S05.E07: Keep the Faith

[thewhiteowl]

When Hondo returns as leader, the team is soon pulled into a dangerous case involving a large stockpile of cash and the Russian mob. Also, Daniel Sr. opens up to Hondo about a painful time in his past.

[Danielg342]

For a man I suspect will come back- Saint- Carl Lumbly (a Criminal Minds alum who's probably better known for his starring roles in Cagney & Lacey and Alias)- sure did come across with enough menace to believably be a baddie but with enough warmth to still be human and to throw you off his scent.

It's also fitting we got a chess reference in this episode, because Saint was sure a chessmaster. It's not the first time a chess reference was used to inspire a plot on one of Shemar Moore's shows- Criminal Minds did it too, with "Zugzwang". Hopefully, S.W.A.T. won't repeat the same mistakes that CM did with its chess reference- the episode with that title was an exploitative mess and the show defined the term wrong ("zugzwang" merely refers to a moment in chess where you have to make a move despite it providing no advantage to you, CM believed it was the move one makes in spite of doing so leading to checkmate).

Since I doubt this storyline is going to conclude with some psycho committing suicide by shooting a bullet through both his head and Street's head to give Christina Alonso some more pain, I'm confident on the exploitative part. Screwing up the chess reference...we'll see.

(Chess people can correct me on this because I'm not that knowledgeable about the tactic, but my understanding of the Ruy Lopez is that it's an aggressive opening designed to outflank the opponent through the knight and the bishop and leave their pieces vulnerable no matter how they respond...which shouldn't be too hard to write, and I think we got elements of it in this episode)

Anyway, this particular story was OK enough. It hit too many of the S.W.A.T. cliches for my liking- the enemies are ex-military so "these guys know what they're doing" (this wouldn't be so bad if the show bothered to write the baddies using the tactics they actually learned in their military training, because one special ops team does things differently from another one, but they almost all act the same on this show), the team is always literally chasing the bad guys leading to a dramatic final confrontation at an abandoned warehouse or some other shady location, there was a damsel in distress and the "big bad" is always the last one to get caught, with Hondo doing the honours.

I mean, I guess in some ways it's necessary for the show to "go back to the basics" after an arc, but this one felt a little too formulaic.

I also have to wonder how big Baron guy and his giant cheeseburger locker could realistically go toe-to-toe with Hondo, but that was a nice takedown in the end. Vince McMahon would be proud.

As for the other stories...Christina's birthday was charming and I see where Bonnie is coming from, but they kind of went through the motions with them. Not that it bothered me too much, but I do wonder why put those scenes in there if they won't lead to anything meaningful.

On to next week.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I mean, I guess in some ways it's necessary for the show to "go back to the basics" after an arc, but this one felt a little too formulaic.

I also have to wonder how big Baron guy and his giant cheeseburger locker could realistically go toe-to-toe with Hondo, but that was a nice takedown in the end. Vince McMahon would be proud.

 

Well Hondo is a middle aged man humping what about 30 lbs of armor and gear.

[Danielg342]

44 minutes ago, Raja said:

Well Hondo is a middle aged man humping what about 30 lbs of armor and gear.

Yeah, but Shemar Moore is a tank. I'm pretty sure he could have an actual piano strapped to his back and beat up a chubby, out-of-shape dude without lifting a finger. I mean, I probably fit the fitness profile of the Baron and I don't like my chances against Moore and I'm far younger than Moore is.

[milkyaqua]

Okay epi and not too cringey though I really wish they would cool it with the Street/Chris thing.

Always enjoy Carl Lumbly and it'll be interesting to see him again assuming TPTB have an actual story arc planned out as opposed to coming up with something on the fly...

[Sweet Tooth]

My favorite line:

"Is 'athletic' a code word for 'hot'?"

I don't think I've ever liked Chris and Street better than in that one little scene. The picked up on the jealousy stuff and actually offered good advice. Bonus points for not talking about how women always say "nothing" when they mean "something." The way Tan said it wasn't hostile, which I liked. And she wasn't saying "nothing" because she was being coy. Bonnie felt it was petty and didn't want to burden Tan with it. But I'm glad that was resolved so quickly, and Joy isn't some woman trying to take her man, another horrible trope.

Tan acts the way all women wish their men would be. I thought that scene was well done.

You had to become suspicious when the Russians showed up at both locations about the same time S.W.A.T. did, and the only person right there getting the info with Hondo, was Saint.

Nothing more annoying than a character who hates when people celebrate their birthday.

Here's an idea, Chris: If this happens literally EVERY year, where your teammates don't respect your wishes, and in fact think of new and even more elaborate ways of celebrating your birthday, maybe set some boundaries, like you all going to a bar and having a few drinks to celebrate. Just an idea to try out if this behavior truly drives you up a wall.

Sounds like Saint is going to pop up from time to time. We'll see how that goes.

I was also grateful that this was just another COTW.

S.W.A.T. is moving to Sundays...interesting.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Sweet Tooth

[Danielg342]

On 12/4/2021 at 11:53 PM, Sweet Tooth said:

"Is 'athletic' a code word for 'hot'?"

I don't think I've ever liked Chris and Street better than in that one little scene. The picked up on the jealousy stuff and actually offered good advice. Bonus points for not talking about how women always say "nothing" when they mean "something." The way Tan said it wasn't hostile, which I liked. And she wasn't saying "nothing" because she was being coy. Bonnie felt it was petty and didn't want to burden Tan with it. But I'm glad that was resolved so quickly, and Joy isn't some woman trying to take her man, another horrible trope.

Tan acts the way all women wish their men would be. I thought that scene was well done.

I also liked Street's line about how one tactic (I believe he was talking about open communication) works well in hostage negotiations. Extreme example, but the analogue fit.

Tan did have a great episode. He really came across as someone who has his heart in the right place and means what he says. When he tells Bonnie, "you are my world", he isn't saying that to defuse the situation, it's because it's true and Bonnie needed to hear it. Relationships are funny because it doesn't take much for our inner securities to come out simply because a simple thought crossed our mind. It's perfectly logical for the "all-American girl" Bonnie to think maybe she doesn't "fit in" with her Cantonese husband because they have different cultural experiences, but Tan rightly told her it's not rational because he married her, not a Cantonese woman.

Tan rhyming off all the things about American culture that he wanted to learn about struck me, because I should have realized that, even with American culture being quite ubiquitous worldwide because of Hollywood, there are still many parts that are foreign to people outside of North America. I'm Canadian, so even I probably have a lot to learn about America still- this despite having visited every continental U.S. state.

I was quite pleased that he was excited to learn more about county fairs and cow tipping, though I should probably tell Tan not to get his hopes too much about that last one. Cow tipping is physically impossible as it is spun in the legends as no human is that strong and cows are easily woken when they are standing and sleeping.

As for the county fair...the show now owes us a scene where Tan plays those carnival games and tries to make sense of winning those giant plush toys that you later throw in some corner of your home and never see again. Because you know Tan will be great at those games with his shooting skills.

[nittany cougar]

On 12/4/2021 at 11:53 PM, Sweet Tooth said:

Nothing more annoying than a character who hates when people celebrate their birthday.

Here's an idea, Chris: If this happens literally EVERY year, where your teammates don't respect your wishes, and in fact think of new and even more elaborate ways of celebrating your birthday, maybe set some boundaries, like you all going to a bar and having a few drinks to celebrate. Just an idea to try out if this behavior truly drives you up a wall.

I agree that Chris could have  handled  the birthday attention better.  Just say thanks and move on.

Even though it was annoying to Chris, I thought that the team going over the top with the birthday celebrations was cute.  My favorite was when Hondo and Luca smiled at each other, knowing that she was about to go in the locker room and get confetti bombed.

It was sad when Chris told Street that she didn't like the attention because she thinks that she doesn't deserve it.  That's just depressing. There's always been an undercurrent of insecurity with Chris, even though she is very accomplished in SWAT. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by nittany cougar

[WinJet0819]

On 12/4/2021 at 10:53 PM, Sweet Tooth said:

S.W.A.T. is moving to Sundays...interesting.

Something tells me the show doesn't have that much longer with the Sunday move, after already coming from a Friday slot. Maybe one more season, at best. And if it's going to stay on Sunday for next season, I would expect a truncated episode order and a midseason start date.

On 12/4/2021 at 1:58 PM, milkyaqua said:

Okay epi and not too cringey though I really wish they would cool it with the Street/Chris thing.

Always enjoy Carl Lumbly and it'll be interesting to see him again assuming TPTB have an actual story arc planned out as opposed to coming up with something on the fly...

That's what most everybody is wishing. This show is supposed to be an action drama. Not a romantic drama about the Christina-Street relationship. Having their relationship thrust in our faces was the main reason why I didn't want them together. The episodes, without the focus on them, are pretty watchable. But there's so much focus on them in the episodes.

[mojoween]

Yes.  Chris and Street would make great siblings.  Boinking?  Absolutely not.

At the end when Luka was alone at S.W.A.T. I really thought he was going to be shot by a bad guy, because we thought that the money bag had a tracker in it and the Russians were hell bent on getting their millions back.

[Sweet Tooth]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:26 AM, nittany cougar said:

I agree that Chris could have  handled  the birthday attention better.  Just say thanks and move on.

Even though it was annoying to Chris, I thought that the team going over the top with the birthday celebrations was cute.  My favorite was when Hondo and Luca smiled at each other, knowing that she was about to go in the locker room and get confetti bombed.

It was sad when Chris told Street that she didn't like the attention because she thinks that she doesn't deserve it.  That's just depressing. There's always been an undercurrent of insecurity with Chris, even though she is very accomplished in SWAT. 

Agreed that it's sad she doesn't feel she deserves love and attention from anyone. I think they've done a good job of showing how her relationships reflect her feelings about herself, and in fact. this is the most interesting direction they've taken the character in a while. It provides an explanation for a whole lot of stuff. 

This was a good episode for how the men deal with the women in their life going through some insecurities, because I thought the way Street handled it was with style and grace. He listened to her and just quietly gave her the skydiving lessons. It helps me forgive him for his previous faux pas of asking her why she came over to comfort him, if she wasn't going to have sex with him or whatever.

Also agree that what the guys did was adorable and really shows just how much they adore her. I love it when these big "macho" guys get in touch with the little boy inside and act like kids.

On 12/5/2021 at 11:40 PM, Danielg342 said:

Tan did have a great episode. He really came across as someone who has his heart in the right place and means what he says. When he tells Bonnie, "you are my world", he isn't saying that to defuse the situation, it's because it's true and Bonnie needed to hear it. Relationships are funny because it doesn't take much for our inner securities to come out simply because a simple thought crossed our mind. It's perfectly logical for the "all-American girl" Bonnie to think maybe she doesn't "fit in" with her Cantonese husband because they have different cultural experiences, but Tan rightly told her it's not rational because he married her, not a Cantonese woman.

Yes, her insecurities made sense after seeing him able to communicate with this other woman in a way he can't with her. And Tan did handle it in the best way. 

I love it on shows when couples have realistic discussions without passive-aggression and blame. I think the writing gets much more interesting, and the relationship gets much deeper, when this happens. You also don't get agitated the minute they're on screen.

6 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

Something tells me the show doesn't have that much longer with the Sunday move, after already coming from a Friday slot. Maybe one more season, at best. And if it's going to stay on Sunday for next season, I would expect a truncated episode order and a midseason start date.

I looked it up, and it's actually in a great spot, right after the long-running N.C.I.S. L.A. It's taking over the vacant spot left by S.E.A.L. Team.

According to this article, their ratings are up while in the Friday spot, and they say it may be a bad move. I guess we'll find out. But it doesn't seem like bad ratings is the reason for the move.

S.W.A.T. Moving to Sundays

[DanaK]

I liked this and I liked seeing Carl Lumbly. I liked Tan’s story as I thought Bonnie was jealous instead of insecure because of culture and Tan responded in the right way