S01.E21: Backfire

[jewel21]

Quote

The station 42 and Three Rock crews are called to a backfire started by a private firefighting company to protect a high-end winery but instead threatens to grow out of control.

Airdate: 05/12/2023

[Danielg342]

Maybe it's not the way we thought it would get there, but was there any doubt that Sleeper would find a way to destroy Bode's chances for parole?

(Yes...I know the show has not outright said that Bode's positive drug test was due to Sleeper...but, c'mon...what else could it possibly be?)

...and so this trainwreck of a show continues.

Perhaps I should have seen it coming when Freddy was told that he wouldn't get his conviction cleared that quickly. Perhaps I should have seen it coming when Bode repeated Sleeper's last words to him ("This isn't over") as if the writer of this episode lazily cut and paste the line from the previous episode into this one.

Perhaps I should have also seen this coming when Faye broke up with Manny.

Or, maybe I should have also seen it coming when Gabriella finally said "it's time" and found a way to have sex with Bode because "I can't wait anymore!"

...but that doesn't undo how terrible and stupid the show is with its storylines.

I have complained, time and again, that the writers on this show contrive their stories far too much to fit the narratives they want to tell, instead of letting the characters and events organically guide them. Bode's positive drug test is just the latest example of that.

Perhaps there's hope that, with this development happening in the penultimate episode of the season we're still going to see Bode getting released and paroled for S2. Since we know that Bode will get his name cleared of the drug test.

What's more likely is that Bode gets cleared of the drug test and then the prison will have to make a decision about whether or not to bring Bode back to Three Rock. The episode fades to black, creating a faux cliffhanger because we all know this series wouldn't be a series if Bode isn't at Three Rock.

Meaning- probably at least before the end of the second episode of S2, because I'll never underestimate Hollywood's attempts to be "clever"- Bode eventually gets back to Three Rock where we can spend S2 doing what we did in S1.

Rinse, repeat...snooze.

[DanaK]

I enjoyed the episode overall, but again with the annoying stand there and talk while an emergency is happening

The guy with the knife in his leg clearly wasn’t looking well the second he came in but Gabby didn’t seem to notice until she saw the knife in his leg. At least she tried to save his life; it’s sad that he died

I’m glad Faye broke up with Manny. Her team was clearly incompetent or she was as leader with those 2 screwups and I certainly wouldn’t want to work for her

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

Again with the annoying stand there and talk while an emergency is happening

It's especially egregious this week because you would think Eve would know better than to deliver emotionally deflating news to someone when there is a task at hand. You need them to be focused, and delivering bad news is a sure way to break that focus.

Perhaps the show should think about having two incidents in one episode, so that the characters can resolve one and then go back to the station/camp and discuss whatever plot relevant drama they need to discuss. Then again, maybe they'd run out of ideas too quickly that way.

[possibilities]

With the train episode, they had the private company save the day because they had resources. This time, they not only didn't have the necessary equipment, but they also didn't seem to know what the hell they were doing on any level, nor care. 

The guy in Gabby's story, I think, was in shock when he was first talking to them. I don't really get how he wound up in his trunk-- wouldn't he go through the windshield? And was he not wearing a seatbelt? But I was still sad that he died. 

Manny believing Bode's test results were accurate, and dismissing his fear of retribution for snitching, was really weird. He's coming off very badly, overall. First he has no idea there are drugs in the camp. Then this. You'd think he'd understand about what happens to snitches-- wasn't he in prison himself in the past? And then there was his gambling story earlier in the season. The man is a mess.

Gabriella went form "don't do anything to risk losing your parole" to "fuck me right now! rules be damned!" She's as whiny and impulsive as Bode, so maybe they are actually meant to be together. Similar temperaments. Similar maturity. 

I wonder if the call from HQ was because Sharon called in the AWOL prisoners, so now there will be an investigation of the camp. Even though the missing folks were found, doing a job and not having escaped, it's true that nobody runs the place with any kind of oversight, they had no idea where they were or what was happening, and it's actually a legitimate problem.

I also didn't buy that the guys went from wanting to hurt Bode to wanting to show him how awesome they were at their jobs. Weird. Are people that easily flipped from enemy to sycophant?

 

 

[Dowel Jones]

9 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I wonder if the call from HQ was because Sharon called in the AWOL prisoners, so now there will be an investigation of the camp.

Absolutely.  The crew would get rolled up off the fire, return to camp, and Manny would be interrogated to within an inch of his life, which is a good thing.  He is incompetent.

Ah, the deux ex machina.  When you're losing control of the fire, throw a rainstorm into the mix.  And that was one whopper of a storm, too.  Of course, if any of the firefighters could actually put fire out with a hose, it wouldn't have been necessary.

Apparently, Nozzle can afford a $40 million dollar Blackhawk helicopter.  Premiums must be good.  But, sorry, Sharon, you really don't get to boss them around on their client's property.  She has a legitimate beef that they started an illegal backfire, and she could reasonably seek assistance from law enforcement to remove them from the fire, but they can't be forced to work for CalFire.

I can't remember for sure, but in my time in the camps, if someone turned up a positive test, they would get sent back to the Center to sit and stew for awhile (30-60 days), and then be reassigned to another camp.  I don't think anyone actually went to the big house.  And, If Bode was 2 days away from parole, first, he would be assigned a camp job and off the fire crews, and second, they'd probably just blow off the positive test and kick him down the road.  Less paperwork. 

By the way, Vince, since you're apparently in charge of the engine, you would be staying there at the station, not hopping home for a quick drink of wine during the night.

[Danielg342]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I also didn't buy that the guys went from wanting to hurt Bode to wanting to show him how awesome they were at their jobs. Weird. Are people that easily flipped from enemy to sycophant?

I guess when you're the great Broode Sue, people can be convinced of anything...

[psychfan]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

 

I wonder if the call from HQ was because Sharon called in the AWOL prisoners, so now there will be an investigation of the camp. Even though the missing folks were found, doing a job and not having escaped, it's true that nobody runs the place with any kind of oversight, they had no idea where they were or what was happening, and it's actually a legitimate problem.

 

 

 

I don’t think it was from HQ; she said it was but then they showed the caller ID saying Luke Leone, which is her BIL, right? 

[Artsda]

The tape was the B.Leon on the locker and celebrating before hand sealed Body's fate wasn't getting paroled. His parents jinxed it. lol

The Nozzle team were really stupid.

 

[The Wild Sow]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

The guy in Gabby's story, I think, was in shock when he was first talking to them. I don't really get how he wound up in his trunk-- wouldn't he go through the windshield? And was he not wearing a seatbelt? But I was still sad that he died.

No, he wasn't driving - he was standing behind the car, putting things into the trunk.  When the other car bumped his car (from the front?), he fell in, and landed on his knife.

 

1 hour ago, psychfan said:

I don’t think it was from HQ; she said it was but then they showed the caller ID saying Luke Leone, which is her BIL, right? 

Yeah, she was hiding that from Vince.  I don't think Luke knows (yet!) that she was already aware of Vince's cheating after Riley's death and had already forgiven him.

 

The Great Broode Sue! Perfect! 

Edited May 13, 2023 by The Wild Sow

[circumvent]

I feel like after every episode I come here to say the same things: the bad acting, the overacting, the terrible practice of talk personal matter and cry during huge fires, the fact that the stories are so far removed from reality, I expect a dragon to come next and start setting fire to everything, then Bode becoming this super magic being that saves the world, the very very bad CGI

But I will not go through every single ridiculousness with every single scene in the episode. I just have one question today: why isn't Sharon dead? Several episodes ago she was having dialysis at home, she supposedly should be having daily dialysis just to stay alive, but that takes several hours of the day and she would be exhausted afterwards -  yet she is celebrating the "two days until parole" of her perfect son, yelling at people's face, getting horny at the sight of her husband no matter where they are, running around and playing boss. She is not even at the end of a full day. So, why is she still alive? 

 

[Danielg342]

17 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

The Great Broode Sue

I'm glad my nickname caught on (with additional credit to you, Mrs. Sow, for adding "Great" to it because it just fits).

So, here's The Great Broode Sue ("Broode" being not just a play on the name of "Bode" but also being a reference to "brooding", which is all Bode seems to be able to do). Ready to be Photoshopped into any scene you'd like- even if it makes absolutely no sense, since the character makes no sense:

[Whimsy]

On 5/12/2023 at 11:29 PM, DanaK said:

I enjoyed the episode overall, but again with the annoying stand there and talk while an emergency is happening

The guy with the knife in his leg clearly wasn’t looking well the second he came in but Gabby didn’t seem to notice until she saw the knife in his leg. At least she tried to save his life; it’s sad that he died

I’m glad Faye broke up with Manny. Her team was clearly incompetent or she was as leader with those 2 screwups and I certainly wouldn’t want to work for her

All of this. I knew as soon as that guy walked in that he had a medical emergency of some kind. I thought a heart attack. 
 

Faye is the WORST. Her long, flowy, perfectly styled hair all over the place annoyed the hell out of me. Sharon’s hair is shorter, but her unsecured hair always bothers me too, and her helmet jauntily sliding off her head. That’s safety gear. It should fit her correctly! 

On 5/13/2023 at 1:23 AM, possibilities said:

With the train episode, they had the private company save the day because they had resources. This time, they not only didn't have the necessary equipment, but they also didn't seem to know what the hell they were doing on any level, nor care. 

The guy in Gabby's story, I think, was in shock when he was first talking to them. I don't really get how he wound up in his trunk-- wouldn't he go through the windshield? And was he not wearing a seatbelt? But I was still sad that he died. 

Manny believing Bode's test results were accurate, and dismissing his fear of retribution for snitching, was really weird. He's coming off very badly, overall. First he has no idea there are drugs in the camp. Then this. You'd think he'd understand about what happens to snitches-- wasn't he in prison himself in the past? And then there was his gambling story earlier in the season. The man is a mess.

Gabriella went form "don't do anything to risk losing your parole" to "fuck me right now! rules be damned!" She's as whiny and impulsive as Bode, so maybe they are actually meant to be together. Similar temperaments. Similar maturity. 

I wonder if the call from HQ was because Sharon called in the AWOL prisoners, so now there will be an investigation of the camp. Even though the missing folks were found, doing a job and not having escaped, it's true that nobody runs the place with any kind of oversight, they had no idea where they were or what was happening, and it's actually a legitimate problem.

I also didn't buy that the guys went from wanting to hurt Bode to wanting to show him how awesome they were at their jobs. Weird. Are people that easily flipped from enemy to sycophant?

 

 

This type of situations happen all the time in movies and TV shows. 
 

Yeah. I don’t know why Im still watching this. Started out ok but then threw in too much soap opera drama and really contrived obstacles. I’ll finish this season, since there’s just one left, but I doubt I’ll be back. 

[jabRI]

Its so bad none of it is even surprising or passes as a cliffhanger.  We know who's going to live, die, get together, break up, get framed... you can just read the recaps and not miss anything.

[Stevie Nicks]

On 5/16/2023 at 4:34 PM, Whimsy said:

 

Faye is the WORST. Her long, flowy, perfectly styled hair all over the place annoyed the hell out of me. Sharon’s hair is shorter, but her unsecured hair always bothers me too, and her helmet jauntily sliding off her head. That’s safety gear. It should fit her correctly! 

 

This. Everything you said. 

[jabRI]

Faye was frustrating. I like the actress, Rebecca Mader a lot, but the writing for her was so bad not even she could save the character.  Was she supposed to be an incharge business woman? someone only out for money? a good firefighter? humble when speaking to calfire? a teenager in love with mannie?  pick one please and write it consistenly.

[KeithJ]

I don’t understand the beginning conversation between Bode and Manny.  Manny is telling Bode that he needs to get a full-time job lined up before he goes before the parole board?  Exactly how is Bode supposed to do that from prison?

[possibilities]

I think it's typical that you can't get paroled unless you have employment and other things (like housing) in place. I don't know how you're supposed to make that happen, but I think it's one of the requirements in some cases.

This is different than when they release you at the end of your sentence, when you get out, ready or not. 

[circumvent]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think it's typical that you can't get paroled unless you have employment and other things (like housing) in place. I don't know how you're supposed to make that happen, but I think it's one of the requirements in some cases.

This is different than when they release you at the end of your sentence, when you get out, ready or not. 

I think parolees get a parole officer to supposedly help them get a job. A lot of times they are just one more oppressive person ready to use their "authority" to bully. They are supposed to give the parolees a list of possible jobs. As for housing, if they have a family member that can take them in, it is possible that this helps but they can also be assigned a Halfway house for a period of time. Housing and jobs are not conditions to be paroled, I think.

The full time job in the conversation sounds like bullshit to me. There are not enough full time jobs available, specially one that will readily employ a former convict. Not even Bode

[possibilities]

Well, the availability of jobs is not really what concerns the prison system. They are not trying to make it easy. The rules differ from one jurisdiction to another, but my understanding is that you are expected to show you have plans for how to support yourself and you need to satisfy the Parole Board that you will stay out of trouble. I have seen it often stipulated that at least some parolees need to have jobs in order to satisfy the parole board that they are ready for release.

Parole is not guaranteed. It's only offered to inmates who they think are rehabilitated and ready and able to live outside the prison without re-offending, and they are subject to supervision and whatever stipulations the Board wants to put on them.

I tried to look up the rules for California specifically, and I lost patience before I got through all the info, but they introduce it by saying that you have to show you have reasonable plans for life outside. I am guessing that will at least informally if not formally mean that they would expect someone like Bode to find work, or at least that if he did so it would make them much more likely to grant his release.

[cameron]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:13 PM, Stevie Nicks said:

This. Everything you said. 

Every time I see Sharon's helmet perched to the side of her head I want to rip it off and place if correctly on her head.