S03.E02: Where There's Smoke

[AnimeMania]

The team helps an NYPD firefighter’s daughter when her father suddenly goes missing. Also, Aunt Vi and Delilah continue to cope after McCall’s abduction.
Premiere Date: SUNDAY   October 9, 2022          8:00-9:00 PM          CBS
Chance Kelly as Fire Captain Sanders
Brett Diggs as Derrick
Riley Cooper as Samantha Doyle
Michael Emery as Xavier Morrow
Michel Vidal as Juan
Vincent Loretta as Clay
Anne Bates as Forensic Tech
Ka’Mani Sanai’ Brown as Tall Girl
Drew Brock Baker as Passed Out Man
Sean Donnelly as Shooting Range Instructor

[AnimeMania]

I didn't really like any of the people Robyn was saving this week.

[zoey1996]

I liked the fire fighter’s daughter, so I’m glad that ended well.

Robyn needs to tend to her family. Both Aunt Vi and Delilah deserve at least as much attention as her cases get. There needs to be a balance; even if has to be uneven due to priority cases, it can be brought back to balance. Burnout helps no one.

I’m happy Dante knows who her family and team are. It will help all of them work together better.

[milkyaqua]

When this opened I was dreading a "focus on Delilah" plot but thankfully it didn't go there.  Although Dee asking to be trained doesn't give me warm fuzzies.  I don't object to her knowing how to protect herself knowing some self-defense measures but I hope she's not thinking of playing vigilante herself.

Agree that Robyn is going to have to try and find some sort of balance to keep her family in the loop now that they definitely know what she does and that it could affect them again.

I get the intentions of the fire fighters for their boss but now Robyn's client won't have her dad for awhile.  I did like Harry draining bad guy's accounts though.

[kwnyc]

Well, since the captain had health issues as a result of 911, he should be covered by the special fund and wouldn't have such a huge medical bill. So that was a weak branch to base the robbery on.

And yes, all the firefighters were going to end up in legal trouble, unless NYPD and FDNY can somehow make it quietly go away.

Also, we never heard anything about the woman who got shot. This seemed like an episode where all the pieces didn't fit. Though I have to compliment them on actually addressing PTSD in victims of violence. In most shows, everybody's all better after a session or two with a shrink, or they just never mention it again.

If aunt Vi gets confidence from shooting a gun, then she should at least know how it works. So I have no problem with her heading to a legal shooting club, and learning about firearms. The guy who ran the place also showed himself to be sympathetic and a decent character in just a few lines.

However, I sure hope we don't get Delilah being Robyn Jr. in training. That would suck. Robyn got her experience in the military and beyond, and I rather think she would prefer that Delilah not enlist.

[blackwing]

So the three firefighters plotted to steal money so they could give the money to the Twin Towers Fund so it could help pay for the captain's medical treatment?  And (accidentally) stole from a mob boss?  I missed why the mob boss went to kill the waitress/girlfriend after he had already abducted the firefighter boyfriend.  I also missed any mention of jail time or consequences for the three firefighters.  I guess we are just to assume they are going to prison for robbery and arson?  

I don't want to see Delilah out in the field but I do think giving her stuff to do (like tracking down social media accounts or talking to friends to get information) would be a lot more preferable to me than watching her sitting around angsting or worrying.

[possibilities]

2 hours ago, kwnyc said:

Well, since the captain had health issues as a result of 911, he should be covered by the special fund and wouldn't have such a huge medical bill. So that was a weak branch to base the robbery on.

There have been a lot of problems with responders not getting the help they need, though. In theory, of course they should, but the system has a lot of flaws and people falling through the cracks. I don't know when this episode was written or filmed, but it's been in the news a lot fairly recently (within the past few months) that the funds were falling short and there was a lot of lobbying to shore up the system. 

This article is a year old, but it gets into it a little:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/i-feel-betrayed-some-9-11-responders-still-face-major-n1278849

---

The reason the mob boss was after them because he was using the restaurant they robbed as a money laundering operation, so when they robbed the restaurant, they were robbing him. He went after the woman because he considered her an accomplice to the robbery. He didn't want loose ends or anyone around who was not loyal and he didn't want her talking or testifying. He said he couldn't afford to let himself seem vulnerable or to have anyone get away with hitting his business. Plus, you know, he was pissed off.

---

The show doesn't usually follow up once they catch the perp. I don't think we've really ever seen any trials or sentencing. They just do the action stuff and the detecting and then turn it over to the non-vigilante system to deal with legal convictions and punishments

[marceline]

This episode felt really off to me. I can't explain exactly why.

I do need to call shenanigans on the firefighters in the warehouse fire. Robyn and Dante drove up to the warehouse, Dante walks up to the window and sees the firefighters insight with flames all around. No smoke from the building, no indication of the inferno inside. Every thing about that scene was ridiculous.

I'm also not really interested in Aunt Vi's PTSD.

Edited October 10, 2022 by marceline

[threebluestars]

The only training I think I could see Dee getting that would be helpful are things like how to pay attention to details in scary situations, self defence, what to do if you're followed etc. Like expanding on basic safety in a more full way because it may actually come in handy.

[SnapHappy]

2 hours ago, marceline said:

This episode felt really off to me. I can't explain exactly why.

I do need to call shenanigans on the firefighters in the warehouse fire. Robyn and Dante drove up to the warehouse, Dante walks up to the window and sees the firefighters insight with flames all around. No smoke from the building, no indication of the inferno inside. Every thing about that scene was ridiculous.

I'm also not really interested in Aunt Vi's PTSD.

Totally agree.  Everybody seemed to be bumbling and clownish, including Robyn.  That oh-so-dramatic Aunt Vi frantic drawing scene was laughable.  The freshly dug hole in the Captain's yard?  Seriously? 

The daughter Sam did great in the scene where she ran to her dad, crying.  THAT I bought.  She nailed it.   

And I even was a tiny bit impressed that Delilah didn't got nuts on the street when Robyn tracked her down with her friends.   And the way she calmly & quietly said "train me" was good.  It brings up some interesting possibilities for them as a family.  Nobody's strapping on AK47's to do backup for Robyn in the streets, but there are some options here to make everybody less stressed. 

[Daff]

5 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

Although Dee asking to be trained doesn't give me warm fuzzies. 

This has been done. Besides Americans, there’s some other show that’s nagging at my mind. It may not end well, and may well irritate Dad. 

[cheeky]

Quote

That oh-so-dramatic Aunt Vi frantic drawing scene was laughable. 

I wasn't a fan of that specific dramatization of PTSD either. Hope Aunt Vi becomes a part time sketch artist since she did such an impressive job sketching the perpetrator when Robyn was abducted. Ideally Vi could drop in on 1-2 cases a season when a client needs to describe a suspect or help the NYPD as contractor. That gives Aunt Vi a storyline outside the home yet somewhat connected to our crew of heroes.

[Trini]

I don't have much commentary for this one; kind of a forgettable episode for the start the season.

I think Robyn training Delilah could be interesting - but what would she be teaching her exactly? But also, I don't want Delilah involved with cases; I think it's good that there's some separation between Robyn's work life and family life. (But I know it's inevitable that the two will mix occasionally.)

So I assume Aunt Vi learning to shoot guns will come back as an important plot point later.

[AnimeMania]

NOTE: New time for next week's episode (8:30pm) add extra minutes to recording to make sure you get the entire episode. 

[paigow]

9 hours ago, Trini said:

I think Robyn training Delilah could be interesting - but what would she be teaching her exactly?

Equalize that snotty prep school she attends...

[Pietr]

Watching this all I could think was that they used an AI to write the plot, it was that much of a jumbled mess.

How anybody involved in this allowed this to go as aired escapes me.

2 episodes in this season and I have moved this to the hate-watch column.  If next week is as bad, that is it for me.

[marceline]

3 hours ago, Pietr said:

Watching this all I could think was that they used an AI to write the plot, it was that much of a jumbled mess.

How anybody involved in this allowed this to go as aired escapes me.

2 episodes in this season and I have moved this to the hate-watch column.  If next week is as bad, that is it for me.

I'm nowhere near hate watching but I have to admit that the last two episodes felt weird to me. Choppy and convoluted. I don't know what's going on.

[AnimeMania]

4 hours ago, Pietr said:

2 episodes in this season and I have moved this to the hate-watch column.  If next week is as bad, that is it for me.

I think it is going to be bad

Spoiler

Robyn has to fight a Ghost.

[andromeda331]

Robyn needs to find balance between what she tells her family about what she does. 

Dante and Robyn should just make out already.

I don't like the fireman robbing a mobster to get money for their captain.  I'm happy for the fireman's daughter and putting the mob money into the Tower fund. A lot of firemen and women have had problems getting their 9/11 health related issues taken care off. They deserve better.  

Edited October 12, 2022 by andromeda331

[possibilities]

I wonder what happened to the girl Robyn was going to mentor. I can't remember her name but she was in the system and Robyn found her while working a case. It looks like maybe they ditched that story and are going to do the same thing with Dee, though.

[janeta]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

I wonder what happened to the girl Robyn was going to mentor. I can't remember her name but she was in the system and Robyn found her while working a case. It looks like maybe they ditched that story and are going to do the same thing with Dee, though.

I suspect she'll show up as a plot device when they need her.

[mythoughtis]

No one’s going to mention Mel’s shoes?  Oh my, they were hideous to me. 
 

This season just isn’t holding my interest.   I miss Bishop.  This is an example of when losing a character changes the show in a negative way.  
Please  don’t take this as being in support of Chris Noth.    I’m strictly discussing the character not the actor. 

Edited October 13, 2022 by mythoughtis

[dwmarch]

So Robyn encounters a nightmare version of herself and asks "what do you want?" Clearly, the answer was your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.

Dee and Aunt Vi want to get strapped up? I don't think the situation with the nuclear terrorism threat would have worked out any better with a couple more amateur gun hands involved.

FWIW, I think using a hacker to transfer money from a mob boss to a legitimate charity is a terrible idea! Imagine if the news ever broke about that. There's no way it would be seen in the context of "but no one else was helping!" It would be careers destroyed and people going to jail and they wouldn't get to keep the money! WTF team?! Did you recently watch that episode of Hawaii 5-0 where they robbed the Colombian cartel and gave the money to a local church? Charities get audited! Precisely because of people doing this kind of shit!

Obligatory mention of Hollywood smoke that only goes straight up from the thing that is burning rather than filling the room. And the bad guys decided to fight firefighters with fire which is dumb but they also forgot the classic wisdom: light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

I do like Harry's stash though. It should not work but it does. Mel's outfits have not been as nice this season though.

[paigow]

8 hours ago, dwmarch said:

FWIW, I think using a hacker to transfer money from a mob boss to a legitimate charity is a terrible idea! 

McCall set up Dead Harry with dirty money.... moral money laundering...

[possibilities]

The entire show is based on vigilante justice, violation of due process, and other things that in no way represent the functioning of a lawful society. Robyn and her entire team are essentially criminals, based on how they do things. In the real world, none of this would be stuff we cheer for. It's one of the weird things about watching a show like this. 

[Raja]

On 10/12/2022 at 9:16 AM, janeta said:

I suspect she'll show up as a plot device when they need her.

That reminds me in the original McCall had many reoccurring helpers not just Kostmeyer/Mel. And Harry spending his time in the field instead of their bat cave has thrown off some of the balance.