S03.E14: Threshold

[WendyCR72]

Airing May 16, 2021:

Quote

Officer Nolan mildly injures himself while chasing down a shoplifter and the local DA wants to charge the suspect with assault despite Nolan’s wishes. Meanwhile, Lucy goes undercover, Lopez’s wedding venue is seized by the FBI, and Nolan meets his new neighbor.

 

[dargosmydaddy]

So, over/under on...

• Lopez going into labor during the ceremony/ reception
• Some kind of shootout or other violent event during the reception
• Lopez and/or others getting shot or grievously injured during the reception?

[paigow]

 

Season Finale

Edited May 17, 2021 by paigow

[Msample]

La Fiera, built up as the female equivalent of Pablo Escobar, is put in an unarmored transport with no escort???

Glad she didn’t have Smitty whacked. Her intel is awfully good; I wonder if next season we discover she has someone inside LAPD.

[DanaK]

Who knew La Fiera would disrupt Chen’s undercover drug operation? That seemed to come out of left field to me, at least a bit, and seemed a rushed way to get her arrested. Other than that, this was a good and entertaining finale. I think La Fiera’s seeming obsession with Lopez is going to contribute to some kind of final downfall for her

I like Nolan’s new girlfriend so far

Regarding the emergency wedding planner team, I remember the introduction of the autistic-y young man many episodes ago, but I can’t recall when the young woman was introduced. Was it just last episode as part of Chen’s undercover intro or has she been in the season previously?

[MrWhyt]

I was expecting chekhov's sniper, not a kidnapping

 

Quote

 but I can’t recall when the young woman was introduced. Was it just last episode as part of Chen’s undercover intro or has she been in the season previously?

she's Chen's pet, she's been around all season.

Edited May 17, 2021 by MrWhyt

[femmefan1946]

Chen's lipstick !! Wow!!

[rhys]

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey) and instead of saying she's at The Smith House or something, she says the green one. I dunno; it strikes me as it could be hinkey . But I won't remember this convo come October lol!

[milkyaqua]

37 minutes ago, rhys said:

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey) and instead of saying she's at The Smith House or something, she says the green one. I dunno; it strikes me as it could be hinkey

It does seem odd that John would just take the word of a stranger instead of attempting to check out her story but hey she's a pretty woman in a towel, so there's that...

Yes, I wasn't looking forward to a long drawn out undercover mission for Lucy but that was fast and the working La Fiera into it.  And yes, as soon as I saw the van and no escort I knew where it was going (I swear it's too much trouble for tv/movie writers to not use the same old tropes over and over again...).

I knew Lopez's wedding wouldn't go off without a hinge but the kidnapping did surprise me and where's Jackson?  Also, all those cops in attendance and nobody notices anything?  And please spare me the Chen/Lucy nonsense!  I don't watch shows like this for the "will they/won't they" coworkers romance garbage.  Professional people have lives/relationships outside of their work places but apparently that's too much trouble for shows to do (I don't need to see it but come on).

I think this show has been renewed but the producers would've been better off without a cliffhanger just in case they weren't spared.  But I understand that this is something the producers have done before.

[Surrealist]

1 hour ago, rhys said:

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey) and instead of saying she's at The Smith House or something, she says the green one. I dunno; it strikes me as it could be hinkey . But I won't remember this convo come October lol!

Nope. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

On a superficial note, though, Jenna Dewan is so darn pretty.

[DanaK]

4 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

she's Chen's pet, she's been around all season.

Was she the young lady who was homeless and Chen gave her her old car?

[shapeshifter]

Lopez taunting La Fiera in jail about her son may have been intended as Chekhovian foreshadowing and motivation for the kidnapping, but to me it came off as petty and stupid, as well as a bit demeaning to pregnant women, since that is the excuse they are likely to use as to why Lopez would goad La Fiera about the loss of her son, since the taunting wasn’t even bridezilla tangential —not that bridezilla is a better excuse.

At least they rehabilitated the mother-in-law into a few degrees on the nice side of the trope.

I agree that Nolans perfect girl-next-door neighbor is too perfect, and Nolan should have taken some precautions or at the very least asked to see her ID after she got into the house.

[DanaK]

As dysfunctional as it probably is, I actually liked the La Fiera/Lopez relationship this season. It explored cultural issues and respect of the person without accepting their criminal behavior and an understanding between two women who were similar and dissimilar.  Lopez made clear to that Federal agent guy that she didn’t have all the answers about La Fiera but knew and accepted that she didn’t where he was an ass and his White male American viewpoint made him blow her off and underestimate her

[paigow]

7 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

I was expecting chekhov's sniper

It was the Castle sniper...

Smitty is the leak... He knew where to find Caesar and the transport route

La Fiera is a micro-manager... why is she in the field?

[Raja]

42 minutes ago, paigow said:

It was the Castle sniper...

Smitty is the leak... He knew where to find Caesar and the transport route

La Fiera is a micro-manager... why is she in the field?

It did blow my mind that the Queen from the South showed up at a single drug lab murder. I couldn't help but flash to more realistic shows where the big boss is hard to catch because she wouldn't have touched a drug or gun since rising to the top.

I am sure now that the show dropped its L.A.P.D. advisor. Every time a character said "A.D.A." instead of "Deputy D.A.", "D.D.A." or just "D.A." I just cringed inside that every jurisdiction is not New York the office has different names elsewhere. Of course having the mistake of having L.A.P.D. and not Sheriff's Deputies transporting La Fiera does put Smitty in play as  a bent cop.

How in the world did Smitty make it 22 years without an incident when the 3 boots got into 40 major shootouts in their probationary year?

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Raja

[paigow]

6 minutes ago, Raja said:

How in the world did Smitty make it 22 years without an incident when the 3 boots got into 40 major shootouts in their probationary year?

Nolan is the unlucky charm...

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, Raja said:

How in the world did Smitty make it 22 years without an incident when the 3 boots got into 40 major shootouts in their probationary year?

LOL. 
Real question: How the hell did Smitty get assigned to transport the drug king pin? 
Probable answer: All knowing, all powerful La Fiera got him switched into that duty at the last minute.

I just realized that the episode title is a reference to a bride being carried over the "threshold" of her new home. So, not so much.

[paigow]

5 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I just realized that the episode title is a reference to a bride being carried over the "threshold" of her new home.

And the undercover rules for Lucy... 

[Madding crowd]

I watch this with my husband who is a cop and the eye rolling each episode is intense. Lopez should have been on desk duty the last few months of pregnancy. She and her baby could have been killed any time she was near La Fiera.  Patrol cops especially rookies, wouldn’t be anywhere near drug cartel operations unless they walked into it like the cemetery shooting. Nolan just asking permission to “talk” to Cesar would never happen.

TV weddings can’t go off without a hitch but the whole set up with Smitty of all people as an escort was ridiculous. No back up for a famous drug lord? Luckily we like the actors.

[Msample]

One thing I missed this season were the quick humorous cold opens to episodes like they had when the show first aired.

[paigow]

If Lopez survives to next season, she will take that wedding in Tuscany and stay there...

[MDL]

Several thoughts/questions (some have been mentioned already):

1) Agree that Nolan's new "neighbor/date/GF" arrival was a bit too convenient.

2)  Did  they say someone other than La Fiera ordered the sniper hit on Cesar??

3) Agree that transporting La Fiera with such minimal security was amazingly dumb.

4) Was the red knotted thing Nolan found at the very end the same thing he gave as "borrowed" (Damn lighting)? If not, how did he seem to know it?

5) Did the Lucy u/c plot seem rushed to a conclusion? (I'm glad that it was, because I didn't like it.

6) Did they really have to screw up the wedding? (I know cliffhanger, but really??)

[Raja]

9 minutes ago, MDL said:

4) Was the red knotted thing Nolan found at the very end the same thing he gave as "borrowed" (Damn lighting)? If not, how did he seem to know it?

 

It was the charm La Fiera gave to Detective Lopez when they first met. A mother to soon to be mother thing.

[paigow]

6 minutes ago, MDL said:

4) Was the red knotted thing Nolan found at the very end the same thing he gave as "borrowed" 

No. La Fiera gave it to Lopez as a truce symbol. Lopez has shown it to the team before. 

[meira.hand]

9 minutes ago, MDL said:

4) Was the red knotted thing Nolan found at the very end the same thing he gave as "borrowed" (Damn lighting)? If not, how did he seem to know it?

No, it's a sort of talisman to keep evil spirits from her unborn child that La-Fiera left for her as a gift. Not sure if/how Nolan knew about it but I think it was shown for us to make the connection. It was shown again in the "previously" scenes for this episode.

[MDL]

Thanks to all for the clarification!

 

[HurricaneVal]

Whoa.  That was not the happy-fun-humorous wacky wedding episode I was expecting. 

My biggest disappointment was that Smitty was in left peril and evidently truly wasn't going to the wedding, nor was he DJing.

There is hope, however, once Lopez gets rescued and they plan a second hasty-yet-impossibly-beautifully-perfect that we will get a bruised Smitty jamming out to Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive entirely oblivious to how completely inappropriate that song is at a wedding.  There will be a quick camera cut to everyone's horrified faces, then a collective shrug, and all the characters wander out to the dance floor in a collective cathartic physical expression of joy that the ordeal is over. 

[DanaK]

I thought La Fiera agreed not to kill the son of her rival in order to end the drug war? Or did someone else order his death and kill him?

[eel21788]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I agree that Nolans perfect girl-next-door neighbor is too perfect, and Nolan should have taken some precautions or at the very least asked to see her ID after she got into the house.

Even hotel security asks you for ID when they let you back into your room after a lockout. So does housekeeping for that matter.

I'm with everyone else on thinking there is something very fishy about her.

[paigow]

42 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I thought La Fiera agreed not to kill the son of her rival in order to end the drug war? 

All of the surviving Madrigal crew surrendered and joined La Fiera. So there is no war.

[Snapdragon]

Not going to lie, my breath caught for a second because I was scared they were going to kill Smitty.  LOL.  Looking back, yes, it makes no sense that they'd have transported La Fiera in one car with no other support but in the moment, I was totally all in on that scene.  I also can't with pregnant women being threatened so I was way more concerned for Lopez than I usually would be in a TV kidnapping situation.  That being said, let's hope this wedding kidnapping has a better resolution than the last one Nathan Fillion was involved in (thought that's a pretty low bar, since the Castle kidnapping didn't even have a resolution, so...).

[shapeshifter]

34 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

Not going to lie, my breath caught for a second because I was scared they were going to kill Smitty.  LOL

Are we sure Smitty did survive?

[Pepper the Cat]

I think the something old, something new etc items will aid Lopez in her escape/rescue.

Was this really the season finale? Bummer.

 

[paigow]

4 minutes ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I think the something old, something new etc items will aid Lopez in her escape/rescue.

Nolan already did the MacGyver... 

[Clanstarling]

 

14 hours ago, rhys said:

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey) and instead of saying she's at The Smith House or something, she says the green one. I dunno; it strikes me as it could be hinkey . But I won't remember this convo come October lol!

I kept waiting for her to rob Nolan's house. You'd think neighbors would inform a cop neighbor if they were going to be out of town for awhile with a housesitter. But then, I don't really remember them, so maybe they don't like Nolan.

6 hours ago, paigow said:

No. La Fiera gave it to Lopez as a truce symbol. Lopez has shown it to the team before. 

It was a good clue for her to drop - tells them immediately who they need to concentrate on. So, for some reason, mask guy with a gun looked familiar. I'm thinking - DA from his general build and eyes. Maybe he's the leak.

I thought the wedding would be interrupted by Lopez giving birth - and am glad they didn't do it that way.

 

[dargosmydaddy]

15 hours ago, rhys said:

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey) and instead of saying she's at The Smith House or something, she says the green one. I dunno; it strikes me as it could be hinkey . But I won't remember this convo come October lol!

So much this! And Nolan was such a dumbass for feeding her information... "Oh, I'm staying at the green house"-- He immediately provides her with the occupants' names by asking how she knew them. "I work with (whatever his name was that Nolan just told her)," and Nolan then provides the guy's job! Geez. When she asked him if he was in the house alone, I thought for sure she was going to attempt to kill him. Creepy! At first I thought he was on to her when they kind of lingered on him closing the door after she left, but no, he's just hot for her.

I also thought Lucy did a terrible job flirting with Tim at the traffic stop... I mean, I know she doesn't have to sell it to Tim, who knew what was up, but if I were the guys in the car with her, I'd be super suspicious that her "flirting" consisted of inviting him to a party in a completely flat voice, and that was basically it. She didn't even smile at him!

[Thomas Crown]

This show is very Castle-ish in how the big season ending cliffhanger gets resolved pretty quickly on the following season premiere so that they can go back to their weekly episodic stories.  I expect that too with season 4, which is good because I don't want to watch a storyline involving a pregnancy in danger or a pregnant character being threatened.  This show has been pretty good in depicting not too much graphic violence. Let Angela have her baby in peace.

I'm actually surprised they wrapped up (for now) the Lucy undercover plot. I was expecting the summer hiatus to reflect the several months that Lucy was undercover and the season premiere would then pick up the storyline with Lucy still undercover and with potentially having developed a drug habit a la Tim's ex-wife. 

Lucy was rocking the green dress and the red lipstick. Wow indeed Femmefan1946.  I can see why Tim was checking Lucy out.  Melissa O'Neil is seriously attractive.  So is the rest of the cast btw. 

I'm loving all the posts involving concern for Smitty! The character just grows on you. 

So Nolan will begin season 4 still a Rookie if the premiere picks up right after the non-wedding .... 

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Thomas Crown

[juliet73]

Hopefully, Chen never has to go undercover where flirting is required because she would be killed immediately!  A wet noodle would have been more believable.

I knew something was going to happen with Lopez and La Fiera. I'm not in law enforcement or a drug lord, but I would think La Fiera could put a hit out on Lopez (or Chen or any of the arresting officers) from behind bars so I was surprised there weren't any on duty officers stationed at the wedding.   

Harper looked gorgeous!! 

I'm disappointed Smitty wasn't DJ'ing

[Shorty186]

3 hours ago, juliet73 said:

Harper looked gorgeous!! 

I was disappointed she didn't have 1 of the 2 guys she's been seeing as her date.

I was really worried something was going to happen to Wesley, especially since Lopez saw him before the ceremony and I also think Shawn Ashmore didn't really get much to do despite becoming a series regular this season. Then they mentioned Jackson was missing, and finally of course it was Lopez herself. 

I don't think La Fiera wants to kill her though. She wants to gut punch her back. So maybe she'll steal her baby ...

 

[perkie1968]

22 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey)

Also, her story/actions were stupid.  The dog got outside so she put on a towel to go out and get him.  Here's a crazy thought, sweatpants and a tshirt takes just as long as a towel and doesn't make you feel half naked when the door locks behind you.  I hate it when they have characters put on towels then get locked outside.  That's never happened to me.  I've never thought to myself, I need to go outside, why don't i just put a towel on.  

 

14 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

I don't think La Fiera wants to kill her though. She wants to gut punch her back. So maybe she'll steal her baby .

Yep,  Next season will be finding Angela, then finding the baby.  

[Clanstarling]

18 minutes ago, perkie1968 said:

Also, her story/actions were stupid.  The dog got outside so she put on a towel to go out and get him.  Here's a crazy thought, sweatpants and a tshirt takes just as long as a towel and doesn't make you feel half naked when the door locks behind you.  I hate it when they have characters put on towels then get locked outside.  That's never happened to me.  I've never thought to myself, I need to go outside, why don't i just put a towel on. 

It's one of those tv and movie things I've never understood. Throw on a robe or coat if nothing else.

[bros402]

So, uh, Nolan's new lady friend is a criminal, right? She was asking all of the "I'm so totally a robber, when can I break into your place" questions

When the car holding La Fiera got kidnapped, my thought was "NOOOOO DON'T HURT SMITTY!"

I like how everyone realizes that Nolan is a bad luck charm.

[auntiemel]

On 5/16/2021 at 10:39 PM, rhys said:

Am I the only one thinking John's new friend is awfully convenient? She shows up damsel in distress, needing help(housekey) and instead of saying she's at The Smith House or something, she says the green one. I dunno; it strikes me as it could be hinkey . But I won't remember this convo come October lol!

I thought that, too. The other option I thought of was that she was a backdoor character to a new Firehouse-based spinoff, and trying to shoehorn that in is what made the writing stilted...whereas, in the execution, it came off as purposefully stilted in order to signal that she's bad news, which wouldn't have been the intention.

On 5/17/2021 at 11:26 AM, Pepper the Cat said:

I think the something old, something new etc items will aid Lopez in her escape/rescue.

 

Agreed!

On 5/17/2021 at 2:20 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

 

I also thought Lucy did a terrible job flirting with Tim at the traffic stop... I mean, I know she doesn't have to sell it to Tim, who knew what was up, but if I were the guys in the car with her, I'd be super suspicious that her "flirting" consisted of inviting him to a party in a completely flat voice, and that was basically it. She didn't even smile at him!

I actually thought it was pretty good flirting, just not of the coy/coquettish variety usually seen on TV. When she said, "You should come to the party,"  she delivered it with a certain monotone intensity meant to convey that there's a second meaning. In truth, there was - she wanted him to crash the cook. But, in a flirting context, I would have taken it to mean she was DTF.

So, basically, I found it to be a pretty decent attempt at super-forward-intense-sexual-style flirting, as opposed to eyelash-batting-giggling-hair-tossing-style flirting.

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, bros402 said:

So, uh, Nolan's new lady friend is a criminal, right? She was asking all of the "I'm so totally a robber, when can I break into your place" questions

I truly hope you're wrong, because Nolan could definitely use a straightforward non-drama girlfriend for a while.

But you (all) are probably right.

[Raja]

On 5/17/2021 at 11:18 AM, shapeshifter said:

Are we sure Smitty did survive?

The prevailing mood seems to be he would be brought back just to be written off as bad like the "Night General" last season. But we hope not because he is a likable background character 

32 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I truly hope you're wrong, because Nolan could definitely use a straightforward non-drama girlfriend for a while.

But you (all) are probably right.

She is there to block any unethical relationship with a no drama college professor 

[bunnyface]

I enjoy the show and all the people.  but there's probably something wrong when only one scene really got my emotions flowing, and those emotions were "oh no, not Smitty..."

[chaifan]

I'm not sure how I feel about this episode... 

Nolan's new girlfriend - I'm not convinced she's got some hidden agenda.  The introduction of the character was poorly written, bizarrely contrived, but she's an extremely easy person to verify (firefighter, EMT), and Nolan can also ask the neighbor about her.  So if she is some sort of plant, it's a horrible cover story.  What bothers me more is that Nolan shows up at a wedding with a +1 that he just met.  Did he rsvp for +1 on the off chance that some woman would show up on his doorstep wearing nothing but a towel, planning to show up solo if that didn't happen, or did he rsvp for just 1, and bring an extra guest to the wedding.  Either way, it's bad form.  Also, I was rooting for Nolan and his prof to end up together after their class is over. 

Smitty - I think the whole "why did you get into this line of work if you hate it so much" conversation has a purpose.  So I can buy Smitty as being the La Fiera plant.  But, I hope not, as that would limit Smitty's life span on this show.  I'd rather have him just be Smitty, popping up occasionally as he does.

Cliffhanger ending - I wonder if the producers knew early enough that they were renewed so that they could shoot Ep 1 of next season without a long hiatus?  I don't know when Alyssa Diaz is actually due, but I'd figure having to bring her back from maternity leave and put her in a fake belly to continue with this episode would be a pain.

[eel21788]

5 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Nolan's new girlfriend - I'm not convinced she's got some hidden agenda. 

What if Nolan knows that she is a plant, and he is trying to outplay her? Maybe he brought her to the weddings, so she would be someplace where he could keep an eye on her?

He hasn't been known to be someone who thinks with his little head, so I don't think he would have fallen for the Girl In The Towel act. He isn't that naive anymore, either.

[Orbert]

Since it's the wedding episode, when I saw the title "Threshold" it made sense.  Carry her over the threshold, etc.

Then Lucy was moving a barrel of meth, but stopped short and told the bad guy that she was gonna go check on the other bad guy ("Half-life"?) and Grey said that she hadn't gone over the threshold.

Anyway, I usually like it when episode titles have clever double meanings.  This one seemed... not forced, but just a bit odd.

I didn't recognize Harper at first.  I assumed it was Mrs. Grey (who we've met) and I just didn't recognize her.  But that begs the question: where was Mrs. Grey?

But most of all, how in the hell did the thugs get into a place literally crawling with cops and kidnap (at least) one of them?

[Raja]

18 minutes ago, Orbert said:

 

But most of all, how in the hell did the thugs get into a place literally crawling with cops and kidnap (at least) one of them?

That's easy they just camouflage as the event staff. And then throw on the mask when going to the bride's waiting room