S03.E02: Sink or Swim

[SimoneS]

Quote

A massive tsunami hits the Santa Monica Pier, jeopardizing the lives of both Buck and Christopher.

[SimoneS]

Fantastic episode! I love this show. It knows how to hit the dramatic highs and lows.

Christopher!  Just as I thought he was safe. I refuse to believe that he will die, I refuse. Buck's panic over Christopher hurt my heart. I can't believe they had him fall into the water again.

I actually felt the terror when they showed Buck being tossed around under the water. It reminded me of the two times that rip tides dragged me under and I almost drowned in the ocean. The score was excellent adding to the drama of the moment.

Trust Bobby to give Athena a tool to escape if she is ever trapped in a car under water. I always intended to get one of those and never got around to it. I will order one right now. Yay May and Vicky.  Hopefully, going through this will give May some perspective. Vicky was played by Alla Korot who was Jenna on Another World all those years ago.

I was thrilled that William Russ survived, the man getting married on the boat. I have been a fan of his since he was on Wiseguy. That pole going through his character and the son was horrific. I had no idea that there was such a thing as an underwater torch. The things this show has taught me.

Talk about making up for the happy rescues from last week with death all over the place. Poor Jonas. What a way to die, drowning in your attic. The poor 9-1-1 operators.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I am taking back every single negative thing I said about Oliver Stark wayyyyyyy back in the early series. Oliver Stark was absolutely excellent in this episode. Him and Gavin McHugh were the superstars of this episode, for sure. Buck's screams of terror when Christopher got swept away were heartwrenching. That, and the beginning where Buck was underwater after the wave hit were both equally as tense.

Maddie really picked up the slack and stepped up as a leader. I feel bad that she lost her first caller, but she managed to keep going, even coming up with the triage hospital with Chimney. 

But it was rough to hear Maddie's boss ask her to make a call to request 5000 body bags. 

Athena and May get a little bit of a plot together. The actress playing May did very well. I'm glad that the woman she was trying to save didn't actually die. 

[The Ringo Kidd]

I just hate when shows put children in jeopardy. It’s cheap and nasty and emotionally manipulative. Bastards.

[gonzosgirrl]

That was intense!  I loved Buck and Christopher together. And saving all those people well give Buck back his confidence. I'm confused though, does the team know that they were at the beach? You would think that Eddie would be freaking out a little harder.

Calling it now, May is going to decide to become a paramedic,

[Lady Calypso]

11 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

That was intense!  I loved Buck and Christopher together. And saving all those people well give Buck back his confidence. I'm confused though, does the team know that they were at the beach? You would think that Eddie would be freaking out a little harder.

It doesn't seem like they do. I'd have to rewind, but it seems like Eddie (and the team) think Buck and Christopher were hanging out at his home. I don't think Buck told Eddie that he'd be taking Christopher out.

[Ailianna]

There was dialogue that at least Maddie and Chim think that they are nowhere near the danger.  I'm sure Eddie and the rest also think they are safe and sound out of the way.

[Fireball]

I'm annoyed very very annoyed that they "the writers" had Christopher fall off the fire truck. I mean isn't it enough to make us think he has drowned once?  The show had better not let anything happen to Christopher.  And the preview....

Spoiler

Makes it seem like they don't find Christopher anytime soon in the next episode. This is soo not cool!

I liked the episode other then the writers had to put Christopher in jeopardy again!

Edited October 1, 2019 by Fireball

[Lady Calypso]

12 minutes ago, Ailianna said:

There was dialogue that at least Maddie and Chim think that they are nowhere near the danger.  I'm sure Eddie and the rest also think they are safe and sound out of the way.

So, I did just rewatch the scene where Eddie and Hen were talking about it. What Eddie said was that they went out to breakfast and were probably going to go to the movies. So yeah, Eddie has no idea that Buck and Christopher are in any sort of danger. 

[CJBinATX]

The Foley work on this show always gets to me. I don't know if I would or wouldn't want to see a behind the scenes video of that.

squish

[Jeopardy15]

1 hour ago, Fireball said:

I'm annoyed very very annoyed that they "the writers" had Christopher fall off the fire truck. I mean isn't it enough to make us think he has drowned once?  The show had better not let anything happen to Christopher.  And the preview....

  Hide contents

Makes it seem like they don't find Christopher anytime soon in the next episode. This is soo not cool!

I liked the episode other then the writers had to put Christopher in jeopardy again!

If this show kills off Christopher, I will stop watching.

This episode was triggering for me as I work with kids who deal with trauma. Between the scenes with May and Christopher falling off the truck. 😭😭😭

[Bulldog]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Calling it now, May is going to decide to become a paramedic

This.  At least, she now has her college admissions essay.  I think it would be neat if Vicky turned out to be the admissions officer.

2 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Vicky was played by Alla Korot who was Jenna on Another World all those years ago.

I thought I was the only one who could remember that.  If they follow up with her, maybe Ricky Paull Goldin can cameo as her husband.   

[meatball77]

So, my daughter said after the daughter was back with Athena, well she's got her college essay topic now.  She was also very worried about all the other people who were dying when the firefighters were spending all the time working on the boat people.

I'm in love with the actor who plays Christopher.  I want him to have a long and happy career (assuming that's what he wants).  I also want him to get together with the Actor from Speechless for an event just because that would be awesome.

Just put in an order for a car window shattering hammer.  I have a new driver in the household.

[NJRadioGuy]

Hats off to the VFX team. I don't know how they did it but damn that was intense.

Power disconnect by the electric company was complete horseshit. There's no big red handle in a box to pull, rather it's done via multiple pole-mounted circuit breakers, or just cut the lines and isolate them. Doable in about a half hour with coordination amongst several crews, or with one crew and FFs who are trained on high voltage.

FEMA and/or other federal agencies would have had boots on the ground with a coordinated triage plan within an hour or less. No way that'd be handled exclusively by municipal services.

The stranded E136 was somewhat close to buildings. Why not try to figure out a way to get able-bodied rescuees high above in one of those structures?

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

But it was rough to hear Maddie's boss ask her to make a call to request 5000 body bags. 

That's always in the disaster plan. Generally they'll look for large refrigerated spaces (ice rink, cold storage facilities, etc). Legit call and something not generally done in network TV. People die in large numbers and the show isn't whitewashing that, thankfully. The personal deaths they showed were necessary and I'm glad they didn't pull those punches.

2 hours ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

I just hate when shows put children in jeopardy. It’s cheap and nasty and emotionally manipulative. Bastards.

Yup. And glad they did that too. Kids die. It sucks. It's a gut punch like no other. Pretty sure Christopher's going to be OK, but if not, his death will change Buck profoundly, and that's at the core of decent drama. But that kid's really a star in that show so I hope he's around for more episodes to come, and not just in flashbacks.

3 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Trust Bobby to give Athena a tool to escape if she is ever trapped in a car under water. I always intended to get one of those and never got around to it. I will order one right now.

Do it. Do it now. Get one called the LIFEHAMMER. Not the cheap Chinese knockoff clones whose hammers might not be hard enough for tempered window glass. They're about $15 each.

You can also buy and use an automatic center punch from any hardware store. They work brilliantly.

Quote

The poor 9-1-1 operators.

Yup. Call-takers don't get enough praise in first responders dramas and I'm glad they don't forget them here. That said, there's a difference in specialities between the public-facing call takers and radio dispatchers (the folks who communicate with the first responders in the field over the radio). Call takers triage the calls and get locations, then pass them on to dispatchers who roll the apparatus; it's not one in the same job, as the show would imply. Maggie would never be in contact with the crews over the radio or even know which companies are assigned where, but in the context of a TV show I'll forgive it. So long as the job is fairly represented (which it is, in the show's typical over-the-top-hey-it's-FOX way) I'm good, and I hope that representation serves as a way to get new call takers and dispatchers into emergency call centers.

My only worry about these two episodes is that they'll have shot their entire year's budget on VFX so will they be able to have any good rescues or fires for the rest of the season?

Edited October 1, 2019 by NJRadioGuy

[Mystery]

34 minutes ago, Bulldog said:

At least, she now has her college admissions essay. 

I was glad that for once on a TV show, they got the college admissions timing right. (Unlike Glee, where everyone started applying in March and April.) People can start on the UC application tomorrow. 

The actress playing May was great. I figured that Ronda Rousey would have to be around for a while since she got a special guest starring credit for like 5 seconds in this episode. 

It seemed like the 911 team spent an awful lot of time saving two people on that boat. 

[sweetandsour]

I don't think Christopher will die solely based on the fact that they added him as a series regular this season, instead of continuing to be a recurring actor.  Sure, they could made him a regular for a small number of episodes (it's not like that's impossible), but I don't think they're going that way.  And Eddie "just" lost his ex-wife (only a few episodes ago - but there was a time jump), so I hope they wouldn't saddle the same character with a truly unbearable family member death.  It seems like an odd thing to do to Buck's character as well - like is this how they propel him forward with a purpose in life and still striving to come back to some kind of emergency personnel duty?  To save more lives after he couldn't save Christopher?

I also appreciated how Buck lost his shit when Christopher fell in the water.  No pretense on the actor's or production's part of "gotta sound manly" bc he's a hero and it's tv - he was shrieking.

[lilabennet]

Funny story:  When I was volunteering after Katrina one of our homeowners was an 80-year-old man who busted out of his attic (metal roof) with his cane.  The funny part was that all the guys on the demo crew were having a hard time taking off the roof even though they were using giant crowbars and the homeowner spent the entire time sitting in a lawn chair in his yard laughing at them.

I was really rooting for the guy stuck in his attic.  I know Jennifer Love Hewitt gets a lot of flak, but I think she does a good job on this show.

[Azi]

I really liked this one. Buck and Christopher were the stars. Their scenes where gut wrenching and sweet at the same time. Just for more of that I want Buck to become Christopher's second father. /priorities

I appreciate that this show doesn't shy away from killing people while also have enough uplifting moments as to avoid audience apathy. Almost every other show would have had either the son or the lover of the bride die.
Choked up when Maddie wasn't able to send help to the guy trapped in the attic. I love the 911 operator scenes so much. I feel like they add a dimension to the drama that helps this show not be a forgettable 0815 cop/firefighter drama. 

Also noticed that Ronda Rosey was too prominent in the credits to be a one-off character so I guess, welcome? I'm happy to have a new female firefighter, but I also hope she is happily married. I always have trust issues with Ryan Murphy shows (double when Falchuk is also involved), so my first thought was "Oh god please no new Eddie love drama". I can't help it.

[Chaos Theory]

I liked this episode all the way until they put Christopher in jeopardy again.  His scenes with Buck were great.

i also loved Maddie trying to save the guy in the attic only to have the phone go dead and another call come in.  Her taking a breath and then taking the call was a powerful scene.

Athena and her daughter was also well done.  I guess her daughter has something to write about now in her college paper. 

[chlban]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

So, I did just rewatch the scene where Eddie and Hen were talking about it. What Eddie said was that they went out to breakfast and were probably going to go to the movies. So yeah, Eddie has no idea that Buck and Christopher are in any sort of danger. 

Which is a bit wierd, A diaster hits in your town, families like to check in. I think realistically, he would call Buck and confirm all is well. So, dramatic license, fair enough. This show is really good, my only beef is JLH, but you gotta take the bad with the good

[TVForever]

Even for this show, this was an INTENSE episode to watch. I actually had to step away for a minute after the scene with the young man in the attic. 

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, chlban said:

Which is a bit wierd, A diaster hits in your town, families like to check in. I think realistically, he would call Buck and confirm all is well. So, dramatic license, fair enough. This show is really good, my only beef is JLH, but you gotta take the bad with the good

Of course 9-1-1 so the phone lines can't go down a cell towers stop working. But in real life I would guess the first responder has got to put  that fear away. Otherwise it would be like the Rock movie where Dwayne Johnson abandoned his post and hijacked a Fire Department helicopter to find his daughter hundreds of miles away.

[Chaos Theory]

I do keep wondering why Eddie hasn’t at least checked in with Christopher.   But I guess he is busy and think Buck left the pier hours before the Tsunami hit.

[Jillybean]

I wasn't happy with this episode. I'm used to at least a touch of levity and camp in each episode and this one was all death and destruction...not to mention, putting two of the show's children in such difficult situations. Poor Christopher, I don't know what Buck was thinking in letting go of him for even one second. And how bizarre that it never occurred to Eddie to check on Christopher and Buck given he knew they had been at the Pier. 

[Empress1]

7 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

I also appreciated how Buck lost his shit when Christopher fell in the water.  No pretense on the actor's or production's part of "gotta sound manly" bc he's a hero and it's tv - he was shrieking.

He did that when he was trying to find Maddie when she was with her abusive ex too. He fucking TORE up a hill screaming her name. I like that the actor isn't afraid to panic. And look - if a child in your care, let alone a child in your care with a disability, goes missing, let alone missing in a natural disaster, you are going to fucking panic.

I cried over the guy in the attic. 

The groom on the boat, William Russ, will always be Mr. Matthews from Boy Meets World to me.

I didn't realize Athena's daughter was supposed to be 17. I thought she was younger. Although I suppose she could have been 14 when the show started and 17 now ... meh, not that important. I liked that she held it reasonably together and then when the situation was over and she knew the woman was alive, she broke down - I've had a similar response to crisis situations. Keep my head when the situation is happening and then once it's over, it's like only then do I realize "This was a crisis!" and the floodgates open.

When I saw the ferris wheel, I kept thinking that only half of it was visible, which means the other half was under water. [shudder]

[Eyes High]

This episode must have cost a fortune. Everything looked fantastic. They also did a great job of keeping up the intensity.

I agree that it makes no sense that family members wouldn’t check in with their loved ones (especially a parent with their child) after a massive disaster happened in the same city, even if they had no reason to think that their loved ones were in danger. It’s human nature. I realize it was done here because the panic over Christopher and Buck is being reserved for the next episode, but still.

One thing I like about the show is that the one-off characters feel like real people, like the groom, the bride and her son, not just random one-note types.

I’m sure Christopher will be fine (especially if the actor was upgraded to series regular) but I agree it’s cheap dramatically to endanger a child character. The scene with Maddie and the guy trapped in the attic was a real gut punch.

Edited October 1, 2019 by Eyes High

[kirkola]

Okay that was too heartbreaking.  I was mostly okay with Eddie not checking on Christopher.  He trusts Buck enough to leave Christopher alone with him and knows Buck to be a competent firefighter.  What could go possibly go wrong.  So once Eddie gets some down time to stop and breathe, he might freak out with not being able to reach Christopher by phone. But full panic probably isn't going to set in until later.  Maddie is doing the same thing (though granted Buck is an adult and not an adorable kid).  She may be worried about the blood clots in Buck, but not enough to stop working to call him.

I liked that May was giving a "you gotta live" speech to Vicky.  It was a nice full circle moment from where we initially met her, May was struggling to find her place, and attempted suicide.  I won't be surprised if she ends up as a 911 operator or a paramedic. 

I was especially touched when Buck had Christopher look at the sky, so he wouldn't see the bodies floating nearby.  Buck trying to spare Christopher the nightmares was perfect.  He'll make a good Dad some day.  

And I will forever love Christopher's use of Dory and "just keep swimming".  Also his crack about "taking surfing lessons".  Go Christopher!  He better be okay!

[Lady Calypso]

7 minutes ago, kirkola said:

Maddie is doing the same thing (though granted Buck is an adult and not an adorable kid).  She may be worried about the blood clots in Buck, but not enough to stop working to call him.

Maddie also thinks that Buck is at home, safe and sound, so there's that.

I did pause to question why Eddie wasn't wanting to check up on Christopher, but he IS working and he probably genuinely believes that Buck and Christopher were safe inland and nowhere near the pier, so he probably felt like he didn't have to worry right away and that he could call when he had free time. 

It does make it worse, knowing that Buck/Christopher are in danger and nobody has any idea. Plus, I think only an hour has passed in the show. 

9 minutes ago, kirkola said:

I was especially touched when Buck had Christopher look at the sky, so he wouldn't see the bodies floating nearby.  Buck trying to spare Christopher the nightmares was perfect.  He'll make a good Dad some day.  

It took me a minute to figure out what Buck was trying to do but when I realized he was trying to shield Christopher away from the dead bodies, I definitely teared up. But man, Buck is going to be beating himself up for a bit for losing Christopher. I do think that he'll be ok and he'll be found, but no way does Buck not feel guilty about not keeping a closer eye on him. 

[gonzosgirrl]

Buck was (or at least felt) responsible for everybody on and around that fire truck, so taking his hands off Christopher, who he believed to be relatively safe, to try and help someone else, was something he had to do. Doesn't mean he won't feel guilty, but man, he shouldn't.

I have this niggling fear that they made the boy a series regular to up the shock/angst factor when they killed him off. But goddamn, they wouldn't... would they? I honestly don't think they could write Buck and/or Eddie getting over that in any believable way. It would always be a dark cloud hanging over the show.

[preeya]

6 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I hope they don't drag this tsunami storyline out over too many episodes.

Me too.

[Lady Calypso]

9 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Buck was (or at least felt) responsible for everybody on and around that fire truck, so taking his hands off Christopher, who he believed to be relatively safe, to try and help someone else, was something he had to do. Doesn't mean he won't feel guilty, but man, he shouldn't.

I totally agree. I do not blame Buck at all. He was trying to help everyone around him. He can only do so much.

10 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I have this niggling fear that they made the boy a series regular to up the shock/angst factor when they killed him off. But goddamn, they wouldn't... would they? I honestly don't think they could write Buck and/or Eddie getting over that in any believable way. It would always be a dark cloud hanging over the show.

I'm pretty confident that they won't. Gavin McHugh is a rising star. The audience loves him. Plus, that kid lights up every scene he's in. I highly doubt they'll want to waste that. Plus, it'll give Gavin more material in the episodes to come. 

8 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

That dude in the attic should have been able to kick out that vent.   And, note to writers.  He didn't have an ax, he had a hatchet.

I'd like to think that they intentionally made the guy mistake the hatchet for a small axe. 

But yeah, I was scratching my head on that one for a bit because I thought I was mistaken at first when the guy, Jonas, called it an axe.

9 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I hope they don't drag this tsnuami storyline out over too many episodes.

I assume they'll do what they did with the earthquake storyline last season, which is that it'll only last until the end of the third episode. I assume, when we get a season four, they'll have a similar, three episode arc disaster story (they seem to be popular for the show).

[marceline]

1 hour ago, kirkola said:

I liked that May was giving a "you gotta live" speech to Vicky.  It was a nice full circle moment from where we initially met her, May was struggling to find her place, and attempted suicide.  I won't be surprised if she ends up as a 911 operator or a paramedic. 

She sounded so much like Athena in that speech. When she said, "Nobody here is going to die today." she sounded exactly like Athena. I'm convinced the actress did it on purpose.

I'm not concerned about Christopher dying. Like someone said above, they already killed off Christopher's mom. Plus we already have Bobby, who is the father of dead children. Losing Christopher would just be overkill.

[rove4]

I felt so badly for the poor guy trapped in his attic.  I've always thought drowning would be a bad way to go because it's slow and you're 100% aware that it's happening.  

I did not feel badly for the (now fried) asshat who kept insisting on getting a police report in the middle of a massive pile-up where people are seriously hurt and need tending to first.  

Someone had better find Christopher, like, NOW.  

[NJRadioGuy]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

Of course 9-1-1 so the phone lines can't go down a cell towers stop working. 

The cell network is a lot more robust than you might think; sites have battery backups that can last a long time, and 9-1-1 call centers are hardened as much as can be. Plus in any major metropolitan area there are backup call centers in case the primary gets hit. Not saying it's impossible that the lines would stay available, but it's not a fragile single-point-of-failure case either.

[tvgoddess]

3 hours ago, Jillybean said:

I wasn't happy with this episode. I'm used to at least a touch of levity and camp in each episode and this one was all death and destruction...not to mention, putting two of the show's children in such difficult situations. Poor Christopher, I don't know what Buck was thinking in letting go of him for even one second. And how bizarre that it never occurred to Eddie to check on Christopher and Buck given he knew they had been at the Pier. 

I wasn't happy for quite different reasons. I'm not at all worried in the slightest that Buck and Christopher won't be absolutely fine. In fact, I'd bet my life on it. Yes, I'm that confident. None of the main characters are dying. Which is okay, but it lessens the stakes a great deal. So, the tsunami scenes themselves, while great on a visceral and eye-catching scale, were kind of anti-climactic. Now, the guest stars were really the ones that shone in this episode depending on the gravity of the situations they were in. We only saw Jonas for just a couple of minutes, and yet I was heartbroken for him. Poor Jonas, I kept saying.

The scenes that really affected me were May, Vicky and Athena. For a second, I was thinking they might have May get electrocuted and was actually jumping out of my seat. That was suspenseful. And then the entire speech she gave to Vicky and her being so scared and thinking she had died. I was sobbing during all of that. Nothing else affected me as much.

1 hour ago, marceline said:

I'm not concerned about Christopher dying. Like someone said above, they already killed off Christopher's mom. Plus we already have Bobby, who is the father of dead children. Losing Christopher would just be overkill.

DITTO. And no pun intended on the overkill I'm sure lol.

Edited October 1, 2019 by tvgoddess

[iMonrey]

The sheer spectacle of this episode was astounding. I'd gladly watch a "making of" special about it. I realize a lot of it is CGI but a lot of it has to be real water too. 

I thought Maddie being in charge of morale at the call center was a bit too precious but aside from that everything else was pretty well done.

There's no way they'd kill off Christopher, they know damn well a whole lot of people would stop watching the show.

[gonzosgirrl]

26 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The sheer spectacle of this episode was astounding. I'd gladly watch a "making of" special about it. I realize a lot of it is CGI but a lot of it has to be real water too. 

I think I read somewhere that they used the same soundstage as Titanic? I mean, that's pretty impressive for a Fox show in its sophomore season. I thought all of it was really well done! Ditto on being interested in a 'making of' special. Maybe on the DVD?

Edited October 1, 2019 by gonzosgirrl
it's not it's, it's its

[rove4]

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I thought Maddie being in charge of morale at the call center was a bit too precious but aside from that everything else was pretty well done.

I didn't think she was in charge of morale.  I thought she was asked to keep an eye on the 911 operators, help monitor how they're holding up emotionally and maybe make some tough decisions about which calls are lost causes and need to be ended (like the one operator who couldn't hang up despite not getting any response from the caller for 20 minutes).  That was my take on it.  

Edited October 1, 2019 by rove4

[tvgoddess]

16 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I think I read somewhere that they used the same soundstage as Titanic? I mean, that's pretty impressive for a Fox show in it's sophomore season. I thought all of it was really well done! Ditto on being interested in a 'making of' special. Maybe on the DVD?

They did indeed use the same water tanks as they did in Titanic. These episodes were filmed in Mexico. If you follow the show account on Twitter, there's quite a few tweets that link to articles on the backstory of filming.

[Azi]

My literal only wish for next episode (since I'm sure no one is actually dying) is that Buck manages to find Christopher before he has to tell Eddie that he lost his son. I don't think I could take that.

[Regalbegal]

16 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

So, I am taking back every single negative thing I said about Oliver Stark wayyyyyyy back in the early series. Oliver Stark was absolutely excellent in this episode. Him and Gavin McHugh were the superstars of this episode, for sure.

Agreed - they were the strong spot of a strong episode overall.  I love this show but, as someone who lives in LA, I wish they wouldn't kick off every season with a huge natural disaster set here.  It stresses me out!  

[iMonrey]

Quote

I didn't think she was in charge of morale.  I thought she was asked to keep an eye on the 911 operators, help monitor how they're holding up emotionally and maybe make some tough decisions about which calls are lost causes and need to be ended (like the one operator who couldn't hang up despite not getting any response from the caller for 20 minutes).

You say tomato . . .

Maddie's boss approaches her with some thinly veiled dialogue which basically services her subplot. "Hey, Maddie, you are a lead character, so you need something more important to do than sit around answering the phone. Even though you are brand new here I want to put you in charge of making sure everyone's doing OK emotionally! That's your job now!" 

I just found that scenario horribly contrived and hackneyed. 

The rest of the episode was good enough for me to overlook it though.

Quote

as someone who lives in LA, I wish they wouldn't kick off every season with a huge natural disaster set here.  It stresses me out!  

Heh. Next season: wildfires!

Edited October 1, 2019 by iMonrey

[Jillybean]

5 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

You say tomato . . .

Maddie's boss approaches her with some thinly veiled dialogue which basically services her subplot. "Hey, Maddie, you are a lead character, so you need something more important to do than sit around answering the phone. Even though you are brand new here I want to put you in charge of making sure everyone's doing OK emotionally! That's your job now!" 

I just found that scenario horribly contrived and hackneyed. 

I said to Mr. Jillybean, "Why? She cries on every call!"

[Lady Calypso]

18 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Maddie's boss approaches her with some thinly veiled dialogue which basically services her subplot. "Hey, Maddie, you are a lead character, so you need something more important to do than sit around answering the phone. Even though you are brand new here I want to put you in charge of making sure everyone's doing OK emotionally! That's your job now!" 

I mean, yeah, that's totally why they gave Maddie that role to fill.

But, to give her SOME credit, she has been at the call centre for about a year now, so she's not entirely new. But still, new enough where there's definitely someone higher up that could be more useful. But this show has never been known for its realism so I'm not even surprised. 

They definitely could have found someone more qualified than Maddie. I mean, we had her boss (whose name I have never known....actually, same with Maddie's co-worker) who was still giving orders anyway. 

But at least this plot for Maddie wasn't as hammy as last season, when Maddie was trying to quit and her boss gathered a bunch of guest stars from previous episodes to meet at a coffee shop and praise Maddie for all her hard work. Now THAT was way worse than Maddie getting the job of surveying the operators.

[DearEvette]

Outside of all the PLOT going on, I have to say the production value of this was really well done.  I wonder if the cast had fun in the water at least?

There was one scene that for some reason struck me as super funny.  One minute, Buck and Christopher are all by themselves, no one (except that one man and woman the rescued) and then suddenly all the people appeared floating toward them.  It legit was like one of those scenes from The Walking Dead where supposedly slow, shambling walkers are suddenly right there in your face after having been nowhere seconds ago.  LOL.

I adore Buck with Christopher and have to agree that he sold the hell out of Buck's freak out at the end.

Also, poor Buck, he stay getting his ass battered.

I call shenanigans on the married couple on the boat.  I mean, I suppose all three could have survived, but they were right there and given the volume and force of the water you're telling me that the bride only got waterlogged?  Not a broken neck or even a broken bone of two?  Not swept over (I assume the poor officiant was)?

For all that it was a big wave the danger seemed rather contained to the beach/peer area with some water seeping out farther to affect nearby homes (RIP attic man).  Athena and May's problems stem from a multi car accident with the ankle deep water as an exacerbating issue only because of the live wires.  But they only knew about the tsunami because of the text alert,  Outside of that they'd have no idea that was going on.  And yet, all emergency responders seems to be unavailable for anything else and yet again, you don't get the sense that anyone but our firefighter crew is even on scene. 

Finally, loved that Bobby equipped Athena with a car-window-breaker.  Such an emergency responder thing to do.

Edited October 1, 2019 by DearEvette

[gonzosgirrl]

43 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I mean, yeah, that's totally why they gave Maddie that role to fill.

But, to give her SOME credit, she has been at the call centre for about a year now, so she's not entirely new. But still, new enough where there's definitely someone higher up that could be more useful. But this show has never been known for its realism so I'm not even surprised. 

Her boss did mention Maddie having ER/triage experience, which *I think* implied that she would be more effective than some in deciding which calls they could help and which they had to let go?

[Azi]

30 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I call shenanigans on the married couple on the boat.  I mean, I suppose all three could have survived, but they were right there and given the volume and force of the water you're telling me that the bride only got waterlogged?  Not a broken neck or even a broken bone of two?  Not swept over (I assume the poor officiant was)?

If I remember correctly he was also still on the boat with a head wound. They took care of him and then he was promptly forgotten inmidst of the family drama.

I also found it a bit contrieved that it was Maddie who was suddenly asked to oversee the mental state of the others, but I chalked it up to her performance earlier when she heard the poor guy die and then promptly, despite her tears took the next call (and then they contrasted it to her colleague who couldn't hang up - granted, Maddy got disconnected, but I thought that's what we were supposed to get from the scene), showing her being stable.

[rove4]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Maddie's boss approaches her with some thinly veiled dialogue which basically services her subplot. "Hey, Maddie, you are a lead character, so you need something more important to do than sit around answering the phone. Even though you are brand new here I want to put you in charge of making sure everyone's doing OK emotionally! That's your job now!" 

I just found that scenario horribly contrived and hackneyed. 

True, but that sort of stuff is on every tv show so it's mostly like white noise to me now.  Kind of like on shows set in hospitals when all the doctors somehow always end up spending chunks of time in the ER...or seem to be specialists in all sorts of areas depending on the patient of the week.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

All of that water and there weren't any sharks.  I was so hoping that there would be sharks.

There's always next week. We're not out of the water yet. 😀

[gonzosgirrl]

16 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

All of that water and there weren't any sharks.  I was so hoping that there would be sharks.

No way would that boat have held together.   A tsunami like that should have sunk it and ripped it to shreds in the process.   Even the S.S. Minnow had a huge whole in it when the skipper and his little buddy and the rest of the folks landed on the island, and that storm wasn't a tsunami.

I know I posted it earlier, but I don't think anyone responded.  I would have expected that cutting torch to have heated up that antenna so much that it would have cooked the old dude in the boat from the inside out.   Is there some torch that they use now that doesn't cause heat to be transferred up the antenna like that?

I'm going to guess that the water would be cold enough to diminish the heat transfer enough to where it wouldn't burn him?