S05.E03: Freeride

[CheshireCat]

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J's business secrets come to light as Pope mourns the loss of Smurf; Deran distracts himself from his own loneliness; Craig and Renn have a difficult time finding a work-life balance.

Air date: July 25, 2021

[arachne]

Is it wrong of me to start feeling sorry for Pope? I know he's a murderous psycho and all that, but sheesh -- it's as if he never had a chance to be anything else! (As that flashback with the eagle was clearly meant to remind us.) 

Now I'm wondering if Craig will tell Renn, "Hey, you know what I told you the other day about your work? Well, I've been having second thoughts..." or something to that effect. 

[TooMuchRealityTV]

I liked this episode a bit more than the 1st two of the season. I like to see how the boys will pull off their jobs. I'd like to see more of that type of thing than Smurf:The Early Years.

I think Jay went too far with not telling his Uncles what they were really doing. He's a smart kid, but he's no Smurf, and he won't be able to keep his Uncles in line. He is going to need them to respect him, which I doubt they will.

1 hour ago, arachne said:

Is it wrong of me to start feeling sorry for Pope? I know he's a murderous psycho and all that, but sheesh -- it's as if he never had a chance to be anything else! (As that flashback with the eagle was clearly meant to remind us.) 

 

I've always felt bad for Pope. If he had normal caring parents he'd probably have received help as a kid. At the very least, a normal Mom wouldn't have used him for muscle. That pool thing in the first episode was awful. I imagine not being encouraged to do things like that would have helped tons.

[sugarbaker design]

4 hours ago, arachne said:

Is it wrong of me to start feeling sorry for Pope? I know he's a murderous psycho and all that, but sheesh

I just can't get that image of Pope smothering Catherine out of my head.

[iMonrey]

I bet John Wells loves directing big action set pieces like all this dirt biking in the desert. The whole chase sequence was well choreographed and very elaborate. It's one of the things this show does quite well.

I wasn't paying good attention when I watched this live so I rewatched my DVR recording, but fast-forwarded all the flashback scenes and the commercials and I got through the whole thing in about 20 minutes or so. That's sad. That's how much time these dumb flashbacks are robbing the present day characters of screen time and story. I watch this show for the continuing adventures of The Cody Boys. Now half the show is being swallowed up by what feels like a vanity project for Leila George. 

How old do we think Pope and Julia are in the current flashbacks? I stink at guessing kids' ages. In real life Shawn Hatosy and Ben Robson are about 9 years apart. 

[chick binewski]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I wasn't paying good attention when I watched this live so I rewatched my DVR recording, but fast-forwarded all the flashback scenes and the commercials and I got through the whole thing in about 20 minutes or so. That's sad. That's how much time these dumb flashbacks are robbing the present day characters of screen time and story. I watch this show for the continuing adventures of The Cody Boys. Now half the show is being swallowed up by what feels like a vanity project for Leila George. 

How old do we think Pope and Julia are in the current flashbacks? I stink at guessing kids' ages. In real life Shawn Hatosy and Ben Robson are about 9 years apart. 

I want to put the kids at 9 or 10 but I have no idea if that's correct.

If they're gonna saddle us with these flashbacks I'd like to see present day Pam soon. And I'm going to have to do a rewatch bc I'm having trouble making some connections. Wasn't Manny's funeral several seasons ago? There were payoffs & tapes but beyond that my toasted memory doesn't work so well. 

[Emily Thrace]

Well Jake is around in the past but is still AWOL in the present but I think they are going to play the Pam card first. I can't see her sticking around though. The show just doesn't make sense with another woman in Smurf's house. The boys will have to outflank her or bury her. Surely she must realize that. I wonder if that is why she is hesitant. Maybe she thinks Pope will still have a soft spot for his Aunt Birdie? 

Renn and Craig's dilemma is interesting one. Craig is right but I kinda see Renn's point too. Craig could get busted or killed most days of the week and then where would they be if she depends on him. I think giving her a legitimate job might work maybe she could run Jay's bowling alley?

Speaking of Jay, I always thought his plan was to cut Craig and Darren in on the money he took from Smurf. They might be the only people he actually likes. I think he sees that those two are Smurf's victims too. Pope he is wary of. Some of that is Pope's fault and some of that is Jay's. They both have the same lack of communication skills.

Also please keep Nicki in Barstow where she belongs.

[Dowel Jones]

13 hours ago, TooMuchRealityTV said:

If he had normal caring parents he'd probably have received help as a kid.

That scene where he was stabbing himself and Smurf just shrugs and says "He'll stop when it hurts" was frightening.

So they just rappelled down the cliffs and biked out of there, leaving all the gear behind?  They must have been really confident about the payoff to walk (bike) away from that much stuff, which isn't easy to come by.

Speaking of the cycling, the producers hired some hotshot riders for those sequences. "What, you're going to pay us to do this?  Really?"  It must have been filmed in the cold season, because who would ride up that cow trail all day in a hoodie?

It's easy to watch this show in the pleasant environment of my house, but I can't imagine the stench of the constant cigarette smoke around the Codys and that bar.  Every time they turn around one is lighting up another ciggie.  Bleah.

[Laurie4H]

Didn’t it show Julia’s grave last week and it said born 1977?  I’m assuming the flashbacks are around 1985 at this point?

I never thought of Pope as evil.  Crazy yes due to his mental illness and Smurf controlling him.  He has shown to have remorse and be tormented.  He also has shown compassion, for example with his niece.  You can’t help but feel sorry for him at some point.  Interesting character.  

[MaggieG]

It's interesting seeing Craig being serious about Ren and the baby. The Craig of earlier seasons would not have been.

Deran must have a magic d, those guys were falling all over him!

My husband and I watched F9 this weekend and were pleasantly surprised to see Finn Cole aka J make an appearance. Putting his character in spoiler tags just in case

Spoiler

He played Jacob Toretto, Dom's younger brother in flashbacks. John Cena played the older version.

 

[iMonrey]

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I think giving her a legitimate job might work maybe she could run Jay's bowling alley?

Good idea, since J killed Mia last season. He needs a new manager.

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So they just rappelled down the cliffs and biked out of there, leaving all the gear behind? 

Most of that gear was bought or stolen specifically for this job. We saw J buying the bikes from some kids for $150 each.

This is the first time I've thought J isn't as smart as he thinks he is. He should have known better than to try and pull a fast one on his uncles by not telling them it was drugs they were going for instead of cash. If he really thought he could manage them in the aftermath he's got way too high an opinion of himself. 

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Speaking of Jay, I always thought his plan was to cut Craig and Darren in on the money he took from Smurf.

I don't think so, but J is such a cypher it's hard to tell. I think the only reason he told Pope about his investments was because Pope had just kicked him out of the house and out of the family. He wanted to prove how smart he was and why Pope needed him. I never saw any evidence he planned on cutting anyone in.

J doesn't really have a solid relationship with any of his uncles. I think he tried to get close to Baz because he thought Baz was his father. And there have been moments between him and Pope because Pope is his mother's twin. Pope more or less tried to take him under his wing back in Season 1, at first anyway. I've never seen much of a relationship between J and Craig or Deran.

Edited July 27, 2021 by iMonrey

[tennisgurl]

I have always felt bad for Pope, despite all of the terrible things that he's done. He is clearly mentally unwell, and is unlucky enough to have had a mom who didn't care about getting him the help he needed as a child and instead encouraged those mental problems so that he would always be her muscle. Young Pope stabbing himself in the hand while Smurf just shrugs it off was awful, like when she encouraged him shoving that kid in the pool in the first episode. He seems to be really unhappy with the way that he is, but doesn't really know how to be anything else after so long. He really never had a chance with Smurf as a mom. 

The bike heist was cool, the show always does a great job shooting and choregraphing the elaborate robbery set pieces. I thought that J was planning on telling his uncles about his property, but its always so hard to tell with J, he plays everything so close to the chest. He needs to be more open with them, he doesn't have the control over them that Smurf did, he cant pull off the manipulations that she could. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by tennisgurl

[showme]

Quick question, how did Pope know about J's business dealings?

And who really is J's father? was it Baz?

[MaggieG]

19 hours ago, showme said:

Quick question, how did Pope know about J's business dealings?

And who really is J's father? was it Baz?

I vaguely remember J and Baz discussing it in season 1 but I don't believe it was ever confirmed. They both thought it was a possibility though. I'm not sure if J ever mentioned what Julia may have told him about it.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Wow, Deran literally had sex on the beach, in public, with strangers. Seems to me like that'd be kind of dangerous.  He's spiraling downward just like Pope.

Bet that crapload of stolen cocaine is going to be huge trouble. Will the blowback be from the cartel, the cops, the fence, or all three? J might've really screwed up with this one.

Okay, that took a turn with Deran and those guys from the beach. What did he do to that one guy that made his boyfriend nope out? Other than turning it into a BDSM scene, anyway. Whatever, I've seen a theory elsewhere that those guys are working for the cops.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Joimiaroxeu

[iMonrey]

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Quick question, how did Pope know about J's business dealings?

Last season, on the season finale, J told Pope about the bowling alley, etc., because Pope told J to pack his stuff and get out of Smurf's house. J was trying to show Pope he needed him to help run Smurf's empire.

[Raja]

On 7/26/2021 at 8:46 PM, Emily Thrace said:

Well Jake is around in the past but is still AWOL in the present but I think they are going to play the Pam card first. I can't see her sticking around though. The show just doesn't make sense with another woman in Smurf's house. The boys will have to outflank her or bury her. Surely she must realize that. I wonder if that is why she is hesitant. Maybe she thinks Pope will still have a soft spot for his Aunt Birdie? 

Renn and Craig's dilemma is interesting one. Craig is right but I kinda see Renn's point too. Craig could get busted or killed most days of the week and then where would they be if she depends on him. I think giving her a legitimate job might work maybe she could run Jay's bowling alley?

Speaking of Jay, I always thought his plan was to cut Craig and Darren in on the money he took from Smurf. They might be the only people he actually likes. I think he sees that those two are Smurf's victims too. Pope he is wary of. Some of that is Pope's fault and some of that is Jay's. They both have the same lack of communication skills.

Also please keep Nicki in Barstow where she belongs.

Never saw what girls see in J except as a source of drugs I could only wonder why bring Nicki up.

Was it me our was the house where young Smurf pulled off her job the same one which Frankie and Craig hit?

[topanga]

4 hours ago, Raja said:

Never saw what girls see in J except as a source of drugs I could only wonder why bring Nicki up.

I can see J’s appeal to teen girls. He’s cute, and he has that quiet, mysterious thing going on. Plus, he’s supposed to be wicked smart. That being said, what I don’t get is why adult women were dropping their panties for him when he was still underage. His teacher—I can’t remember what happened to her. And didn’t he also sleep with the detective who was trying to get him to flip on his family?

[Raja]

7 hours ago, topanga said:

I can see J’s appeal to teen girls. He’s cute, and he has that quiet, mysterious thing going on. Plus, he’s supposed to be wicked smart. That being said, what I don’t get is why adult women were dropping their panties for him when he was still underage. His teacher—I can’t remember what happened to her. And didn’t he also sleep with the detective who was trying to get him to flip on his family?

The teacher was facing a drug charge and the detective who was after the Cody's sent her in as a honeytrap spy to rape an underaged J in an effort to get him to talk to his teacher/lover and thus the police.