S04.E09: Next of Kin

[thewhiteowl]

A tragic mission leads each member of the SWAT team to contend with their emotional distress in varied ways.

 

[Danielg342]

My first thought about this episode is, "if Hollywood's pandemic protocols are going to stop shows from having characters hug and show affection, then maybe shows shouldn't pursue emotional episodes at this time".

I don't know if S.W.A.T. has this directive but it sure felt like it. Kind of hard to really let the emotions out if everyone is going to act so distant from each other, and not just physically.

So that's one detraction.

The main one, though, is that this show is just really bad at showing off emotions. This episode was chock full of emotional episode cliches, starting with all the times the characters talked about "how hard the death hit them" to the fake drama with the mayor's office right up there with Street's absolutely horrific speech inside Christina's apartment.

Talk about ticking off all the boxes with that one. "I couldn't stand the thought of losing you." "Out there, I realized that I would rather be with you." "I ditched my girlfriend for you".

Of course, it really didn't help with all the absolute atrocious acting present in this episode.

Really, the only one who really brought it tonight was Shemar Moore. Which makes sense because he's got soap opera experience. Which also makes me wish he didn't waste so much time on pap like this and Criminal Minds because there could be an Oscar in his future but, turning 51 in April, time might be running out on that.

Who knows.

However, I don't know if I can truly fault the actors in this one because I know they can do better because they have in other episodes. Perhaps the blame is more on the director for not bringing out the proper performances.

Whatever the case, the acting was just flat all around. I mentioned Street's speech to Christina previously, but it deserves extra mention because Alex Russell delivered those lines with all the urgency of a baggage claim operator at the airport at four in the morning.

I mean, Russell was so wooden an actual fallen tree has more life than he did.

Earning the (not so) honourable mentions here would be Bre Blair and Annie's predictable exhortations to her husband that "SWAT is just not safe for you" (you just realized that now?) and whatever it was Amy Farrington called acting. David Lim had some moments but he was particularly weak too.

Oh, and Rocker lived up to his name...because he had just as much charisma as an actual rocking chair.

I spent all this time and I haven't brought up Christina Alonso's storyline, which was supposed to be the main fallout from the previous episode. I don't have much to say other than it was oh so predictable and- as much as I understand how hard it is to cry on cue- Lina Esco really didn't do herself any favours with some pretty lifeless crying. Kudos to the makeup department (in one of the episode's few highlights) in painting Christina's makeup to look like it was running down her face to begin her fateful scene with Street, because it was the only time it really captured how hurt Christina was by what happened.

That's about it, though.

I suppose I should write about the prospect of hunting down those...bad guys for the rest of the season. However, I just really can't...the Imperial Dukes are just as lifeless and pointless as this episode was and I can't bring myself to care for the team's chase to bring them down.

Erika meant nothing to the show, so the Dukes don't add any extra menace for killing her. They're just a badly written plot device who could have- and maybe even should have- been replaced by another bad guy.

Maybe someone who could bring the humanity this show sorely lacks.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Danielg342

[nittany cougar]

On 2/17/2021 at 11:40 PM, Danielg342 said:

I spent all this time and I haven't brought up Christina Alonso's storyline, which was supposed to be the main fallout from the previous episode. I don't have much to say other than it was oh so predictable and- as much as I understand how hard it is to cry on cue- Lina Esco really didn't do herself any favours with some pretty lifeless crying. Kudos to the makeup department (in one of the episode's few highlights) in painting Christina's makeup to look like it was running down her face to begin her fateful scene with Street, because it was the only time it really captured how hurt Christina was by what happened.

Hee, it was impressive.  It looked like she'd been crying for hours.  Street's profession of his feelings was surprising. Like, the woman can barely deal with packing her dead friend's stuff, so I don't think she needs this right now. 

Still, I thought her reaction of kicking him out of the apartment was over the top.  Is it because she is messed up about Erica or because she can't deal with her own feelings or both?  How about giving us a clue, writers?  I did get where Street was coming from, since Erica's death made him realize his feelings.  But it was completely unclear to me why Chris freaked out.

Edited February 20, 2021 by nittany cougar

[WinJet0819]

On 2/17/2021 at 10:40 PM, Danielg342 said:

Whatever the case, the acting was just flat all around. I mentioned Street's speech to Christina previously, but it deserves extra mention because Alex Russell delivered those lines with all the urgency of a baggage claim operator at the airport at four in the morning.

I mean, Russell was so wooden an actual fallen tree has more life than he did.

Just dead. That scene was so incredibly bad. I hope Chris does shut that down. Using Erica's death as a reason to profess love. Just no. That's disturbing, and this show is reallllllllly trying too hard with these two.

Edited February 20, 2021 by WinJet0819

[jabRI]

I wish they'd give Chris a new hairdo.  I know it's petty, but she's very pretty and I find it distracting.

[DanaK]

I liked the episode overall

[Danielg342]

On 2/18/2021 at 8:26 PM, nittany cougar said:

Hee, it was impressive.  It looked like she'd been crying for hours.  Street's profession of his feelings was surprising. Like, the woman can barely deal with packing her dead friend's stuff, so I don't think she needs this right now. 

I thought her reaction of kicking him out of the apartment was over the top.  Is it because she is messed up about Erica or because she can't deal with her own feelings or both?  How about giving us a clue, writers?  I did get where Street was coming from, since Erica's death made him realize his feelings.  But it was completely unclear to me why Chris freaked out

On 2/18/2021 at 11:43 PM, WinJet0819 said:

Just dead. That scene was so incredibly bad. I hope Chris does shut that down. Using Erica's death as a reason to profess love. Just no. That's disturbing, and this show is reallllllllly trying too hard with these two.

I suppose the writers will say "the team has been rattled by Erika's death, so that's why Christina and Street acted the way they did", but I'm not sure I buy it. It just feels lazy, like the writers think what they've done gives them a free pass to make their characters do whatever they want.

Look, I get that grief manifests itself in so many different ways and that there's no "right" or "wrong" way to do it (well, maybe there are a few "wrong ways" to grieve, but that's a separate issue). However, too many times grief is used by writers as an excuse to awkwardly shoehorn their characters into situations they wouldn't normally get into or fast-track the storylines they want to pursue. It's the quintessential "corner cutting" that plagues Hollywood writing so much, all in the quest for that "moment everyone talks about" without properly building to it.

This scene feels no different.

If "Streelonso" really is endgame, then the writers need to do their jobs and adequately build to it. They should not be throwing in these random scenes and having all these awkward moments that "tease" but get us nowhere. I'd rather have these writers take the time to build their friendship and eventually build their relationship so that when the payoff happens we can get a real payoff and not just "oh, well, what took you so long to get there?"

If Street really thinks he's better off with Christina, then maybe he should start by helping her pack up Erika's things first. Maybe then the two could rediscover their deeper bond first and then see if it goes somewhere. Street's awkward declaration just stalls the storyline- and for what, really?

[Sweet Tooth]

On 2/17/2021 at 8:40 PM, Danielg342 said:

Earning the (not so) honourable mentions here would be Bre Blair and Annie's predictable exhortations to her husband that "SWAT is just not safe for you" (you just realized that now?) and whatever it was Amy Farrington called acting. David Lim had some moments but he was particularly weak too.

Oh. My. God.

I really thought the wife/girlfriend getting involved with a cop and then suddenly realizing that the hours are horrible, and they might get killed, and ragging on them for it, went out in the eighties.

"Unless you get too busy with work."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Is the show wanting to ruin Annie's character as well? How did THIS funeral become "too real" for her? ARRRRGGGHHH. Making the woman beg her dude to leave just before he gets his pension is crazy. How long has he been on the job? 

Like, "Oh, you have a couple of weeks left before we can comfortably take care of our 5 billion kids? I think you should quit!" 

Thanks, show, for taking Annie down. 

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

If "Streelonso" really is endgame, then the writers need to do their jobs and adequately build to it. They should not be throwing in these random scenes and having all these awkward moments that "tease" but get us nowhere. I'd rather have these writers take the time to build their friendship and eventually build their relationship so that when the payoff happens we can get a real payoff and not just "oh, well, what took you so long to get there?"

They're both training for the same stupid thing. That would have been a totally natural way of getting them together than this total nonsense.

Street was literally telling Chris he was tossing aside the woman he just told he loved, and that Chris meant everything to him. That he had to rush over there to profess his love on the way home to his girlfriend.

There was no sense of urgency. He never tried to touch her. Not one tear. He never looked her in the eye. There was absolutely no buildup. 

Did I know this was coming? Of course. Was I hoping they'd build up some kind of sexual tension? That Street would man up and split up from his girlfriend before professing his love to someone else? Yes.

The disappointment I feel that they bungled this, can't be overstated.

 

I think Chris kicked Street out because:

1. Her friend JUST died, and she's having huge emotional fallout.

2. He still has a girlfriend. It's not like there's even a corpse of his relationship. It's still alive.

3. Rather than Street coming over there to help her clear out the apartment and offer emotional support, he laid this on her. I reiterate...he's STILL in a relationship!

Agree that Hondo was the only one who hit the mark. It's totally within his character that he'd obsessively go over his every decision and move they made. It made sense that he'd need to take some kind of action. To do something.

 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Oh. My. God.

I really thought the wife/girlfriend getting involved with a cop and then suddenly realizing that the hours are horrible, and they might get killed, and ragging on them for it, went out in the eighties.

"Unless you get too busy with work."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Is the show wanting to ruin Annie's character as well? How did THIS funeral become "too real" for her? ARRRRGGGHHH. Making the woman beg her dude to leave just before he gets his pension is crazy. How long has he been on the job? 

Like, "Oh, you have a couple of weeks left before we can comfortably take care of our 5 billion kids? I think you should quit!" 

Thanks, show, for taking Annie down. 

 

But on the other hand he is a Sergeant and there are roles on a police force other than SWAT, just like Bravo on the other CBS shoot um up show SEAL Team for their retirement aged Jason where the same story is running

[DanaK]

5 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Is the show wanting to ruin Annie's character as well? How did THIS funeral become "too real" for her? ARRRRGGGHHH. Making the woman beg her dude to leave just before he gets his pension is crazy. How long has he been on the job? 

Annie was already ruined as a character when she got all high and mighty about Chris's sexuality

[Sweet Tooth]

4 hours ago, DanaK said:

Annie was already ruined as a character when she got all high and mighty about Chris's sexuality

Agreed. Was also going to bring up that they'd almost rehabilitated her from that fiasco before telling her husband he could help the family by quitting five minutes before he receives his pension.

 

8 hours ago, Raja said:

But on the other hand he is a Sergeant and there are roles on a police force other than SWAT, just like Bravo on the other CBS shoot um up show SEAL Team for their retirement aged Jason where the same story is running

Jason's gf isn't asking him to literally retire and deny his pension. As far as she knew, Jason had voluntarily quit "spinning up" and was hating his current role, so she offered him something that would, as you said, let him remain but give him something more exciting to do than push papers around.

I see this as a completely different thing. Jason needs the "excitement" of going on missions. He's having a hard time transitioning into normal life, and rather than dealing with it, he keeps trying to stay in the game.

He has no attachments, and the one attachment he does have, he's pushed away twice in favor of the excitement.

Deac is a level-headed guy who wants to be there for his team. He loves his job, but he also has a family that grounds him. He's able to do normal stuff in a normal way. He can form attachments. He has a balanced life. He's not gone for a month at a time on missions. He does his job and comes home.

He's about to receive his pension. 

Also, she didn't ask Deac to transfer jobs. She asked him to retire. Another job within the system didn't even occur to her.

But Deac sees what's happening with his team, and he's the glue that holds a lot of it together.

He doesn't want to retire. After having a bazillion kids with a man she knew was in law enforcement while it was happening, suddenly tells him she's scared? No.

If he'd been an accountant or something when she married him, and he suddenly just applied for a job that could get him killed after they had a few kids, then she'd have a leg to stand on.

But they're using Erika's death as a prop. Something to make people act stupid and say stupid things. This is one example of that. Street's dry, emotionless pledge to Chris that she's like his life now, is another. It makes zero sense. 

[Danielg342]

14 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Did I know this was coming? Of course. Was I hoping they'd build up some kind of sexual tension? That Street would man up and split up from his girlfriend before professing his love to someone else? Yes.

The disappointment I feel that they bungled this, can't be overstated.

Agreed,

What really gets me about all this is that Street never showed any real affection for Erika, beyond that of being cordial to a co-worker. Why her death would suddenly make him want to throw away all the good he has in his life and be a selfish jerk to Christina is beyond me.

Nate's death didn't make him want to run to Christina, why would Erika's?

14 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

I really thought the wife/girlfriend getting involved with a cop and then suddenly realizing that the hours are horrible, and they might get killed, and ragging on them for it, went out in the eighties.

You'd think that, before creating (or rather, reviving) a cop procedural the writers might have first read The Great Book of Cop Show Cliches You Should Avoid, but I guess not.

Here's the thing about Annie's exhortation. So, ignoring the actual realities of SWAT and accepting this show's version of SWAT's reality, we have to assume that each year Deacon goes on at least a dozen, if not more, "high risk" raids each year.

Now, remember that Deacon is the most senior member of the SWAT team (or he's at least senior enough that he was thought of as the heir to Buck Spivey's leadership of the team). I don't know if the show has ever said exactly how long Deacon has been with the team but let's assume it's at least 10-15 years, leaning towards the "over".

I'd also assume Deacon is around the same age as Hondo (the actor portraying Deacon, Jay Harrington, is 49, about a year Shemar Moore's junior) and he's a Sergeant, so he's probably been a police officer for well over twenty years.

Annie, if I recall correctly, was Deacon's high school sweetheart. I don't know if Annie's age has ever been revealed but the actress portraying her, Bre Blair, is 40.

So let's assume that Deacon and Annie have been together for...25 years. Which would make them late to the party to starting a family (Lila is seven years old, and that's established since she was named for high school shooting victim Deacon couldn't save, which according to the show's cannon occurred eight years ago), but it's not too far out of the ordinary.

Anyway, we've established that Deacon and Annie have been together throughout Deacon's long career on the police force, including a long time in the most riskiest of police jobs, which is SWAT.

Now, I could give the writers the benefit of the doubt that maybe Deacon has never experienced the death of a fellow officer in the line of duty (though that's doubtful) and that maybe he's never experienced the death of a SWAT team member on a mission while he is also an active SWAT member.

Maybe. Considering how hard the SWAT teams train and how hard they are on team members who take unnecessary risks, it could be believable that no one- before Erika- had died while on a mission in anyone's lifetime. However, given how risky their jobs are portrayed, Erika being the first SWAT member to die in the line of duty in over a generation feels very lucky, to say the least.

Regardless, you would have thought that, in all those years together, that Deacon himself has been through a few near-death situations while on the job.

Heck, during the show's run we've already seen Deacon get kidnapped and held hostage and another time we've seen Deacon get his house shot up by a gang out to get him.

That latter part is why Lila apparently has to switch schools...because the shooting still traumatized her.

Oh, and Annie also nearly died of brain cancer, so she's also aware of her own mortality.

If Annie didn't think then during all those times that Deacon's job is too dangerous for him and the family, why does Erika's death prompt her to think that now?

Annie could have had least told Deacon, "the past few years have been rough on us, maybe it's time to ditch the danger". She- or Deacon, or both- could have also insinuated or flat out mentioned they've had this conversation many times before, because they probably have.

Yet the writers treated Erika's death as not "the straw that broke the camel's back" but merely as a straw. The one incident that made Annie change her mind about how comfortable she is with the risk Deacon takes on every day while he is at work.

As if all those other times didn't matter.

Never mind getting her house shot up or getting brain cancer or dealing with Deacon actually getting held hostage.

No, the fact that a SWAT member, one whom Deacon was not particularly close with and someone Annie might not have even met, that's the trigger that changes Annie's mind seemingly forever about how comfortable she is with Deacon and the job he takes on.

I mean, I don't know if it would have made the cliche any better, but a little bit of wider awareness and a nod to continuity might have made that scene easier to understand.

Instead, everyone winds up looking bad all because the writer just couldn't be bothered with adding a line or two to give the scene better context.

If that's not lazy then I don't know what is.

[Sweet Tooth]

4 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Heck, during the show's run we've already seen Deacon get kidnapped and held hostage and another time we've seen Deacon get his house shot up by a gang out to get him.

That latter part is why Lila apparently has to switch schools...because the shooting still traumatized her.

Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about this, but YES.

Her whole family nearly being shot up, and her daughter traumatized. wasn't enough for her to say, "Yo, maybe it's time for you to hang up your boots."

Nope. ERIKA.

So, okay, I've figured out the theme of her death.

Nothing that came before matters. No trauma I've endured or dangerous situations where I've nearly died or seen people die. 

Nope.

ERIKA'S DEATH is the one and only thing that will be the catalyst for either changing my entire life, and/or asking those closest to me to change theirs.

It never occurred to Street that Chris could die...AS A S.W.A.T. team member...until ERIKA died?

It never occurred to Annie for over a decade that Deac could die until she ATTENDED ERIKA'S FUNERAL?

Yeah. No buildup. No making this the straw that broke the camel's back. Just, "Now that Erika died, I can see everything so clearly."

THIS was why they killed her off? To catapult the Chris/Street hookup? Are you kidding me with this crap?

What a bunch of a-holes.

[mojoween]

Chris and Street and Sonny and Davis (the latter two from SEAL Team) should swap partners.  Then maybe SOMEONE would have some damn chemistry.

Annie *telling* Deacon to retire, rather than *asking* him to discuss it, was crap writing.  As was that S.W.A.T. probie telling Deacon “hey I get that everyone is sad about that chick dying, but if you were in charge it wouldn’t have happened”.

Although it was nice for the show to remember that Erika was on Baby Hulk’s team, and not Hondo’s.

[Raja]

47 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Chris and Street and Sonny and Davis (the latter two from SEAL Team) should swap partners.  Then maybe SOMEONE would have some damn chemistry.

 

I think Chris and Street had plenty of chemistry when she was just his big SWAT sister 

[Danielg342]

I find what's really disappointing about Erika's death is how a show that was once so good with characterization and continuity threw it all away just to shoehorn the characters into their desired outcomes. Nothing is at all organic, and you at least feel that the characters are not acting, well, "in character". They're just slowly becoming robots who fulfill the obligations of the plot.

[Esromjk]

I really dislike when TV shows put together team mates & I would hate to stop watching SWAT.
But I've stopped watching at the NCIS shows when the various couple hooked up.

Why can't males & females who work in a team- just be teams mates. None of the Crim Minds characters hooked up with each other- they acknowledged JJ's love of Spencer- but she already had moved on. They could easily do that here as well.

Beside I don't particularly like the Chris character- don't know why she just rubs be the wrong way.

[nittany cougar]

15 hours ago, Esromjk said:

I really dislike when TV shows put together team mates & I would hate to stop watching SWAT.
But I've stopped watching at the NCIS shows when the various couple hooked up.

Why can't males & females who work in a team- just be teams mates. None of the Crim Minds characters hooked up with each other- they acknowledged JJ's love of Spencer- but she already had moved on. They could easily do that here as well.

Beside I don't particularly like the Chris character- don't know why she just rubs be the wrong way.

Yes, they can have people work together without getting involved or getting involved briefly rather than as endgame. 

I think it is realistic for single co-workers to socialize and date.  I've certainly seen it a lot in my work.  What is not realistic is for all such couples to be marriage material or long term partners. 

[Danielg342]

13 hours ago, nittany cougar said:

Yes, they can have people work together without getting involved or getting involved briefly rather than as endgame. 

I think it is realistic for single co-workers to socialize and date.  I've certainly seen it a lot in my work.  What is not realistic is for all such couples to be marriage material or long term partners. 

At the factory I used to work at, a husband and wife team did run the shipping department, and done so for ten years. They didn't meet at work, though.

I think it's more about how just about every show- whether or not they're designed to adequately deal with personal stories and even love stories- wants to write love stories and have love angles within their cast and it gets overdone- and awkward. I wish shows would realize that unless they have two characters who have such amazing chemistry that the audience could buy them in a relationship they shouldn't force a love story on us. Christina and Street are better off as pals, they have better chemistry that way, and Street is better with Molly anyway.

[mommalib]

I don't appreciate how they keeping taking about Deacon's leadership as if Hondo isn't the leader of this team and done a damn good job leading the team over the last 4 years.

[WinJet0819]

On 2/25/2021 at 5:31 PM, Esromjk said:

I really dislike when TV shows put together team mates & I would hate to stop watching SWAT.
But I've stopped watching at the NCIS shows when the various couple hooked up.

Why can't males & females who work in a team- just be teams mates. None of the Crim Minds characters hooked up with each other- they acknowledged JJ's love of Spencer- but she already had moved on. They could easily do that here as well.

Beside I don't particularly like the Chris character- don't know why she just rubs be the wrong way.

Could not agree more.

I'm up to here with all these inner-department and inner-team relationships. Especially on the shows that aren't geared for relationship drama, like SWAT and SEAL Team.

All these relationships do is detract from the quality of the show. And too many times, it ruins what was a strong, independent female character. It makes the female look weak, and their sole purpose on the show is just to be part of a relationship. The prime example of this is the Stella Kidd character on Chicago Fire. When she first came on the show, she was a strong and independent woman who could hold her own with the guys. Then they stick her with Severide, and now she's constantly needing his reassurance that she's good enough, constantly cuddling into his arms, at work, and was actually about to forgo taking the lieutenant's test because Severide wasn't speaking to her.

The show that should be the gold standard for how team members can work closely with each other, while still maintaining a platonic relationship would be Law & Order: SVU with the Stabler-Benson partnership for 12 seasons. Not once in those 12 seasons was there even a hint of romance between the two. They cared for each other, and had each other's backs, and were great friends, but that's as far as it went. I really wish today's shows, especially the procedurals, could get back to that.

If SWAT goes down this road with Christina and Street, the show loses what it's about, and I don't see the show lasting much longer. People didn't tune in to SWAT to see Christina and Jim cuddle together in bed and talk about moving in together or meeting the family. SWAT is an action drama, and it used to be about the cases and the action. And the relationships that the characters did have was with recurring characters that weren't in every episode. And that meant the relationship drama wasn't dragged into every episode. That's why I prefer Molly and Street. She's not in every episode, but you know she's there, considering she's the captain's daughter. 

This show is good enough to not need to force Christina and Street together.

Edited March 3, 2021 by WinJet0819

[WinJet0819]

On 2/26/2021 at 10:42 PM, Danielg342 said:

At the factory I used to work at, a husband and wife team did run the shipping department, and done so for ten years. They didn't meet at work, though.

I think it's more about how just about every show- whether or not they're designed to adequately deal with personal stories and even love stories- wants to write love stories and have love angles within their cast and it gets overdone- and awkward. I wish shows would realize that unless they have two characters who have such amazing chemistry that the audience could buy them in a relationship they shouldn't force a love story on us. Christina and Street are better off as pals, they have better chemistry that way, and Street is better with Molly anyway.

Boom!!!!

This is same thing I say about Sonny and Davis on SEAL Team. They are better as friends. I didn't watch SEAL Team to see those two sneak around behind everyone's back because they're at risk of being fragged if they're caught.

[WinJet0819]

On 2/22/2021 at 1:02 PM, Raja said:

I think Chris and Street had plenty of chemistry when she was just his big SWAT sister 

Exactly. Much more natural. She called him out for dragging her out of bed to pick him up when he had his bike stripped. She was trying to push him to patch things up with Hondo so he could get back on the team. They had each other's backs as friends. That stupid kiss at the end of Season 2 just ruined everything about their relationship.

[WinJet0819]

And as others have said, having Annie just now asking Deke to walk away because she fears he might not come home doesn't make sense. It's poor writing. This wasn't brought up when Deke hurt his back in that car accident during the budget cuts in Season 2, which left his family financially strapped and Deke on the edge. This wasn't brought up after their house got shot up by criminals. Or when Deke got kidnapped. So to use Erika's death as a plot device for Annie to finally want Deke to leave SWAT out of fear for his safety is just forced. This would make sense if all the previous stuff hadn't happened to Deke. Then, we could buy the worried wife plot. I also have to think, with as long as Deke has been on the force, this is not the first officer funeral she's had to deal with. No, indication she brought it up during those times. So again, this sudden worry about Deke's life just doesn't track.

[WinJet0819]

On 2/26/2021 at 9:05 AM, nittany cougar said:

Yes, they can have people work together without getting involved or getting involved briefly rather than as endgame. 

I think it is realistic for single co-workers to socialize and date.  I've certainly seen it a lot in my work.  What is not realistic is for all such couples to be marriage material or long term partners. 

It's not realistic for co-workers to date when it comes to first-responder type jobs where they are part of a team. In most cases, especially in fire stations and tactical units, it's expressly prohibited. One of them would have to be moved to a different unit or a different house. And that's to avoid bringing their relationship drama into the workplace, which could have a negative effect in the rest of the team, especially when they need to be focused in a life or death situation.

[JH Lipton]

On 2/25/2021 at 3:31 PM, Esromjk said:

Why can't males & females who work in a team- just be teams mates.

Elementary was really good about that.  Holmes and Watson respected and cared for each other, but never romantically linked.

Chris had one good storyline with the poly couple, but they nixed that right quick.