S01.E02: Glory

[WendyCR72]

Airing on February 14, 2021:

McCall’s online ad leads her to a mother whose son has been kidnapped by a human trafficker and will be executed unless she steals confidential information from her FBI agent employer. Also, McCall enlists Aunt Vi to help uncover a secret Delilah is keeping from them both.

[Raja]

It sounds like they are doubling down on the daughter drama. I wonder how many shows are already in the can that will be shown before adjustments are made due to the audience's response? Being able to drop preseason plans during production is about the only advantage that the old broadcast TV distribution model has over streaming and entire season's  being dropped at once.

[ShellsandCheese]

Definite improvement over the pilot, in fact, I think this would have worked better as the pilot. But the daughter remains unnecessary and the weakest link. 

[Chaos Theory]

Definite improvement on the pilot.  Even the daughter works for me in this.   You can just have McCall  kicking ass and not wanting to go back to the CIA for “reasons” but if she has a daughter who has legitimate reasons to be pissed  off at her which let’s face it she does resisted them that makes sense.   I mean the daughter is annoying but she isn’t wrong. Mom made promises and probably not for the first time breaks them and daughter doesn’t know why.  I’d be pissy too.

[callie lee 29]

36 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Definite improvement on the pilot.  Even the daughter works for me in this.   You can just have McCall  kicking ass and not wanting to go back to the CIA for “reasons” but if she has a daughter who has legitimate reasons to be pissed  off at her which let’s face it she does resisted them that makes sense.   I mean the daughter is annoying but she isn’t wrong. Mom made promises and probably not for the first time breaks them and daughter doesn’t know why.  I’d be pissy too.

This. The daughter is still super annoying (although she seemed less so this episode) but I get where she's coming from. A childhood of disappointment from mom isn't going to be erased by showing up late to one event. 

 

I'm still liking it though I've generally liked anything Queen Latifah is in. TBH all the white guys ended up blending together so I got a little confused at some point. I was also making a g&t so that may have played a part as well 

 

[Raja]

The FBI Agent who seems to be okay with a vigilante on his beat seems a likely candidate for a reoccurring role, at least until Detective Dante completely flips.

So McCall is sort of a private contractor like Bishop now? With the threat of being stuck on an island chased down by a weather balloon should she try to leave I guess..

Going to a pilot episode thread I guess Common is now out in the  stunt cast ex sweepstakes since his song was featured. The amount of family drama reminds me of 50s war movies with the obligatory flashback with one soldier's wife to check all demographic groups' box.

[paigow]

Hopefully there are a lot of CIA ops scheduled for NY / NJ so McCall can be home for dinner...

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm sorry if I missed this explanation here somewhere, but how does Queen's character make or have money?  And she must have to pay those two people who help her right?

Edited:  Ok, finished the episode now.  I guess she only had to worry about money for 2 episodes, and now the CIA backs her I assume?

Edited February 15, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm sorry if I missed this explanation here somewhere, but how does Queen's character make or have money?  And she must have to pay those two people who help her right?

Edited:  Ok, finished the episode now.  I guess she only had to worry about money for 2 episodes, and now the CIA backs her I assume?

If I recall correctly, in the original show, the Equalizer was independently wealthy. Not so here. 

[Raja]

8 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm sorry if I missed this explanation here somewhere, but how does Queen's character make or have money?  And she must have to pay those two people who help her right?

Edited:  Ok, finished the episode now.  I guess she only had to worry about money for 2 episodes, and now the CIA backs her I assume?

While I always got the feeling that Kostameyer was on the clock in the original Melody feels like she does the work because she likes the work, just not in Afghanistan and McCall is giving her the opportunity to do the thing she loves. Meanwhile Harry is not so clear cut. Besides supporting his wife he seems like the many "white hats" who I guess takes a skim when he works against the bad guys.

Even if I think the FBI Agent might show up again I doubt if they go with the original series method of a Red like team of contacts coming in to help sometimes replacing Kostameyer but stick with the trio and perhaps Bishop's ninja red shirts

[paigow]

11 minutes ago, Raja said:

Meanwhile Harry is not so clear cut. Besides supporting his wife he seems like the many "white hats" who I guess takes a skim when he works against the bad guys.

My guess is that Harry gave McCall & Melody millions in dirty $ for "erasing" him...

[Chaos Theory]

13 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm sorry if I missed this explanation here somewhere, but how does Queen's character make or have money?  And she must have to pay those two people who help her right?

There was a throwaway line (last episode)  about her running an international charity.   It was probably the excuse she used while In the CIA on why she had to travel internationally but there might be some truth to it.    The CIA also probably paid her well considering wet work is a valuable skill set.   So Robyn McCall is not poor and could have probably used  the international charity director excuse forever if she chose to.  

Edited February 15, 2021 by Chaos Theory
Cleaned up post

[DearEvette]

I thought this was a better establishing episode than the the pilot. It feels almost like this might have been the pilot (or at least elements of it was) but the network wanted something more showy to premiere after the Superbowl so they re-worked the first episode. 

Like I said in the last thread, I don't dislike the daughter.  But the trope is tired.  I do think this episode did a good job of setting the foundation of a child who is resentful (rightfully so) of a parent whose work causes constant absenteeism and breaks promises. The show has decided to to create some family drama for Robyn to balance out her work and this is what they chose.  Not the most groundbreaking or original but logical given the work history they've given her.

Enjoyed Melody and Harry more this episode as well.  I admit I chuckled at his paranoia about being seen and their banter while safe cracking.

And Melody's line "And this is why I don't want kids. They get mad at you, they get kidnapped."  LOL like both those things are equally likely.

Anyway, I did like this episode better all around.

[mythoughtis]

Melody owns the bar above their spy hangout. They do not appear to be hurting for money at all. Robin probably had a lot of savings from her job.  
I doubt she does a lot of freelance for the CIA- just enough to keep them off her back for the other ones.  I wonder if that will be enough for the CIA to protect her from the cop.  The FBI guy isn’t concerned. 

 

[Netfoot]

10 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

how does Queen's character make or have money?

There was an opportunity for her to walk off with a suitcase full of Grantleys Benjamins belonging to the baddies, but I expect she is too pure to do something like that!

Edited February 15, 2021 by Netfoot
Because you guys probably don't know Grantleys

[peacheslatour]

38 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

There was an opportunity for her to walk off with a suitcase full of Grantleys Benjamins belonging to the baddies, but I expect she is too pure to do something like that!

Michael Weston would have taken it.

[tennisgurl]

I thought this was an improvement on the pilot, even feeling a bit more like a first episode than last weeks episode was. I guess they wanted something with a bit more action for the pilot, but this is the first episode that will actually set up what the show will be like. They even did the title drop and everything. 

I get why they have the daughter, to give Robyn a domestic life to contrast with her life as a former spy/vigilante, but I hope that they give her more of a personality besides this cats in the cradle mom issues teen angst soon. I guess I cant blame the daughter for being jaded by her mom being gone all of the time and bitter about it, but its just such a trope that its hard to get that interested, especially when the main case of the week has so much going on. 

Melody and Harry are a fun team for Robyn to assemble, I especially found Harry's "disguise" to be quite funny, and they all have pretty fun banter. I really like Queen Latifah here, she has that cool badass swagger that you want for an action hero, but she can also do the family drama stuff quite well. 

59 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

And Melody's line "And this is why I don't want kids. They get mad at you, they get kidnapped."  LOL like both those things are equally likely.

 

Definitely the line of the episode, bordering on winking at the fourth wall. Yep, that is pretty much why kids usually exist on shows like this. To do the When You Comin Home Dad/Mom angsty domestic drama, and to get kidnapped. 

[Grizzly]

I like the show. I like Queen. I like having Chris Noth on my screen. But what kind of badass spy is she to not notice the guy sitting in the car behind hers. We all saw him.

And it's driving me crazy. What show has Melody been on? I can almost place her.

[Raja]

18 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

 

And it's driving me crazy. What show has Melody been on? I can almost place her.

For this genre she was a double agent inserted into NCIS 

[Gothish520]

24 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

I like the show. I like Queen. I like having Chris Noth on my screen. But what kind of badass spy is she to not notice the guy sitting in the car behind hers. We all saw him.

And it's driving me crazy. What show has Melody been on? I can almost place her.

I know her from two canceled-way-too soon shows, Battle Creek and Angel From Hell.

[AnimeMania]

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm sorry if I missed this explanation here somewhere, but how does Queen's character make or have money? 

I saw her take at least 5+ guns this episode, so I am guessing Black Market Arms Dealer?

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

And it's driving me crazy. What show has Melody been on? I can almost place her.

She's Emma Stone's best friend in "Crazy Stupid Love".  I have a love/hate relationship with that movie for a lot of reasons, one being that I think Liza's character puts herself down in comparison to Emma's as being ugly when in my head it should be the other way around.

I found it.  Get it, ha ha, funny, because Asian woman = ugly, white woman = beautiful?

Quote

[referring to Richard]
Liz: Hannah, look at you. Look at you! If you end up with that, what am I going to end up with?
Hannah: Shut up!
Liz: It’s just depressing!
Hannah: Oh, come on!

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

I like the show. I like Queen. I like having Chris Noth on my screen. But what kind of badass spy is she to not notice the guy sitting in the car behind hers. We all saw him.

I totally thought the same thing.  I thought she faked her car not working so that her daughter would leave and then she would attack the guy.  I THOUGHT it was pretty clever until I realized that it really wasn't working, I think?  LOL.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Grizzly]

6 hours ago, Raja said:

For this genre she was a double agent inserted into NCIS 

So that was Agent Lee. Thank you. Good make-up, I convinced myself it wasn't her.

[Johannah]

Still loving this show.

I generally like procedurals and get annoyed and bored when they show the cop's home life, but it doesn't bother me here.  Maybe later, if it takes too much screen time, but now it's fine.

I think QL is great and so are Melody and Harry.  And Chris Noth.  Lol.  Some people I know by actor names and some by their characters.

I'm kind of torn.  Vigilantes can be dangerous and may attack without all the facts so innocent people could be hurt...but then, if it gets rid of bad guys that always escape the law, then...  So, I can see the sides of both the cop and the FBI guy.  Robin is a trained agent and her friends do research before she acts, so I'm on her side here.  Plus, that's the premise of this show, so...

Oh, well.  I'll just keep enjoying this show.

[Starchild]

On 2/14/2021 at 9:15 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Definite improvement on the pilot.  Even the daughter works for me in this.   You can just have McCall  kicking ass and not wanting to go back to the CIA for “reasons” but if she has a daughter who has legitimate reasons to be pissed  off at her which let’s face it she does resisted them that makes sense.   I mean the daughter is annoying but she isn’t wrong. Mom made promises and probably not for the first time breaks them and daughter doesn’t know why.  I’d be pissy too.

I think I will be able to tolerate the daughter as long as teen angst doesn't make up a significant portion of every week's plot. A little goes a long way. (TBH I'm a little surprised that the "best the CIA ever had" even had time for pregnancy.)

 

On 2/15/2021 at 12:10 AM, Raja said:

So McCall is sort of a private contractor like Bishop now?

I got the sense that she actually started working with Bishop now, since he already has an established understanding with the CIA related to his company's activities, and she needs that.

 

On 2/15/2021 at 11:45 AM, mythoughtis said:

I doubt she does a lot of freelance for the CIA- just enough to keep them off her back for the other ones.  

Actually, I don't think she freelances for the CIA since she left them. I think she intended to fully retire until she became motivated to start helping ordinary people in tough spots. That got their attention, because full retirement was part of the deal, and she now seems to be reneging. Operating under Bishop's umbrella takes a lot of that heat off her.

[paigow]

2 minutes ago, Starchild said:

I got the sense that she actually started working with Bishop now, since he already has an established understanding with the CIA related to his company's activities, and she needs that.

Maybe he will get Ned Starked and she has to take over the company...

[Netfoot]

21 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I thought she faked her car not working so that her daughter would leave and then she would attack the guy.

When she tried to start the car, it wouldn't turn over. Turns out that the ignition coil had been removed.

Du-uuh! Removing the coil will stop a car from starting, but it won't stop it from turning over. 

[marihunc]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:41 PM, Grizzly said:

And it's driving me crazy. What show has Melody been on? I can almost place her.

She was also Ivy, Topher's assistant on Dollhouse.

[Grizzly]

3 hours ago, Starchild said:

I think I will be able to tolerate the daughter as long as teen angst doesn't make up a significant portion of every week's plot. A little goes a long way. 

And you know at some point she will be kidnapped.

[mythoughtis]

3 hours ago, Starchild said:

I think I will be able to tolerate the daughter as long as teen angst doesn't make up a significant portion of every week's plot. A little goes a long way. (TBH I'm a little surprised that the "best the CIA ever had" even had time for pregnancy.)

 

I got the sense that she actually started working with Bishop now, since he already has an established understanding with the CIA related to his company's activities, and she needs that.

 

Actually, I don't think she freelances for the CIA since she left them. I think she intended to fully retire until she became motivated to start helping ordinary people in tough spots. That got their attention, because full retirement was part of the deal, and she now seems to be reneging. Operating under Bishop's umbrella takes a lot of that heat off her.

Yes I meant future freelancing from

this point forward 

[blackwing]

On 2/14/2021 at 8:53 PM, callie lee 29 said:

This. The daughter is still super annoying (although she seemed less so this episode) but I get where she's coming from. A childhood of disappointment from mom isn't going to be erased by showing up late to one event. 

 

I'm still liking it though I've generally liked anything Queen Latifah is in. TBH all the white guys ended up blending together so I got a little confused at some point. I was also making a g&t so that may have played a part as well 

 

Agree with you regarding the white guys.  I couldn’t tell the difference between the FBI white guy (is he the guy whose safe was robbed?), the bad white guy, and the second in command white guy.  
 

I loved this episode, I really like the balance between Robyn helping people and her home life.  Love Lorraine Toussaint... she is a gem.  That look she gave Latifah, and the smile Latifah gave in return... perfection.  I like their little unconventional family.  Here’s hoping the daughter won’t be as much of a pain in the future.

[stonehaven]

I like this show and the bonus of getting Lorraine Toussant in addition to everyone else makes this a winner.

[possibilities]

On 2/15/2021 at 3:24 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I totally thought the same thing.  I thought she faked her car not working so that her daughter would leave and then she would attack the guy.  I THOUGHT it was pretty clever until I realized that it really wasn't working, I think?  LOL.

I thought the same thing, too! I wish the show didn't feel the need to make her look stupider than the viewers. It seemed so obvious! 

 

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

On 2/14/2021 at 9:53 PM, callie lee 29 said:

. TBH all the white guys ended up blending together so I got a little confused at some point. I was also making a g&t so that may have played a part as well 

 

Agree with you regarding the white guys.  I couldn’t tell the difference between the FBI white guy (is he the guy whose safe was robbed?), the bad white guy, and the second in command white guy.  

I had the same problem. I was feeling guilty about it, but maybe they really are casting too many of the same type?

Lorraine Toussaint played Vee on Orange is the New Black, and it was really bothering me that they call her character on this show Vi. It took me almost two full episodes to realize they were not using the exact same name here, and to start not having intense Vee flashbacks every time she or her name showed up.

[MissLucas]

Definitely an improvement over the pilot which I liked well enough. The daughter worked a lot better this time around and I loved the scene at the end with all three ladies beaming at each other - they do look like they could be related. Good casting. The fact that Robyn did actually make it to the gig (I was sure she would not) and Melody's fourth-wall-rattling line about having kids makes me somewhat hopeful that TPTB know what they are doing. So maybe this won't end up being the usual heap of tropes about teenage kids after all.

Speaking of Melody (thanks @Raja for identifying her) I liked the actress on NCIS and I'm glad she found a new home. She's got great comic timing - her head tilt when she confessed to Robyn that she likes to hide things because she finds annoyed hubby cute cracked me up.

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by MissLucas

[ShellsandCheese]

On 2/16/2021 at 2:21 PM, marihunc said:

She was also Ivy, Topher's assistant on Dollhouse.

And she was in this dandy little Netflix movie All I Wish with Sharon Stone and Tony Goldwyn. I love that silly little move. 

[paigow]

OG McCall had a son  He should be the ex-husband now...

[DanaK]

I'm really liking this show so far. Latifah works real well here, along with the current racial awareness and issues. Plus the ratings are #1 or #2 for the night so it's doing relatively well so far

[snarktini]

On 2/15/2021 at 11:06 AM, Gothish520 said:

I know her from two canceled-way-too soon shows, Battle Creek and Angel From Hell.

Also canceled-too-soon, she was in Don't Trust the B in Apt 23! She's done a LOT it turns out.