks", because they really were. So we'll see how that resolves itself next week, especially considering now that we know this show will come back for a Season Seven. I just hope it's not the end of Marcus Guzman, because Marcus is probably one of this show's most interesting characters (if not the most interesting characters) and I want him to have one last (hopefully ultimately happy) go-around next season. As for the show's other storylines...I'm glad that Deacon and Sanchez found a way to work together. I was worried the show was about to undo all the goodwill they showed Sanchez the last time we saw him (where Hondo realized that, you know what, Sanchez isn't actually a piece of dirt), so it was good that Deacon saw some humanity and found a way to make things work with him. It's this kind of character work that the show has been missing the past few years, and while Sanchez started from pretty much the bottom of the barrel, the growth of his character and the humanness he has gone through has been a joy to watch. Then there's Hicks...I was hopeful that Mumford could have come back to surprise Hicks just like Hicks did to Mumford back in S2 but it was still a nice way to honour him that's true to the character. Too bad he's not sharing his scotch, though...but then again, maybe I wouldn't either in his shoes, so there.

Whoops. That's my mistake...I should have put it in the other list. It also hasn't been on that long either (two seasons). Of course, that post is somewhat moot because S.W.A.T. came back, though I stand by it in an overall sense in the TV landscape.

OK, now I understand. Thanks. I think you could be right. I lean more towards either Sony or CBS called the other's bluff and they blinked. I always felt the cancellation was petty and pedantic, because, let's face it- S.W.A.T. is not the kind of show that typically gets cancelled. It's also not CBS' usual forte to cancel its old shows- they usually give them a truncated final run (see CSI, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, Mom, Two and a Half Men, Madam Secretary, etc.). So when S.W.A.T. got cancelled, something didn't add up. We'll probably never know what really happened until the show is long gone but it wouldn't surprise me if it deviated from the official narrative.

Smooth plots? I don't quite understand what you mean there. I wasn't comfortable reading reports that suggested that CBS was pitting its two shows with Black leads against each other. I'm not sure I buy it. If CBS was really deciding between S.W.A.T. and East New York, then East New York should have been renewed when S.W.A.T. was originally cancelled. Instead, ENY was still on the bubble despite CBS' original decision. Which tells me that, no matter what, ENY was doomed. As for S.W.A.T., it's very possible that its original cancellation was a negotiation tactic by one or the other, with the fan backlash anticipated by the side pulling the gambit. We may never know. Ultimately, what troubles me a bit more is that the economics of TV these days feels like what viewers want mean less and less than before, and that's not a good trend. I mean, we'll probably never see the day where the top-viewed shows get canned, but the flipside are that fans of the shows that do well but aren't high profile hits (like S.W.A.T.) may start to feel their actions don't mean anything. Which means fans may sour on TV even more if they don't feel like their fandom is worth it. I don't know what the best course of action is from here but I think it would do well for the networks to lessen the politics and start being more transparent and honest with their viewers.

Hence my point- the scene was there to sell another scene in the episode, in another example of the many on this show where the writers get the characters to do the things they need them to do instead of depicting them realistically and organically. When it comes to Freddy, I'm not sure even institutionalized inadequacies is a good enough explanation for why he's in jail. He was convicted of robbing a jewelry store- I find it hard to believe (though with the caveat that I may have missed an explanation somewhere), even without an alibi, that the prosecutor had enough to find Freddy guilty. That jewelry store should have cameras, and they should work- given what they sell and how much it's worth, I can't imagine the owner would accept a faulty camera. Failing that, let's say the owner or whomever was working when the store was robbed pointed the finger at Freddy as the culprit. I must then ask, "how?" Does Freddy have an unknown twin or something? Even if the robber was wearing a mask, how could the prosecutor say the robber was Freddy? The onus is on the prosecution to provide definitive proof- they cannot convict on the absence of evidence. Even the worst defence lawyers would have an easy time proving innocence beyond a reasonable doubt- since the robber's identity is concealed, there's no way you could say the robber was anyone, let alone Freddy. His lack of an alibi would actually be moot, in such a case. The only way Freddy's conviction becomes plausible is if the stolen jewels were found at his house, and Freddy's defence is that they were planted. Then Freddy's alibi- or lack of it- would come into play. As it stands now, Freddy's conviction is implausible. The prosecution has no evidence that he was even at the store when it was robbed, and there's no way any prosecutor would win a conviction based on that, let alone get a plea deal out of him. Even if "the system" is rigged and even if Freddy was someone people would think would commit the crime. There's not a prosecutor on this planet that would risk presenting such a faulty case to a judge. Not even a prosecutor with an axe to grind against Freddy, because a judge or a jury would throw out that case (unless the judge is in on the scheme and that's implausible). So, if the show wants me to buy Freddy's wrongful conviction, they have some explaining to do.

Wow. I had a feeling both sides were being pedantic and this just proves it. I get that the show was getting expensive, but I also felt that both the studio and the network could have sucked up a year or so of losses just to give the fans some proper closure, which is the right move. A final season of 13 episodes suits me just fine.

Maybe it's different where I am but I've hugged my co-workers before (consensually, of course), both female and male. So I have no problem with that. The issue is more that the hugs appeared out of nowhere, and where only there in an attempt to sell a plot point. The writer needed a visual for how distant Jake had become to Sharon and Vince, so the writer decided in this episode that Sharon would give Eve and Jake "good luck hugs" (even though Sharon never did that before in the series) just so Jake can reject her and Sharon can have some angst for a few moments. It wasn't just a visual for how far the relationship had fallen- it was also meant, for the writer, to make the final hugs that Jake did give Sharon and Vince that much more of an impact. The writer seemed to think that for that final scene between Vince and Jake to work, Jake needed to visually reject Vince and Sharon so that when he finally (re-)accepts them, it would apparently ring far truer. That's not my explanation- that's my (presumed) explanation from the writer. My explanation is that it's yet another example of the show shoehorning the characters into the narratives they want to tell, because there was no reason for the hug subplot. When Bode and Jake made up with a hug, the show didn't need to have several scenes where the two of them were visibly cold to each other before they finally embraced- the scene with the embrace was enough. Same thing with the Vince and Jake hug at the end- that was all that's needed, because we knew for a while that Jake was mad at his parental figures through his previous words and actions. The attempted hugs in this episode felt out of place because we'd never seen the characters do that before and weren't necessary to sell the plot. Fire Country has already been renewed. It's been known since last fall, actually. For what it's worth W. Tre Davis- who plays Freddy- posted about the renewal on his Instagram page, which leads me to think he'll at least return for the second season. My guess is that Bode gets out on parole and spends next season helping Freddy get out, so that in S3 they both become volunteer firefighters who help out at Three Rock, maybe where they can now mentor someone else on track to get out. Or, they might make Freddy getting out of jail a multi-year arc, of which the now paroled Bode helps him in his quest. Yeah, it might be weird for Bode to return to Three Rock so quickly after getting paroled, but the show could explain it by saying his experience makes him to help others at Three Rock (especially his new best friend from the camp), plus Bode probably can't legally join Cal Fire as a parolee, so volunteering at Three Rock is his only way to stay connected to Cal Fire (and stay in the series). I could probably go all day with the faults of the incarceration system and of a justice system that tries to rationalize what is a heavily emotional process. I just think, at its core, there are a lot of people within the system who do the best they can navigate it and do the best possible job that they can, but, while most are well-meaning and do a decent enough job, there will always be the inevitable case that falls through the cracks or cases whose dynamics change when new (or overlooked) evidence comes to light. When it comes to Freddy, it sounds like his case was a convoluted mess. I don't remember all the details, but my understanding is that he was only convicted because he couldn't provide an adequate defence, which rested on his alibi, and because of that, his counsel told him to take a plea agreement. Freddy, it seemed, was only nailed to the crime because he was "the most likely one to do it". Which makes me think that the prosecutor's case too was incredibly weak, and I have to wonder how this didn't end up at trial in the first place. I'm no lawyer but even I know you can't convict someone because they're "the most likely person to have done it"- you need physical evidence. Heck, you need evidence just to make an arrest. You can't just go on a hunch. So I look at Freddy's case and think there's a heck of a lot the show isn't telling me because a lot of stuff just doesn't make sense. I also have to wonder how Eve can look into Freddy's case, which makes the decision to kill off Rebecca even dumber in retrospect. I mean, I'm sure Eve is smart but she's no lawyer or even a private investigator- she can't procure evidence whenever she wants. Sure, Rebecca didn't have the ability to do a proper investigation either, but, since she was once a lawyer, she was more believable as someone who could handle Freddy's case than Eve is.

First of all, according to The Neighborhood's official pitch, the series' lead is Max Greenfield, FKA Schmidt in New Girl and very much a white guy. Cedric The Entertainer, who is an executive producer, is the series' No. 2 guy, playing the next door neighbour to Greenfield's character. Now, perhaps since the first season Cedric has morphed into a practical co-lead with Greenfield, but I'd say, technically, Cedric is really the No. 2 guy in The Neighborhood. Honestly, though, whether or not Cedric is a lead feels pedantic. Fact is, there are very few lead actors and actresses in Hollywood who are people of colour. Just off the top of my head I can think of this show, Magnum, P.I., Station 19, the new version of The Wonder Years, 9-1-1, The Rookie: Feds, East New York and, possibly, The Neighborhood. Maybe there are two or three others I have missed but you get the idea. Of those eight shows, here's what's happened to each of them: S.W.A.T.: Cancelled after six seasons, despite being in the top 20 within the crucial advertiser demographic (18-49 year-olds) and being one of the few shows that picked up viewers from last season. Magnum, P.I.: Cancelled after four seasons in May 2022 under very similar circumstances to S.W.A.T. (it was still a top 25 show, but CBS could not agree on a licensing fee). It would be later rescued by NBC, who has technically renewed it for two more seasons (though they'll act as two halves of the fifth season). The Wonder Years: Though it received a second season order, that second season is scheduled to premiere on June 14, 2023 (it may be pushed to the fall of 2023 depending on the writer's strike). Though Elementary lasted two seasons as a summer show and attitudes are slowly changing on the subject, the summer season still tends to be the season where networks place the shows they are not particularly high on, kind of like "dump months" in the movie release season. So The Wonder Years being a summer show is an indicator of what ABC really thinks about it. 9-1-1: FOX cancelled the series just a week ago after six seasons, only for ABC to pick it up for a seventh season later that day. The Rookie: Feds: No word yet on whether or not it will be back for season 2. There are questions about its fate given that ABC has renewed all the shows on The Rookie: Feds' night (Tuesday) and has brought in 9-1-1 and Dancing With The Stars. It's a real toss-up at this stage. East New York: Its status is also up in the air. You would think this would be a lock for S2 given that its ratings are better than other shows that have been renewed but so was S.W.A.T. so who knows. The Neighborhood: Renewed by CBS in January for a sixth season. Debatable it belongs on this list. Station 19: Renewed by ABC in April. That's eight shows with a POC lead, and, out of those seven shows, three have already been cancelled by their original network (though two of them were saved by another), one has been shoved to the summer, two shows' status is still up in the air and two have been renewed (though there will be a debate on whether one of those shows belongs on this list). I know The TV Grim Reaper likes to get snarky and say that there's only one reason why TV executives make the decisions they do (something coloured green in the U.S. that rhymes with "honey"), but I can't help but wonder if there are racial and other social elements at play here. The fact that both S.W.A.T. and Magnum, P.I. were both cancelled despite being top tier TV shows leaves me asking questions about what else is in play here. To further this point, FOX cancelled Call Me Kat after three seasons, even though most shows that get a third season get a fourth (since a fourth season usually leaves the network with enough episodes for stripped syndication). Now, Kat ended with 53 episodes, so FOX may have thought a fourth season (giving the show potentially 75 episodes) still wouldn't make syndication worth it, but the Grim Reaper was sure it would come back. ...and yet, here's a series starring Mayam Bialik, a woman who (in Hollywood's eyes) is on the wrong side of 45 (she is 47), having her series cancelled. The gears in my brain are really starting to turn now. Look. I know a lot of this is circumstantial. I don't know what really went on in the executives' minds because I am not them. I also tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, and, let's face it, I'm sure the vast majority of TV execs aren't consciously making decisions based on things like gender and race- they are after the bottom line in the monetary sense, ultimately. However, that pursuit of the bottom line means that execs are typically less likely to take risks, and that means that prevailing attitudes- that the driver of TV audiences are heterosexual, vaguely Christian men like me- will subconsciously enter an executive's way of thinking. Without getting into the debates, we saw this play out when Bud Light had to stop its association with Dylan Mulvaney. So, if you're an exec and you had to make a choice between renewing a series with a black male lead like S.W.A.T. or other aging series with white male leads like Blue Bloods or NCIS: Hawai'i, which would you pick? "Playing it safe" means going with the latter, even if you would like to prop up the former. Which means that, while it's provocative and likely risky move on his part, I'm not sure Shemar Moore is entirely wrong in wondering if race is playing a factor here. Without knowing for sure what the economics for CBS' shows are like, it's hard to know if there really was an insurmountable gap between studio and network preventing a renewal, or if that gap was so small that the studio and the network should have swallowed their pride and at least figure things out for a shortened seventh season, if not more. Remember, Moore is a producer on this show. He probably knows more about the inner workings than we do. So I'm not going to outright dismiss his rant as just a bunch of hot air- he may be truly on to something. Something truly unfortunate but, until things are different, they are what they are.

Well, it's not uncommon for networks to cancel shows at the last minute, but those are mostly first-year or second-year shows where the writing's been on the wall for quite some time. A long running series (4 seasons plus) usually at least gets one last year or half year to finish everything up. So I don't know why we couldn't have had at least a ten episode final season to give the show a proper send-off (likely with the wedding of Hondo and Nichelle). Fine, there are a lot of things about TV show economics I don't know about, but I can't help but think S.W.A.T. was cancelled because the studios were being pedantic. I'm sure CBS and Sony could have taken the small hit needed just to wrap the series up.

I did too...I just think Bode might have avoided most, if not all, the hassles if he had told Manny, in private, about his issues with Sleeper the minute Sleeper showed up. Maybe I'm wrong about this because that may just be "breaking the code" too, but I do think there were ways Bode could have handled the problem discreetly and without it having to snowball as it did.

Well, I suppose I should give the show credit for "doing the right thing", where Bode casts aside the politics of prison to finally go to Captain Perez and extinguish his Sleeper problem. Which I fear isn't actually over, but at least the writers made the right story choice for a change. Then- and perhaps I'll get some, uh, heat for this- we had wonderful emotional scenes from Gabriella and Sharon, plus Billy Burke and Michael Trucco actually got a chance to really get into their acting chops and deliver some great interactions with each other. Spurred by the superbly feisty Jeffrey Fahey, as Vince's dad. Burke also shone on his own, really playing the beat well of a dad who had struggled to come to terms with the fact that he failed, and it's OK for him to fail and let his own kids fail. I mean, perhaps the scene where Vince and Jake make up was a bit rushed...but, Jordan Calloway and Burke sure sold that scene. All, of course, culminating in the poignant scene of Sleeper's much-needed arrest and exit. As well as the knowledge that Freddy may actually get his day in court. All this says is that, if we had more of those scenes and not the pablum that this show often offers us we might have had a real series. Not one that's just really...there. The cast all have natural chemistry with each other- something most TV shows never get close to- and, if they had a real chance to express that camaraderie and let that camaraderie guide those stories, we'd have a much different show. Instead, while the interactions felt more organic in this episode than in others, we still have writers who force things too much as well as resting on tired cliches to get their narratives through. I mean, to wit- when the clock struck 9:45 and Jake came up with the idea of blowing the wall down in the abandoned mine, was there any doubt that his "hunch" was going to work? Plus, how tired is the choice to not just have kids in peril, but also having a kid with a serious medical condition where that kid really needs to get out of trouble...or else! Come on, Hollywood...you're not going to fool me with that drama. Oh, there was Bode punching Sleeper...yeah, Bode did the right thing later, but how many times does Bode get a pass for punching people? I sure would love to have a free ride to punch whomever I want, since Bode seems to have that ability. Did Max Thieriot come into this series with a need to punch as many people as he can or something? I guess on to the final two episodes of the season, which may just be the last two episodes of Fire Country I see, since S.W.A.T. has been (sadly) cancelled. I already don't think of this show as one that I'll go out of my way to watch (which I did with S.W.A.T., even in its declining years), so without the draw to lead me to this show next season I may not bother with it. We'll see.

I write this review with an immense sense of loss. Just before this episode aired, CBS announced that S.W.A.T. will not be returning for a seventh season, meaning these last three episodes will be the series' last. Disappointed is a good word for how I feel. Heck, maybe it doesn't go far enough, because- for this show's many, many, many, faults- I still felt it had something left in the tank, enough for at least one last go around. However, after thinking about it, in many ways, perhaps this is the right move after all. S6 felt like the show was merely coasting, playing it way too safe and too close to the vest and, while it still produced watchable television, it wasn't producing the kind of TV that left an impact, let alone be something that was appointment-level viewing. I'm not sure I really cared about what was happening in an episode ever since Episode 100, "The Fugitive", but only because that story centred around Hondo and character stories are not this show's typical bread and butter. That leaves the Cases of the Week, and the last time I felt I really cared about them was when we dealt with The Emancipators and Cinque at the end of S2. Sure, there may have been other moments of magic and some wonderfully written episodes and scenes...but, since the end of S2, really, the show's writers never truly challenged themselves and it shows. Such as in this episode where the great Taye Diggs makes an appearance. Diggs and Shemar Moore played well off each other and acted their metaphorical pants off, but was there really anything about the plight of Danny Wright that really stood out? Aside from the swerves- not too unpredictable ones at that- at the end where it turned out the abusive boyfriend hadn't kidnapped Wright's daughter and she wasn't actually missing, it sure played out like your usual "missing daughter" case. Heck, when Wright went to "get some air" I knew right away what he was doing...and I had a feeling, right away, that he might turn out to be wrong. Because- let's face it- just like how Law & Order: Special Victims Unit can't resist playing to Saint Olivia Benson's ego, S.W.A.T. can never miss an opportunity to let Saint Hondo shine and bask in all of his glory. Which is a big symptom of S.W.A.T.'s malaise. I mean, I get it- on Criminal Minds, Derek Morgan's supposed prowess at winning fights, chasing down villains and, overall, being a badass was more implied than actually shown, so Moore needed to make up for lost time. Plus, Hondo is the main protagonist and the "hero of the story", so it makes sense that you want your hero to stand tall at the end of the struggle, whatever that may be. However, that can only last for so long. By the time we've reach S6, the writers should realize that it would be OK for Hondo to need help to overcome his struggle, and not just because his teammates are covering for him because Hicks benched him. Hondo doesn't always have to have the final shot or know the best words to take down a bad guy- sometimes he would need his teammates to do that job and have his back on the field, because, otherwise, why have a team if Hondo could do everything by himself? The writers needed to realize- as does, perhaps, Moore- that Hondo isn't less of a badass because he sometimes fails. Heck, he can become even more of a badass if every now and then he did fail because it makes him relatable. Plus, it makes his rogue tendencies that much more of a character fault because it actually has an impact in the narrative. So while I can't disagree with the story choice to have Wright get an earful from Hondo, it still felt like more of the same from this show, because- unless it's Hicks, and, even then- the show will never have a scene where Hondo is on the receiving end of such a tongue lashing. All this and no word on the Case...well, would it surprise you if I said I didn't care about it? Ho hum...we have another group of bad guys terrorizing the block- this time, grandparents and their jewelry vaults- and the SWAT team has to find a way to stop them before more people get killed. Yawn. Rinse...repeat. I mean, I wasn't even surprised that the lone grandmother was the one who survived at the end. Because Hollywood knows they can spare a few grown men, but a woman? Not a chance. Yeah, perhaps some in the audience would hate to see dear old Aunt Patty bite the dust...but it's again another piece of the predictableness of this show and their need to "play things safe". Fine, don't show Patty getting shot...but would it have been too much to ask for at least one of the other two off-screen murder victims to have also been a grandmother? No reason why they both had to be grandfathers. Oh well. On to the last two episodes (*sniff*). I just hope this show goes out with a bang, and not in the literal sense. I think that's the least I can ask for after the disappointment of today.