S04.E17: Whistleblower

[thewhiteowl]

The team races to rescue victims of a sex trafficking ring that is preying on disenfranchised women. Also, Hondo finds himself at odds with Leroy and Darryl over the future of their business, and Street confronts Chris about meeting with his hospitalized mom.

[Danielg342]

This was...a lot.

After last week's case where everything went against anything you'd expect, this week's case essentially played all the same beats that usual stories of its ilk play.

Not that it was necessarily bad...it just feels like a letdown after last week.

However, it's clear the Case Of The Week was taking a back seat to the other dramas that were present in this episode. Just so we're clear on what happened (because there was a lot to unpack), here's where those storylines stand now:

-Hondo realizes that Leroy actually is trying to change his life around, and that maybe he needs to take a step back from being so overbearing with Darryl
-Street is a match for being a liver donor for his mother, but the only thing he's committed to is asking Christina Alonso to stay out of the situation
-Christina and Street seemed to nearly kiss, so I guess that ship is back on
-Oh, and Hondo's put his neck on the line exposing racism at the LAPD by contacting the Los Angeles Times

Whew. Quite a bit to take in. I don't know what to make of it all yet or where all of this is going, and I'm sure some of those storylines won't get resolved next week, but I think we're in for some dramatic fireworks in the season finale.

[Sweet Tooth]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

-Hondo realizes that Leroy actually is trying to change his life around, and that maybe he needs to take a step back from being so overbearing with Darryl

Oh, my gosh. FINALLY! 

YES!

This is what I was waiting for. I love that Leroy finally backed down and showed his vulnerability, which made Hondo back down.

And also finally seeing what we were talking about earlier, where two best friends take different paths in life, and what an interesting story that can make. We got to see the underlying bond of friendship they both lost so long ago, which we never got to see, because it all went south pretty quickly. 

Another week where we really get to see Hondo's growth.

Interesting that both Hondo and Street this week are putting their jobs on the line. Granted, Street will come out of this better than Hondo, but still.

Like I said, Street couldn't just allow his mom to die. It wasn't going to happen, no matter what kind of a little sociopathic monster she is. As Street says, she's still his mom, and this is just part of his character.

There wasn't a doubt that Hondo was going to do what he said. He doesn't make idle threats.

Love that Deac really tried to talk him out of it, but there was no chance he could do it. Not once Hondo made his mind up.

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

-Christina and Street seemed to nearly kiss, so I guess that ship is back on

StreetLonzo has been happening from episode one. They just threw a bunch of roadblocks at them.

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, Sweet Tooth said:

This is what I was waiting for. I love that Leroy finally backed down and showed his vulnerability, which made Hondo back down.

And also finally seeing what we were talking about earlier, where two best friends take different paths in life, and what an interesting story that can make. We got to see the underlying bond of friendship they both lost so long ago, which we never got to see, because it all went south pretty quickly. 

I like how the tone shifted from headstrong to wistful and how it all felt so natural. We've seen Hondo and Leroy butt heads so often it's easy to forget those two were best friends back in the day. I think when Leroy started to wonder "where did this all go wrong?" Hondo began thinking it too, because I think he too misses the old days.

1 hour ago, Sweet Tooth said:

There wasn't a doubt that Hondo was going to do what he said. He doesn't make idle threats.

Love that Deac really tried to talk him out of it, but there was no chance he could do it. Not once Hondo made his mind up.

I wonder about the wisdom of Hondo's decision, but I do think if I was him I'd do the same thing.

I suppose what gets me about this whole ordeal is why neither Hondo or Deacon think to talk with the union first about the issue. Unless this union is a corrupt POS (which wouldn't surprise me) I'd think they'd care about racist cops too. I don't know if anything materially changes, though, and Hondo (at least) is headstrong about firing Durham and his pals, so I don't think there's any wiggle room for the union to work with here.

Still, I might think approaching the union might make the ordeal a little less messy, at least.

I also wonder if Hondo going to The Times is a set-up for the eventual end of the series. It does feel like Hondo's fight against racism is wearing on him and I wonder if it'll lead him to eventually quit the police for good. Certainly there's no going back for Hondo now that he's made his decision, and how it plays out could affect how much longer he stays in the fight.

[Sweet Tooth]

9 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I suppose what gets me about this whole ordeal is why neither Hondo or Deacon think to talk with the union first about the issue. Unless this union is a corrupt POS (which wouldn't surprise me) I'd think they'd care about racist cops too. I don't know if anything materially changes, though, and Hondo (at least) is headstrong about firing Durham and his pals, so I don't think there's any wiggle room for the union to work with here.

OMG. Have you READ about the L.A. Union leader, Jamie M c B r i d e? YIKES! He is, indeed, a corrupt POS. 

There's an L.A. Times article that's behind a pay wall, but they show the first sentence, which reads:

He was a street cop with a disproportionate number of on-duty shootings and an investigator who fought management discipline

Here's a story out of Minneapolis:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html

A quote from another article by Mother Jones that addresses the exact thing Hicks brought up when Hondo and Deacon were so furious:

Three decades after Sauro beat the man at the bar, the Minneapolis police union is fighting to protect another set of officers accused of violence. On Memorial Day, Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd for nearly nine minutes, even after Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and went unconscious. Three officers who were with Chauvin never intervened. As Floyd’s death thrust the nation into protest, Mayor Jacob Frey described the city’s police union as a “nearly impenetrable barrier” to disciplining officers for racism and other misconduct, partly because of the legal protections it bargained for. “We do not have the ability to get rid of many of these officers that we know have done wrong in the past,” Frey told the podcast the Daily in June.

So, yeah, this was absolutely true to life.

9 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I like how the tone shifted from headstrong to wistful and how it all felt so natural. We've seen Hondo and Leroy butt heads so often it's easy to forget those two were best friends back in the day. I think when Leroy started to wonder "where did this all go wrong?" Hondo began thinking it too, because I think he too misses the old days.

Credit to the actor playing Leroy, who's been doing double duty, oddly enough, playing the head of IA on The Rookie.

These two play well off each other to the point where you could feel their history.

It really did sadden Leroy to see himself through Hondo's eyes, and to his credit, Hondo saw that and reacted in kind.

I think he realized he didn't need to "protect" Darryl anymore, which I'm sure will take a load off his mind.

I'm glad Leroy has stepped up to the plate. While in prison, he was singing another tune. But now it seems that he understands what he has, and he doesn't want to mess it up.

I'm so glad the animosity has come to an end.

[Danielg342]

8 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

OMG. Have you READ about the L.A. Union leader, Jamie M c B r i d e? YIKES! He is, indeed, a corrupt POS. 

I don't doubt the union being a totally useless POS is true to life. It just appears like it'll be a big part of the Hondo/Deacon vs. Durham and Pals storyline and thus I would appreciate it if the show at least had a union character to represent their side instead of leaving the union as some kind of abstract entity.

[Sweet Tooth]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I don't doubt the union being a totally useless POS is true to life. It just appears like it'll be a big part of the Hondo/Deacon vs. Durham and Pals storyline and thus I would appreciate it if the show at least had a union character to represent their side instead of leaving the union as some kind of abstract entity.

I'm guessing that will happen now. But we'll see.

I was just pointing out that this is the reason they didn't bother.

However, not everybody knows this, so yes, it would be good to have a representation for this scumbag represented on the show.

[Danielg342]

51 minutes ago, Sweet Tooth said:

I'm guessing that will happen now. But we'll see.

I was just pointing out that this is the reason they didn't bother.

However, not everybody knows this, so yes, it would be good to have a representation for this scumbag represented on the show.

It's also a missed opportunity. Deacon could have gone to his union steward with his tape and really get painted into a corner when the union guy pressures him to do nothing with it. It would really drive home the reason for why Deacon and Hondo have so much vitriol against the union.

[DanaK]

I'm not the type who would normally go to the media to get my boss or whoever to do the right thing, but sometimes, like with Weinstein, you need to. LAPD needs to get its house in order but sometimes it takes citizens and outside forces to do it (as with any business or government agency). But media writer Maureen Ryan, who has exposed multiple wrongdoings in Hollywood, pointed out recently, the media and/or public scrutiny should not substitute for a good in-house HR office or the company itself doing the right thing, but it can get the ball rolling on the road to make lasting changes. The police unions definitely need to clean up their act, especially when it comes to bad cops. It will be interesting to see what happens to Hondo because that's a ballsy move

Edited May 22, 2021 by DanaK

[nittany cougar]

On 5/20/2021 at 3:36 PM, Sweet Tooth said:

OMG. Have you READ about the L.A. Union leader, Jamie M c B r i d e? YIKES! He is, indeed, a corrupt POS. 

There's an L.A. Times article that's behind a pay wall, but they show the first sentence, which reads:

He was a street cop with a disproportionate number of on-duty shootings and an investigator who fought management discipline

Here's a story out of Minneapolis:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html

A quote from another article by Mother Jones that addresses the exact thing Hicks brought up when Hondo and Deacon were so furious:

Three decades after Sauro beat the man at the bar, the Minneapolis police union is fighting to protect another set of officers accused of violence. On Memorial Day, Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd for nearly nine minutes, even after Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and went unconscious. Three officers who were with Chauvin never intervened. As Floyd’s death thrust the nation into protest, Mayor Jacob Frey described the city’s police union as a “nearly impenetrable barrier” to disciplining officers for racism and other misconduct, partly because of the legal protections it bargained for. “We do not have the ability to get rid of many of these officers that we know have done wrong in the past,” Frey told the podcast the Daily in June.

So, yeah, this was absolutely true to life.

Credit to the actor playing Leroy, who's been doing double duty, oddly enough, playing the head of IA on The Rookie.

He's a great actor.  I've also seen him on Chicago PD playing a drug dealer who clashed with Hank.  

I liked Chris/ Street/ Karen interactions.  I like that Street called his mom out for being manipulative but kept the door open to helping her.  I like that he was assertive with her and told her that he knows what's up.  

That was a pretty shocking turn for Chris to admit her feelings to Jim.  Props to the actors.  Lina Esco was great just awkwardly blurting it out, and Alex Russell did a great job with the shocked reaction.  I'm guessing that this was filmed prior to the renewal, as a possible lead to a series finale.  Chris and Street can't be a couple and both stay in SWAT, so I'm interested to see what they do now.

Edited May 22, 2021 by nittany cougar

[AnnA]

2 hours ago, DanaK said:

The police unions definitely need to clean up their act, especially when it comes to bad cops. It will be interesting to see what happens to Hondo because that's a ballsy move

This is a complicated issue.   In a perfect world, everyone takes the high road.  Unfortunately, that's not where we live.    Unions exist to take care of their members.  They have and will continue to look out for all of them, including the bad ones. .   It's going to be very interesting to see how the union looks out for the racist cops and Hondo.    

[DanaK]

37 minutes ago, AnnA said:

This is a complicated issue.   In a perfect world, everyone takes the high road.  Unfortunately, that's not where we live.    Unions exist to take care of their members.  They have and will continue to look out for all of them, including the bad ones. .   It's going to be very interesting to see how the union looks out for the racist cops and Hondo.    

I actually wasn't thinking about the union in regards to Hondo, just his career in general, but yes, it will be interesting to see how the writers delve into how the union deals with Hondo and whether they will fight just as hard for him

[AnnA]

43 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I actually wasn't thinking about the union in regards to Hondo, just his career in general, but yes, it will be interesting to see how the writers delve into how the union deals with Hondo and whether they will fight just as hard for him

I suppose they could use a "freedom of speech" - First Amendment defense for both Hondo and the racist cops.  If they don't, they're taking sides and that's a very slippery slope.

[Sweet Tooth]

8 hours ago, nittany cougar said:

That was a pretty shocking turn for Chris to admit her feelings to Jim.  Props to the actors.  Lina Esco was great just awkwardly blurting it out, and Alex Russell did a great job with the shocked reaction.  I'm guessing that this was filmed prior to the renewal, as a possible lead to a series finale.  Chris and Street can't be a couple and both stay in SWAT, so I'm interested to see what they do now.

Yes.

While Erika's death was a HORRIBLE catalyst for him admitting his feelings for her, this felt much more organic. He's going under the knife, essentially for a woman who still wants to continue to drink herself to death, so his life is actually on the line, and as far as she's concerned, it's not even for a worthy cause.

I'm glad, too, that Street is going into this with his eyes wide open. She's his mom, and it's definitely within his character not to just walk away and let her die.

8 hours ago, DanaK said:

I'm not the type who would normally go to the media to get my boss or whoever to do the right thing, but sometimes, like with Weinstein, you need to. LAPD needs to get its house in order but sometimes it takes citizens and outside forces to do it (as with any business or government agency). But media writer Maureen Ryan, who has exposed multiple wrongdoings in Hollywood, pointed out recently, the media and/or public scrutiny should not substitute for a good in-house HR office or the company itself doing the right thing, but it can get the ball rolling on the road to make lasting changes. The police unions definitely need to clean up their act, especially when it comes to bad cops. It will be interesting to see what happens to Hondo because that's a ballsy move

It does seem like the only way sometimes.

Deacon mentioned some things that could be done in the future regarding hiring practices, but if they're already so infested, and especially if it's these young bucks with a whole career ahead of them, it's not going to save the people they're harassing right now.I would usually say that people should know this is always an option, and to maybe not risk someone going to the media.

However, the union must figure the odds are pretty good for them, because, as was mentioned multiple times in this episode, it's career suicide to choose this option.

I'm glad they wrapped up the Leroy/Hondo conflict, because H is going to have his hands full with the sh*tstorm that's about to descend upon him.

 

[Danielg342]

15 hours ago, DanaK said:

I actually wasn't thinking about the union in regards to Hondo, just his career in general, but yes, it will be interesting to see how the writers delve into how the union deals with Hondo and whether they will fight just as hard for him

It's an interesting scenario to unwrap. Surely, the union's gut instinct will be not to fight for Hondo and just let him get fired, but then the union risks being painted like racists.

So I think we'll ultimately see them get in line and fight for Hondo just like they fought for Durham & Pals.

What will ultimately be the issue is that Hondo wants the racist cops fired. The union will never agree to that, since it goes against their principles. The union may try to provide olive branches like making future convicted racists go through sensitivity training (if not subjecting Durham & Pals to it) or applying Hondo's community outreach idea from earlier in the season (the one Erika inspired), but the question will be if that's enough for Hondo.

I'm going to guess there won't be resolution to that storyline in the finale, but I'm sure Hondo will take some kind of compromise because he's got 22 more episodes (at least) to appear in (Shemar Moore on Instagram said CBS was ordering "at least 20" episodes for next season, so I assume it's a full season pickup).

How he reacts to that compromise will depend on the future of the series. Since I suspect that the show likely has a season and a half left (because of the ratings, which translates to a full S5 and a S6 just to wrap things up), I'm going to guess Hondo won't like the compromise and this will weigh heavily on him. It'll get to him so much that he just gives up fighting and leaves the force, because it's not worth it anymore. On a darker show, it'd be the perfect opportunity to embrace his inner Leroy and wreck havoc himself, but since this is a lighter show, I'll guess Hondo makes a run for politics.

Then the career trajectory of Malcolm Winters/Derek Morgan/Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson can move to its next step in a series about the badass Mayor of L.A. who won't take any crap from anyone and resolves to end systemic racism in the city once and for all. OK, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but I think such a series might be cool.

[Daff]

On 5/20/2021 at 3:36 PM, Sweet Tooth said:

Credit to the actor playing Leroy

Michael Beach has chops. He has an incredible background/education and has played every role, everywhere, with some incredible actors (Robert Duval, James Earl Jones, to name two). Based on past performances, I went along with trusting he wouldn’t do wrong by Darryl, as frustrating as Hondo made it for him. 
 

It’s kinda gratifying to be old with a decent memory and have IMDb at your fingertips. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Daff

[Sweet Tooth]

4 hours ago, Daff said:

Michael Beach has chops. He has an incredible background/education and has played every role, everywhere, with some incredible actors (Robert Duval, James Earl Jones, to name two). Based on past performances, I went along with trusting he wouldn’t do wrong by Darryl, as frustrating as Hondo made it for him. 
 

It’s kinda gratifying to be old with a decent memory and have IMDb at your fingertips. 

HA! He is quite versatile. Able to play a cop and an ex-convict with equal believability.