S04.E14: Long Shot

[WendyCR72]

Airs February 27, 2022:

Quote

Officers Nolan and Harper help Skip Tracer Randy on his first bounty hunter case. Meanwhile, Officer Chen and Sergeant Bradford are on the hunt for a perpetrator on a citywide crime spree.

 

[edhopper]

I want a Randy spin off.

[MrWhyt]

Flula!

That is all.

[paigow]

The Dead Bastards have to be a farm team... with their shooting skills- any other gang would have wiped them out already.

[HurricaneVal]

Oh Smitty....  🤦‍♀️

Not my favorite episode.  It seemed to be a filler, catch-up episode after being on hiatus for so long.  It was kind of disjointed, don't you think?  Skip Tracer Randy was fun, though.

However the scene with the crazy actress and the drug dealers did crack me up.  It was very reminiscent of Romancing the Stone when the grim jungle drug lord suddenly recognized his favorite romance author and went all fanboy and saved the day.

[shapeshifter]

Bounty Hunter Alicia is just playing Randy to get half the bounty, right?

And Lucy's mother's story about her bio father not being ready to be a father is probably code for he never knew she was pregnant?

[Bulldog]

What are the odds that Lucy's sudden search for her bio father leads to the discovery of some new half bio siblings? No doubt one of those siblings will be having fertility issues and in need of Lucy's freshly frozen eggs? 

[orza]

The writers really hit a new low with this episode. The voice-over narration was annoying and the two main stories about the skip tracer and actress were stupid and juvenile. The more sitcom elements they add to the show, the worse it gets. It appears they are going for a target audience of 12-year boys and adolescent shippers, not adults.

Nyla and Wesley each had a brief scene that made a serious point that would have each been a basis for an engaging episode. Instead, whatever social commentary they were trying to make was cheapened by sandwiching the scenes between all the idiocy. This a supposed to be a police procedural. There are plenty of interesting stories to tell without injecting "light moments" into the show.

Edited February 28, 2022 by orza

[paigow]

2 minutes ago, orza said:

The writers really hit a new low with this episode. The voice-over narration was annoying

If you have ever accidentally turned on Described Video, Fillion was doing his impression of those narrators.

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, orza said:

This a supposed to be a police procedural. There are plenty of interesting stories to tell without injecting "light moments" into the show.

It's a Nathan Fillion show.  Light moments are the feature, not the bug.  This is not supposed to be a super serious cop show.  If it were, I would have been out 1/2 way through the pilot.  It's supposed to be quirky. 

I like that the show deals with serious, real life issues (racism, bail inequities, poverty, gangs, etc.), but my criticism is that it usually isn't written well into the show.  The dialog around those issues is often clunky, is shoved into the scene, and comes across as preachy, instead of two characters having a natural conversation.  

Randy was funny, but I hope if they bring him back it's in small doses.  Very small doses. 

Chen - not sure what the point of all that was.  She said he didn't have family when he died, so unless he has more unknown kids out there that (as said above) need something medically, it seems this whole thing is resolved.  If so, what was the point?  Does Chen get kidnapped by an unknown 1/2 sibling who needs a kidney?  Is the next guy she dates unknowingly her 1/2 brother?  Are we supposed to care about her relationship with her mom?  ???

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Bounty Hunter Alicia is just playing Randy to get half the bounty, right?

And Lucy's mother's story about her bio father not being ready to be a father is probably code for he never knew she was pregnant?

I thought so for a second, but I decided that it really was a turn on for Alicia.

I thought from the get-go that Lucy's father never knew - especially since he was her mother's patient.

3 hours ago, paigow said:

If you have ever accidentally turned on Described Video, Fillion was doing his impression of those narrators.

I did exactly that for Stana Katic's Abstensia series. I thought "gee this is awful" and forgot about it. Once I realized what I'd done (many moons later) I tried it again but either I just didn't like the show, or that experience tarnished it forever.

I think I totally missed the voice over this episode. Or at least, I guess I wasn't annoyed since I can't remember it. (and just watched it)

Randy was fun, but a little of him goes a long way (was that Nolan's line?)

Too bad they made Wesley's Hollywood legal advisor so traumatic an experience (though funny) - it's a legitimate use of his legal knowledge without crossing the boundaries he's been steadily crossing.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Clanstarling

[paigow]

Based on Sons of Anarchy bikers are usually reluctant to kill cops. Too much extra attention and FBI harrassment

[milkyaqua]

The only thing I got from this epi is that Jenna Dewan is now a regular cast member and not a guest star based on the opening credits last night.

I'm hoping this is the end of Lucy and her bio dad but with this show...

A little Randy goes a long way.

Of course Wesley is still flailing around rudderless so he gets a job escorting a nut job actress around and of course it's Smitty who gets taken in by her.  I figured that out before they even opened the door to find her in the room.

[shapeshifter]

23 minutes ago, chaifan said:

It's a Nathan Fillion show.  Light moments are the feature, not the bug.  This is not supposed to be a super serious cop show.  If it were, I would have been out 1/2 way through the pilot.  It's supposed to be quirky. 

Same here! Got to have some humor to go with the drama, both IRL and on TV.
I think they should have had Wesley's crazy actor advising stretch over a couple of episodes. Heck, that could be a whole spinoff series that I'd watch.

[chaifan]

30 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I think they should have had Wesley's crazy actor advising stretch over a couple of episodes. Heck, that could be a whole spinoff series that I'd watch.

I'm not a fan of Wesley, not at all.  But, this was probably the most bearable he's been since the beginning of the show.  I definitely do not want a Wesley spin-off, but I agree this could have been an entertaining "C" plot for a few episodes.  Also, from what I gather, Hollywood legal advisors make some serious money.  They should have had him stick with this, then run a non-profit legal aid clinic on the side.  Not that Wesley needs money, though...

[Snapdragon]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

 

Chen - not sure what the point of all that was.  She said he didn't have family when he died, so unless he has more unknown kids out there that (as said above) need something medically, it seems this whole thing is resolved.  If so, what was the point?  Does Chen get kidnapped by an unknown 1/2 sibling who needs a kidney?  Is the next guy she dates unknowingly her 1/2 brother?  Are we supposed to care about her relationship with her mom?  ???

My guess is this is the show's way of correcting the fact that it gave Chen two Asian parents despite the fact that the actress is obviously half-Asian, half-white.  

And Chen and Bradford's storyline was the weirdest.  Woman finds out she's not going to die from cancer so she commits a bunch of crimes that are going to land her in jail for several years?  What?  Would have made more sense if she just found out she was terminal and was taking revenge on those that had wronged her.  

[Netfoot]

"Described Video" is apparently a thing; one which I've never experienced. Other than this episode. And based on that, I hope I never experience it again.

 

[paigow]

Was this the same show that had its lead actor dating West for a while?

[juliet73]

This episode was awful.  I know this show is supposed to be "light" drama, but the writers are trying way too hard to make comedic when it shouldn't be and it's totally not working.  I would think if the show is trying to go in a quirkier direction, why not interview real life law enforcement and ask them about the weirdest/funniest/unbelievable cases for story ideas?  I'm sure they have tons!

I'm a Bradford (minus Chen) fan so I was disappointed that he was really only featured to listen to Chen's drama.  

Jenna Dewan can leave at any time.  I am so over her character! And why is her hair always so unkempt and hanging in her face while she is at work?  I would think there would be some kind of dept rule about longer hair needing to be away from the face, etc for safety and/or proper mask fittings. 

[Netfoot]

23 minutes ago, juliet73 said:

I would think there would be some kind of dept rule about longer hair needing to be away from the face, etc for safety and/or proper mask fittings.

When I was at college being trained to use various industrial type tools and machines, I (and all my classmates) had to wear a hair-net. This was a matter of amusement among other students in the coffee-bar until we turned it around and made it a mark of pride. But yes, a hair-net. And that was 50 years ago, long before "Health and Safety" ever raised their poxy heads!

[Brian Cronin]

8 hours ago, paigow said:

Was this the same show that had its lead actor dating West for a while?

Yep! Nice continuity, right?

Edited March 1, 2022 by Brian Cronin

[Brian Cronin]

One day, a TV show will have a realistic depiction of breast cancer. One day.

The woman A. knowing she her mom was BRCA1 positive and not getting tested herself was unusual, in and of itself, but 

B. "Remission" in breast cancer is really a much different thing than it is with many other cancers. A woman in this person's situation, likely BRCA1 positive, would not even REMOTELY feel secure about her health. She'd reasonably be wondering about whether the cancer was coming back and whether she would be getting new cancer and most likely getting lots of preemptive surgeries (like getting her ovaries and uterus removed) that would be messing her mind up a lot right now, as well. She would definitely not be sitting there saying, "Oh man, I guess I'm going to be fine, let me react to that." 

[Brian Cronin]

I get that it was nice to have Nyla get some sort of closure with her ex-husband's girlfriend, but how in the world did anyone think it made any sense for her to conduct that interview? INSANITY.

She could have had the heart-to-heart AFTER Nolan got the information from HIM interivewing her, the only rational thing to do there. Nyla should not have been involved there at ALL. Why in the world would she be there? Her information ended up getting them to the madam right before she was MURDERED. If they hadn't gotten the info, the madam would be DEAD and they're just playing games there? Wouldn't you suspect that she wouldn't talk to Nyla, and that was info you NEEDED and instead, you send in Nyla to interview her for some catharsis? That was some awful, awful writing.  And then Nolan gets called away?!?! Awful writing on top of awful writing on top of awful writing. It just wasn't even slightly reasonable. 

And I like this show overall. They just failed Writing 101 on those scenes (and, okay, I'm still irked at their breast cancer take, as well). 

[Proteus]

I keep seeing people talk about voice narration for this episode. I watched it on demand & there was none. What's everyone talking about?

[JapMo]

Bad....really really bad from start to finish. I kept checking the date, thinking it was April Fool's Day. Only good thing was seeing Smitty again. Love that guy.  So wanted him to beat Officer Perfect Nolan in the election.

My husband was a cop for 4 years and only once had to draw his gun. The amount of paperwork involved and meetings with Internal Affairs to explain why an officer feels it's necessary to draw their gun is unbelievable.  But on this show they get into major shoot-outs every day.  

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, JapMo said:

But on this show they get into major shoot-outs every day.  

And thank goodness we get to see that and not the large amount of paperwork involved, and the meetings with Internal Affairs to explain why an officer felt it necessary to draw their gun.

Entertainment trumps reality. On this show, at least.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, JapMo said:

But on this show they get into major shoot-outs every day.  

Since the hand to hand fight choreographer sucks, (or the actors cannot sell it before stunt doubles get involved) A-Team firefights will rule.

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, Proteus said:

I keep seeing people talk about voice narration for this episode. I watched it on demand & there was none. What's everyone talking about?

On the various streaming apps on my tv, the setting is somewhere in the subtitle options. I think I only accidentally turned it on for one show. I think it was on the forums somewhere (a while  ago now) that I saw a discussion of it and realized what had happened. It was a pain to find.

[Raja]

4 hours ago, JapMo said:

Bad....really really bad from start to finish. I kept checking the date, thinking it was April Fool's Day. Only good thing was seeing Smitty again. Love that guy.  So wanted him to beat Officer Perfect Nolan in the election.

My husband was a cop for 4 years and only once had to draw his gun. The amount of paperwork involved and meetings with Internal Affairs to explain why an officer feels it's necessary to draw their gun is unbelievable.  But on this show they get into major shoot-outs every day.  

Well that has been the case since their first patrol. Four season in you would just saw they are like the Rifleman who somehow got into so many shootouts for a small rancher and part time deputy.

1 hour ago, paigow said:

Since the hand to hand fight choreographer sucks, (or the actors cannot sell it before stunt doubles get involved) A-Team firefights will rule.

Which is worse the very pregnant women in  firefights or going hand to hand where their kung fu trumps the body mass of the gangsters

[chaifan]

5 hours ago, JapMo said:

The amount of paperwork involved and meetings with Internal Affairs to explain why an officer feels it's necessary to draw their gun is unbelievable.  But on this show they get into major shoot-outs every day.  

Next time Nolan gets captured by the bad guys, here's the exchange we need to see:

Nolan (being held by bad guy):  Shoot him, Smitty, shoot him!

Smitty:  Do you know how much paperwork that's going to create?  I don't have time for that...  [exits stage right]

[paigow]

4 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Next time Nolan gets captured by the bad guys, here's the exchange we need to see:

Nolan (being held by bad guy):  Shoot him, Smitty, shoot him!

Smitty:  Do you know how much paperwork that's going to create?  I don't have time for that...  [exits stage right]

Nolan: Fine Smitty. I quit as union rep.

[Beezella]

I was confused by the cancer lady. She was evidently the one who set the truck on fire early in the episode? How did they find her, and how did they know she had cancer? (other than guessing from her near bald head. Risky guess.) The actress is Stephanie Czajkowski. I thought maybe she had been in another episode, but she seems to only be in this one. Did I miss something?

 

[Brian Cronin]

34 minutes ago, Beezella said:

I was confused by the cancer lady. She was evidently the one who set the truck on fire early in the episode? How did they find her, and how did they know she had cancer? (other than guessing from her near bald head. Risky guess.) The actress is Stephanie Czajkowski. I thought maybe she had been in another episode, but she seems to only be in this one. Did I miss something?

 

They only found out about her cancer when she told them. As to how they found her, they didn't actually say. They had her name, so they would have her car info, so I imagine they put out her info and someone spotted her car (she was sitting on it when they arrived).

[shapeshifter]

47 minutes ago, Beezella said:

I was confused by the cancer lady. She was evidently the one who set the truck on fire early in the episode? How did they find her, and how did they know she had cancer? (other than guessing from her near bald head. Risky guess.) The actress is Stephanie Czajkowski. I thought maybe she had been in another episode, but she seems to only be in this one. Did I miss something?

11 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

They only found out about her cancer when she told them. As to how they found her, they didn't actually say. They had her name, so they would have her car info, so I imagine they put out her info and someone spotted her car (she was sitting on it when they arrived).

The boss who fired her for being late due to chemo appointments (the same person who called the cops because she dumped a bunch of rats in the restaurant) gave them her name and her address.

The episode required a little more viewer attention than usual because they kept switching back and forth between the two cases that both involved finding perps who were 30-something white women, plus there was the method actor woman of the same age and race.
It was almost like there was an audition for one such woman, and then there was a Covid quarantine, so they wrote in some extra plots to use the actors who were quarantining together. 
Probably not what happened, but I like to imagine reasons for unknowable things that don't otherwise make sense.

Then there was the terrible moral-of-the-story follow-up by the cops:

• "You know, most people have a near-death experience and want to change their life for the better." 

• "Got to respect her for going the other way."

After I survived what should have been fatal stage IV cancer, I was grumpy and stressed for awhile due to coming off of medications too quickly and because now I was back to living with my chronic pain. Given that older people tend to survive cancer at higher rates (because our cells reproduce more slowly) I expect my reaction isn't terribly unusual. But the writers didn't seem to have a handle on those causes and effects of acting ungrateful to be alive.

Then there's the survivor's guilt, but that's not what this episode was about. 
Hey, maybe they can bring her back for another episode that deals poorly with that issue!

[Beezella]

Thank you both for filling me in on cancer lady. I went back and watched that part again, and she also mentioned her landlord who had raised her rent when she was too sick to work. He was the guy washing his eyes out with a hose because a tenant (her!) had pepper sprayed him. He also gave them her name.

Note to Shapeshifter: Stage IV sounds terrifying, here's to your continuing survival.

 

[Brian Cronin]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Hey, maybe they can bring her back for another episode that deals poorly with that issue!

Ha! I love it. 

[paigow]

3 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

Ha! I love it. 

 

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Hey, maybe they can bring her back for another episode that deals poorly with that issue!

She pepper sprays Smitty, then locks him in a burning truck filled with rats...

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, paigow said:

She pepper sprays Smitty, then locks him in a burning truck filled with rats...

On this show, I was assuming her cancer survivor’s-guilt would feature her doing dangerously heroic stunts that escalated until Nolan needed to talk her down. 
But probably on this show she would be doing it in a cape and a mask, and they wouldn’t identify her until she “rescued” Smitty from the burning truck full of rats that she had trapped him in (while wearing her villain costume) and either Chen or Bradford would recall the rats+torched vehicle day. 
Never miss an opportunity to confuse the viewers!

Edited March 2, 2022 by shapeshifter

[LaylaGirl]

Why is Nyla still on the street wearing a gunbelt when she is visibly pregnant? I used to be a police dispatcher and every pregnant officer I knew came off of the street as soon as she started showing. They did it for the safety of the baby and because at a certain point they could no longer physically react to things in the same manner. 

[bros402]

On 3/1/2022 at 2:20 AM, Brian Cronin said:

One day, a TV show will have a realistic depiction of breast cancer. One day.

The woman A. knowing she her mom was BRCA1 positive and not getting tested herself was unusual, in and of itself, but 

B. "Remission" in breast cancer is really a much different thing than it is with many other cancers. A woman in this person's situation, likely BRCA1 positive, would not even REMOTELY feel secure about her health. She'd reasonably be wondering about whether the cancer was coming back and whether she would be getting new cancer and most likely getting lots of preemptive surgeries (like getting her ovaries and uterus removed) that would be messing her mind up a lot right now, as well. She would definitely not be sitting there saying, "Oh man, I guess I'm going to be fine, let me react to that." 

She might've been scared to be tested.

and yeah she would've been told NED if anything - most with cancer have those worries

[Andyourlittledog2]

On 2/28/2022 at 1:10 PM, Netfoot said:

"Described Video" is apparently a thing; one which I've never experienced. Other than this episode. And based on that, I hope I never experience it again.

I honestly don't understand these references. What part of this episode had anything to do with described video? Where? When?  Seriously confused here.

[shapeshifter]

3 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

I honestly don't understand these references. What part of this episode had anything to do with described video? Where? When?  Seriously confused here.

I'm 90% sure Described Video is primarily used by the visually impaired.
And it seems more than one person experienced it while watching this episode, one who claims user error, but it still seems odd that there would be more than one incidence of unintended use of Described Video on the same episode. 

[Andyourlittledog2]

4 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm 90% sure Described Video is primarily used by the visually impaired.
And it seems more than one person experienced it while watching this episode, one who claims user error, but it still seems odd that there would be more than one incidence of unintended use of Described Video on the same episode. 

That was my thought too but so many people were talking about it that I thought something else was going on that I missed entirely. 

[bros402]

6 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

That was my thought too but so many people were talking about it that I thought something else was going on that I missed entirely. 

same - I was like "wait I just watched this episode, did I totally forget about narration over the episode???"

[paigow]

5 hours ago, bros402 said:

same - I was like "wait I just watched this episode, did I totally forget about narration over the episode???"

Fillion was doing the narration- True Described Video would have been almost constant. And more detailed.

[Netfoot]

Dunno if I've done this right, but here is a 60-second clip ("Fair Use" doctrine) from the show that has several instances of the "Described Video".

If you didn't experience this: Lucky for you!

 

[nittany cougar]

On 3/1/2022 at 12:04 AM, juliet73 said:

This episode was awful.  I know this show is supposed to be "light" drama, but the writers are trying way too hard to make comedic when it shouldn't be and it's totally not working.  I would think if the show is trying to go in a quirkier direction, why not interview real life law enforcement and ask them about the weirdest/funniest/unbelievable cases for story ideas?  I'm sure they have tons!

I'm a Bradford (minus Chen) fan so I was disappointed that he was really only featured to listen to Chen's drama.  

Never mind

Edited March 6, 2022 by nittany cougar

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Dunno if I've done this right, but here is a 60-second clip ("Fair Use" doctrine) from the show that has several instances of the "Described Video".

If you didn't experience this: Lucky for you!

 

I definitely did not experience this in the episode, but on another show when I had apparently accidentally selected "Described Video." But that was for an entire episode, not intermittent. So that's wierd.

It is awful for those of us who don't need described video.

[BlakesMomma]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Dunno if I've done this right, but here is a 60-second clip ("Fair Use" doctrine) from the show that has several instances of the "Described Video".

If you didn't experience this: Lucky for you!

 

This is so weird that some people experienced this, I certainly didn't. And that's definitely not Nathan's voice doing the narration as someone said.

[BlakesMomma]

2 hours ago, nittany cougar said:

This is exactly my issue with this show.  The writers swing back and forth between silly plots and serious drama.  I cannot figure out what this is anymore 

I have a good cast of dramatic actors (minus Dewan), but they are spending si much time on the funny plots and neglecting dramatic elements.  It is strange to me that Jackson died, and he is just gone and never brought up again.  What ever happened to Bradford's ex-wife, Isabelle?  She is never mentioned, even though her addiction ruined their marriage and nearly cost him his job.  I would think that there would be some mention of these characters, but it's just a different goofy plot every week.

This show has always been a mix of humorous and serious, that's life as a cop and the point of the series. I can guarantee you cops run into characters like Skip Tracer Randy or humorous traffic stop situations, and serious or deadly situations. It runs the gamut in the day to day for a cop.

As for previous characters that are no longer on the show, Jackson was mentioned recently (not by actual name) in a conversation between Lucy and the new rookie. They referred to Lucy, Nolan and Jackson coming through the academy together and that one of them was...."no longer here" I believe Lucy said. Isabelle was alluded to in a fairly recent episode about drugs. Someone told Bradford something like "you should know that considering your history" in a conversation. I know they've referred to dead Mercedes Mason's character once or twice during the series after her death. 

They have 42 minutes for an episode. Characters that are gone don't need to be mentioned often, what's the point of that.