S06.E05: Unraveling

[thewhiteowl]

When the team stops the flash-mob robbery of a department store, they fear the crime was designed to distract from something more sinister – murder. Also, Hondo enlists Street to connect with Powell after she ignores orders in the field.

[Danielg342]

So, are we all in on Powell now? She actually seemed to get some character growth, following protocol after violating it (again) before and revealing why she violates it in the first place. Of course, Hondo's ominous words hang over the storyline, because I'm sure "tomorrow" will happen and it won't be pretty.

I'm just relieved that, this time, Powell's rogue tendencies wasn't used for a major plot point. I was expecting it to explain why LaToya got shot, but the show had a nice swerve there.

The rest of the episode was nicely structured and paced. Even Tan's "I know a guy" trick actually worked this time, perhaps because we actually saw what he looked like. Nischelle does look to be a bit of a pushover, though, which is something the writers need to work on.

[Snazzy Daisy]

I want a new episode of Snazzy B working with Tan on a new case! 😘😆

Why they always make Jim Street’s character to be bogged down by female characters??!

▪️Useless mom.
▪️Indecisive girlfriend.
▪️Stubborn new recruit he has to mentor.

I don’t really agree with Hondo re “she is your responsibility now”.

Can they come out with better storylines for Street rather than shoving him into a mentoring role?

Pls get rid of that Zoe Powell. She is NOT likeable at all.

Overemotional Deacon reminds me of overemotional Chris. Not a good look on both.

[milkyaqua]

I'm guessing they are trying to show Street is mature enough to be a mentor?  As for Powell being his responsibility, I don't agree with that either.  She's part of the team and Hondo is the leader of that team.  If he's got a team member pointing out to him that someone is struggling and needs some guidance, Hondo throwing it back on Street is not a good look.  Yes, Street can offer guidance and advice but at the end of the day, if Powell flames out, that's on Hondo for not stepping in when he had the opportunity especially when he's seen/is aware of Powell's issues.

As for Nischelle and her council position, I do hope she's not going to rollover to pressure from other members.  If she can negotiate and get her points across, show some of these members that's she's sincere about where she's coming from and not being unduly influenced by Hondo or his co-workers, then she can possibly do some good.

I also liked seeing Tan with an actual contact this time.

[Danielg342]

6 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

I want a new episode of Snazzy B working with Tan on a new case! 😘😆

Maybe you two can scale the wall like they did in Thailand. :)

6 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Why they always make Jim Street’s character to be bogged down by female characters??!

I noticed that too. I guess the show believes Street is the best character to have stories with women for some reason. As a corollary, Street's story with Powell continues the show's problem with Christina Alonso, only with a different character. The female characters on this show aren't at all independent of the male cast (Nischelle is, primarily, Hondo's girlfriend after all).

4 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

I'm guessing they are trying to show Street is mature enough to be a mentor?

I mean, to be fair, if they were going to do a storyline where a new recruit has rogue tendencies, there's no better character to pair them with than Street, who has arguably the most character growth in this entire show and with him being tasked to correct those tendencies allows the character to literally come full circle.

This should have been a recurring character, because what else will Powell do after she corrects her tendencies? Become another crime-tackling (figuratively and literally) robot? I have to wonder if Lina Esco's exit caught the writers off guard because it's frankly inexcusable that the show was this unprepared to deal with her departure and eventual replacement.

[Snazzy Daisy]

On 11/6/2022 at 11:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

I noticed that too. I guess the show believes Street is the best character to have stories with women for some reason. As a corollary, Street's story with Powell continues the show's problem with Christina Alonso, only with a different character.

Street’s stories with Buck and Nate are way more compelling, they strengthen his character. TBH, I find Tan is more engaging and empathetic with women and kids than Street.

On 11/6/2022 at 11:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

The female characters on this show aren't at all independent of the male cast (Nischelle is, primarily, Hondo's girlfriend after all).

Am not sure the IGO’s storyline will be good for Nichelle or not. Attachment and understanding of the community, away from LAPD are her strengths. I think the writers are going for a stressful new job will affect her advanced maternal age pregnancy then will lead to some medical emergency or something. Baby needs drama.

Saw comments on Reddit complaining about too much Nichelle. My complaint - lack of Bonnie. Why is she forgotten? We get to see Annie occasionally, but not Bonnie. Do we know her backstory? I can’t recall.
 

On 11/6/2022 at 11:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

I mean, to be fair, if they were going to do a storyline where a new recruit has rogue tendencies, there's no better character to pair them with than Street, who has arguably the most character growth in this entire show and with him being tasked to correct those tendencies allows the character to literally come full circle.

I think they are going for a similar storyline in S4 when Hondo asked Deacon to monitor Chris/Street/Tan for being overly competitive in TLI competition and caused some frictions within the team. The only difference is that the three of them do respect Deacon while Powell doesn’t seem to respect Street as someone who is senior than her.  She is so full of herself.

The writers did good with Luca/Fowler mentorship. Luca helped in her transition into SWAT team and Fowler helped him to step up and take the lead during the court’s hostage situation.
 

On 11/6/2022 at 11:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

I have to wonder if Lina Esco's exit caught the writers off guard because it's frankly inexcusable that the show was this unprepared to deal with her departure and eventual replacement.

Lina directed the 99th episode and 7 episodes later, she’s out. It seemed like they have enough time, they made her dream (to direct) came true before her departure.

As for the replacement, I hope they can find someone with Stephanie Sigman’s charisma.
 

On 11/6/2022 at 11:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

Maybe you two can scale the wall like they did in Thailand. :)

Two marshmallows definitely can’t do that, hahaha. 😆

[Danielg342]

2 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Am not sure the IGO’s storyline will be good for Nichelle or not. Attachment and understanding of the community, away from LAPD are her strengths. I think the writers are going for a stressful new job will affect her advanced maternal age pregnancy then will lead to some medical emergency or something. Baby needs drama.

Could be. There are very few plots Hollywood feels they can get away with when dealing with babies, and "stress complicating a pregnancy" would be one of those plots they feel they can pursue.

2 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Saw comments on Reddit complaining about too much Nichelle.

Too much Nischelle? Sounds like people are already complaining that they don't see a point for her character, which is something I worried about. Her character is decidedly not LAPD, so she has very little function in the actual milieu of the show besides being Hondo's girlfriend. The writers are going to have an uphill battle finding stuff for her to do without it going into "trapped by mountain lions" territory.

2 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

The only difference is that the three of them do respect Deacon while Powell doesn’t seem to respect Street as someone who is senior than her.  She is so full of herself.

Perhaps- and I'm just thinking out loud here- they're setting up Powell to fail perhaps to make some kind of point about how difficult it would be to replace a SWAT officer. The difficulties of integrating into a team is a theme that the show has largely not explored (I don't count Street's early miscues because he came back to the team), and it could be a nice bit of "meta" writing where the show contrasts it's difficulties finding a suitable replacement for Lina Esco by showing the team's difficulties in replacing Christina Alonso.

2 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

As for the replacement, I hope they can find someone with Stephanie Sigman’s charisma.

Sigman never should have left, but there's not much I can do about that. I still hope for Norah Fowler because she actually fit in, has the look and has skills the team needs. If she ultimately is Alonso's replacement, they have unnecessarily dragged out this story.

3 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

My complaint - lack of Bonnie. Why is she forgotten? We get to see Annie occasionally, but not Bonnie. Do we know her backstory? I can’t recall.

 She's Tan's hot blonde wife who ditched her pothead friends when they threatened Tan's career. Other than that, I got nothing.

Karissa Lee Staples has not posted about S.W.A.T. since April 20, 2020 (for what was essentially the third season finale) and hasn't appeared since "Keep The Faith" last season. Staples is a great actress, I don't know why they can't give Bonnie something to do except be Tan's hot wife.

Looking back at "Keep The Faith" I'm reminded of someone else- someone who loomed very large last season and someone Hondo was obsessed with- that the show has seemingly forgotten:

I mean, sure, Saint's storyline was getting a bit tedious...but it is still unresolved.

[jabRI]

I can't stand Powell.  As a newbie, how much slack would she be given?  How many officers would give anything to be on SWAT and she just scoffs at them?  It's insulting

[Sweet Tooth]

On 11/4/2022 at 7:14 PM, Danielg342 said:

I'm just relieved that, this time, Powell's rogue tendencies wasn't used for a major plot point. I was expecting it to explain why LaToya got shot, but the show had a nice swerve there.

Ditto. I was relieved when it wasn't the reason. 

On 11/4/2022 at 7:14 PM, Danielg342 said:

Of course, Hondo's ominous words hang over the storyline, because I'm sure "tomorrow" will happen and it won't be pretty.

No kidding. You know something will come to pass, and it most definitely won't be pretty.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Sweet Tooth