S01.E09: True Believer

[WendyCR72]

Airing May 16, 2021:

Quote

McCall races to help a concerned wife locate her husband before he helps an extremist group carry out an imminent bombing in the city. Also, McCall worries that her anonymity will be compromised when Delilah asks her to participate in a mother/daughter social media video.

 

[Raja]

That cat suit Melody wore for the first third of the episode had me going who wears that. Wasn't it nice the corporate guy just gives up all his secrets to her. With the business he is supposed to be in to fall for a short con seemed unrealistic. 

Speaking of unrealistic secret military intel units with their own patch saying look at me high value target, don't exist. They wear the patch of the major command they are attached to for the very reason of cover's not being blown.

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Raja

[Starchild]

At the beginning of the series, I wasn't really feeling Mel and Harry, but they've really grown on me, and now I think they're adorable.

[milkyaqua]

So Dante lets McCall go...  Okay then.  Because of course it wouldn't be that simple.  And unless they plan on putting mister would be bomber in isolation, what are the odds that some one in jail won't try and take him out for testifying against his co-conspirators.

And yes, Melody being able to get that to get the access was nuts.  Why didn't Mr. Idiot just tell her to back up and go around to the other side of the desk?  Talk about a maroon.  

I'm glad McCall was able to find a way to get around the tiktok thing but couldn't any savvy tech person just get around that (if they had a clue that is)?

[Trini]

48 minutes ago, Starchild said:

At the beginning of the series, I wasn't really feeling Mel and Harry, but they've really grown on me, and now I think they're adorable.

They've gotten slightly better, but I still think they're both still a bit one-note and I'm not 100% sold on them as a couple.

Thought they were done (for now) with the will-they-won't-they/Cat-and-mouse thing, but looks like they're still finding ways to draw it out longer.

I liked that Robyn was able to talk the guy down; not everything needs to be a fist fight.

As always, I appreciate the family scenes.

[paigow]

Dante is running out of cop friends... Those 2 guys will never work with him again...

Does Dick Wolf get paid every time someone says "Hudson University"??

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, paigow said:

Dante is running out of cop friends... Those 2 guys will never work with him again...

Does Dick Wolf get paid every time someone says "Hudson University"??

I laughed when I heard that. Everyone in TVland should be suspicious immediately when it comes up. 

[paigow]

9 hours ago, Raja said:

Speaking of unrealistic secret military intel units with their own patch saying look at me high value target, don't exist. 

A proud tradition carried into the future by Section 31 of Starfleet

[marceline]

On 5/17/2021 at 12:34 AM, Starchild said:

At the beginning of the series, I wasn't really feeling Mel and Harry, but they've really grown on me, and now I think they're adorable.

I think the actors are finally figuring out their characters and how to make them gel as a couple.

 

On 5/17/2021 at 4:19 AM, paigow said:

Dante is running out of cop friends... Those 2 guys will never work with him again...

Does Dick Wolf get paid every time someone says "Hudson University"??

I think this season ends with Dante losing his job or being shot by his own side.

Also Hudson University has its own Twitter account and I really like it. 

https://twitter.com/OfficialHudsonU

Edited May 18, 2021 by marceline

[paigow]

11 minutes ago, marceline said:

Also Hudson University has its own Twitter account and I really like it. 

https://twitter.com/OfficialHudsonU

Surprised that NYPD has not established a community police station on campus by now...

[statsgirl]

19 hours ago, paigow said:

Does Dick Wolf get paid every time someone says "Hudson University"??

Wasn't Hudson University where Castle's daughter went on Marlowe's previous show?

[dwmarch]

22 hours ago, Raja said:

Speaking of unrealistic secret military intel units with their own patch saying look at me high value target, don't exist. They wear the patch of the major command they are attached to for the very reason of cover's not being blown.

There must be a TV trope for this but I am not sure what it would fall under. It's Hollywood shorthand for people in the know recognizing badasses. There was a similar scene in Nobody which I will spoiler code although it isn't really much of a spoiler unless you want to go into the movie completely blind:

Spoiler

Bob Odenkirk's character has a distinctive tattoo on his wrist. When he is shaking down some bad guys an old vet sees this tattoo and instantly recognizes what it represents (which is basically that Bob Odenkirk's character is someone you don't want to mess with). The old guy shits a brick and leaves immediately, saying "thank you for your service" on his way out before barricading himself behind a door with several locks on it. The guys who stayed behind had been about to get violent with Bob but after seeing the vet's reaction they think better of it.

 

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Wasn't Hudson University where Castle's daughter went on Marlowe's previous show?

No, she went to Columbia. But Hudson University came up often on that show too.

Via Wikipida's page on Hudson University

Hudson University is used in ABC's Castle starring Nathan Fillion in the episodes "The Mistress Always Spanks Twice", in which the victim was a student at the fictional school; and "A Deadly Game", in which the police encounter Ukrainian exchange students at Hudson who have bought counterfeit IDs. The school appears again in the episode "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind", as the location of an altitude chamber. The school was mentioned in the episodes "Head Case" and "Dial M for Mayor" as the employer of the episodes' victims. It is alluded to in "The Fast and the Furriest" as the school of the victim, an evolutionary biology major who was killed while supposedly tracking Bigfoot. In "Time Will Tell", the target of an assassin who may or may not have been from the future was a physics student at Hudson. In the episode "PhDead", Castle became a guest lecturer at Hudson University to solve a student's gruesome murder. In the episode "In Plane Sight" a student with alleged links to ISIS who is on the No Fly List and suspected of killing an air marshall, is referenced to be a student at Hudson University.

Edited May 18, 2021 by andromeda331

[blackwing]

I enjoyed this episode.  I liked how Robyn and her team used their technology to figure things out, and I liked how Dante used old school techniques to investigate the cops that had access to the police locker and then noticed the bloodstain and followed the dirty cop to the motel.  Good symbolism of how and why they work well together.

Too bad the husband didn't confide in his wife earlier, she could have helped steer him away from trouble.  Now he's facing prison.  I hope at least he gets a reduced sentence in exchange for turning on the dirty cop and helping to put away more of that group.

I challenge even the most ardent Delilah haters to find fault with her this episode.  I think this was one of the few times where they didn't write her as annoying.  She was just a kid who was seeing everyone else doing Tik Tok with their mom, and she wanted to do the same.  This was my favourite part of the episode.  I loved how quickly Robyn scooted around the kitchen island to watch the video with the stepmom on Aunt Vi's phone.  Loved how Aunt Vi said the lady had no rhythm and how they laughed about it.  And I really liked the Tik Tok at the end with all three of them.  I need them to release the full video online, without the animal faces.  I'm sure the actresses had a blast filming this.

I'm wondering if they will ever introduce Robyn's ex onto this show.  And I'm wondering if he knew she was in the CIA, and if not, that probably contributed to their divorce.  Would be interesting to see an episode (maybe in Season 2) where he gets into trouble and needs saving and then he realises why she was always missing from their family's lives.

 

[Trini]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I'm wondering if they will ever introduce Robyn's ex onto this show.  And I'm wondering if he knew she was in the CIA, and if not, that probably contributed to their divorce.  Would be interesting to see an episode (maybe in Season 2) where he gets into trouble and needs saving and then he realises why she was always missing from their family's lives.

My theory is that they're going to stunt cast, and they're just waiting for the right moment/casting.

I'm thinking he knew, or he found out later in their marriage, either way he (they) couldn't handle it and that's why they divorced.

Either way has story possibilities, but I'd like to think that if there was one person Robyn could be (mostly) honest with, it'd be her husband.

[tennisgurl]

Hudson University should have been the first place they looked for the bomb, its well known to be the college where students are seventy seven times more likely to be murdered than to graduate within four years. When will they finally call that exorcist to get that curse off of campus?

Good episode, I like that the climax was more about detecting and talking then getting into a fist fight. Its too bad the husband wasn't more honest with his wife from the start, she probably could have pulled him off this path awhile ago, but glad that Robyn talked him down. I liked how personally disgusted Harry was with the internet conspiracy people, almost as much as he hates Tic Toks. They're called Tic Toks because they're time is running out! Dante continues to not make many friends on the force, and while he still doesn't feel good with how Robyn does her business, he doesn't want to specifically try to bring her in either. It must be hard to dedicate a lot of time he could spend solving murders trying to find a person who just saved a bunch of college kids from a bomb. 

Delilah wanting to shoot a video with her mom was cute, the family stuff was all really good. Nice to get a break from a lot of conflict between them and just have them having fun together. I wonder if/when we will meet Robyn's ex? They might want to stunt cast or do a reveal where we meet him in some other capacity before we realize he's Robyn's ex. 

[ShortyMac]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

And I really liked the Tik Tok at the end with all three of them.  I need them to release the full video online, without the animal faces.  I'm sure the actresses had a blast filming this.

The full dance is on the show's Instagram story highlights.

https://www.instagram.com/theequalizercbs/

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18164373961135610/

[blackwing]

3 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

The full dance is on the show's Instagram story highlights.

https://www.instagram.com/theequalizercbs/

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18164373961135610/

Love this.  All three of them look like they are having the best time.  Thank you!

Is there a GIF somewhere of Latifah jamming to the Humpty Dance?  She is great.

Edited May 18, 2021 by blackwing

[ribboninthesky1]

I'm glad Vi knows about Robyn.  Leaving her in the dark never made sense, and the actresses are so good together.  The family scenes were the best part of the episode. I watch this on paramount plus, so I don't see the previews.  But I'm guessing next episode or so will put the family in peril.  They were having too much fun. 

The ex-husband may also be former military, but not necessarily CIA.  I'd be tickled pink for the stunt cast to be someone like LL Cool J or Method Man. 

Didn't care one whit about the case of the week.  I think Harry summed up my sentiment: "Why is it when you want to overthrow the government, you're only a patriot if you're white?" Terrorhubby should see the inside of a prison cell for a long time. 

[Johannah]

I agree that I don't get the Aunt Vi adulation on this forum, it I still love the show.  She's fine, but just a minor character to me.

On the other hand, I love Mel and Harry and their dancing at the end was super adorable.  The family dance was cute, but I rewound to watch M&H again.  

I'm not sure the husband confiding in his wife would have helped.  He might have resented her opposing him.  If her opinion could have influenced him, he probably would have told her, but since he didnt, I don't think he valued her opinion.  Or maybe I should say that he was in so deep that she couldn't have reached him.  I think he later had time to process what he was doing enough for Robyn to reach him.

Still looking forward to watching this show every week!