S04.E04: Abandoned

[jewel21]

Quote

As Owen wears an FBI wire for his meeting with O’Brien, The Honor Dogs crash the meet-up and let them know there's an infiltrator in their midst. A frantic TK desperately searches for a missing and held captive Carlos.

Airdate: 02/14/2023

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, jewel21 said:

As Owen wears an FBI wire for his meeting with O’Brien, The Honor Dogs crash the meet-up and let them know there's an infiltrator in their midst. A frantic TK desperately searches for a missing and held captive Carlos.

Hrmph. 
Sounds like the only dummies needing rescuing will be the rescuers.

[yanksno1]

Good episode overall. What was the movie they were referencing there?

[threebluestars]

Chinatown

[iMonrey]

TK has a dumb face. Why have I never noticed before? He just looks dumb.

This whole Carlos kidnapping story seemed like it was being played for laughs. The crazy old lady was over the top ("I have to go spank my cat!") and you knew Carlos wasn't going to die because if they were going to kill him off they wouldn't have it start out silly. 

I know Grace is good at her job but how in the hell does she know Carlos' phone number off the top of her head? That's suspicious.

Are we ever going to be done with his dime story version of the Oath Keepers and their stupid evil plot to blow something up while Owen and special guest star Neal McDonough play Sherlock and Watson? This is the dumbest story arc the show has ever done, and that's saying something. It just all feels so half-assed like everyone just going through the motions.

And oh great, now the Unabomber is after Owen. Everybody wants him don't they.

[possibilities]

10 minutes ago, LtKelley said:

Just because it went unstated - no one really gave two shits about missing mentally ill homeless women until the Texas Ranger's son went missing and then they wrapped up a long term serial killer in just HOURS. 

THIS!!! And the show barely grazed the acknowledgement of that fact. 

[Bruinsfan]

If anything, it had TK going "forget these missing women, what about Carlos?"

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And oh great, now the Unabomber is after Owen. Everybody wants him don't they.

I hope they got Phil Laak to wear the hoodie for that closing scene!

[Athena5217]

This was the best like of the show: “I’m a fireman. Our codes are more like ‘fire.’”

Owen has more chemistry with O’Brien than most of his female love interests. If there is not fan fiction about this, there should be.

I miss case of the week episodes. I have enough continuing storylines to follow on streaming service shows.

[possibilities]

Where's the fire, show?

[Jillybean]

The whole Carlos story felt like a low-budget TV movie. Second terrible episode in a row.

So TK accompanies Carlos' dad and the cop (homicide detective?) back to the scene and is the only one to question murder lady neighbor? And he was the only one to figure out all the victims used the same pharmacy? Remind me not to be murdered in Austin. Maybe now TK will change careers again and join the police department. 

The best thing I can say about the Owen storyline is it didn't dominate this episode. 

Based on the preview for next week, is the actor playing Marjan leaving the show? I wouldn't blame her as she, Paul, and Jud are glorified extras at this point (I dont care about Nancy and Probie). If she has another gig, I hope it's a better one.

Maybe hoodie guy will blow up the 126 and the show will be put out of its misery.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Jillybean

[iMonrey]

Quote

So TK accompanies Carlos' dad and the cop (homicide detective?) back to the scene and is the only one to question murder lady neighbor? And he was the only one to figure out all the victims used the same pharmacy?

Not to mention, cops were swarming the neighborhood, presumably looking for Carlos right? And yet the only person to knock on Crazy's Door was TK. And wasn't this supposed to be some kind of abandoned subdivision? I mean it looked like maybe other people were living on that street but Carlos was in the house right next door to the abandoned one where Iris was being held. You'd think the cops would have put more of an effort into looking into the neighbors.

[Aliconehead]

10 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

If anything, it had TK going "forget these missing women, what about Carlos?"

I hope they got Phil Laak to wear the hoodie for that closing scene!

While this is true in this instance, the issue is (on the show and in real life) law enforcement regularly treats certain demographics as disposable.  Mentally go missing, law enforcement claim they ran away, killed themselves etc.  same with POC. Look at the abundance of coverage when a white woman is missing or murder, all hands on deck, but a POC, no acknowledgement in media. Media is an issue but law enforcement is a huge problem. 

[possibilities]

31 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

While this is true in this instance, the issue is (on the show and in real life) law enforcement regularly treats certain demographics as disposable.  Mentally go missing, law enforcement claim they ran away, killed themselves etc.  same with POC. Look at the abundance of coverage when a white woman is missing or murder, all hands on deck, but a POC, no acknowledgement in media. Media is an issue but law enforcement is a huge problem. 

I had hoped the show would point that out explicitly, instead of reinforcing it, but they didn't.

[Aliconehead]

Just now, possibilities said:

I had hoped the show would point that out explicitly, instead of reinforcing it, but they didn't.

I agree.  They had a chance to bring light to this. 

[eel21788]

5 hours ago, Jillybean said:

The whole Carlos story felt like a low-budget TV movie. Second terrible episode in a row.

The last 3 episodes have been pretty devoid of rescues. I keep asking myself why I'm watching.

[tennisgurl]

How is it that the only rescue we've had, not counting Carlos being saved from his ow stupidity, in the last two episodes was a sex doll? Cant this show just be about actual rescues at some point? Why are we spending all of our time fighting terrorist's and serial killers? Are the writers just bored of this first responder show and are trying to write their own cop show now?

I guess our first instincts were right about O'Brien, he's really not a bad guy after all, and now I have no idea where this plot is going. Is the nephew a different unrelated terrorist who's obsessed with Owen for some reason? 

Yeah TK, there is certainly nothing that can be gained from learning more about the serial killer and his pattern that might have killed your fiancé. It is at least funny to see TK on the other side of the weekly near death experience, now maybe he'll understand more about what Carlos goes through. And maybe Carlos will realize that when your looking for a possible killer you should let people know where you are! Or else you nearly die and get stuck in the middle of some bizarre episode of American Horror Story with a crazy mother/son serial killer duo.  

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Not to mention, cops were swarming the neighborhood, presumably looking for Carlos right? And yet the only person to knock on Crazy's Door was TK. And wasn't this supposed to be some kind of abandoned subdivision? I mean it looked like maybe other people were living on that street but Carlos was in the house right next door to the abandoned one where Iris was being held. You'd think the cops would have put more of an effort into looking into the neighbors.

And the perp was last seen on a bicycle.  
The cop who shrugged off Carlos’ screams for help probably also shrugged off seeing the perp on the bicycle while he was circling around the crime scene.

 

15 hours ago, LtKelley said:

I'm pretty willing to bet that O'Brien's missing nephew is the dude building bombs and has some vendetta against Strand

Yeah. That’s disappointing. I was hoping a rando conspiracy dude (who mistrusts well-groomed men of a certain age) would blow up the 126, so we’d get a spin-off series of Strand & O’Brien: Biker PIs

TK and Carlos would fit right in as junior detectives for S&O.

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by shapeshifter

[Demian]

On 2/14/2023 at 11:18 PM, LtKelley said:

Just because it went unstated - no one really gave two shits about missing mentally ill homeless women until the Texas Ranger's son went missing and then they wrapped up a long term serial killer in just HOURS. 

Quoting you because you were the first in the thread to point it out, but yes, this particular plot point was especially annoying to me because of this:

The Lost Boys

(I believe Texas Monthly began in Austin.) There's very long history of ignoring the marginalized missing in the United States.

[Lady Calypso]

Ah, yet again, a Strand-heavy episode. And this time, TK gets more screentime than Carlos...in a Carlos-centric arc! Seriously, we got to see TK solve something the police apparently were too incompetent to pick up on and see him running around town like a Lone Ranger while Carlos got to be tied up and have to listen to the ramblings of two killers (because, as much as the show tried to add sympathy to Mommy Dearest, she also killed people too so she isn't just an accomplice). 

And, again, police were so bad at their jobs, they didn't consider for one second that, hey, maybe there's MORE THAN ONE WAY INTO THAT HOUSE. They didn't even BOTHER to consider that. Even sweeping the house, they NEVER found the secret door. I don't care if they didn't have reason to before; it should have crossed their minds.

Similarly, when TK couldn't reach his dad after calling him, especially after how TK JUST went through the same issue with not being able to reach Carlos, he NEVER went to "hey, maybe my dad's in trouble too!" 

Great, so now we have a terrorist plot with probably O'Brien's nephew and we'll very, very likely also see the Nazi cult show up at Owen's place of work, blowing his whole FBI undercover thing. Also, the FBI have zero reason to be pissed at Owen. It's THEIR faults that they chose someone who has zero clue what he's doing and expect him to be an expert at undercover work. Their stink faces really annoyed me.

I'm just really sick of this season and we're only four episodes in. I have NO interest in a terrorism arc, especially since Owen is probably going to save the day single handedly with O'Brien probably dying to stop his nephew, and they have set up ONLY Tommy and TK/Carlos' arcs while everyone else gets forgotten about. Judd/Tommy weren't even IN the episode, and the rest of the characters showed up for one scene. 

[circumvent]

On 2/15/2023 at 12:03 PM, Aliconehead said:

I agree.  They had a chance to bring light to this. 

But then they would have to let go of the part when they glorify Rob Lowe's "acting" 

 

15 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

And, again, police were so bad at their jobs

Police is only good at their jobs in TV shows so maybe this time they portrayed them correctly. Law enforcement in general, in tis country, is only about asking for more money (usually getting it), getting all the military toys so they can terrorize people they don't like, and displaying bravado behind armored suits and machine guns - as they fail in at least 90% of the cases they investigate.

15 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Also, the FBI have zero reason to be pissed at Owen.

The only thing the FBI is "good" at is surveillance and entrapment. Then they blame anyone else when they fail - which is often

 

15 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I'm just really sick of this season and we're only four episodes in. I have NO interest in a terrorism arc, especially since Owen is probably going to save the day

I never liked this show or the other 911 but watched anyway when doing other things. Background noise. I watched the whole Owen plot on FF. As for the second part of the quote, this is something Rob Lowe does in every show he is in - glorify himself, through his characters; make his character be the hero of a super important event , or being a military who was in a war or two, and now is saving ALL THE LIVES in US soil. He has power in the studios, he must be a very involved ED, and he is probably dictating what plots he wants to see the writers work on. Lowe is a militaristic guy, he said it himself, and it is kind of his agenda to portray all things military/imperialistic in a heroic way. It is his pattern.

[circumvent]

55 minutes ago, LtKelley said:

I mean, you've seen Wayne's World where his character was a smug bastard who was sexually assaulted by a police officer during a search to where he was walking funny and that was clearly intended as humor, right? Because his character was such a dick? Or in The Stand where he played the deaf mute Nick and got killed off?

I agree that he's got the star power to get the show to be about him but frankly thats sort of how Hollywood works. There's a reason Angela Basset gets the storylines on 911, and that Jennifer Love Hewitt gets to run roughshod over 911.

I personally am ex military myself, and was on a volunteer fire squad so I admit, I tend to chuckle and roll my eyes at shows and movies that get overly worshipful of soldiers, cops, and firefighters. I've worked with and been around them all, and I assure you they've got the same level of assholes and straight up dishonest liars and cowards that the general population has. 

Never watched the movies you mentioned. I never liked him as an actor and can't stand even the sight of him after listening to an interview where he decided that ignorance is not only bliss, is a reason to be proud. That's my personal opinion of him, based on what I know, which is based on his words, and based on the two shows I saw with him after he left The West Wing. I am sure there is more to him than what I know but until the unlikely event that I met him and get to know him, that's all I have to - yes - judge his personality.

[jewel21]

Please keep the conversation to what happened in the episode and not about Rob Lowe or your views on the military/police/FBI, etc. 

[jabRI]

On 2/18/2023 at 12:39 AM, Demian said:

Just because it went unstated - no one really gave two shits about missing mentally ill homeless women until the Texas Ranger's son went missing and then they wrapped up a long term serial killer in just HOURS. 

On Alaska Daily, that's pretty much the story arc for the season.   They had one episode where the real time comparison was explicit.. like $1M spent and constant press interviews to find a missing white woman, and maybe a dozen extra foot patrol to help the indigenous people who were conducting their own search.  

[crowsworks]

8 hours ago, jabRI said:

On Alaska Daily, that's pretty much the story arc for the season.   They had one episode where the real time comparison was explicit.. like $1M spent and constant press interviews to find a missing white woman, and maybe a dozen extra foot patrol to help the indigenous people who were conducting their own search.  

There are several good Docs that show also that witnesses came forward (Gacy ect) against killers and because they were addicts or indigenous women the killers got many more victims before the investigators said "Oh yeah, I remember that person who told us this guy was the killer."

[Kel Varnsen]

Ugh one of my most hated tv tropes. TK and Carlos's dad figure out who the prime suspect is (and where he lives) at the pharmacy, and instead of calling any one of the cops who are right outside the door to go rescue him, they have to drive over and do it themselves. If Carlos died in the time it took them to drive over there it would have totally been their fault.

And the Owen part is even more stupid, the most fun part is looking for the unnecessary camera cut between guy riding up on a motorcycle with a helmet with a dark visor and Owen sitting on a stopped motorcycle and taking off the helmet with a dark visor.

[Bruinsfan]

Pretty sure the guy riding up on the bike didn't have Rob Lowe's geriatric toothpick arms, either.