S04.E09: Road Kill

[jewel21]

Quote

On her way back to Austin, Marjan is in for the fight of her life when she is targeted by a killer.

Airdate: 03/21/23

[possibilities]

Can you kill someone with a flare gun? I never thought of that as a possibility. But I'm glad Marjan is back at the 126. 

 

[Lady Calypso]

I mean, I had a feeling Mouse was not real when she randomly appeared in the car. And I did briefly think that this could be younger Marjan. But I think my brain was so tired last night, I couldn't comprehend how she could see a little girl that was in the other car, or how younger Marjan appeared in the other car. I thought at a point that maybe she was seeing the dead little girl, and got afraid we were heading toward a supernatural-type episode. This show would 100% go there, as well.

But it was a good twist, probably one of the better ones from the show. 

I knew Abusive Fiance had to die the moment he saw which bus Kylie got on. There was no way he couldn't die because he'd just go find her in Florida. 

Another solid episode, though of COURSE it's super easy to get her to agree to come back to work. "Yep, I'll be there in a couple of days!" It makes it feel like a waste of time and Marjan simply could have gone to visit her parents and been on her way back to encounter all of this drama.

[Jillybean]

I knew Mouse was young Marjan as soon as she appeared in the rental car. 

Owen, let go of the damn bike already.

Those balloons were really cool. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Jillybean

[preeya]

Owen Strand aka Rob Lowe is the biggest screen hog on television.

[iMonrey]

I thought this was a pretty neat episode. I really didn't have a clue that Mouse wasn't real, especially since Marjan went to the car and saw the three dead bodies. When I finally realized she wasn't real I thought she must have been a ghost and that the little girl had actually died with the rest of them. I think I actually would have been OK with that, but having it turn out to be little Marjan was pretty neat too.

On the flip side - and I've said this before - the show is leaning a little too hard into Marjan being some sort of superhuman. The likelihood she would have survived a gunshot like that for as long as she did is extremely implausible. The old guy she stopped said the nearest hospital was 40 miles away so even after her friends finally found her she still had a long way to go and she had lost a lot of blood.

[preeya]

12 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

On the flip side - and I've said this before - the show is leaning a little too hard into Marjan being some sort of superhuman. The likelihood she would have survived a gunshot like that for as long as she did is extremely implausible. The old guy she stopped said the nearest hospital was 40 miles away so even after her friends finally found her she still had a long way to go and she had lost a lot of blood.

The magic of television, and with Owen Strand in the mix anything is plausible.

[shapeshifter]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

Can you kill someone with a flare gun? I never thought of that as a possibility

Apparently, yes: https://www.sailmagazine.com/review/flare-gun/#:~:text=In the worst-case scenario%2C they could kill a person

I kept wondering about Mouse but was never sure, so, good job with that, show.

But, regarding:

19 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The likelihood she would have survived a gunshot like that for as long as she did is extremely implausible. The old guy she stopped said the nearest hospital was 40 miles away so even after her friends finally found her she still had a long way to go and she had lost a lot of blood.

they overdid Marjan's superpowers WRT surviving her injury.
--especially in comparison to the poor, dead, helpful guy who stopped to help. It almost seemed like ageist writing, when it was just realistic.
Speaking of the dead Good Samaritan: 
Did anyone else first think "Oh crap. Out of one frying pan and into another" when he said he was going to get Duct Tape out of the back of his truck to help with her bleeding head injury? 
I guess that distraction was in part to keep us from thinking too much about Mouse for a moment.

 

I was sure Kiley was going to get off at the first stop and go back to her homicidal ex-fiancé, but that was real life with Gabby Petito, not this show.

 

 

[eel21788]

14 hours ago, possibilities said:

Can you kill someone with a flare gun? I never thought of that as a possibility.

Mac did the same thing on JAG.

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 I really didn't have a clue that Mouse wasn't real, especially since Marjan went to the car and saw the three dead bodies. When I finally realized she wasn't real I thought she must have been a ghost and that the little girl had actually died with the rest of them. I think I actually would have been OK with that, but having it turn out to be little Marjan was pretty neat too.

I think that it really did happen. Marjan was reliving a childhood memory.

[Maverick]

At this point, it's kind of like you have Rob Lowe playing Owen Strand doing a parody of Rob Lowe.  It's so ridiculous I'm kinda here for it.  

 So the abused wife was constantly looking over her shoulder fearing the husband was going to find her.  If she was so worried, maybe she shouldn't be posting her exact location and destination on social media.  

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, eel21788 said:

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

having it turn out to be little Marjan was pretty neat too.

I think that it really did happen. Marjan was reliving a childhood memory.

Yes and yes

[possibilities]

One of the things I like about this show is that Marjan is a badass. Whenever shows write male characters being badass, it's a hell yeah moment, but we rarely get women in that role, and I like to see it. I'm all for Marjan being brave, tough, strong, and otherwise amazing.

But even I thought her injuries were too severe to suspend my disbelief and believe she survived and was able to do all that she did to save herself. 

I wish they had made her just a little less severely wounded, so it would have still been that she could be a badass, without straining ALL credulity.

Of course, we've seen some ridiculous medical issues handwaved here and on the Original Recipe 911 show before (how about Paul's pacemaker being totally forgotten? or Chimney with the rebar through his skull doing no damage on the original 911), so it's par for the franchise and I guess Marjan deserves the same absurd scripting as the rest of the gang.

I did like that they highlighted how hard it is to escape an abuser who's determined not to let you go, and I'm not talking about the woman's delusional ideas about wanting to go back, but the relentless lack of conscience and determination to "get" her, on the part of the dude. There are too many real life stories like this, and it's hard to wrap your mind around sometimes, how little protection is afforded to anyone who's victimized, even when there are witnesses and documentation of the abuse.

And yes, I was terrified when the good samaritan started talking about duct tape. And then I was sad when he was murdered, because it did seem like he might actually have been trying to help.

[MaryHedwig]

So, wasn't it Allah who appeared to Marjan in the form of Little Marjan? Isn't that what her mother was saying when she told Mouse that she was never alone because Allah is always with her?

How did Marjan get the black head covering she was wearing in the hospital bed? Do hospitals have a supply of them for their Muslim patients? I wonder if my hospital does.

[cmfran]

I'm not sure how old Marjan is supposed to be on the show, but in the opening sequence, the mom was using an iPhone. The first gen iPhone was released in 2007, so I guess that makes sense? 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, cmfran said:

I'm not sure how old Marjan is supposed to be on the show, but in the opening sequence, the mom was using an iPhone. The first gen iPhone was released in 2007, so I guess that makes sense? 

Interesting that it's actually right on the nose rather than an anachronism:
Natacha Karam/Marjan was 27 when they filmed this, and Mouse was 10, right?
2023 minus 16 is 2007, so, close enough!
BTW, Mouse was portrayed by Samsara Leela Yett, who Google does indicate is about 10.
Great young actor!

[KeithJ]

Didn't really think this episode was necessary.  Marjan's storyline should have been wrapped up in the previous episode.

And, after Marjan told everyone she sold the bike, why was every acting like she still had it?  Why would she lie about that?

[iMonrey]

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And, after Marjan told everyone she sold the bike, why was every acting like she still had it?  Why would she lie about that?

I guess Owen thought she was kidding when she told him that, but I thought the same thing when he was like "Where's the bike?" Uh, DUH Owen. She told you.

[Bruinsfan]

It became Owen's whole identity for several weeks, so I guess he couldn't process that Marjan might offhandedly sell it off as soon as it had served its purpose.

[juliet73]

On 3/24/2023 at 12:02 PM, KeithJ said:

Didn't really think this episode was necessary.  Marjan's storyline should have been wrapped up in the previous episode.

I totally agree!  I find it difficult to believe that the abusive fiancé would go after Marjan especially knowing which bus Kylie had boarded and where she was headed.  It would have been nice to see Kylie checking in on Marjan at the end of the episode. 

 

On 3/22/2023 at 1:31 PM, Maverick said:

At this point, it's kind of like you have Rob Lowe playing Owen Strand doing a parody of Rob Lowe.  It's so ridiculous I'm kinda here for it. 

  That's pretty much the character he played on The Grinder - it worked on that show because it was comedy.  

[Kel Varnsen]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:31 PM, Maverick said:

 So the abused wife was constantly looking over her shoulder fearing the husband was going to find her.  If she was so worried, maybe she shouldn't be posting her exact location and destination on social media.  

Or taking calls from mysterious numbers. I did like this episode though, although I wondered why the cop that offered to help the abuser guy didn't notice the dead body when he was leaving did he back down the road to leave the way he came?