S06.E10: Witness

[Danielg342]

Quote

The SWAT team races to locate a young boy abducted from a homeless shelter. Also, Street allows his personal history to cloud his judgement on the kidnapping case, and Hondo and Nichelle find themselves at odds over their spiritual beliefs

From the Futon Critic.

[Danielg342]

Ho-hum. Just another day at S.W.A.T., folks.

I'll give the show this much. Street's idiocy was understandable and, as harsh as Deacon may have sounded to him, Deacon had no other choice.

I'll also say the twist with Ramona Quinn (Emily Swallow) was well-executed, and I appreciate the fact that in this "save the child" storyline there was a reasonable attempt to craft an interesting journey, because- since this is Hollywood- we all know how it ends.

That's about it, really.

There were a lot of stuff about the case that just didn't add to me, but I won't bother recapping them because this episode really didn't hold my attention, so I likely missed a lot of stuff.

Besides, the details don't really matter if they just fly by as they did tonight.

Which was the episode's real problem- it was far too "talky". There's an old writing rule that says "show, don't tell", and let me tell you this episode did far more "telling" than they did "showing", weighing down the final product.

As for the Nischelle (Nichelle? These press releases have me confused) storyline...I'm not sure what to say about it because it was so brief and there was hardly a story there anyway. Which makes me wonder why they bothered.

Just another day at S.W.A.T., folks.

[Snazzy Daisy]

An emotionally draining episode directed by Alex Russell.

The view of Griffith Park - stunning cinematography.

The Jody Arias actress plays Abby. No wonder she looks familiar.

Gosh, how many hurdles that Hondo and Nichelle need to overcome before the arrival of their baby? I hope the writers won't give that baby some kind of medical issues etc. like Deacon's youngest daughter. It will be too cliché if they do.

Hondo is overwhelmed by a new kind of fear. This is just the beginning...

Quote

"I'm scared, Nichelle. Of course, I'm excited. But I am scared to bring a child into this world. I have lived my life protecting people, protecting children, but my own child? I don't know this fear. I guess the baptism is my way of giving our kid an extra layer of protection."

- Hondo

 

[Danielg342]

6 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Hondo is overwhelmed by a new kind of fear. This is just the beginning...

I'm not surprised at the inclusion of soap opera-style plots in this show given Shemar Moore's experience with the genre and the fact he tends to do quite well with the material

However, the show needs to find the right balance, because getting too "soapy" is dragging the show down.

Speaking of the pregnancy, shouldn't Nischelle be close to delivering by now? She got pregnant last May...it's been eight months now if I have my math correct.

[Snazzy Daisy]

15 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I'm not surprised at the inclusion of soap opera-style plots in this show given Shemar Moore's experience with the genre and the fact he tends to do quite well with the material

However, the show needs to find the right balance, because getting too "soapy" is dragging the show down.

It will get soapy only with family dramas involving the Harrelsons and the Carmichaels. Hondo's personal conversations with Deacon & Luca are always on point with strong friendship vibes.

And there's no pregnancy drama from Nichelle so far. Her pregnancy goes smoothly, not affecting her new job etc. No medical drama for the baby and no PPD drama for Nichelle, please...

 

20 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

Speaking of the pregnancy, shouldn't Nischelle be close to delivering by now? She got pregnant last May...it's been eight months now if I have my math correct.

Am guessing Nichelle is in her early 3rd trimester.

Are we having 22 episodes for this season, just like S5? Maybe we'll see the baby by E18.

 

[callie lee 29]

The baptism thing seemed wedged in the storyline want it. It's actually an important thing that sin to be parents should have a conversation about but this was just weird.

 

Powell did not annoy me this episode. Miracles can happen! (Sorry ,Nichelle...🤣)

I thought overall the episode was pretty good (once I figured out why the little bit was so familiar, he's Joe from Modern Family) and I even get why Street had the attitude he did. He was wrong this time, but I get it. 

[JH Lipton]

re the baptism:  Hondo is right because Hondo is always right.  If Nichelle wanted the baptism instead of him, there would bve no baptism.

Nichelle needs to clearly state what will be acceptable for their child and what won't.  Baptism falls somewhat into the mostly "does no harm" category, but other, harder choices are coming, and they need to figure out the rules before they spring up.

[Danielg342]

One of the things I found interesting about this episode was that Deacon made a decision for the team (benching Street from the case) despite the fact he doesn't lead the team. I doubt the show would make anything of that in the future because the episode didn't make anything of it, but it does feel like Deacon is stepping on Hondo's toes a bit by making decisions that only Hondo should be making.

Yes, Deacon is the same rank as Hondo, but, in real life, that is unrealistic. In real life, Deacon would have his own SWAT team, and, who knows, maybe he should given that this show has two SWAT teams already. That aside, the fact that Deacon is supposed to be subordinate to Hondo should mean that Deacon shouldn't be making unilateral decisions, at least not of the magnitude of who gets to participate in the case. On a darker show, they might explore the drama of Deacon usurping Hondo's authority. Coupled with Deacon's actions in S1's "Hunted", it would be the roots of a conniving schemer of a character- but that conflicts with the tone of this show.

I mention it because it rankles and maybe makes me wonder if the writers thought that incident through. We didn't hear Hondo explicitly tell Deacon, "if you don't feel Street belongs on the case, then I give you the authority to kick him off it". All we got was Deacon telling Hondo that he'll "take care of" Street. I'm not sure that's enough to grant Deacon the authority that only Hondo should have.

[jabRI]

20 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I'm not sure that's enough to grant Deacon the authority that only Hondo should have.

You may be right, but the way I read it is that they've been a team for a long time, and Hondo would trust Deac's judgement to handle it the best way he saw fit.  Did not surprise me, is all I'm saying

[Maverick]

 Deacon is second in command of the team which would technically make him above all the other teams members.  I assume it's like the military where the captain is the boss but the XO has a lot of authority in running the crew. 

[Danielg342]

3 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 Deacon is second in command of the team which would technically make him above all the other teams members.  I assume it's like the military where the captain is the boss but the XO has a lot of authority in running the crew. 

Perhaps someone with actual experience in the military or police can correct me on this, but my line of thinking is that decisions on discipline ultimately rests with the commander, not the second in command. You don't want a situation where, say, the second in command sends someone home but the commander disagrees with the call. I don't know exactly where the line is in regards to what decisions Deacon can make on his own without Hondo's input, but it seems to me that deciding which teammates get to participate in a case is beyond his purview.

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

You may be right, but the way I read it is that they've been a team for a long time, and Hondo would trust Deac's judgement to handle it the best way he saw fit.  Did not surprise me, is all I'm saying

The show gets kind of wonky with this kind of situation. We've already had drama with Powell breaking protocol and regulations, a storyline that seems to have been dropped with little explanation. Previously, we had Tan get chewed out for going rogue in S4, not to mention Street's legendary escapades in S1, which cost him his spot on the team (for a while) and nearly cost Christina Alonso her spot on the team as well.

Then we've had moments where Hicks had to step in and reprimand Luca for attempting to go rogue in S3, as well as times where Hicks has benched Hondo for doing the same thing.

...but, on the flipside, Hondo has gone rogue a few times and Hicks didn't reprimand him for it. In fact, in the S4 premiere, Hicks praised Hondo for, in Hicks' own words, "calling an audible".

You might be on to something with the idea that perhaps trust dynamics are at play here. Despite the appearance of double standards, the times where the team was called out for going rogue were times when it backfired on them, sometimes spectacularly. The other times, when it worked in their favour, the team got the credit for it. On this end, the show is fairly consistent.

Of course, there will be the debate about whether or not it's good to "look the other way", even if it benefits the situation. The show is lucky that the times the team escaped discipline for going rogue things ultimately went well, and it's refreshing there is a show that treats its characters like adults and doesn't insist on having them be "slaves to the rules". Still, real life wouldn't be as forgiving and the team wouldn't always be that fortunate.

[JH Lipton]

19 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

You might be on to something with the idea that perhaps trust dynamics are at play here.

I think that you misspelled PLOT dynamics... 🤣

[Danielg342]

20 hours ago, JH Lipton said:

I think that you misspelled PLOT dynamics... 🤣

Well...

I'll say this much. Mileage will vary on this, but I think the show has been successful in portraying a leadership group that trusts its charges and won't fault them when it isn't warranted. Not that I want this show to start having its characters go rogue all the time, but at least it recognizes that exceptional circumstances are exceptional circumstances.

[JH Lipton]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

at least it recognizes that exceptional circumstances are exceptional circumstances.

True enough.

But you can't go wrong with the motto #HondoIsAlwaysRight

[Danielg342]

26 minutes ago, JH Lipton said:

You can't go wrong with the motto #HondoIsAlwaysRight

That I do wish the show would tone down just a bit. I mean, the show doesn't always let Hondo off the hook (see the 100th episode and Hondo's pursuit of the Korean drug lord), but it should at least acknowledge sometimes that Hondo's answer isn't always the right one.

[Sweet Tooth]

Okay, admission time.

Earlier, you guys were talking about how you thought Cabrera and Powell were the same person, and I was confused, thinking about the previous woman who played the medic, and believing she's who you were referring to. I know. This proves I'm not too good with names.

So, last episode Cabrera was featured prominently, and now it's Powell, and I suddenly realized after seeing the pony tail and hearing the much deeper voice, that indeed, I thought they were one person named Cabrera. 

So then I had to go back and figure out which one of them liked to go rogue, and at least I was right in thinking Powell fit that mold much more than the mild-mannered Cabrera I saw last episode. 

I'm in agreement with the people who think that Deac felt comfortable benching Street, because he knew Hondo would have his back. He did say, "As your sergeant..." which tells me, whether it's true in real life or not, that in this world, he had the authority to do it.

Hicks even mentions Street's benching, which tells me Hondo must have known about it and didn't seem to mind. 

I just don't think Deac would ever overstretch his authority and believed he was allowed, under their guidelines, to do the benching.

I did also like that the Street/Deac thing was straightened out by the end, and there wasn't this long, drawn-out tension between them. Ditto with Hondo and Nichelle (It is Nichelle, for sure. )