S04.E07: Fire Fight

[WendyCR72]

Airing November 14, 2021:

Quote

In the aftermath of Fred’s house explosion, Officer Nolan and Bailey discover there’s more to Fred’s death than meets the eye. Meanwhile, Officer Chen and Officer Bradford demand a treasure hunt rematch and enlist Officer Grey to help set the terms to a new bet, all while they arrest a series of wealthy female criminals. Elsewhere, Wesley struggles to keep it together under the pressure of his debt to Elijah.

 

[NYGirl]

Wow..that was some intense episode.  Nolan must be a superhero to survive that whole thing.

I suspected Marcus as soon as we met him.

I'm glad Angela's husband is asking for help but it's not going to be easy for him.

Not a fan of Nolan's girlfriend.

[shapeshifter]

Too much Criminal Minds-style violence for me, so I multitasked during a lot of it, but I did appreciate the "justice" of Nolan running down the serial running down guy at the end without graphic gore.

 

I first thought Elijah was mad at Wesley because the witness was a friend from the hood, and then, when that didn't seem to be it, I figured Elijah thought the arrested witness would just make a deal to testify against the killer for a break on the gun charge. 
Otherwise it didn't make sense that they beat up Wesley. 

 

I was sure (hoping a little?) that the chocolates for Bailey from the serial killer would be fatally toxic. 

 

Both Fillion and Diaz looked noticeably thinner to me in this episode than the previous one. Shooting gap?

[Surrealist]

It's too bad Nolan is the lead character. It would have been an interesting twist to kill him off. He's the least interesting one on this show. And, of course, Nolan singlehandedly took down the serial killer. 🙄

Wesley is a close second. 

(I hate watch this show during their scenes.)

Also Bailey isn't interesting enough to be fought over between a cop and a serial killer.

Chen didn't bother me this episode. I enjoyed her and Bradford's beauty influencer storyline.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Surrealist

[paigow]

4 hours ago, Surrealist said:

Chen didn't bother me this episode. I enjoyed her and Bradford's beauty influencer storyline.

Who is this D.A.??? Plea bargain major public health risk to prevent 1 murder??? Bradford is turning into Sonny Crockett

[Clanstarling]

Just now, paigow said:

Who is this D.A.??? Plea bargain major public health risk to prevent 1 murder??? Bradford is turning into Sonny Crockett

I didn't get the impression that they were offering plea bargains. It seemed to me that the women were just idiots and thinking that directing blame to someone "worse" would help them. I enjoyed the trail of awful stupid women.

[Clanstarling]

I wasn't crazy about the Nolan kidnapping storyline. I did enjoy the killer's shift in accent and demeanor though.

As for the girlfriend, yeah, she's not all that great. She doesn't ruin it for me, but she doesn't come close to popping as a character.

I'm rewatching Dark Matter, so it's so strange to see Melissa O'neal so soft and non threatening as a cop, when she is a great badass in Dark Matter.

[Surrealist]

2 hours ago, paigow said:

Bradford is turning into Sonny Crockett

He looked good. 🤷🏻‍♀️😎

[Surrealist]

In the last episode, didn't Bailey mention (in front of John) they had only been dating for a month?

Their behavior seems more in line with a couple that's been dating, at least, a year.

[milkyaqua]

Of course a number called it and knew it'd be Nolan taking down the bad guy by himself...ho hum.  At least it's over.  The only reason for the serial killer to give Nolan a chance to run was to prove how much smarter he was and that didn't go well for him.

Yes, all the dumb women ratting out each other thinking that they'd escape being charged was silly but perfect Chen and Bradford.  TPTB are obviously still trying to tease/push Chenford.  I know some like them but I'm not one of them.

Glad SGT Grey figured out Wesley was in over his head and glad that it only took Wesley getting beaten up with baseball bats to finally go to his wife and ask for help.

[HurricaneVal]

I was disappointed that Nolan didn't back the car up and run over the bad guy again.

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I was disappointed that Nolan didn't back the car up and run over the bad guy again.

Meanwhile, I was afraid Nolan would  back the car up and run over the serial killer-by-car-accident guy again
--which would have been out of character for Nolan, but Nolan did stab the guy twice.
That bad guy was like a zombie.
But then Nolan was like a bullet repellent.

[Surrealist]

1 hour ago, milkyaqua said:

Yes, all the dumb women ratting out each other thinking that they'd escape being charged was silly but perfect Chen and Bradford.  TPTB are obviously still trying to tease/push Chenford.  I know some like them but I'm not one of them.

I was hoping that, maybe, they would set up Tim and Ashley. They have definite chemistry.

[HurricaneVal]

I like Chen and Bradford just as they are, a professional mentor/trainee now past that stage and entering into a professional relationship and friendship as co-workers and trying to balance out a more even power distribution.  I like seeing how they work through that dynamic where Bradford has to sit back and Chen has to come forward, all through the lens of the prior power imbalance.

[CooperTV]

30 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

trying to balance out a more even power distribution. 

Except they don't have that, deliberately, as Tim's a sergeant now, he's Chen's superior officer on the force, and she's also his aide.

[preeya]

10 hours ago, Surrealist said:

Also Bailey isn't interesting enough to be fought over between a cop and a serial killer.

I hate the Bailey character. She looks more like his daughter than his bed partner.

[devilhalo]

21 minutes ago, preeya said:

I hate the Bailey character. She looks more like his daughter than his bed partner.

Ok so how old do you think they look on camera if a 40-year old looks like the daughter of a 50-year old? 
 

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

This is the only scene that I like from this episode. Hey, don’t blame me! ☺️

 

[paigow]

Elijah will figure out that Wesley is betraying him... he will arrive with a kill team at EXACTLY the same time that the La Fiera Revenge Squad rolls up to Casa Lopez... Sleepless In Guatemala City wipes out Team Elijah because she wants Wesley alive as leverage over Lopez.

[Surrealist]

52 minutes ago, devilhalo said:

Ok so how old do you think they look on camera if a 40-year old looks like the daughter of a 50-year old? 
 

 

I agree. I don't think Nathan looks that much older than Jenna, although there's an age gap. It's not a significant one.

The relationships Nolan's been given on this show (so far) aren't very believable. He comes across as an immature doofus, which is probably why some of us have an issue with his pairings. He acts younger than he is, but looks older.

I don't think the writers should go down the road of pairing Tim and Lucy either. She's already been paired with Nolan. If they're going to give the characters relationships, then they should pair them off with non-cops.

I'm glad the serial killer storyline is over because the show was starting to feel like a low budget horror movie.

33 minutes ago, paigow said:

Elijah will figure out that Wesley is betraying him... he will arrive with a kill team at EXACTLY the same time that the La Fiera Revenge Squad rolls up to Casa Lopez... Sleepless In Guatemala City wipes out Team Elijah because she wants Wesley alive as leverage over Lopez.

If this is going to happen, I hope this storyline ends quickly. The serial killer storyline was getting ridiculous enough.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Surrealist

[izabella]

26 minutes ago, Surrealist said:

I'm glad the serial killer storyline is over because the show was starting to feel like a low budget horror movie.

I'm so glad it's done, too!  Serial killer or never ending big bad story lines are so tedious and unbelievable.  It's bad enough when they are on detective shows, but these are street cops.  Street cops don't extract kidnapped cops from foreign countries and they don't capture horror movie serial killers single-handedly.

I liked the core concept of the show.  LA cops training rookies.  What happened to that show?

Edited November 15, 2021 by izabella

[Clanstarling]

5 minutes ago, izabella said:

I liked the core concept of the show.  LA cops training rookies.  What happened to that show?

The rookies graduated. Now there's only one we've seen regularly, and he wasn't in this episode.

[HurricaneVal]

2 hours ago, CooperTV said:

Except they don't have that, deliberately, as Tim's a sergeant now, he's Chen's superior officer on the force, and she's also his aide.

Chen is on slightly more even footing now, though.  The boot and field training officer relationship is a very different dynamic than the regular chain of command hierarchy.  Look at Bradford and Grey.  Grey is definitely Bradford's superior, but they work more as colleagues because there's a mutual respect there.  Some of that comes from working together for years.  And that's what I mean, Bradford and Chen have to work out their new professional relationship now that she's no longer a boot and therefore waaaaay below Tim in the pecking order.  That settling of their professional relationship is what I find much more interesting than an office romance.

 

The whole energizer bunny, relentlessly pursuing horror movie stereotype of the unstoppable serial killer character was what make me want Nolan--out of character for sure--to run over him again, just to make sure that he's 100%, most sincerely, dead.  That pursuit through the factory was just exhausting.   I did giggle when the bad guy opened up a cabinet and took out an automatic rifle and Nolan rolled his eyes and in extreme frustrated exasperation went all "Oh, come on!"  Nathan Fillion does "exhausted frustrated exasperation" really well.

[Surrealist]

10 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

The whole energizer bunny, relentlessly pursuing horror movie stereotype of the unstoppable serial killer character was what make me want Nolan--out of character for sure--to run over him again, just to make sure that he's 100%, most sincerely, dead.

When it comes to killing the killer, you gotta do the "double tap," lest they come back for that one last scare. 😂

[Clanstarling]

31 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

The whole energizer bunny, relentlessly pursuing horror movie stereotype of the unstoppable serial killer character was what make me want Nolan--out of character for sure--to run over him again, just to make sure that he's 100%, most sincerely, dead.  That pursuit through the factory was just exhausting.   I did giggle when the bad guy opened up a cabinet and took out an automatic rifle and Nolan rolled his eyes and in extreme frustrated exasperation went all "Oh, come on!"  Nathan Fillion does "exhausted frustrated exasperation" really well.

When it came to the pursuit, did it surprise anyone else that the building they came out of was single story? During the pursuit, some of the views Nolan had seemed to me to indicate they were up high, so that I expected the building itself to be taller.

[Andyourlittledog2]

Well, I liked the string of women ratting on each other but the final 'sting' operation was a complete failure.  She didn't ask, Bradford got frustrated with her and offered to kill her husband for money. No money at all was exchanged as a proffer of seriousness. The first thing she will do is point out, with the tape as verification, that she was meeting this man and flirting up a storm and he offered to kill her husband for money and she just said 'okay' now let's get back to you and me. She can simply say it was a fantasy date and never intended for an actual murder to happen. Chen and Bradford broke all the rules of setting up and executing a legally sound sting about hiring a hitman. They thought they were really smart (the writers were dumb) and shouldn't have attempted this on their own as patrol cops.

Really, most of this whole series is patrol cops doing things they have no business doing. It's like LAPD has no detectives and undercovers at all and it's up to rookies and their trainers to do everything.

I like the show mostly but this really makes it hard to suspend disbelief and just go along with it. And I know it's all shows but the number of times bad guys have assault rifles and machine guns, sometimes from multiple bad guys, and never hit the good guys even once while the good guys are making themselves clear targets gets really old. Then the good guy fires once from a hand gun and hits the bad guy no problem. While running and diving for cover.  It's gotten too dumb for me at this point.

But still like the show, as long as they don't do serial killer arcs. Hate those.

[Lethallyfab]

Obviously, we know that Nolan is not going to die so that sequence between him and the killer felt extremely long for me - now there’s an automatic rifle!  But wait now there’s scissors!  And also now there’s a rohypnol spray, which I’m like 100% certain is not how that drug works - this could have easily been trimmed by 3 or 4 minutes without its impact being diminished.

I could’ve done without the “let’s wire you but make it fraught with sexual tension” scene between Chen and Bradford.  For that matter, I thought introducing the plotline of them competing with each other yet not actually following through with it at all because of the crazy wellness ladies was a cheat.  
 

Others raised it, but how long have Nolan and Bailey actually been dating?   He always to fall so hard, so quickly and yet none of his relationships seem to work out, which they might if he actually tried less hard.

[Surrealist]

2 hours ago, Lethallyfab said:

Others raised it, but how long have Nolan and Bailey actually been dating?   He always to fall so hard, so quickly and yet none of his relationships seem to work out, which they might if he actually tried less hard.

Last episode Bailey mentioned they had only been dating a month. It's weird that Nolan would move in a gf he still doesn't know very well just because she got injured by getting involved in something she shouldn't have been since she's not a police officer.

3 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

Really, most of this whole series is patrol cops doing things they have no business doing. It's like LAPD has no detectives and undercovers at all and it's up to rookies and their trainers to do everything.

This is what bothers me the most, and makes it difficult for me to fully enjoy the show. You can only suspend your disbelief for so long.

[Sweet Tooth]

7 hours ago, Surrealist said:

The relationships Nolan's been given on this show (so far) aren't very believable. He comes across as an immature doofus, which is probably why some of us have an issue with his pairings. He acts younger than he is, but looks older.

Oh, goodness. The main thing I like about this show is that they haven't made him a man-child. It got so bad on Castle that the subtext became the text, with his supposed girlfriend acting like his mom and even mentioning it on occasion. 

Here, at least, he's competent at his job and takes it seriously. He is sometimes goofy in an endearing way, but I don't feel he comes off immature like he did on Castle. 

Maybe I'm biased because of his previous show, but as far as I'm concerned, his maturity level went up by 500%.

Look, I hate to break it to y'all, but once a show even hints at a romance, it's going to happen. I've seen it 100% of the time where it's obvious what the show is doing. People say, "I want them to remain friends and colleagues. I really like their relationship" as the show pushes the two people closer together and gets them into more and more intimate situations, until the UST gets too hot, and the inevitable happens. 

I mean, him having to lift up his shirt for her to put on the wire...yeah.

Also, I've seen TV shows record actual situations where someone plays a hitman, and they try to get the person to admit to wanting to kill their husband, and yes, they always have to wait until the money is given, because otherwise it's just a fantasy.

But I absolutely loved the comic relief with Chen and Bradford where the women kept turning each other in. This was much needed in a really tense episode, particularly with Wesley.

Speaking of him, I'm so glad he's finally fessing up. I was worried there. I mean, it took a couple of baseball bats, but at least it happened.

[bros402]

still hoping Bailey is a serial killer

 

Also I was expecting the woman in the car to just be seeking a male escort who was up for roleplay instead of an actual hitman

[CooperTV]

What's going on in this show? Or more accurately, what's going on with this show?

Is this somehow COVID-19 related business that doesn't allow the characters/the actors on set interact? So we have Lucy/Tim in their smallest bubble with a funny but inconsequential storyline of the bored trophy wives and Tim/Lucy being competitive duo. That's fine, I guess. But the competitiveness wasn't resolved at all. Suddenly in the end the whole "bet/competition" thing between them just fizzled out with off-hand comment from Tim, and that's story is over. Um? What was the point, then? Could the writers cut some of meandering stuff from the Nolan bits or the Bailey being stress cook bits to bring more coherence to this non-storyline?

We have Nyla/Angela inane detective work of mild significance for 2 minutes. Then we have "somebody, please help Wesley, he's dumb" story, which at least was consistent and managed to involve not one but two main characters including Grey!

And also we have Nolan doing completely different show and barely interacting with other characters. Blink-and-you miss it Nyla and Angela hanging around moments makes the entire Nolan show more glaring, not less. Also, the serial killer vs. Nolan was excruciatingly tedious and boring. As Nolan's anemic scenes with Bailey, for that matter. Speaking of Bailey, she definitely became a symptom of a something being wrong in the writing room because every character get sidelined when she appears.

In short, I'm baffled by the writing choices and the pacing of it all.

[Surrealist]

5 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Oh, goodness. The main thing I like about this show is that they haven't made him a man-child. It got so bad on Castle that the subtext became the text, with his supposed girlfriend acting like his mom and even mentioning it on occasion. 

Here, at least, he's competent at his job and takes it seriously. He is sometimes goofy in an endearing way, but I don't feel he comes off immature like he did on Castle. 

Maybe I'm biased because of his previous show, but as far as I'm concerned, his maturity level went up by 500%.

I agree that writers turned Castle into a doddering dolt, but Nolan is a dip. Not worse than Castle, but a character (for me) who's still cringey.

I think, maybe, Nathan is always playing an enhanced version of who he is in real life. He's That Guy. 

As far as Bradford and Chen are concerned, it's possible writers are setting up them for a real relationship. But we've also seen what happens when writers put characters together. Sometimes that wrecks the show. Sexual tension, or something to that effect, always plays a little better. 

I would rather see Tim go on a few dates with Ashley. I could see their chemistry. Plus she doesn't work with him.

I'm not a huge fan of Wesley either, but was glad to see him tell Angela the truth. He better hope he doesn't wind up dead.

[Surrealist]

2 hours ago, CooperTV said:

What's going on in this show? Or more accurately, what's going on with this show?

Is this somehow COVID-19 related business that doesn't allow the characters/the actors on set interact? So we have Lucy/Tim in their smallest bubble with a funny but inconsequential storyline of the bored trophy wives and Tim/Lucy being competitive duo. That's fine, I guess. But the competitiveness wasn't resolved at all. Suddenly in the end the whole "bet/competition" thing between them just fizzled out with off-hand comment from Tim, and that's story is over. Um? What was the point, then? Could the writers cut some of meandering stuff from the Nolan bits or the Bailey being stress cook bits to bring more coherence to this non-storyline?

We have Nyla/Angela inane detective work of mild significance for 2 minutes. Then we have "somebody, please help Wesley, he's dumb" story, which at least was consistent and managed to involve not one but two main characters including Grey!

And also we have Nolan doing completely different show and barely interacting with other characters. Blink-and-you miss it Nyla and Angela hanging around moments makes the entire Nolan show more glaring, not less. Also, the serial killer vs. Nolan was excruciatingly tedious and boring. As Nolan's anemic scenes with Bailey, for that matter. Speaking of Bailey, she definitely became a symptom of a something being wrong in the writing room because every character get sidelined when she appears.

In short, I'm baffled by the writing choices and the pacing of it all.

Yes, to all this. I don't understand the choices made in any of these storylines.

Bailey isn't even a cop, but she's a large focus. She's a firefighter! She's ex-military! She makes pies! She's EVERYTHING. 

Is Jenna Dewan getting a spin-off for her character? I like Jenna, but Bailey is a boring character.

The lack of secondary (,etc.) storyline resolution, like you mentioned, is significantly more irritating. I don't know if the writers are trying to make this show too many things at this point.

[Clanstarling]

8 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Here, at least, he's competent at his job and takes it seriously. He is sometimes goofy in an endearing way, but I don't feel he comes off immature like he did on Castle. 

Maybe I'm biased because of his previous show, but as far as I'm concerned, his maturity level went up by 500%.

I had decided to rewatch Castle on one of the streamers. After the first episode I stopped. I think the memory of how it got crappy was highlighted in the first episode, even though as I recall the rest of the season was good. And I very much like Nathan Fillion, I haven't had the issues with him here as many have. I just wish they'd find him a decent girlfriend with whom he had chemistry and a mature relationship. Mature doesn't mean you can't be silly (speaking as a person in a 35+ year marriage).

[Zaffy]

After a couple of mostly decent episodes we are back to the stupidity. And boredom.

I Fast Forwarded all of Wesley scenes, his arc is stupid and the bad guy that torments him is an idiot. No smart villain of his caliber would blackmail and push like this a cop's husband. Maybe once, as a payment for the favor he did to Wesley and that should be it really. Beat him? Like if his wife-cop would not notice? Makes you wonder how on earth this Elijah guy became so powerful, he keeps doing one stupid thing after another (let's not forget he paid an assassin to sniper kill someone in downtown LA, in the middle of the day...).  

I Fast Forwarded the whole Nolan Vs Serial Killer (very long)  scene. And his scenes with annoying super-woman Bailey.
All painfully predictable. 

I basically only watched Tim and Chen plot. Which wasn't something really interesting, but at least it was a tad entertaining.

The only good thing of this episode is that we got rid of the serial killer. Until he goes to prison, team up with the lady-mega-serial-killer from the previous seasons and come back to haunt our heroes. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

3 hours ago, Surrealist said:

Bailey isn't even a cop, but she's a large focus. She's a firefighter! She's ex-military! She makes pies! She's EVERYTHING. 

Bailey is also a NINJA! 🤦🏻‍♀️

[nittany cougar]

I would actually like to see a more serious exploration of the Wesley plot.  He needs to tell Angela about what is going on with his clients, and then he needs to report the blackmail to law enforcement.  It was strange to me to see him go home after getting beat up.  He realistically should have been in the hospital.

The Bailey and John competing injuries/held captive/ being beat up plot was lame.  I don't buy them taking care of each other or even being in a relationship at all for that matter.  They have not shown one bit of an emotional connection to make me buy these two.

I cannot tell what they are trying to do with Chen and Bradford.  The last couple of episodes, they acted like high school kids playing pranks on each other.  I don't see them as relationship material the way they are written right now.  It's weird that they wrote a sort of intimate scene for them in episode 1 and now have them acting dumb and never having a serious conversation.

Edited November 16, 2021 by nittany cougar

[chaifan]

I'm trying to quit this show, but find myself streaming it when I'm bored, so I'm all caught up again...

In my opinion, the biggest problem with this show is that the people in charge can't figure out what they want the show to be.  They're trying to do a mix of "light & fluffy" and "serious drama", and it's just not working.  Personally, I like the light & fluffy parts of the show best, and always have.  This cast, especially NF, do that really well.  Even Grey is a great straight man for everyone.  The super serious plots are just not done well.  They're not well written, they're not well plotted out (so so so many stupid plot holes in every one) and they're not particularly well acted.  They all seem very forced.  The zombies, the treasure hunt, the women ratting each other out - these are the story lines that work best. 

I don't want it to go to sitcom level, but they're 4 seasons in, and they just can't seem to decide what genre this show is supposed to be in. 

I'm not saying I want this to be a full hour sitcom.  That would be equally as bad.  But I think they need to dial back the serious story lines so they're single episode issues, not 2-3 episode arcs.  The long running Wesley story line is excruciatingly bad.  I just want him to get killed off or go into witness protection. 

 

 

[paigow]

7 minutes ago, chaifan said:

In my opinion, the biggest problem with this show is that the people in charge can't figure out what they want the show to be.  They're trying to do a mix of "light & fluffy" and "serious drama",

The opening credits music - or lack thereof - reflects this. I hate the "theme" song... A lame proxy for a laugh track to the cold open...

[Thomas Crown]

12 hours ago, Surrealist said:

I agree that writers turned Castle into a doddering dolt, but Nolan is a dip. Not worse than Castle, but a character (for me) who's still cringey.

I think, maybe, Nathan is always playing an enhanced version of who he is in real life. He's That Guy. 

I agree.  The last few seasons of Castle was just awful from the perspective of the main character being written very childlike.  Nolan is better than Castle but the more Nathan plays him as the seasons progress, the more he is starting to resemble Castle with very goofball reactions to everything.  It's like you wrote, Nathan is playing him as an enhanced version of himself.  

Even Bailey is turning into Beckett.  The more the episodes we get of Bailey, the more we discover that Bailey is perfect at everything in life and has soo many skills ala Beckett on Castle. 

[Thomas Crown]

On 11/15/2021 at 1:57 PM, HurricaneVal said:

I like Chen and Bradford just as they are, a professional mentor/trainee now past that stage and entering into a professional relationship and friendship as co-workers and trying to balance out a more even power distribution.  I like seeing how they work through that dynamic where Bradford has to sit back and Chen has to come forward, all through the lens of the prior power imbalance.

In one of the online interviews that I read, the show runner mentioned that one of the reasons why Chenford never happened in the past was because of the obvious power imbalance between the 2 characters and he didn't want to go there.  I actually respect that choice.  Before exploring any potential romance between the two of them, the show runner mentioned that he wanted to make sure both characters would view each other as equals on the show.  I can actually imagine his pitch in the writers meeting ...."Ok writers, we need to make Bradford and Chen as equals in the eyes of the viewers... I know! I'll write an episode where they compete in a scavenger hunt and have it turn out in a tie. There you go ...equals. The viewers will love it!"  

[Netfoot]

I was really hoping that Bailey's cooking turned out to be horrible. It might have made a good running gag, and made her less of the perfect girlfriend.

Instead she is apparently a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu...

[Sweet Tooth]

16 hours ago, Surrealist said:

I agree that writers turned Castle into a doddering dolt, but Nolan is a dip. Not worse than Castle, but a character (for me) who's still cringey.

I think, maybe, Nathan is always playing an enhanced version of who he is in real life. He's That Guy. 

Agree he can be cringey at times, but at least now it's not his entire personality. He's able to talk to people about adult things and not just conspiracy theories. He was goofy at least eighty percent of the time on Castle and only about twenty percent here. But I also agree that he probably wants certain aspects of his actual goofy personality to be a part of his character as well.

13 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I had decided to rewatch Castle on one of the streamers. After the first episode I stopped. I think the memory of how it got crappy was highlighted in the first episode, even though as I recall the rest of the season was good. And I very much like Nathan Fillion, I haven't had the issues with him here as many have. I just wish they'd find him a decent girlfriend with whom he had chemistry and a mature relationship. Mature doesn't mean you can't be silly (speaking as a person in a 35+ year marriage).

I also like Nathan and have zero problems with him. If I did, I wouldn't have stuck with Castle until the very end.

I also agree he has zero chemistry with his Mary Sue girlfriend. The relationship does seem on the mature side, because they've been through stuff together and aren't having stupid little squabbles, but there's no THERE there.

[paigow]

All well and good that fake guns will be used on set from now on... Getting some REAL writers is the next step...

Edited November 17, 2021 by paigow

[bros402]

18 hours ago, Surrealist said:

Yes, to all this. I don't understand the choices made in any of these storylines.

Bailey isn't even a cop, but she's a large focus. She's a firefighter! She's ex-military! She makes pies! She's EVERYTHING. 

Is Jenna Dewan getting a spin-off for her character? I like Jenna, but Bailey is a boring character.

The lack of secondary (,etc.) storyline resolution, like you mentioned, is significantly more irritating. I don't know if the writers are trying to make this show too many things at this point.

The weird way the storylines is being done is sort of jarring. I could understand if the pairs each had their own storylines in an episode, different cases, or some that converge - since they need to have different pods due to COVID, but they could at least make things interesting.

tbh I could see someone like Bailey stress cooking - I was hoping it would be bad, or at most, middling. Or she revealed "oh yeah I found that recipe online and you didn't see all of the burnt ones I made first"

14 hours ago, nittany cougar said:

I would actually like to see a more serious exploration of the Wesley plot.  He needs to tell Angela about what is going on with his clients, and then he needs to report the blackmail to law enforcement.  It was strange to me to see him go home after getting beat up.  He realistically should have been in the hospital.

The Bailey and John competing injuries/held captive/ being beat up plot was lame.  I don't buy them taking care of each other or even being in a relationship at all for that matter.  They have not shown one bit of an emotional connection to make me buy these two.

I cannot tell what they are trying to do with Chen and Bradford.  The last couple of episodes, they acted like high school kids playing pranks on each other.  I don't see them as relationship material the way they are written right now.  It's weird that they wrote a sort of intimate scene for them in episode 1 and now have them acting dumb and never having a serious conversation.

I would also like to see a serious exploration of the Wesley plot. One thing I found entering was that Big Bad Crime Boss didn't have his guys check Wesley for any recording device when he had Wesley go into his rolling office.

I'm also still wondering why Wesley thinks this guy owes him a penny. They could come to an agreement where Rich Wesley goes "hey, i'll become a silent partner in your restaurant, here's 500k, we good?" and then the crime boss has some perfectly clean money to crime with!

the Bailey-John relationship still feels totally weird - her actress is just horrible. Fillion has more chemistry with the cop car than he does with Bailey's actress.

Chen and Bradford is definitely odd - I think they are trying different things and seeing what fits. The bets could be entertaining if they became a running thing as long as they were decent things and, you know, not geared around entrapment or trying to arrest people/promoting arrest quotas. Here in NJ, arrest quotas are banned and they can no longer base promotions/demotions or reward/punish cops based on arrest/ticket numbers.

[Raja]

13 hours ago, Thomas Crown said:

In one of the online interviews that I read, the show runner mentioned that one of the reasons why Chenford never happened in the past was because of the obvious power imbalance between the 2 characters and he didn't want to go there.  I actually respect that choice.  Before exploring any potential romance between the two of them, the show runner mentioned that he wanted to make sure both characters would view each other as equals on the show.  I can actually imagine his pitch in the writers meeting ...."Ok writers, we need to make Bradford and Chen as equals in the eyes of the viewers... I know! I'll write an episode where they compete in a scavenger hunt and have it turn out in a tie. There you go ...equals. The viewers will love it!"  

Which is odd. They may have said that as Chen's primary field trainer Bradford was going to decide if she could stay in LAPD but in the first episode the Captain overrode Sergeant Grey knocking out Nolan. And now Tim is not just another officer but one of Lucy's Sergeants

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Agree he can be cringey at times, but at least now it's not his entire personality. He's able to talk to people about adult things and not just conspiracy theories. He was goofy at least eighty percent of the time on Castle and only about twenty percent here. But I also agree that he probably wants certain aspects of his actual goofy personality to be a part of his character as well.

I also like Nathan and have zero problems with him. If I did, I wouldn't have stuck with Castle until the very end.

I also agree he has zero chemistry with his Mary Sue girlfriend. The relationship does seem on the mature side, because they've been through stuff together and aren't having stupid little squabbles, but there's no THERE there.

 

7 hours ago, bros402 said:

I'm also still wondering why Wesley thinks this guy owes him a penny. They could come to an agreement where Rich Wesley goes "hey, i'll become a silent partner in your restaurant, here's 500k, we good?" and then the crime boss has some perfectly clean money to crime with!

I'm no legal expert (and I don't remember what this is referring to), but wouldn't Wesley have to be paid so he could legally claim client-attorney privilege if push should come to shove?

[chaifan]

25 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

 

I'm no legal expert (and I don't remember what this is referring to), but wouldn't Wesley have to be paid so he could legally claim client-attorney privilege if push should come to shove?

 

2 possibilities - Wesley took the case "pro bono" (for free), or was assigned by the court and is being paid by the court.  Whether it's either of those, or a client personally paying, attorney/client privilege applies. 

 

[paigow]

20 minutes ago, chaifan said:

 

2 possibilities - Wesley took the case "pro bono" (for free), or was assigned by the court and is being paid by the court.  Whether it's either of those, or a client personally paying, attorney/client privilege applies. 

 

Saul Goodman sold privilege for literally $1.00

[judyri]

Wesley is a hot mess, he should have negotiated a number of deals with the mob guy, otherwise he should have known he'd be in his pocket forever.  I get Angela was in trouble, but this is an awful story line.  I mean if the Sargent notices,  it's too obvious that he's become a mob lawyer.