S03.E09: The Architect

[Trini]

After a campaign ad targets the Shen family, Mei-Li takes matters into her own hands. Elsewhere, Delta Security's influence over the city becomes apparent after Ryan makes a shocking discovery at the hospital.

Lou Diamond Phillips directed the episode written by Hayley K. Goldstein

Airdate: 2/8/2023

[thuganomics85]

Damn, first one here?  I hope the long break didn't make people forget about this show!  Granted, I've pretty much come to expect that every CW show is probably doomed, so I might as well prepare for the worst.

Interesting that all the crazy magic stuff got put on the back-burner for this episode, and it was mainly about the Delta Security threat and what their endgame is.  Which ends up basically being a hybrid of Minority Report and Person of Interest, where the CEO created an algorithm to predict who will likely try to do a crime of some kind, so that they can't swoop in and stop the crime before it happens.  Yeah, that's one of those things that sounds nice on a superfluous piece of paper, but in actuality is scary and dangerous on so, so many levels.  And it turns out that Nicky was their target this entire time and they were just using Jin's campaign to make her less of a threat.  And now she's been arrested for breaking and entering and is currently chilling in a cell.  Not exactly the best predicament to be in.  Hope we see more of Evil CEO because Patrick Fabian is always welcomed!

Heh, even Anthony is no match for the ire of his angry and disappointed mother!  Mei-Lei knew exactly how to get him to break.

Glad Sebastian is back and at a better place, but it certainly sounds like he's on Delta Security's "list."

Dennis was having so much fun getting to participate in the undercover operation!

Althea and Evan continue to be great partners in crime (for good reasons)!

Where was Zhilan in all of this?

Cool seeing Damian from the first "Year of the Dragon" episode again.

[paigow]

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Hope we see more of Evil CEO because Patrick Fabian is always welcomed!

Definite upgrade in villainy... only could be topped by adding some Salamanca

[possibilities]

I preferred the lack of magic, and the focus on the community, but I'm realizing the show has kind of lost interest for me. I really can't stand Henry, and it annoys me that they keep hacking and doing other illegal things. Either she's a superpowered character or she isn't, but the way TV hero worships vigilantes who operate on ends justifying the means, with Evan and Sis hacking all the time, and all the other violations of every other element of due process, it's just... no. I like that Nicky is wondering about the ethics of her own behavior, but it sure looks like she's going to conclude she has no choice but to do what she's been doing, and it's not fun for me anymore. It's kind of depressing, really, that they are basically saying that good people have no choice but to completely break all the rules and be violent and lawless. I'm not sure that's the world we really want to be celebrating.

The parents were actually the only counter-narrative, and it was funny watching the moms put Bad Politician in his place. But even that was not enough. The dude has been engaged in cover ups and unethical behavior well beyond the one smear ad.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

The dude has been engaged in cover ups and unethical behavior well beyond the one smear ad.

Howard Hamlin is his boss...

[Trini]

On 2/10/2023 at 2:21 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Damn, first one here?  I hope the long break didn't make people forget about this show! 

I'm having a very busy couple of weeks that might turn into a busy month. 😩

I also appreciated the break from magic. They been slowly building up the Delta Security threat, and even though it was a lot of exposition, now we have some clarity about them and their plans. So at this point, essentially, we've got two very separate 'big bads' -- Xiao and Delta Security -- and I hope they can defeat both satisfyingly in the next 4 episodes. One thing in the show's favor is that the cast is big enough to have (at least) two teams resolve each threat.

Was glad to see Dennis and Seb back.

LOL at Mei Li pulling a "I called a higher authority -- you mom"! But now that they know Chan is being manipulated/used, how does this effect Jin's campaign?
 

On 2/10/2023 at 1:03 PM, possibilities said:

and it annoys me that they keep hacking and doing other illegal things.

I root for the Shens & Co., but yeah -- they commit a lot of crimes to fight crime.  It's an issue I've had with the show since season 1.

We'll see how far it goes, but at least they've got Nicky re-evaluating her behavior, and willing to face the consequences in this episode.

[tennisgurl]

I almost forgot that this show was back, after the big CW purge I had almost forgotten what's even on the channel anymore! I like the magic stuff but I am happy to have a new villain for awhile, even if this guys evil plan is the same plan as the one the final bad guy from Elementary had. Even without an evil plan, Nicky really did need to face some consequences for her vigilantism. 

No one, not even corrupt politicians, can escape the wraith of a disappointed mom. Mei-Lei knows what's up. 

Dennis was so excited to get to go undercover, he's such a cutie. Most of the cast got a few good moments, although I missed Zhilan. I would love to see her take on these tech assholes. 

[Camera One]

I forgot this show came back and I already missed two episodes.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of the magic, I find the Delta stuff a bit convoluted, so this episode was a bit tougher to get into.  

The stuff Delta is doing is a total miscarriage of justice (there must be a ton of corrupt officials out there for their plan to work), so I have no problem with Nicky breaking into their facility and the team hacking their information (not sure about the point of Althea not being allowed to hack when Evan apparently can do anything with minimal instructions). 

Nicky feeling that she went too far with Bo is understandable, but her response to it was a tad irritating to watch.  When the exercise class girl said Nicky always said use violence only when necessary... well, it was necessary in video footage from the ad.

Mei Li going to Anthony's mom was fun to watch, but it seemed too easy.  

[possibilities]

I was also wondering about Althea not being able to use a computer, but now I think it's because it gave them a reason to keep Evan around. She needs him to be her hands as she tells him how to do her hacking.