S01.E02: The Fresh Prince of Edgewater

[jewel21]

Quote

After Bode requests to be transferred to a different city, his future in Edgewater hangs in the balance. The crew joins forces to protect the town from a treacherous storm.

Airdate: 10/14/2022

[Danielg342]

That final speech at the end with Bode and Manny shows that this show may actually have something after all.

Yes, the episode was still an exercise in patience, because we know that in Episode #2, a storyline of "will Bode stay or go?" will ultimately end with Bode staying, because there would otherwise be no series. Yes, there was some contrived and overwrought drama, particularly the fight between Jake and Eve and Sharon's "tack on" trait with the kidney disease.

Jake too, is a bit bland as a character because we've seen that character- a man who uses his machismo and display of strength as a shield against his many insecurities, ones he will never talk about, not even to his best friends- too many times. Realistic, sure, but the characterization doesn't stand out from the many other types of the same character who came before him.

I also have to throw shade on the idea that Jake would decide not to report that Bode punched him in the face. Though the show never specifically said Jake withheld that information (since Manny's description of Jake's assessment was essentially a summary and not taken verbatim), the show hinted that he did. We could go with the obvious- "what if Bode punched Eve? No one would gloss over that or tell Eve to 'let it go' "- but I go on a different track. Jake could have kept his honesty and the show could have- and should have- still found a way to paint Bode as "more good than bad".

Because we, the audience, still all saw the punch. Bode will have to live with that no matter how many times the writers- through Eve- tell us, the audience, to "let it go".

Still, there's enough here to say that Bode and his troubles are interesting, no matter the baggage. We needed to see "bad Bode" (through the Pilot) and "good Bode" (through this episode) and Manny's speech to really set the tone for the series- Bode has made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes he has to answer for and wants to correct.

Now, he has the chance to do that, and we get to enjoy the ride.

[possibilities]

Maybe Jake said "Bode punched me, but I deserved it because of past misdeeds of my own, and he saved my life before he punched me, so I forgive him."

I thought the kidney disease was one too many things to pile on, but maybe they are headed for an organ donation story. 

[Dowel Jones]

Looks like Sharon got demoted.  Her uniform has 3 bugles (Division Chief) instead of 5 stars (The Big Cheese).

I had to laugh at the swim center fire. "Dispatch, send us two Type 1 engines."  You mean like the one you just sent home before the fire was out?

4 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I also have to throw shade on the idea that Jake would decide not to report that Bode punched him in the face.

Exactly.  No free person would ever allow an inmate to strike him, period.  Now that the other inmates know what happened, Jake is weak in their eyes.  In the Ep 1 forum, I related that I am retired CalFire.  I spent ten years of my career in an conservation camp (in uniform, not in yellow!), and it's drilled into you not to let the inmates take advantage of you.

[Lady Calypso]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought the kidney disease was one too many things to pile on, but maybe they are headed for an organ donation story. 

I mean, it might be, but they needed Bode to stay somehow and I guess the show didn't think Sharon simply asking Manny to keep her kid there, despite his wishes, was a good enough reason. I appreciate Manny wanting to honour Bode's wishes UNTIL he found out that Sharon was sick. I think especially giving her kidney disease and keeping the treatment options open, it allows for Sharon to get a kidney transplant and be fine. 

Still like this show so far. I know there's suspension of disbelief to an extent because it's still a TV show at the end of the day. And, I mean, I'm sure the fire aspects could be nitpicked but so far, I do enjoy how things are playing out. I like Bode and his inmate friend. I like Gabriella, even though I dread the love triangle that's clearly brewing. I like Bode's tension with Vince and how that'll play out. I like Eve and her love interest. I think the only character I'm still unsure of is Jake, but he has potential to grow on me. 

When we were first shown the flashback of Bode's sister, my first thought was that she looked, like, sixteen. I do remember the actress from other shows and know she's older (and they're supposed to be all significantly younger as, I believe, many years have passed) but I look at her and then Jake and think "oh, that looks like an age gap." Does Vince not know that Riley/Jake were together? So he has no clue what happened the night Riley died.

I can't necessarily blame Sharon for being upset at Vince for telling Bode to never return, but did Sharon never try to reach out to Bode or find him? Or did he simply take off and got a new phone? If so, damn, that sucks for Sharon, who never had that chance to be there for him.  

[Raja]

The thing with Jake, and there is something wrong with that guy, is that he isn't just a victim but there are all kinds of familiar entanglements. From his partner who threatens to disown him to his dating the Captain's and cheating on the Chiefs' daughters. So let the soap suds fly.

[possibilities]

I think they gave us an excuse for the leader to give Bode a pass because the leader himself had also been incarcerated in the past. So he's supposed to be a graduate of the program himself, which maybe makes him a bit more open-minded (plus Mom/Chief asked him personally for a favor). I'm not saying it's realistic. I've found every time I watch a show about something I actually know anything about, it strikes me as something between absurd and offensive. But I do think they put that detail in to help the unrealism go down easier.

[mythoughtis]

Jake cheated on Bode’s sister and Jake and Riley argued about it the night she died. After which Vince  disowned Bode and told him to leave.  Presumably this was the first time Bode had been ( sort of) alone with Jake since then.   So I don’t look at it as an inmate punching a firefighter.  Yes I know -in real life it’s still an inmate punching a firefighter.  It’s not real life, it’s a tv show.  

The inmates don’t know Bode punched him, only  Eve knows and Vince suspects. Jake hasn’t lost respect with anyone but Eve.  And that was his own fault.  Plus Bode did save his life. 

Are Jake and Eve supposed  to be related  or just childhood  friends?  I really like Eve.  She’s fairly quiet and reserved, but very competent. 
 

Gabriella gets on my nerves.  I’m sure she’s supposed to be Bode’s eventual love interest, but she’s just annoying. 
 

Frankie talks to avoid working. 
 

Edited October 16, 2022 by mythoughtis

[possibilities]

I don't know if I could forgive someone who told my child to leave and never come back, and moreover they then let me grieve that loss without even knowing what had happened.

Edited October 16, 2022 by possibilities

[Raja]

11 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think they gave us an excuse for the leader to give Bode a pass because the leader himself had also been incarcerated in the past. So he's supposed to be a graduate of the program himself, which maybe makes him a bit more open-minded (plus Mom/Chief asked him personally for a favor). I'm not saying it's realistic. I've found every time I watch a show about something I actually know anything about, it strikes me as something between absurd and offensive. But I do think they put that detail in to help the unrealism go down easier.

It also gives the show the reason to keep Bode on past his release date assuming it survives 3 years as he can go the same route as the Captain as his entry point into the family business. 

[Daff]

10 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

Jake and Eve supposed  to be related  or just childhood  friends?

I got the impression they’re brother and sister, but if they aren’t actually, Jake/Bode were best friends, as were Eve/Jake’s sister. So, maybe they just consider themselves to be siblings of a sort. 

[Whimsy]

3 hours ago, Daff said:

I got the impression they’re brother and sister, but if they aren’t actually, Jake/Bode were best friends, as were Eve/Jake’s sister. So, maybe they just consider themselves to be siblings of a sort. 

I don’t think they’re related. I think they were just close friends. 

[Featherhat]

So I guess I'm in with this show for now. Whilst I found a lot of plots a bit boring - will Bode stay or go?! (duh) and the Jake/Eve fight over Riley and Bode I still enjoyed it. 

I like difficult redemption stories and Bode does seem to want to do the right thing in general. I like the complicated issues with him and his parents as they come back into each other's lives and the family business. His parents do seem to have stayed together through a hell of a lot so kudos to them, although the revelations this episode will clearly test it. Not sure why Vince thinks they wouldn't have survived if Bode had stayed around -he said because it would hurt more and presumably they would have kept arguing about him but mourning two kids can't have been much easier, especially with wondering what he was up to. Should someone with chronic kidney disease be drinking beer? 

Bode changed his name to stop his family (read mother) doing exactly what she did this ep and tracking him though the system. And probably also because Bode Leone sounds a bit silly. ;) 

I thought the flashback was a slightly awkward attempt to jam in exposition it wasn't quite as bad as the cliche "ah, John Smith my best friend since we were 5, as you already know full well....." but it came close. 

At this point Jake is right, Gabriella should just join Cal Fire. Obviously she's in those scenes to facilitate the love triangle and throw issues in the tentative relationship between her Dad and Bode since Bode can't go anywhere else but she's been at the fire in both eps so far and in this one went so far as to be the one who found the first hose. I'm actually really pleased that he mentioned it right away because so many shows would have her just continue to show up and help all the time but then never consider actually doing the job for money/as a calling. 

I really like Eve, loved her awkwardly acknowledging the thumbs up to the bartender and then making it worse by doubly awkwardly asking her out to celebrate her saving someone's life. Ah, being an attractive, generally extremely competent but socially awkward lesbian in a small town. I guess there's also potential for Bartender to have secrets she's running from in SF. 

Clearly Jake not reporting Bode punching him had nothing to do with a firefighter not reporting that an inmate punched him and everything to do with he, Jake and Eve being ex best friends and the issues surrounding Riley's death. It's also clear that Vince has basically adopted the two of them and even though Vince has disowned Bode and would be fine with him going back to prison that they have a lot of loyalty to the family and their memories of how it was. So with that in mind I think it's narratively realistic that he didn't end up saying anything. 

I like Freddy and him both trying to not get into further trouble himself and trying to keep Bode on the straight and narrow. I would like the show to include the issues surrounding Inmate Firefighters good and bad that they started to do last week but didn't really get into much this week beyond Bode's plot. 

[possibilities]

8 hours ago, Featherhat said:

I really like Eve, loved her awkwardly acknowledging the thumbs up to the bartender and then making it worse by doubly awkwardly asking her out to celebrate her saving someone's life. Ah, being an attractive, generally extremely competent but socially awkward lesbian in a small town.

Eve is my favorite. There are a lot of small town lesbians in CA, though, so I hope they aren't going for the "only two lesbians in town! they have to be a match or OH NO! die of loneliness!!" trope. 

[Featherhat]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Eve is my favorite. There are a lot of small town lesbians in CA, though, so I hope they aren't going for the "only two lesbians in town! they have to be a match or OH NO! die of loneliness!!" trope. 

I don't really know anything about small town CA besides what I see on TV and read about and I haven't really explored much queer fiction set there so that's interesting. It seems like they might be going for "the only gays in the village" trope to a certain extent. And these days even if they were she could find women three towns over online. Eve can be completely socially awkward whilst having plenty of theoretical options though. And it's an interesting juxtaposition between her being highly competent at her job, clearly social and well liked by her friends and crew but bad at asking women out. Provided it's not used to have her relationships flame out after a few eps and she's mostly single. 

[Danielg342]

Ultimately, I think that if they took some scenes from the pilot and added it to this episode- or, at the very least, made the first episode and this episode a combined two-hour premiere- it would have made for a stronger pilot than what we did get. This episode did a far better job than Episode 1 did to sell the premise of the series, which should be the goal. Seeing both sides of Bode was crucial in rounding the character and seeing the context surrounding the punch was also important. Knowing, too, that Bode wanted to leave because of his dad and that his mother wanted to have a family again made the story that much more compelling.

Perhaps the writer of the pilot believed that merely hinting at the details was enough to pitch the series. I don't think it is- while there's something to be said about not revealing everything at once, when you're introducing a show it's better to show and explain rather than leave people wondering what everything is about.

[Williass]

I like the series so far. I just can't stand Jake, he acts all high mighty, brings up every episode that Bode punched him, even though he deserved it. An hasn't once owned up to his role in the tragic with Bode's sister. The only thing he does is egging on Bode and telling him what a loser he is.