S04.E22: Day In The Hole

[WendyCR72]

Season Finale. Airing May 15, 2022:

Quote

Officer John Nolan is forced to spend a week in solitary confinement in a quiet border town with a young local officer who is in need of some training. Meanwhile, Sergeant Bradford and Officer Chen discover that looks are deceiving and go undercover together in a possible drug trafficking case.

 

[zapper]

how can you go into solitary with someone?

Tim's back from Hawaii and zooms into undercover with Chen? As a couple I imagine. sigh.

[Netfoot]

7 hours ago, zapper said:

As a couple I imagine.

I took that as a given! 

[zapper]

drug trafficking case.

could be as a boss and chemist (she established herself as a drug chemist 1 or 2 seasons back).

could be as a buyer seller

could be anything.

 

but it will be as a couple, i'd bet Nolan's ability to take the TO test after all, on it.

[paigow]

12 minutes ago, zapper said:

but it will be as a couple, i'd bet Nolan's ability to take the TO test after all, on it.

Nolan already played junkie boyfriend to junkie Harper... 

[WendyCR72]

10 hours ago, zapper said:

As a couple I imagine

*Insert long, exasperated sigh here*

[threebluestars]

I actually wanted a resolution with the Dim/Juicy undercover, but I guess all the writers wanted was a vehicle for a Chen/Bradford kiss.

I assume Nolan is going to get to be a TO now since he caught a most wanted fugitive and gang and Nyla's going to detectives.

 

[shapeshifter]

As far as cliffhangers go, not too shabby.

I wondered if the female bad guy in the pleather pants that Bailey was fighting was her or Melissa's stunt double? I can't tell (yet?) from the IMDb page.

Alan Tudyk as Ellroy was fun and a great Firefly reunion and made up for Pete D being there just to collect a paycheck.
And Sara Rue always adds some sparkle.

Edited May 16, 2022 by shapeshifter

[mojito]

That was a cartoon. 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, threebluestars said:

I assume Nolan is going to get to be a TO now since he caught a most wanted fugitive and gang and Nyla's going to detectives.

Bradford will also switch to full time undercover... Then Nolan & Smitty will shape the LAPD  for generations...

[shapeshifter]

3 minutes ago, paigow said:

Bradford will also switch to full time undercover... Then Nolan & Smitty will shape the LAPD  for generations...

And we can really have a cartoon comedy!
Alright by me!

[Zaffy]

so the motel was indeed haunted and the ghosts where the caretakers? 

[MSterling]

Sara Rue, Pete Davidson, and Bailey all in one episode, and Chenford? Yuck. I left the room for part of this one, and I'm already wondering why I've stuck it out this long.

[KayVeeTeeVee]

So disappointed.  This episode truly jumped the shark.  Nolan and newbie take out a dozen heavily armed guys with only two handguns and a yogi?  Cute girl takes down big guy and then leather girl?  In a pool?  Not one, but two dopplegangers?  Who have to pretend they are in love?  How convenient.  Just horrible.

[nittany cougar]

1 hour ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

So disappointed.  This episode truly jumped the shark.  Nolan and newbie take out a dozen heavily armed guys with only two handguns and a yogi?  Cute girl takes down big guy and then leather girl?  In a pool?  Not one, but two dopplegangers?  Who have to pretend they are in love?  How convenient.  Just horrible.

Seriously.  What are the writers thinking?  I don't understand why an LAPD officer would be designated for an assignment at the border.  And I don't believe that Bailey would gladly ride along and would agree to stay at that dump.  

The Chen and Bradford storyline was so insulting to the viewers.   I thought the undercover storyline and the awkward kiss were terrible.  If they cannot find an organic way to develop the relationship, they should drop it.  

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

This episode truly jumped the shark.  Nolan and newbie take out a dozen heavily armed guys with only two handguns and a yogi?  Cute girl takes down big guy and then leather girl?  In a pool?  Not one, but two dopplegangers?  Who have to pretend they are in love?  How convenient.  Just horrible.

Having recently watched most of the Sharknado flicks on my son-in-law's SyFy account, I was okay with the extreme campy-ness, especially since it's a hallmark of Fillion's projects, and Bailey as a joke has been embraced by fans online, so I can see the writers going with it. 

Still, I do find fight and chase scenes in general to be a waste of time, so that was annoying to me. I would have preferred more camp and shorter fight scenes.

But I am wondering:
Did the official Nolan pissed off that got him sent to Nowheresville on the border
(expressly so Nolan couldn't take the exam to advance his career)
set up the desperadoes to kill Nolan?

[Driad]

36 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

But I am wondering:
Did the official Nolan pissed off that got him sent to Nowheresville on the border
(expressly so Nolan couldn't take the exam to advance his career)
set up the desperadoes to kill Nolan?

That might be interesting.  So probably not.

My vision is not good, but I have much more trouble telling characters apart on this show than on any other show I watch. Specifically, several women are short with dark hair. Unless they give us a good look at one, I can't tell which one she is, except Nyla.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

So disappointed.  This episode truly jumped the shark.  Nolan and newbie take out a dozen heavily armed guys with only two handguns and a yogi?  Cute girl takes down big guy and then leather girl?  In a pool?  Not one, but two dopplegangers?  Who have to pretend they are in love?  How convenient.  Just horrible.

Well when mercenaries are willing to go in unarmed so they don't have friendly fire on the boss it is a bit easier. Where do bad guys find such brave men?

 

1 hour ago, nittany cougar said:

And I don't believe that Bailey would gladly ride along and would agree to stay at that dump.  

Bailey, you throw out the ex husband  and you are left with the world's most perfect girlfriend.

The promo for "The Rookie Universe" with The Rookie Feds coming soon. I guess ABC found their replacement for the aging Sondraverse since she went to Netflix.

[paigow]

45 minutes ago, Raja said:

Well when mercenaries are willing to go in unarmed so they don't have friendly fire on the boss it is a bit easier. Where do bad guys find such brave men?

dolts

Were these guys CTU washouts? Maybe only 2 guys are needed for suppressing fire and the other guys could find a back door before the boss becomes a human shield... FFS

[paigow]

Bailey should go on vacation more often... There were no fires or major car accidents anywhere in L.A. County. Or else she would have got an emergency text from the firehouse...

[Snapdragon]

What kind of season finale was that?  Is the Bradford/Chen storyline supposed to continue on to next season?  Because halfway through the episode, that storyline completely disappeared and it was just the Nolan show from then on.  And who keeps insisting on bringing Pete Davidson back?  I enjoy him on SNL but actual acting is not his thing.  I'm actually surprised that Nolan's son didn't show up at the last minute, since they were just randomly bringing in past guest stars that were connected to his character.

[Brian Cronin]

7 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

Is the Bradford/Chen storyline supposed to continue on to next season? 

Of course, as they get to drag the Chenford stuff to the season premiere. 

[HurricaneVal]

I am just so confused.

Was this episode just a throwaway meta nod to the fans?  Was there a fanfic competition out there and this was the winner?

Because none of this made any sense.  It was amusing, I'll give 'em that.  It checked all the boxes--some I didn't need checked--but it seriously was like the writers were like "Fans like it when we bring in Firefly alumni, Alan Tudyk in particular.   Sarah Rue's name comes up all the time too.  Pete Davidson is hot right now, so let's bring him in.  Bailey should save the day, we get a lot of online comments for that.  Hey, you know what would be hilarious?  Do an evil twin/doppelganger episode and turn Bradford into a dirtbag.  Hey, that one CSI episode where they ended up in that shootout in the desert after a girls weekend out went wrong was a really fun episode, let's do one like that!"

This had better turn out to be one big burrito dream of Nolan's, because it literally made no sense.  Nothing about the Nolan A-plot made sense at all.  None of it.

 

That said, when Tudyk mentioned "Could it be aliens?" with a twinkle in his eye I guffawed out loud and realized it was going to be that  kind of episode.  Then when Tudyk took Elroy into full Harry Vanderspeigle, I decided this must be a burrito dream and Nolan had just binged on Resident Alien right before falling asleep.

[milkyaqua]

That was all over the place and I guess I didn't pay attention because I didn't know it was the season finale until after the credits had rolled.

I don't like TPTB playing around with Chenford.  I have no interest in those two becoming a thing but if they are going to pull the trigger, then they need to just do it already.  I find Lucy insufferable whenever she's around Tim.  It's like any brains she has go completely out of the window and she acts like she's 12 (which is probably an insult to 12 year-olds).  The undercover case looks interesting but we'll have to wait until next season for that...whatever.

The Nolan storyline was completely nuts and not just because of the waste of space that is Pete Davidson.  Of course he, the other rookie and Bailey were able to take down an entire gang.  At some point during the shooting in the diner, at least one of the good guys should have gotten taken out just based on the crossfire alone but of course as is standard in Hollywood, all the bad guys are bad shots unless it's some bystander that no one cares about.

I some how feel this was a waste of an hour that we'll never get back with no purpose to it at all.  Except maybe now Nolan will be able to take his TO test?

[Raja]

1 hour ago, milkyaqua said:

 

I some how feel this was a waste of an hour that we'll never get back with no purpose to it at all.  Except maybe now Nolan will be able to take his TO test?

Or Sergeant Grey can sell practical experience in the desert is worth more than a test

[Pallida]

I'm so completely confused by this alternative world geography. Nolan said that a day in the hole is always in the same county - were we supposed to interpret that to mean that his was an anomaly or that somehow LA County has border towns? I try to handwave some things that locals know really well and outsiders may not, but this would just be a simple look at a map. (I might be extra frustrated because I grew up in Northern California and out-of-staters often assumed that a weekend trip could cover the entire state because there was no understanding of how giant it is.)

[Raja]

22 minutes ago, Pallida said:

I'm so completely confused by this alternative world geography. Nolan said that a day in the hole is always in the same county - were we supposed to interpret that to mean that his was an anomaly or that somehow LA County has border towns? I try to handwave some things that locals know really well and outsiders may not, but this would just be a simple look at a map. (I might be extra frustrated because I grew up in Northern California and out-of-staters often assumed that a weekend trip could cover the entire state because there was no understanding of how giant it is.)

They name dropped the Sheriff that had the heavy weapons key. So I suppose one of those small counties that The Mentalist went to. It would truly be a Jon and Ponch CHiPs mission and not LAPD to help a rookie deputy all alone

[Snazzy Daisy]

Terrible finale, it's so all over the place!!!

The recurring guests didn't add anything valuable to this episode, a little comic relief maybe.

And of course there has to be a very "important" scene of smelly Bailey in swimsuit. Ugh.

[preeya]

4 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

I some how feel this was a waste of an hour that we'll never get back with no purpose to it at all.

You sure as hell got that right. A classic shark jump.

[paigow]

Several years ago, there was a Schwarzenegger movie with a similar plot. Bordertown Sheriff [Arnie!] is holding drug lord in jail and needs to repel small army of minions almost by himself... The Last Stand

[NYGirl]

I'm with you guys.  That plot line was ridiculous.  Not only did Nolan and that young girl hold off all those guys but Bailey fought off 2 professionals all by her little self.

Did anyone notice the spinoff commercial Rookie Feds?   No way Jose...that's Niecy Nash's show.

[milkyaqua]

1 hour ago, NYGirl said:

Did anyone notice the spinoff commercial Rookie Feds?   No way Jose...that's Niecy Nash's show.

I noticed that and thought it was a lazy way to introduce this show to folks who might not be regular viewers.  They obviously haven't shot a stand alone pilot for the show (probably were waiting to see if they'd be picked up) but that promo did them no favors.  I like Niecy Nash but I found her character a bit much and for folks who don't care for her in general...  They needed to wait until they shot the pilot and hopefully fine tuned how they want this to come across because while some folks like The Rookie/Nathan Fillion as is even at its most ridiculous, they aren't going to be able to rely on that or folks who will just flock to the show because they like Niecy Nash...

Forgot to add, it was nice to see Thorsen even if it was for a fleeting moment.

Edited May 16, 2022 by milkyaqua

[MrWhyt]

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But I am wondering:
Did the official Nolan pissed off that got him sent to Nowheresville on the border
(expressly so Nolan couldn't take the exam to advance his career)
set up the desperadoes to kill Nolan?

so instead of using any of the other options available to him to sabotage the career of an officer who embarrassed him in front of city council the head of the LAPD union decided the best course of action would be to conspire with someone from the ATF's most wanted list to murder said officer and anyone else who got in the way?

[crowceilidh]

Quote

so instead of using any of the other options available to him to sabotage the career of an officer who embarrassed him in front of city council the head of the LAPD union decided the best course of action would be to conspire with someone from the ATF's most wanted list to murder said officer and anyone else who got in the way?

You have to admit, these writers are perfectly capable of plotting such tomfoolery.  I mean, c/mon, two career criminals who just happen to be bf and gf and just happen to look identical to Chenford?

[karenc3]

This last episode was terribly confusing.  I didn't get Nolan's storyline at all.    It started off ok but I missed what was going on in that small town. Not good at all and I normally like the show. 

Part of it might be because the characters were too fragmented in their own stories, but it was too hard to follow.  

[paigow]

5 minutes ago, crowceilidh said:

I mean, c/mon, two career criminals who just happen to be bf and gf and just happen to look identical to Chenford?

Dr. Nolan & The Multiverse of Madness

[MrWhyt]

31 minutes ago, crowceilidh said:

You have to admit, these writers are perfectly capable of plotting such tomfoolery.  I mean, c/mon, two career criminals who just happen to be bf and gf and just happen to look identical to Chenford?

who said the girlfriend was identical to chen? There's bad writing, which the show occasionally dabbles in (Tim/Dim i think is a perfectly valid example), and then there is out of nowhere batshit crazy which this would be. 

[VegetasMom]

LOL, I enjoyed it; I thought it was fun.  It's not The Wire and doesn't pretend to be.  

[Lethallyfab]

If I wanted to watch an episode where Pete Davidson is obligated to appear, but sleeps through all the important parts, well, I’d watch SNL.

Echoing what everyone else has said, and saying that, in theory, I am not opposed to Chenford but if you have to manufacture not one, but TWO evil (not technically) twins in order to orchestrate a kiss between two characters, that’s just…not good writing.

Maybe the writers thought that since Fillion and Tudyk were together again, they had the opportunity to go full sci-fi?

[NJRadioGuy]

2 hours ago, VegetasMom said:

LOL, I enjoyed it; I thought it was fun.  It's not The Wire and doesn't pretend to be.  

The first season was very much a decent procedural but it's (d)evolved into what we have now. And I don't hate it. But the pacing is uneven, and it wavers too much between campy fun and overly-serious plot points. This was uneven in that the ridiculous time spent on the never-ending-kiss and the even-more-never-ending gunfight took up time that Dim/Juicy needed to be on screen, perhaps to put them into season-ending peril as well.

I view this show through the same prism as The Good Fight. That show is written and acted exponentially better, but it still has elements of an absolute surrealistic farce that keeps me engaged and begging for more. This ain't that, but it could be if they'd tighten it up a little and stop with the unnecessary gun battles.

And yes, Chenford, please. In a real procedural, no bloody way but in this silly show? Yeah. But just DO IT already.

Edited May 17, 2022 by NJRadioGuy

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, VegetasMom said:

LOL, I enjoyed it; I thought it was fun.  It's not The Wire and doesn't pretend to be.  

Agree except:

8 hours ago, Lethallyfab said:

If I wanted to watch an episode where Pete Davidson is obligated to appear, but sleeps through all the important parts, well, I’d watch SNL.

There are so many other quirky comedians who could have been cast in the role of Nolan's half brother. 
For instance, Steve Zahn was perfect in a similar role in a Monk episode, "Mr. Monk's Other Brother."

 

[snarkysnarkerson]

13 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

who said the girlfriend was identical to chen? There's bad writing, which the show occasionally dabbles in (Tim/Dim i think is a perfectly valid example), and then there is out of nowhere batshit crazy which this would be. 

We saw the girlfriend. She was identical to Chen. 

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

who said the girlfriend was identical to chen? There's bad writing, which the show occasionally dabbles in (Tim/Dim i think is a perfectly valid example), and then there is out of nowhere batshit crazy which this would be. 

3 minutes ago, snarkysnarkerson said:

We saw the girlfriend. She was identical to Chen. 

Yes. Maybe you missed that brief scene, @MrWhyt?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18555914/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm

 

[marionette]

This show was ridiculous.  I feel like I am just wasting my time watching this stuff.  As soon as it was mentioned that there was a girlfriend, I said to my husband "just watch, she will look exactly like Lucy".  This show looked like they all sat around beforehand and improvised a bunch of stuff that didn't go together at all.  It seemed more like a school production than something supposedly done by professionals that are supposed to have some skill.  Showing some actor twisting his face around while sleeping and while serious stuff is happening outside is just juvenile.  And don't get me started on Bailey, the superhero, the one that is everywhere all the time saving people left and right.  How could LA manage without her for a few minutes?  If this was supposedly a cliffhanger, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

[Zaffy]

that lady-villain why went to the desert wearing leather pants? And how easy is to fight wearing those?

[milkyaqua]

The even more ridiculous part of the "Chenford" thing is that TPTB were teasing it to the audience since they know there's a portion of them that want this to happen.  It's annoying really.  I'm all for them putting them together and then breaking them up when they both realize how much they both get on each others' nerves and then moving past it.  Enough already.

[Andyourlittledog2]

So I pain-watched the entire two-part Niecy Nash backdoor pilot just to wind up having this week's nightmare thrust upon me?  It's like they hate me.

I may have to stop watching this show entirely.

[Netfoot]

I have a question: How does Pete Davidson continue to get work in the cinematic universe? He is complete crap. Has he ever been in something and been good? Why does he keep getting hired. Does he pay them to let him work on the occasional show? Is he sleeping with a big time producer? I mean, there must be a reason, and it ain't talent!

[Andyourlittledog2]

Pete is having a moment. I like him.  I think he is getting exposure because he is super connected to big names in music and other venues. I think he's dating Kim Kardashian right now. I don't mind him popping up in small roles here and there.

Pete Davidson occasionally showing up versus Chenford versus weird shit this show keeps making us watch? I choose Pete.

[Lethallyfab]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Is he sleeping with a big time producer? I mean, there must be a reason, and it ain't talent!

I’m not saying he’s sleeping with Lorne Michaels, but if you told me he’s sleeping with Lorne Michaels in order to get SNL time while putting in the bare minimum of effort, I would believe you.

(John Mulaney also took Pete under his wing before his own problematic relapse explosion.)

There’s also the “Arianna Grande spoke the truth in a joke tweet” theory and he has a BD and the corresponding BDE.

I just find it funny (well, not, “funny”, per se, because that’s not a word I would associate with Pete) because whatever massive amounts of charisma he must have in real life to snag all these people into his orbit simply do NOT translate to him having a charismatic presence on-screen for me.  Forget Kim, he dated Kate Beckinsale for a hot minute.  KATE BECKINSALE.  I think he and Kim are probably getting along famously, they both seem thirsting for fame above anything else.

I’m sure I’ve posted a variation on this post before, but I will KEEP posting it as long as they keep foisting Pete upon us.  If you see something, say something.

Edited May 18, 2022 by Lethallyfab