S03.E13: Triple Duty

[WendyCR72]

Airs on May 9, 2021:

Quote

Nolan and Bradford hope they can de-escalate a drug war before any innocent lives are lost. Harper hopes she can get Officer Chen ready to go undercover.

 

[Clanstarling]

Even though they're showing Lucy nailing it on her undercover test, I still have a hard time believing she'd be any good. And I know it's the character and not the actress - as she was thoroughly convincing as a badass in Dark Matter.

I think T.O would be a great job for Nolan.

Though I'm not sure it would ever be done, I loved the way they handled Stanton.

 

[shapeshifter]

I hate undercover plots so much that I may have to quit this show for now.

[Driad]

Headline: "Shootout in Cemetery, Thousands Dead."

Nothing about Henry, so presumably he is OK until the next crisis.  I thought Nolan might mention Henry in the T.O. discussion.

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, Driad said:

Headline: "Shootout in Cemetery, Thousands Dead."

Hee.

20 minutes ago, Driad said:

Nothing about Henry, so presumably he is OK until the next crisis.  I thought Nolan might mention Henry in the T.O. discussion.

During some car talk:

• How's Henry?
• Well, he's good. Thanks. I'll join them once I graduate to P2. Ten more days.

Edited May 10, 2021 by shapeshifter

[NYGirl]

Henry is in Arizona with Nolan's ex and Henry's fiancee rehabbing.  Nolan is going to go there in about 10 days.  It was discussed with Bradford in the "shop:

I too hate undercover plots. 

I enjoyed the rest of the episode about Lopez and LaFiera.  

[HurricaneVal]

I really liked the chemistry and dynamics between La Fiera and Lopez during the original episode, and I'm glad the arc continues.  Their scenes together are full of push and pull of mutual respect, loathing, and admiration.  I really, really hope that this doesn't end with La Fiera kidnapping Lopez's baby.

Chen's puppy really gets around.  Or was that some sort of additional machination by Harper to engage the puppy and another actor in that little scene to see if that would get Chen to break character.  She certainly tried to hit on all of Lucy's vulnerabilities, what with the apparent kidnapping and all that.  I'll also bet we find out that Harper's undercover accomplice Sergeant will turn out to be an actual Walter White type truly cooking and distributing meth as a side gig in violation of the rules.  Which will put Lucy in double trouble when she finds out while deep UC.  She can't trust him, but he's her "handler" so she's stuck.

Oooh, edited to add....West's revenge was delicious.  Particularly when bookended with the scene of Stanton's new co-workers berating and scorning West due to Stanton's lies and Stanton standing there, knowing the truth and smirking his golden boy smile.  Delicious.

Edited May 10, 2021 by HurricaneVal
Forgot the deliciousness.

[paigow]

West is going to have more Daddy issues...

Kinder gentler Bradford is strange... two life or death firefights in a row with maybe 1 kill

[eel21788]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

Chen's puppy really gets around.  Or was that some sort of additional machination by Harper to engage the puppy and another actor in that little scene to see if that would get Chen to break character. 

I still don't trust her.

[milkyaqua]

Don't know how I feel about Lucy's undercover but that's more to do with Lucy tending to sometimes get on my nerves.

I'll be glad when the wedding shenanigans are over.  But I did chuckle at Nolan and Bradford calling folks about their RSVPs.  People are bad about that. 

It'll be interesting to see how the Lopez and LaFiera storyline comes to an end.  Bonus, seeing Kyle Secor even if he was playing an ass (loved him since Homicide Life on the Street).

Glad that Stanton got a little comeuppance.  I was worried West was going to do something stupid when he was watching him and his friends.

[paigow]

West needs a new partner who will end up being...

• racist
• homophobic
• gay
• crazy

[Boofish]

So I'm the only one who noticed Lopez constantly changing shirt?

[paigow]

How is La Fiera going to win a gang war? Huge cemetery firefight with no survivors. Fail to win 5 v 2.

[chaifan]

54 minutes ago, milkyaqua said:

I'll be glad when the wedding shenanigans are over.  But I did chuckle at Nolan and Bradford calling folks about their RSVPs. 

 

I normally hate wedding storylines, and I was definitely going down that path early on.  But I will admit, they've really used it to add some humor and to lighten Bradford up.  The rsvp calls were hilarious, and I love how Nolan in one breath is totally throwing Bradford under the bus, and deferring to him, calling him "sir" in the next.  They've even tied in Smitty to the wedding plot line!  I just hope we can have a cop wedding without it turning into a giant gun fight, culminating, of course, in a ruined multi-tiered wedding cake. 

I don't mind Chen in UC role, but hope it really isn't going to be as extensive as they're making it sound.  If they do that, the main cast will be pretty chopped up - Lopez as detective, Chen in UC, Nolan, Bradford and West all in separate cars. 

So it seems that the whole Henry heart issue plot was just filler.  ugh.  Not that I want the character back, but it just seemed so unnecessary.

 

 

 

[paigow]

4 minutes ago, chaifan said:

So it seems that the whole Henry heart issue plot was just filler.  ugh.  Not that I want the character back, but it just seemed so unnecessary.

Likely a way to write Nolan out for a few episodes so new rookies can be introduced down the road

[milkyaqua]

15 minutes ago, chaifan said:

They've even tied in Smitty to the wedding plot line!  I just hope we can have a cop wedding without it turning into a giant gun fight, culminating, of course, in a ruined multi-tiered wedding cake. 

I forgot about Smitty "inviting" himself to the wedding, lol.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, milkyaqua said:

Glad that Stanton got a little comeuppance. 

Stanton’s comeuppance bugged me because IRL, I can’t see that happening. 
I appreciate them wanting to show what should happen to the Stantons of the world, but it felt too unrealistic to me for it to set any kind of an example.

IDK. Maybe that was part of the point. A bitter point that it would likely only happen in a fantasy police station. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by shapeshifter

[milkyaqua]

20 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Stanton’s comeuppance bugged me because IRL, I can’t see that happening. 
I appreciate them wanting to show what should happen to the Stantons of the world, but it felt too unrealistic to me for it to set any kind of an example.

IDK. Maybe that was part of the point. A bitter point that it would likely only happen in a fantasy police station.

I agree, in real life, it would never happen but such is TV.  A lot of what happens, doesn't happen in real life.  And it's not like the guy couldn't go some place else and get a job as a policeman as has been proved time and time again in real life.

[chaifan]

38 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Stanton’s comeuppance bugged me because IRL, I can’t see that happening. 
I appreciate them wanting to show what should happen to the Stantons of the world, but it felt too unrealistic to me for it to set any kind of an example.

IDK. Maybe that was part of the point. A bitter point that it would likely only happen in a fantasy police station. 

What bugged me more was that Stanton could be so easily seen in that reflection, so there was no doubt he was there and didn't do anything to help West, yet he somehow got reinstated (even if demoted, etc.).  I don't think there was any way to prove that he set West up, but there was absolute proof he did nothing to help him.

And, while I agree that no district commander would ever do it, I thought the "solution" was creative and a way for the commander to out Stanton in a somewhat indirect way so she wouldn't get blowback from others.  But the question remains, what happened to him in the end?  Does he just quit?  Have we seen the last of him?

 

17 minutes ago, milkyaqua said:

I agree, in real life, it would never happen but such is TV.  A lot of what happens, doesn't happen in real life.  And it's not like the guy couldn't go some place else and get a job as a policeman as has been proved time and time again in real life.

I'm not sure how it works for smaller police departments, but for larger metro areas, it is almost impossible to lateral transfer from one dept. to another.  Most union agreements don't allow it, at least at the basic patrol level.  (White shirts, aka management, are another story, since they're normally not union.)  It's a way to protect the members of that union, so "new" people aren't skipping over people with more seniority.  If you go from one city to another, you start over at the bottom.  This is one reason behind that "blue line of silence".  Cops know if someone gets fired, they're essentially done being a cop.  So they're very hesitant to kill someone's career over a single infraction. 

 

[HurricaneVal]

Oh please, please, please, pretty-pretty please with a cherry on top can the writers have Smitty DJ the wedding--by accident preferably--and have it be awesome.  They just have got to be setting up for that.  It would be comedy gold.

[Thomas Crown]

43 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Oh please, please, please, pretty-pretty please with a cherry on top can the writers have Smitty DJ the wedding--by accident preferably--and have it be awesome.  They just have got to be setting up for that.  It would be comedy gold.

TIm:  Lucy it's the last dance of the night.  I've been waiting all night for this moment.  Will you dance with me?

Lucy: I would love to Tim. 

They move closer to each other, waiting for the moment the slow music starts.  Their eyes remained locked as Tim gently puts his hand behind Lucy's back and moves her closer to him. Tim smiles as Lucy moves in even closer ...

Then DJ Smitty plays YMCA by the Village People.  

* Chenford army throw bricks at the TV * 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Thomas Crown

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, milkyaqua said:

And it's not like the guy couldn't go some place else and get a job as a policeman as has been proved time and time again in real life.

Yeah! For cops, and priests!

[paigow]

3 hours ago, Thomas Crown said:

Then DJ Smitty plays YMCA by the Village People. 

for the 5th time that night

[Sweet Tooth]

Ahhh...yep. Cesar's girlfriend's house is definitely the one where I saw they were about to film. I should have stuck around. Gone on another walk. Damn! I'll probably never get into one of those houses, so it was nice taking a peek. I'm assuming they put up fake walls, though. I can't imagine the people with the pretty house like holes in their real ones.

Oh, c'mon, show. Why did you have to make Kyle Secor the bad guy? I was really hoping he'd turn out okay, but the way he condescended to Lopez at the end made me want to throttle him. 

Agreed that in the real world, Stanton would have been protected. But of all the ways to get back at him, this was the most realistic. And I just thank the Universe that they didn't drag it out.

I love how Tim can go from sweet to digging into Nolan. Loved how Nolan totally threw him under the bus. 

Smitty insisting on DJ'ng. OMG. 

Okay, Brandon. Please go back on the LOT ship now. Thank you.

"Hey, Chen. Save me a dance."

Y'all, they are playing us HARD.

Ugh, if all they showed was the wedding for next week, that puppy is going to get blown up real good. This is all about to come to a head.

 

[Brian Cronin]

It's weird how Fillion was probably sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiightly heavier than you would probably want an actor who's playing a rookie cop on TV when the series started, but since then. he's gone, like, 180 degrees the other way. 

[Sweet Tooth]

1 hour ago, Brian Cronin said:

It's weird how Fillion was probably sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiightly heavier than you would probably want an actor who's playing a rookie cop on TV when the series started, but since then. he's gone, like, 180 degrees the other way. 

HA! Yeah. But he does a lot of physical work with this role, so he probably wants to be in shape.

Agreed that he's had a major shift in weight, especially from when Castle ended. 

[Evagirl]

23 hours ago, paigow said:

West is going to have more Daddy issues...

I'll say, especially since "daddy" is now a regular on S.W.A.T.  They'll have to bring in a new actor to play his father I guess.  The guy can't cross-over even as a different character.  He plays an ex-con on S.W.A.T, no way he can double-dip and play West's by-the-book-cop dad too.

[chaifan]

54 minutes ago, Evagirl said:

I'll say, especially since "daddy" is now a regular on S.W.A.T.  They'll have to bring in a new actor to play his father I guess.  The guy can't cross-over even as a different character.  He plays an ex-con on S.W.A.T, no way he can double-dip and play West's by-the-book-cop dad too.

Interesting.  My guess is that Daddy West will be killed off, then.  They could go the innocuous heart attack route, or make it part of a bigger plot, that he was killed by a bad cop he was investigating, or something like that. 

[Netfoot]

8 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Interesting.  My guess is that Daddy West will be killed off, then.  They could go the innocuous heart attack route, or make it part of a bigger plot, that he was killed by a bad cop he was investigating, or something like that. 

CoughStantoncough? 

[orza]

4 hours ago, Evagirl said:

I'll say, especially since "daddy" is now a regular on S.W.A.T.  They'll have to bring in a new actor to play his father I guess.  The guy can't cross-over even as a different character.  He plays an ex-con on S.W.A.T, no way he can double-dip and play West's by-the-book-cop dad too.

Sure he can. The only thing standing in the way of the actor returning is CBS. If CBS agrees to the occasional guest appearance they are fine. Otherwise West just makes reference to his father who remains off camera.

3 hours ago, chaifan said:

Interesting.  My guess is that Daddy West will be killed off, then.  They could go the innocuous heart attack route, or make it part of a bigger plot, that he was killed by a bad cop he was investigating, or something like that. 

The character doesn't need to be killed off and appearing as a shady character on one show and a cop on another is called acting. Character actors do it all the time. I don't see a problem there.

[rhys]

I know nothing about cops but it seems odd to me that after just one year, a rookie can graduate(?) & become a TO or a UC. I would have thought that would take more years on the force.

[Thomas Crown]

18 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

"Hey, Chen. Save me a dance."

Y'all, they are playing us HARD.

 

They sure like to do tease the Bradford and Chen shippers but I think they'll pull the trigger for them in season 4.  Think of the wedding dance as an appetizer of what's to come next season 😀

[Sweet Tooth]

38 minutes ago, Thomas Crown said:

They sure like to do tease the Bradford and Chen shippers but I think they'll pull the trigger for them in season 4.  Think of the wedding dance as an appetizer of what's to come next season 😀

HAHAHA. I'd like to think that, but what I believe is going to happen is danceus interruptus when just as the big moment is about to happen, BLAMBLAMBLAM.

I hope I'm wrong, but that's my prediction.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, Thomas Crown said:

They sure like to do tease the Bradford and Chen shippers but I think they'll pull the trigger for them in season 4.  Think of the wedding dance as an appetizer of what's to come next season 😀

Unless she washes out soon, Lucy is going deep cover and cannot risk hanging out with a bunch of cops or dating Bradford...

[Thomas Crown]

35 minutes ago, paigow said:

Unless she washes out soon, Lucy is going deep cover and cannot risk hanging out with a bunch of cops or dating Bradford...

Her cover will be blown a few days into the UC mission on the following Sunday night when the members of the drug cartel she infiltrated all sit down to watch American Idol.  They like to unwind on Sunday nights by catching their favorite show after a long hard week. Despite the betrayal of having a cop hiding in their inner circle, they'll equally be disappointed that Lucy never went on to compete at Hollywood Week on American Idol.  Lucy got talent. 

[paigow]

13 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

HAHAHA. I'd like to think that, but what I believe is going to happen is danceus interruptus when just as the big moment is about to happen, BLAMBLAMBLAM.

I hope I'm wrong, but that's my prediction.

La Fiera does not have the resources to take on LAPD. Nor does it make sense since she can prove that her position is legitimate. Old Madrigal prospered by not leaving a trail of dead cops. 

[jabRI]

I for one enjoyed the 'home alone' moments with Nolan/Bradford.  Needed a little comic relief.

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, paigow said:

La Fiera does not have the resources to take on LAPD. Nor does it make sense since she can prove that her position is legitimate. Old Madrigal prospered by not leaving a trail of dead cops. 

Here's how Lopez's wedding becomes the site of an epic drug lord battle...

La Fiera stops by, uninvited of course, to wish Lopez well.  Because, you know, they have this special bond now.  Maybe gives her another creepy doll as a wedding present, maybe a brick of cocaine.  But, La Fiera has been tailed there by other drug lord guy, who wants to kill her.  Not knowing that she's showing up at a cop's wedding (because criminals are stupid) they take this opportunity to take La Fiera out.  As La Fiera and Lopez are standing in front of a giant picture window, La Fiera fixing Lopez's veil or train or garter/leg holster or whatever, a shot is fired through the window.  It just grazes La Fiera, because today is not her day to die.  All at the same time, all the guests (cops) and wait staff (and combination of La Fiera's people and the other drug lord's people undercover) pull out their guns and start shooting.  Only bad guys get hit.  Nolan somehow saves the day, but then trips and falls into the multi tiered wedding cake.  Hilarity ensues, and the wedding proceeds amongst the rubble.  La Fiera stays for the festivities and catches the bouquet. 

[shapeshifter]

6 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Here's how Lopez's wedding becomes the site of an epic drug lord battle...

La Fiera stops by, uninvited of course, to wish Lopez well.  Because, you know, they have this special bond now.  Maybe gives her another creepy doll as a wedding present, maybe a brick of cocaine.  But, La Fiera has been tailed there by other drug lord guy, who wants to kill her.  Not knowing that she's showing up at a cop's wedding (because criminals are stupid) they take this opportunity to take La Fiera out.  As La Fiera and Lopez are standing in front of a giant picture window, La Fiera fixing Lopez's veil or train or garter/leg holster or whatever, a shot is fired through the window.  It just grazes La Fiera, because today is not her day to die.  All at the same time, all the guests (cops) and wait staff (and combination of La Fiera's people and the other drug lord's people undercover) pull out their guns and start shooting.  Only bad guys get hit.  Nolan somehow saves the day, but then trips and falls into the multi tiered wedding cake.  Hilarity ensues, and the wedding proceeds amongst the rubble.  La Fiera stays for the festivities and catches the bouquet. 

Perfect.
So no tragic baby loss?
(just to avoid having to have babies on set -- but they could probably get by with mostly dolls)

[HurricaneVal]

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

I for one enjoyed the 'home alone' moments with Nolan/Bradford.  Needed a little comic relief.

OMG.  I forgot about how fantastic that was!

15 minutes ago, chaifan said:

All at the same time, all the guests (cops) and wait staff (and combination of La Fiera's people and the other drug lord's people undercover) pull out their guns and start shooting.  Only bad guys get hit.  Nolan somehow saves the day, but then trips and falls into the multi tiered wedding cake.  Hilarity ensues, and the wedding proceeds amongst the rubble.  La Fiera stays for the festivities and catches the bouquet.

And the entire time, Smitty blasts "Y-M-C-A" from the DJ stand, jamming out with headphones on, eyes closed, drinking champagne, completely oblivious to the bullets zinging past him

[chaifan]

15 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Perfect.
So no tragic baby loss?
(just to avoid having to have babies on set -- but they could probably get by with mostly dolls)

No, no tragic baby loss.  That would just lead to another downer of a plot line. 

Maybe we should add in Lopez's water breaking just after the I Do's?  (Although I don't think she's that far along...)

 

5 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

And the entire time, Smitty blasts "Y-M-C-A" from the DJ stand, jamming out with headphones on, eyes closed, drinking champagne, completely oblivious to the bullets zinging past him

Oh, this is perfection! 

[paigow]

9 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

And the entire time, Smitty blasts    ___________   from the DJ stand, jamming out with headphones on, eyes closed, drinking champagne, completely oblivious to the bullets zinging past him

• Another One Bites The Dust
• Under Pressure
• Blaze Of Glory

Edited May 13, 2021 by paigow

[femmefan1946]

On 5/10/2021 at 10:04 PM, Sweet Tooth said:

Ahhh...yep. Cesar's girlfriend's house is definitely the one where I saw they were about to film. I should have stuck around. Gone on another walk. Damn! I'll probably never get into one of those houses, so it was nice taking a peek. I'm assuming they put up fake walls, though. I can't imagine the people with the pretty house like holes in their real ones.

 

 

My house was borrowed for a TV show once. All they wanted was for the protagonist to walk down the front steps.
There were trucks all over the block and it took a whole day.
But no one ever entered the house.
They paid my hydro bill that month, because they plugged into my outlet.
I don't know who was more fascinated by the whole thing- the babies in the day care across the street or the addicts in the halfway house next door.

[femmefan1946]

13 hours ago, chaifan said:

Here's how Lopez's wedding becomes the site of an epic drug lord battle...

La Fiera stops by, uninvited of course, to wish Lopez well.

For the wedding? Anyone can attend a wedding, at least a church wedding. Many churches are open at all times and the public is allowed in at any time. (Some have business hours or have the door next to the office or vestry open but the church sanctuary is available on request.

For the reception? That's usually a private venue and only the invited are allowed in.  This is theoretically part of the groomsmen's job.

[Sweet Tooth]

7 minutes ago, femmefan1946 said:

My house was borrowed for a TV show once. All they wanted was for the protagonist to walk down the front steps.
There were trucks all over the block and it took a whole day.
But no one ever entered the house.
They paid my hydro bill that month, because they plugged into my outlet.
I don't know who was more fascinated by the whole thing- the babies in the day care across the street or the addicts in the halfway house next door.

That's cool. 

Yeah, whenever they film anything over there, it means trucks all over the place. One production was so huge, I assumed it HAD to be a movie, but when I asked one of the security guards, he told me it was All American, so I also missed out on seeing Taye Diggs. 

6 hours ago, paigow said:

• Another One Bites The Dust
• Under Pressure
• Blaze Of Glory

What? No Eye of the Tiger? 

[Beezella]

21 hours ago, jabRI said:

I for one enjoyed the 'home alone' moments with Nolan/Bradford.  Needed a little comic relief.

What were the Home Alone moments? (never saw the movie)

[Raja]

On 5/10/2021 at 2:13 PM, chaifan said:

What bugged me more was that Stanton could be so easily seen in that reflection, so there was no doubt he was there and didn't do anything to help West, yet he somehow got reinstated (even if demoted, etc.).  I don't think there was any way to prove that he set West up, but there was absolute proof he did nothing to help him.

And, while I agree that no district commander would ever do it, I thought the "solution" was creative and a way for the commander to out Stanton in a somewhat indirect way so she wouldn't get blowback from others.  But the question remains, what happened to him in the end?  Does he just quit?  Have we seen the last of him?

 

I'm not sure how it works for smaller police departments, but for larger metro areas, it is almost impossible to lateral transfer from one dept. to another.  Most union agreements don't allow it, at least at the basic patrol level.  (White shirts, aka management, are another story, since they're normally not union.)  It's a way to protect the members of that union, so "new" people aren't skipping over people with more seniority.  If you go from one city to another, you start over at the bottom.  This is one reason behind that "blue line of silence".  Cops know if someone gets fired, they're essentially done being a cop.  So they're very hesitant to kill someone's career over a single infraction. 

 

For LAPD specifically we had the set up for The Closer, they didn't used to take in transfers without going through the academy and  probationary year thus the need for a functional Lieutenant to be a Deputy Chief as Captain through Chief of Police were partly political appointments.

Meanwhile since LAPD has no residency requirements you don't have the cops living on their beat as so many TV shows have. Like all of our rookies and Detective Harper grabbing her kid and going back to work on the false doomsday warning episodes. Since it is the City of LA and the Sheriffs department which are always trying to fill their ranks of around 10,000 that is where you can get in as a SoCal police officer. So there is an attempt to get payback for LAPD academy time when officers take the state qualifying course and transfer to smaller suburban departments in part to get away from the crushing commutes. 

2 hours ago, Beezella said:

What were the Home Alone moments? (never saw the movie)

The liquid on the ground as an obstacle when the first gunman bust through the door and slipped.

[Raja]

On 5/11/2021 at 4:14 PM, rhys said:

I know nothing about cops but it seems odd to me that after just one year, a rookie can graduate(?) & become a TO or a UC. I would have thought that would take more years on the force.

I think their cultural advisor left due to COVID or they just decided to ignore real life LAPD culture for the story. They don't want 3 years of Adam-12 while the rookies put in their time to get "the tap' for another assignment.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Raja

[paigow]

11 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

What? No Eye of the Tiger? 

• Hit Me With Your Best Shot
• Love Is a Battlefield
• [We will be] Invincible

[Beezella]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

Home Alone moment

The liquid on the ground as an obstacle when the first gunman bust through the door and slipped.

Thank you, I do remember seeing that in ads. I'm not sure it would actually work that well though.