S05:E15: Donor

[thewhiteowl]

When hospital employees are targeted by a gunman, the SWAT team races to find a grieving father whose son was denied a kidney transplant. Also, Hondo searches for evidence to prove his theory of the culprit behind an alarming rise in Los Angeles stash houses.

[Danielg342]

Lina Esco makes her network directorial debut with this episode. This is also going to be Episode 99, so it should be a fun one.

[Snazzy Daisy]

 

[Danielg342]

Well, Director Esco did her job tonight, really bringing out the feels and the struggles in the characters tonight. You almost felt sorry for the assailant, until you realized he's holding a gun to the back of that doctor.

The issue- which has been very common of late- is that there was just too much stuff going on, from the case to the Ortiz mystery to the talent show to Hondo's struggle against Saint. Perhaps the writers are worried they won't get another year so they're cramming as much material into these episodes just so they can tell the stories they feel need to get told but this philosophy is really only bringing the episodes down.

Still, there were great moments. Luca helping the SWAT academy officer get over her stage fright was nice. Hicks and Deacon had a good chat, as did Street and the chaplain. I also brought up before the criminal's pain but I'll mention here too because his scenes were well done too.

There was just too much going on and that held things back.

Now, let me get to Hondo and Saint, since I'm sure that will be the storyline going into the next episode- Episode 100- if not for the rest of the season.

I did appreciate that Saint's underlings finally understood that they're the ones with the power when it comes to talking with police, because TV criminals never seem to realize that.

I also understand the angle they're going with in terms of Saint's narrative- the "villain with good publicity". Which isn't a bad premise in of itself, but the beats they're going with it are cliched. "He's such a great guy, how could he be a bad guy?" Do I need to explain how this works?

Worse, I feel Saint's shadiness is all implied. We are told that he is shifty and hard to catch, but we don't see why. Perhaps we'll understand the mechanics of Saint's operations once we actually get the episodes where he's brought down, but something still feels like it's missing here in the exploration side of things. For one, what tips off Hondo that a stash house is part of Saint's gig and isn't just another stash house? Hondo doesn't think every stash house is operated by Saint, does he? This ain't a small town, LA has to have at least a few gangs running those kinds of businesses.

It seems like the show is just going with the old Hollywood trick of simply just not showing the criminal at work (or at all) just so they don't have to explain how the criminal is so good at getting away. It's a tiring trope, especially because once Hollywood actually gets around to showing how shifty the criminal was, it's a total letdown because the criminal gets brought down so easily. It's like when Hollywood has those mysterious Big Bads- they're mysterious often because we're just told how mysterious they are and once it comes time to reveal them, it's done in the easiest way possible, making you wonder how they avoided detection in the first place.

I'm willing to give this storyline a chance, since Carl Lumbly is great as Saint and I hope we get a satisfying conclusion. It's just not a good go of things at the moment.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Eh, where’s Victor? And since when Hicks has been cleared by Dr Wendy to resume work?

For more emotional impact, why can’t Saint be involved or has some kind of interference in Darryl and Leroy’s business instead? We haven’t seen these two for quite a while. I hope TPTB will not screw up this Saint arc like what they did to Rodrigo Sanchez storyline. It was such a let down.

Street’s budding friendship with Chaplain Adams, good for him!

Hey, I want to hear Rocker singing “My Heart Will Go On”!!! Please… 😂