S01.E09: No Good Deed

[jewel21]

Quote

An internal investigation is launched after a difficult rescue went awry and a life was lost.

Airdate: 01/06/2023

[possibilities]

It's really cold that the department would rather sacrifice the guy who saved the victim on the bridge, and tried to save Meg, than make the obvious case that she would have died if he and Gabriella hadn't found her and tried, to save her, and if she herself hadn't fled the scene of the accident in which she was speeding around a dangerous curve.

It was really brave of Freddy to take the lie he was given and tell it. I thought she was setting Freddy up to be the fall guy somehow, by giving him that lie, and then saying his story contradicted everybody else's. 

Also, Vince was having flashbacks and making bad calls the entire time they were doing that rescue last episode, so casting him as some kind of hero for defending Bode is really BS. He caused all of this because he was in denial about his own issues. Eve even reported it. But everybody rallied around Vince and gave him a pass and he still hasn't dealt with the fact that he was having flashbacks during a rescue.

I liked quite a bit about this rescue. For instance, the way Bode and Gabriella were sympathetic to Meg despite her being at fault. Also, it's obvious Gabriella was a diver so she was the logical person to jump off the bridge even if she wasn't in love with Bode. 

But her not finding the car when she jumped and started looking? Did it dissolve?

I've had hypothermia and you really do need to keep moving if you can. But Bode lifting people with broken ribs? I don't know.

Edited January 7, 2023 by possibilities

[FnkyChkn34]

Of course the higher-ups would think that the inmate is expendable, but how was Bode more to blame than Gabriella?  Bode climbed in the car to save the kid, and then the car fell.  Gabriella jumped under her volition.  Bode was trying to save them both, then all three.  It was Gabriella who then cut into Meg's leg with an eyebrow razor.  Bode didn't do that.  I guess Gabriella is in the clear because that's not what killed Meg, it was the internal bleeding... that Bode should have known about?  Throw the probie under the bus, the one who has only 2 weeks of training.  She can go back to being an Olympic diver; she's unrealistic as a firefighter anyway.  Also, Bode told Eve about Meg immediately and they went to get her. 

Also, how did they miraculously survive overnight when they kept saying they wouldn't, and also not even travel a mile?  Sure, Meg was limping badly, but they were moving at a faster pace than 500 feet per hour.  They clearly had to stop and light a fire to stay warm, even though they said they wouldn't.

[possibilities]

Also, the search should have been following the river, not up high on the hill.

And don't they have search lights, or non-ignited flare beacons of some kind? Setting a fire seems crazy to me, if they were doing it to create a light.

Even a bullhorn instead of just yelling with their unassisted voices would have helped.

[FnkyChkn34]

15 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Also, the search should have been following the river, not up high on the hill.

And don't they have search lights, or non-ignited flare beacons of some kind? Setting a fire seems crazy to me, if they were doing it to create a light.

Even a bullhorn instead of just yelling with their unassisted voices would have helped.

I didn't get the impression that they were just trying to create light, but to show Bode and Gabriella where they were.  Captain Perez said something like "we'll make them come to us" and Bode also said "where there's fire, there's Cal Fire."  It was sending up a flare, but creating a permanent flare that could be seen for miles all night...

[Danielg342]

There is one thing that this show has that keeps me hooked, aside from its supremely talented group of actors.

It has heart. An idealistic one, for sure, but a heart nonetheless. One that tells you that despite all the negativity that surrounds us all there are still positives.

In a Hollywood ocean that is filled with darkness, it's refreshing that there is still a show that wants to shine a light.

Obviously it still doesn't mean that Fire Country is perfect, and brightness can only cover its flaws for so long.

We still had "nonsensical Super Bode" in this episode, which added "nonsensical Super Gabby" to the mix with the in-field emergency surgery.

I also have to wonder how Captain Manny and Chief Vince could have kept their jobs for so long with so many blunders which are, apparently, a known matter of record. I ask the same question about District Chief Sharon too, especially since she's allowed all this stuff to happen.

One thing I will give the episode credit for is that the lead investigator did, genuinely, come across as someone who was on the firefighters' side, even if Freddy hilariously and poignantly questioned her motives.

I also don't know how any report by the investigative unit of Cal Fire would avert any lawsuit (or damage from it). Just like I'm not sure how Vince could accomplish the same thing via a simple heart-to-heart with the victim's family.

(Megan, I understand, is the name of the woman who died in this episode)

...but still, that scene with Vince having the heart to heart really gave this episode a nice moral to the story, even if it went through a series of nonsensical leaps and bounds to get there.

Just like Vince wanted to "punch away the pain" before he realized he was getting nowhere and only hurting people who were trying to do the right thing (Bode), Megan's family needed to make the same realization.

It's a thoughtful point that puts what happened in this episode and the one before it in perspective, and while it's debatable how accurate the show's portrayal of that perspective is, it's nice that the show is level-headed about its emotional stories and still understands they need the emotion to have a point to get across.

Edited January 7, 2023 by Danielg342
Used wrong word. Meant to say "actors" not "writers".

[Dowel Jones]

Sorry, but this was a shitshow of Olympic proportions to me.  Call me crazy, but if you wash downstream, the simplest thing to do is go back upstream, as far as terrain allows.  And if you're searching, you go downstream, not on some grid pattern.  And the first rule of rescue is 'don't become a victim.'  Gabriella jumping off the bridge was idiotic.  She had no idea of how deep it was, and besides, the current was strong enough to carry her off however far downstream.  Run around the bridge and get to the river's edge.  But it's stupid to enter the water anyway, and I realize that it's her one true boyfriend, but still...

Now, onto the investigation.  First, let me say this - the investigator is never, ever, on the interviewee's side.  It's their job to ferret out the truth, not protect anyone or even the agency.  If you lie to your supervisor, or lie to an investigator, it's a termination offense.  The fallout from this incident would be costly to CalFire.  You have a completely disorganized rescue operation, a battalion chief and a division chief who bluntly state that they want their inmate son stationed at the camp, setting an unauthorized fire that got out of control and lying about it, blah, blah blah.  In real life it would be likely that both of them would be quietly told to retire or be fired, as well as Captain Manny who can't control his inmate crew, and CalFire would pay a huge sum out to the parents.  The only survivor would be Bodie, because he, after all, just an inmate.  He wouldn't be convicted of anything, he doesn't have any assets to give up in a civil action, and they'll just transfer him to another camp.

[possibilities]

6 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I didn't get the impression that they were just trying to create light, but to show Bode and Gabriella where they were.  Captain Perez said something like "we'll make them come to us" and Bode also said "where there's fire, there's Cal Fire."  It was sending up a flare, but creating a permanent flare that could be seen for miles all night...

I know, but I think there are ways to do that without actual fire.

Something like this, for instance: https://www.amazon.com/Sirius-Electronic-Distress-Daytime-Whistle/dp/B081GHJ9XC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3OADW34DO6HED&keywords=emergency%2Brescue%2Bflares&qid=1673087776&sprefix=emergency%2Brescue%2Bflares%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-3&th=1

But Cal Fire would/should have something even better, I'd imagine.

Jumping off the bridge was stupid and reckless, but nobody else was doing anything, and I got why she thought she could do it. She and Bode are alike-- reckless hero types who ignore the rules and common sense.

[FnkyChkn34]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I know, but I think there are ways to do that without actual fire.

Something like this, for instance: https://www.amazon.com/Sirius-Electronic-Distress-Daytime-Whistle/dp/B081GHJ9XC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3OADW34DO6HED&keywords=emergency%2Brescue%2Bflares&qid=1673087776&sprefix=emergency%2Brescue%2Bflares%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-3&th=1

But Cal Fire would/should have something even better, I'd imagine.

Jumping off the bridge was stupid and reckless, but nobody else was doing anything, and I got why she thought she could do it. She and Bode are alike-- reckless hero types who ignore the rules and common sense.

Sorry, but I don't think that would have done much in the dense forest.  Bode made the comment that he couldn't even see the stars to try to figure out which way was north.

I think where the search and rescue team really messed up was searching so far away from the river.  As @Dowel Jones said above, their "grid pattern" was idiotic at first.  Start with the river, go downstream, then spread out.  The rescuers were basically banking on Bode and Gabriella rescuing themselves by the two of them finding the team, and that's exactly what happened.  Is that what happens in real life?  I don't think so, at least not usually.  Gabriella and Bode should have been injured; the healthy people needed to find them instead.  I understand that staying in motion will help hypothermia, but so would a fire. 

This episode made no sense, for multiple reasons.  But it was still entertaining, LOL. 

[circumvent]

The acting (Gabriela's) is still really bad.

Just because she was an olympic diver, it doesn't automatically makes her an expert on underwater rescue. Just an aside.

The interrogation scenes: it is a show, and they needed the interrogation drama to fill the episode but they could have make at least one of the characters shay the only answer any investigators in that situation would get: "I want to speak to my union rep". Like cops, no firefighter would speak to an investigator without representation. Even Freddy, getting it right, reading the plot then caving? He should know better

Jake, it doesn't matter if you will tell everyone what Bode has done. The fact that you mention that something happened will automatically trigger an investigation. 

Bode and the super fast healing ribs. Carrying people all over the woods. 

As much as Manny was distressed, there is no way someone in his position would start a fire without thinking of possible consequences. He deserves to be fired. 

In the end, the message of the episode is: half of the characters were incompetent and/or broke protocol, the other half lied about what happened, but hey, it's all good because Vince lost a daughter and he cannot, absolutely cannot, lose a son. And Cal Fire, this incompetent (in the show) team cannot take this hit. 

It was a bad episode.

 

[mythoughtis]

Vince talking to the parents was a touching scene, but it’s not what should have happened.   What should have happened was the young adults in the car accident and their parents and  their lawyer should have talked to Megan’s parents.   Megan was driving recklessly and without insurance.  She flipped her car in the crash and walked away from the scene into the woods and avoided proper medical treatment.     Her estate owed that family and I’m sure the lawyer could  find something to sue her parents for.   Even if he/she couldn’t win 

I’m not even going to bother commenting on the super hero Bode and Gabriella or the deception of every firefighter involved 

[Dowel Jones]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

But Cal Fire would/should have something even better, I'd imagine.

If only there was some way they could see the river from above in a timely manner.... like maybe calling the helicopter that they used a few episodes ago for the cliff rescue.

[Danielg342]

I'll give the writers this much credit.

Usually, when shows do the "team under investigation" stories, the investigators come across as cold, soulless automatons who are after nothing but "the truth". This is mostly done just so that the main characters can tell the story of the situation that is being investigated, because that's the focus of the episode, but typically investigators come across as cold and inhuman.

At least in this episode the investigator wasn't cold and seemed to actually have a motive. Add to that it was a positive one too. I would find it believable that the Cal Fire investigator- who would likely be the key witness in any lawsuit- would want to craft a report that is favourable for Cal Fire.

What I don't find believable is that the investigator would take people at their word. So what if Freddy "confirms" the absurd situation that the investigator pitched to him? What court would believe that is what actually happened?

It boils down to what is a key problem for this show. Unlike other shows that meander and seemingly have no idea what point they are trying to get across, Fire Country is the opposite. These writers have a point to make, but they twist the entire episode around to make that point- regardless of whether or not the events depicted actually made sense.

There's a real lack of foresight and planning. A lot of Hollywood shows have this same problem, mostly stemming from the fact Hollywood writers can't resist the urge to attempt to make their episodes "complex". They could learn a thing or two from the show that precedes it, S.W.A.T., by just keeping it simple. Sure, S.W.A.T. gets too simple and too formulaic far too often, but I'm never confused about what is going on or why things are happening.

Fire Country gets too confusing at times so they really need to learn to tighten things up.

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I would find it believable that the Cal Fire investigator- who would likely be the key witness in any lawsuit- would want to craft a report that is favourable for Cal Fire.

The problem then is that any investigator for the plaintiffs would easily take apart just about every facet of the CalFire investigator's report, with the attendant consequences for the agency's defense.  The investigator would soon be out of a job, or at least working for Internal Affairs (Chicago Fire reference).

[Danielg342]

25 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

The problem then is that any investigator for the plaintiffs would easily take apart just about every facet of the CalFire investigator's report, with the attendant consequences for the agency's defense.  The investigator would soon be out of a job, or at least working for Internal Affairs (Chicago Fire reference).

I don't disagree that the investigator's report would be torn apart in court. It sure would. I'm saying that her intentions were believable. She just happened to apply them (or rather, the writers happened to apply her intentions) in the wrong way. "The rules and procedures" can't stop her from putting as positive a spin as she can on what happened. Data and statements can be interpreted and reinterpreted in many different ways.

In a lawsuit situation, the defendant's and the plaintiff's investigations will be different, guaranteed, just out of their nature. Cal Fire will look to mitigate as much damage as possible from their end and the plaintiffs will try to maximize it. Perhaps in real life Cal Fire would not attempt to portray its own employees all that well, because if they can pin what happened on a suitable scapegoat (and reprimand that scapegoat), the organization might be able to escape liability because "we did something". It would be up to the courts to decide if they had done enough.

[t7686]

There’s no way that a guy who risked his own life by literally falling off a bridge to save a teenage boy would be made to take the fall for someone who unfortunately died because they fled the scene of a crime. Makes absolutely no sense. And while Gabriela was reckless, she saved said hero firefighter and almost saved Meg. Terrible episode. My sister got me to check out this show by watching the episode before this one but I think I’m ok not going forward with the show if this is how they follow up a pretty decent cliffhanger. Also why did his dad seem to have such a muted response to watching his only living child go off a bridge? 

[jabRI]

Shouldn't there have been some kind of Good Samaritan clause where no one was to blame?  Gabby and Bode are not trained EMTs, they had no duty of care to Meg.  They tried what they thought was best at the time, and probably prolonged her life.  I don't get how they are more to blame for her death than two other random people who found her in the woods.

[circumvent]

1 hour ago, jabRI said:

Shouldn't there have been some kind of Good Samaritan clause where no one was to blame?  Gabby and Bode are not trained EMTs, they had no duty of care to Meg.  They tried what they thought was best at the time, and probably prolonged her life.  I don't get how they are more to blame for her death than two other random people who found her in the woods.

I don't know about Bode but firefighters do train in advanced first aid. The fact that Gabriela was all flustered and hysterical about what she needed to do, how she couldn't remember the name of it - bad acting and bad for the character. I wouldn't want a firefighter like her when I needed help - tells me that she knew more than the average person. Good Samaritan laws are for the general population, I think, people with no training or very basic training who try to help. I am not sure, maybe they could claim that. But the whole investigation wasn't about finding out what really happened, it was about protecting the department in the lawsuits they knew were coming. Such lawsuits would end in deals where the department would have to pay a lot of money. They wanted to avoid that and keep the saintly image of the "heroes"

 

[Dowel Jones]

Good Samaritan laws generally protect citizens when they are acting in good faith, as opposed to firefighters or medical personnel.  A big part of that is 'scope of practice', i.e. firefighters are trained to a certain level, and if they are acting in the capacity of firefighters, they are limited to that level.  So, doing surgery on Megan's leg would be way outside scope of practice for Gabriella.  That is hammered into firefighters during their initial first aid training in any department.  It also works the other way too, so firefighters can't deny service if they have been trained.

[Dowel Jones]

8 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

She just happened to apply them (or rather, the writers happened to apply her intentions) in the wrong way.

I probably should have been a little clearer in my post.  The investigator must remain neutral, and not tell people that she's 'on their side'.  That alone would demean her credibility.  If she stays neutral, she can then write up her report and submit it to her boss, who can make the decision and hand it down, removing her from the equation.  Granted, the show doesn't have time to show the procedure as it is done, and they used the shortcut of her relating her findings directly to the firefighters.  I was involved in an interview during an investigation of a co-worker once.  The interviewer asked me all kinds of questions, thanked me for my time, and I was ushered out.  I never heard anything about the point of the investigation, only that the co-worker was removed from their job and reassigned.

[possibilities]

I think Gabriella is a trainee and Bode is also not a fully trained firefighter, he's what ...? "One of the line crew grunts"? I don't think the prison program gives medical training to its members.

I think the entire situation was a grey area.

Neither Bode nor Gabriella were supposed to be there in the first place-- both of them went against orders.

But then Megan was also at fault-- leaving the scene of the accident she caused.

And B and G were at all times trying to save lives-- first the guy on the bridge who would have died if he hadn't gone rogue, and then each other, and then Megan.

Once they found Megan there were no good options. Leave her there? Try to move her? Let her die there without attempting a medical intervention once the compartment syndrome set in? Bode wouldn't have been able to carry either one of them with broken ribs, but forgetting that for a moment, he did basic triage and decided that if he could only carry one, he'd take the one who was obviously unconscious vs the one who seemed okay and was encouraging him to leave her.

But this show does not want to explore grey areas. They ignore that Vince was emotionally incapacitated during the original rescue, also. They reversed the disciplinary ruling against Eve for reporting him and Manny's problems, and swept the whole thing under the rug.

It's weird. The pilot was so good, I was really excited about it. So we know the writers are at least somewhat capable of doing something well. But this happens with a lot of shows. I don't know if it's the schedule or orders from higher up or what happens, but a lot of shows make a hard turn toward the soapy and sloppy and abandon all the nuance or originality pretty quickly. Do people really prefer to watch something it's easy to poke holes in and which overlooks the obvious?

Edited January 8, 2023 by possibilities

[izabella]

The premise of this show was interesting.  It would have been great as an ensemble cast focused on the prisoner fire fighters.  Instead, they turned it into the Bode family trauma drama, with a side of love triangles.

[sweetandsour]

Ugh, I groaned so loud on my spin bike when Meg said that dumb line about Bode and Gabriella's baby being a Baby Jesus or whatever.

This whole debacle under investigation should have yielded the obvious recommendation that this pocket of Cal Fire is way too incestuous and they need to put an end to that.  Of course that means no show, so they can't do that, but Gabriella and Manny should not be working in such proximity together, and neither should Bode with Vince and Sharon.  Gabriella can be a firefighter - but not here.  Same for Bode.  If Cal Fire really wanted to protect itself, that's what they would do, but the only recommendation is blame Bode in throes of hypothermia.

I don't know why Cal Fire was so afraid of Meg's parents' lawsuit.  The family of the teenagers in the car would obviously file a claim against Meg's insurance, and then when they found out she didn't even have insurance, that's a big strike.  There would be all kinds of documentation, including pictures, of the car crash in the police and fire reports.  The teenagers and their parents could easily testify to what Meg had done.  Meg could only have been where she was because she was running from the crash.  So what's Meg's parents' lawsuit going to say about all that?  Still point the finger at Cal Fire for killing their oh so innocent daughter?  Mmmmkay.  All that would accomplish is publicizing awful facts about their daughter that hurt the parents and make their grieving harder.

I really like Jordan Calloway and this show has done him zero favors so far.  I can't wait for him and Gabriella to break up so they can give him different storylines and hopefully let him do what he's capable of.

Manny, get yourself together.

[FnkyChkn34]

My main problem with the "investigator" is that I don't know what her actual purpose was.  It was clear that she was an internal investigator, and they were anticipating a lawsuit, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't something entirely official.  In other words, that wasn't for the legal proceedings. 

The way she went about it, it became clear to me that her report was going to stay entirely in-house, and that the higher-ups were only looking for how to frame their story.  I forget how she phrased it at the end, but her summary was: "We're going to throw the inmate firefighter under the bus.  The parents of the victim should buy that and we'll punish Bode by sending him back to prison without this coming down on any of the rest of us."

At first, I thought her investigation was just Internal Affairs, and probably based on Eve's call to HQ.  But making it tied to a lawsuit was really very poor writing for this episode.  An IA investigation - with some actual consequences for everyone involved - would have been much more interesting (not to mention realistic) for me.  The lawsuit angle was highly unnecessary.  

[Danielg342]

2 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

The investigator must remain neutral, and not tell people that she's 'on their side'.  That alone would demean her credibility.

Ah, OK. I understand. I looked at "I'm on your side" as a ploy for the investigator to win the interviewee's trust (though I think the investigator actually meant it). Maybe it's all those years watching police procedurals and seeing police interrogators use the same tactic which is why I wasn't bothered with the interviewer using that tactic here.

It was unclear to me if the investigator ever recorded herself saying "I'm on your side", because I would agree that would be bad. If she left it out of the record, then the record looks impartial. I suppose she would be exposed by an interviewee bringing up that statement in court, but I think she could defend herself by saying, "I needed to say that to gain my subject's trust". I don't know how it works in civil cases but I know, in criminal cases, interrogators feigning support and sympathy for the criminal is legal.

3 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

An IA investigation - with some actual consequences for everyone involved - would have been much more interesting (not to mention realistic) for me. 

I would agree with that. I suppose the show's conundrum was figuring out who to sacrifice, as all the characters of consequence- Captain Manny and Chiefs Vince and Sharon- are main characters. Perhaps the show could have gotten away with giving one or all of them a simple reprimand or even just a suspension, but the errors everyone made seemed more serious than that.

Maybe in "Bad Guy" the operation should have been a joint operation with another department of Cal Fire, just so in this episode there could have been someone of consequence (the other department's captain or chief) who could have been the "fall guy" here. It would telegraph the plot, for sure, but it would at least mean the writers would not have to sacrifice someone "important".

29 minutes ago, possibilities said:

It's weird. The pilot was so good, I was really excited about it. So we know the writers are at least somewhat capable of doing something well. But this happens with a lot of shows. I don't know if it's the schedule or orders from higher up or what happens, but a lot of shows make a hard turn toward the soapy and sloppy and abandon all the nuance or originality pretty quickly. Do people really prefer to watch something it's easy to poke holes in and which overlooks the obvious?

My guess is the laziness and tendency to cut corners are unintended consequences of the pressures of being a Hollywood writer. They are under immense pressure to create a lot of work and do so under a deadline, and this is before we factor in all the outside demands that get made of the writing staff (e.g. actors wanting to protect their characters, executives wanting ratings). Small wonder a lot of writers get lazy and want to cut corners when telling the stories because this makes the writing process easier.

I'll also guess those pressures don't start to build until after the show gets established. Part of this is the fact the first episodes tend to already have been made before the show even starts to air, but I also think that, until a show is a hit, the people involved don't worry about having to protect their involvement with it as much. If a show will only last five or six episodes it's easy to move on, but if the show will last for years, you'd want to make sure your time on that show is worth it.

There's also the mantra for writers not to sweat the "small stuff". Realistically, if a show is entertaining all of its faults fade into the background. Case in point, in their first scene on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gates McFadden and Wil Wheaton were worried that the audience watching the bazar scene would notice they didn't have enough extras to make a believable scene. The director told them that if the audience notices the lack of extras, they're not noticing the main actors in the scene.

So, if we're sitting here and picking apart all the little details a show is getting wrong, the show is not doing its job to entertain us. This isn't to say the nitpicking is wrong, since it likely means all the errors are detracting from the plot.

I mean, I don't think anyone would complain much about Fire Country if the show's worst offence was merely that the firefighters were wearing their helmets wrong. It'd still be annoying, but that wouldn't affect the plot too much. Bode being the only one who knows how to calm down a horse, with said horse's owners standing right in front of him? That's too big an error to ignore.

With Fire Country specifically I think a bit of an ego play is at work. It's not as bad as Designated Survivor was with Kiefer Sutherland, but I think Max Theriot- who is an executive producer of FC- is meddling with the show to a degree. It's the explanation I have for why Bode seems to have "all the answers", as well as why the show seems to focus mainly on Bode's family to the (near) exclusion of everyone else. I grant that, as much as the show presented the possibility of exploring fire camp life, the show's initial pitch was about exploring Bode's life, his dark secrets and his journey to redeem himself from his darkness.

Bode being a focus doesn't bother me. I think what does bother me is that the first two episodes presented the idea that Bode had many different secrets, not just Riley's death (which isn't much of a secret anyway). I also believe the show is dropping the ball on exploring how Bode navigates life as a fire camper. To this end, he should have had a longer run as First Saw, since then he'd have to interact more with the other inmates and he'd have to figure out how to solve their problems. This isn't to say that Bode's drama with his parents was a bad concept- it just feels like more of a "background" issue than one that should be front and centre. Front and centre should be the fire camp.

[Lady Calypso]

This was a terrible episode for so many reasons. It had potential to be a great episode, but it really fell flat on its face for me for a few reasons:

• Bode/Gabriela's relationship was being hammered at the audience, which is a HUGE negative for me. I am not a fan of being told to ship a couple that ALREADY has so much baggage between them with Jake. I don't like the couple already being front and center and we're already seeing how they're being favoured over other, more interesting, aspects.
  • And, honestly, needing other characters to tell me that I'm supposed to ship these two, coupled with other tired tropes with endgame couples, is what WILL turn me off to this show. It's already annoyed me to the point where I stopped paying attention to anything Gabriela. 
• The "who's dead" twist was real anti-climatic. The investigator was only brought on board for the twist, rather than it making any sort of sense to have her there. There was no reason for the parents to try for a lawsuit when she caused the accident that almost killed the other two kids in the first place. You take the investigator part out, nothing changes, other than allowing other storylines to move at a better pace.
  • Plus, the conclusion was so...badly written. Not Vince talking to the parents, that was the only good part of the episode. It was pinning the blame on Bode, despite Gabriela being the one to perform surgery on her. It was making it seem like Manny was about to get in trouble, only for him to be fine.
• So little Sharon/Vince reacting to Bode almost dying. THAT should have been a major plot point but it never got there because the episode needed....Hit and Run Lady to talk about Bode/Gabriela as a couple....
• Gabriela being SO GOOD that she can not only perfectly diagnose Hit and Run Lady's compartment syndrome, she can even perform a procedure to help! We all thought Bode was the Saviour, but it looks like Gabriela is as well, but in an even more unrealistic scenario. Yes, sure, Gabriela studied and read all the books or whatever. But she's only been a firefighter for...what, maybe two months? Six weeks, at most. It's such a tired TV trope that she'd land on the right diagnosis and perform surgery herself so early on. 

The episode had some small, good moments (Freddy, Vince at the end with the parents, Eve and hinting at some previous history at her last station) but overall, such a disappointing episode, especially if Jake isn't breaking up with Gabriela at the end of it.

[izabella]

The most infuriating part of that investigation is that neither Manny nor Vince are being held responsible for their failures, much less accountable.  So they are both free to continue doing nothing about their issues, the issues that prevented them from acting like professionals and put everyone in danger.

[circumvent]

47 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Gabriela being SO GOOD that she can not only perfectly diagnose Hit and Run Lady's compartment syndrome, she can even perform a procedure to help! We all thought Bode was the Saviour, but it looks like Gabriela is as well, but in an even more unrealistic scenario. Yes, sure, Gabriela studied and read all the books or whatever. But she's only been a firefighter for...what, maybe two months? Six weeks, at most. It's such a tired TV trope that she'd land on the right diagnosis and perform surgery herself so early on. 

That was the worst part. Was she pre med or something? And she was so agitated, emotional, trying to remember the name of the diagnosis. Add the terrible acting, nothing is saved in that scene. And yes, they are making those two way too perfect. 

Who is the actress playing Gabriela. She is not up to the part of a female lead in a show, not by a long shot. She would be better as an extra somewhere, without any lines.

The parents threatening a lawsuit rings true to me. Facts don't really matter when a loved one dies, and the perception is that the death was caused by a first responder, or other authority figure, malpractice. They will sue. We are the lawsuit nation, after all. Silly was the whole "investigation". Filler episode

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, circumvent said:

The parents threatening a lawsuit rings true to me. Facts don't really matter when a loved one dies, and the perception is that the death was caused by a first responder, or other authority figure, malpractice. They will sue. We are the lawsuit nation, after all. Silly was the whole "investigation". Filler episode

I don't blame the parents; I do think someone would have told them that the lawsuit wouldn't fly because of the hit and run she committed that landed her in the position to, I dunno, fall down a cliff herself, that would have not been positive for their case. And it being enough where a legit investigation was about to incriminate Bode for no good reason because, again, he didn't DO anything. But apparently, they needed Vince to tell them instead. 

1 hour ago, circumvent said:

Who is the actress playing Gabriela. She is not up to the part of a female lead in a show, not by a long shot. She would be better as an extra somewhere, without any lines.

I could deal with her as a tertiary character. Give her basic lines, let her help the others on the job but not have so much saviour plotlines as she has. Again, this is the third or fourth time she's been solving a problem...we're on episode nine. She's only been on the job for five episodes. We haven't even seen Jake or Eve do as much as Gabriela has (or it just feels that way).

[FnkyChkn34]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

• The "who's dead" twist was real anti-climatic. The investigator was only brought on board for the twist, rather than it making any sort of sense to have her there. There was no reason for the parents to try for a lawsuit when she caused the accident that almost killed the other two kids in the first place. You take the investigator part out, nothing changes, other than allowing other storylines to move at a better pace.
  • Plus, the conclusion was so...badly written. Not Vince talking to the parents, that was the only good part of the episode. It was pinning the blame on Bode, despite Gabriela being the one to perform surgery on her. It was making it seem like Manny was about to get in trouble, only for him to be fine.

I agree with your whole post, but especially this part.  Clearly none of the writers have ever contacted a legal consultant for accuracy.  

[Danielg342]

6 hours ago, izabella said:

The most infuriating part of that investigation is that neither Manny nor Vince are being held responsible for their failures, much less accountable.

Vince did, at least, go straight back to the investigator and told her to pin the entire blame for the incident on him, so at least Vince was aware he should have been held accountable. He may have only done it to save his son, but at least Vince was willing to take the fall.

[circumvent]

10 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Vince did, at least, go straight back to the investigator and told her to pin the entire blame for the incident on him, so at least Vince was aware he should have been held accountable. He may have only done it to save his son, but at least Vince was willing to take the fall.

True, although he didn't really acknowledge the deeper issue that he needs to get his act together and work on his trauma to be an efficient leader. It was a gesture, not a real action

[CoyoteBlue]

On 1/9/2023 at 2:10 PM, Lady Calypso said:

I don't blame the parents; I do think someone would have told them that the lawsuit wouldn't fly because of the hit and run she committed that landed her in the position to, I dunno, fall down a cliff herself, that would have not been positive for their case. And it being enough where a legit investigation was about to incriminate Bode for no good reason because, again, he didn't DO anything. But apparently, they needed Vince to tell them instead.

The whole deal about Manny and Vince being crappy leaders wasn't even a factor in Hit and Run's death, as far as I can tell. Like, yeah, great story - relevance? The fact that anyone even found her body can be chalked up to Vince's dumbassery and Manny's inability to secure the car. Gabriela was pointless, but at least she gave Hit and Run a few more hours - Max alone wouldn't have been able to carry her as far as they did (if his broken/cracked ribs were realistic and not just convenient). At best, Max would have hiked out and gotten help, who would never have found the fugitive in time.

It's not Cal Fire's fault that the fugitive disappeared into the woods. It sure as hell was not their responsibility to locate her, given she seemed healthy enough to sprint far enough away that it took ages to get back. The cops might have sent out a search party, but...