S01.E03: Springland

[AnimeMania]

As Colter helps a young woman locate her free-spirited sister, he digs deeper into how her last days may lead to a dark secret she unearthed in this tight-knit town.

Premiere Date: February 25, 2024  CBS     9pm

Anja Savcic as Kira
Chris Casson as Tony
Bradly Stryker as Tozer 

[MarylandGirl]

Ah, the "free-spirited sister." Do we know whether this was originally supposed to be episode 2 or 3?

[Trini]

10 minutes ago, MarylandGirl said:

Ah, the "free-spirited sister." Do we know whether this was originally supposed to be episode 2 or 3?

This was originally supposed to be #2.

[Artsda]

I'm surprised the sister is actually dead, first character that wasn't saved and found. 

[OLynn33]

"Pain don't hurt."

Ok that's not exactly what Colter said but that's what I heard. Not sure if the Road House homage was intentional but I'll take it. Hope Patrick Swayze is dancing somewhere in peace.

[possibilities]

What kind of lawyer is Reenie, that she happens to be in whatever state Colter is in when he needs her help?

[TheCathedral]

This episode was way better than last week's episode, it makes me question why the order was changed.

 

I really want to like this show but it feels so generic. I know it's a CBS thing but the show has potential and the cast is good, the last non generic show I remember on CBS was Person of Interest.

[Silver-hyren]

When the sister fell and hurt her wrist, I thought for sure it was a way of bringing the doctor back in for a reveal that she was in on the disappearance.  So, good job in that red herring I guess, show.

All three episodes so far have felt really disjointed. They start off well with the mystery investigation then take some weird turn.  It’s like CBS mandated all episodes must end with an action set piece.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

What kind of lawyer is Reenie, that she happens to be in whatever state Colter is in when he needs her help?

thirsty?

[Dowel Jones]

So, the $20,000 reward for the missing car (???) was set aside for the helpless lost woman for $5000?  Better start thinking about economics if you want to pay off the $75,000 trailer and $60,000 pickup.  So now, it's off to Mt. Shasta, finally.

Did Colter pay up front for the minor surgery, or did he just walk out on the basis of hotness with the doctor?  Inquiring minds might want to know.  Or not.

Interesting that Tozer, after getting a beatdown, is all too willing to talk to Colter about Mia back up in the woods.

Cherchez le femme, boys!

[Snazzy Daisy]

This is a much better episode than the other twos. The story has heart, Kira is a sympathetic character and there’s a twist re the actual killer.

After 3 episodes, I find the side characters (Velma, Teddi, Bobby and Reenie) are way more interesting than Colter. The lack of team communication is still a turn off for me.

Reenie the horny traveling attorney! Logic be damned. 🙄 She says Colter’s ability to gather much info in a short period of time is impressive. Err girl, the credit should be given to Bobby, mostly. Colter is the muscle.

I thought Colter is stabbed in his (right) front abs but then the wound is on his (right) upper back. Weird. Anyway, what a good reason to take off his shirt again huh. 🤣

I don’t think Russell killed their dad. He could be reaching out to Colter now just to tell him their mother did. Just a theory.

 

Edited February 26 by Snazzy Daisy

[possibilities]

$5000 for a few days work is still a pretty good income. I don't mind that he took the missing person case over the missing car.

Also, what the hell kind of car was it that would command that big of a reward, and which would not be insured against theft? Must be carrying illegal cargo?

What did he say about refusing local anaesthesia? 5% gain of function for wound healing if you forego the anaesthetic? I agree the doc visit  was more a chance to take his shirt off. But I am still grateful there was no hook up of the week.

I do notice that they are surrounding him with interesting, mostly female, characters. On the one hand, great. Love to see interesting women characters. On the other hand, it risks making him seem like he's King of Mount Lady. I don't need to see a lot of interesting women orbiting around a bland hunk 'o white man. 

Please, please give the IT guy more to do, also. Even the handlers get little tidbits of character development-- dogs, pottery wheel, their interactions with each other. IT guy gets to sit in a dimly lit office and get his calls cut off either because Colter is bored by IT talk, or is in the middle of a violent confrontation.

The cases are interesting, so there's hope. But the show still needs a few tweaks, in my opinion.

 

 

[shapeshifter]

The parade of male red herrings in this episode seemed borrowed from the ol' L&O recipe, but here the director seems to have requested each of the actors go through a personality reform to reveal their red herringness.

[KaveDweller]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

What kind of lawyer is Reenie, that she happens to be in whatever state Colter is in when he needs her help?

TV lawyer. 

I liked this case better than last week, it was more of a mystery in terms of what happened.

But how long are they gonna drag out this Russell thing?

[possibilities]

44 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

But how long are they gonna drag out this Russell thing?

Season finale.

[shapeshifter]

46 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

But how long are they gonna drag out this Russell thing?

1 minute ago, possibilities said:

Season finale.

No doubt. 
🙄 (there really aren't any good *sigh* emojis)

 

[possibilities]

I just hope the brother isn't getting in touch because he needs a kidney.

Since we're predicting based on tv tropes.

I mean, why now? Why so urgent? Why not say it in writing or leave a message saying what he wants?

Becuz TV.

[buttersister]

Shirtless ✅

Flirty attorney appears out of nowhere ✅

Side characters more interesting than main ✅

Colter packing up his angst and moving on ✅

Health care that reminded me of France ✅ ( I walked out of hospital with no bill-/they sent a small one a couple months later. Small compared to US.🤬)

Anyway, I am still watching. Ken Olin has been involved with good TV, I’m hoping he can help steer this into the fast lane.

[sharifa70]

I have never paid for medical care up front except for my co-pay. I get treated, then if there’s an extra charge I either pay before I leave or I get billed later. I didn’t think it was weird at all that he walked out of the exam room like that - pausing at the reception desk on his way out would have been a pointless detail in the episode.

[shapeshifter]

31 minutes ago, sharifa70 said:

I have never paid for medical care up front except for my co-pay. I get treated, then if there’s an extra charge I either pay before I leave or I get billed later. I didn’t think it was weird at all that he walked out of the exam room like that - pausing at the reception desk on his way out would have been a pointless detail in the episode.

Arguably, creative writers could have had him, say, get a text or a call while he was settling his bill at the desk.
But if there was an outer office with such a desk and a receptionist, I must’ve been doing something else when he breezed past it; I just looked up and saw him getting stitches.

Edited February 27 by shapeshifter

[Quickbeam]

I really like Justin in this but he needs to meet some women who don’t immediately fall in love with him, besides the 2 gay ladies. I hope they do some backstory on that because I’m confused as to how they became his wranglers. 

[possibilities]

I always give my insurance when I enter, and they bill it. I get the bill for the balance after the insurance does or doesn't cover it all. 

 

[Trini]

With Colter(Hartley) outdoors and on location most of the time, I guess having his handlers and hacker have all their scenes in one room saves money. But even if that's a small part of the show, I feel that's going to get boring eventually.

I'd love some face-to-face interactions with his team, and some backstory of how they started working together.

Case of the week was engaging, but I hope not every episode involves a shootout.

 

[Daff]

9 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

don’t think Russell killed their dad. He could be reaching out to Colter now just to tell him their mother did. Just a theory.

Yeah, there isn’t any definitive evidence to indicate what really happened. I think he’s avoiding Russel because he’s the most likely to have turned out being as twisted and manipulative as the father. 
How long can they drag it out? (Anyone remember “Red Sam”?). I don’t really care. They could drop that whole plot line as far as I’m concerned.
 

[MissLucas]

My only burning question so far: Will we ever get to see Colter sprain an ankle, get stabbed in the calf, kicked in the knee, cut in the palm?*

(*Except for doing a blood oath in the time honored manner of creating an open wound in the part of the body that gets regularly in contact with all sorts of pathogens.)

Edited February 27 by MissLucas

[emma675]

I want to know how his team gets paid. I know the hacker guy mentioned his rates, but does the lesbian couple get a cut of the fee for finding the cases? And if so, don't they get a say in Colter dumping a $20,000 case for a $5,000 one?

[possibilities]

So... "Listen, there's a missing woman and her sister is distraught. The whole town seems to be covering it up. You want me to go look for some rich person's car instead?"

There's more to life than money, and one of the things about this show is that he doesn't want to be seen as a mercenary. If he takes the car job and ignores the missing person, I think that ship will sail right out the window and it will no longer be "emo hunk seeks justice and healing" and will be "opportunistic lunk cares only about himself and exploits people's pain for money".

And, again, he's not doing it for pennies. $5000 is still a big haul for a few days work. Even if he splits it with his team, they're still doing well.

[TheCathedral]

I like the idea of different types of cases, looking for missing cars. dogs, horses, dolphins or whatever.

It sounds better than just looking for people in every episode, it would be nice to see a case in a big city just to change things up a bit. I'm guessing that there's going to be aa episode with Colter facing some competition like a bad bounty hunter or something like that.

On 2/26/2024 at 12:21 AM, OLynn33 said:

"Pain don't hurt."

Ok that's not exactly what Colter said but that's what I heard. Not sure if the Road House homage was intentional but I'll take it. Hope Patrick Swayze is dancing somewhere in peace.

I thought about Dalton immediately!  And the pottery thing reminded me of Ghost, so 2 Swayze "references"??

[Good Queen Jane]

22 hours ago, possibilities said:

Also, what the hell kind of car was it that would command that big of a reward, and which would not be insured against theft? Must be carrying illegal cargo?

I texted my brother, who lives near Cascade, Idaho, about the shoutout and the reward and he responded that no one in Cascade has that kind of money.

[Dowel Jones]

Maybe it's in the car.

[MarylandGirl]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, possibilities said:

$5000 for a few days work is still a pretty good income. I don't mind that he took the missing person case over the missing car.

Also, what the hell kind of car was it that would command that big of a reward, and which would not be insured against theft? Must be carrying illegal cargo?

What did he say about refusing local anaesthesia? 5% gain of function for wound healing if you forego the anaesthetic? I agree the doc visit  was more a chance to take his shirt off. But I am still grateful there was no hook up of the week.

I do notice that they are surrounding him with interesting, mostly female, characters. On the one hand, great. Love to see interesting women characters. On the other hand, it risks making him seem like he's King of Mount Lady. I don't need to see a lot of interesting women orbiting around a bland hunk 'o white man. 

Please, please give the IT guy more to do, also. Even the handlers get little tidbits of character development-- dogs, pottery wheel, their interactions with each other. IT guy gets to sit in a dimly lit office and get his calls cut off either because Colter is bored by IT talk, or is in the middle of a violent confrontation.

The cases are interesting, so there's hope. But the show still needs a few tweaks, in my opinion.

 

 

But he's not just a "bland hunk o' white man." He has a dark, mysterious past!

I agree that they need to give the IT guy more to do, or at least some backstory. And it would be nice for Colter to end up in the same town and talk to him face-to-face at some point. The same with the handlers. Or for them to show up where he is or something.

Also, I think it's good (well, not for the sister) that the missing person ended up dead this week. Part of what made Without a Trace particularly suspenseful to me was that at least 1/3 of the cases (probably more in the early seasons) didn't have a happy ending, where the victim was found alive. If you know Colter will find the victim safe and sound every week, it takes away some suspense.

I do agree with another comment that it could be interesting if they showed some non-missing-person cases, like a car, a pet, a valuable piece of art, perhaps an escaped zoo animal.

[mythoughtis]

On 2/26/2024 at 4:59 PM, Snazzy Daisy said:

I don’t think Russell killed their dad. He could be reaching out to Colter now just to tell him their mother did.

I personally think his dad fell.   Russell just happened to be standing at the top of the hill when Colter looked up.   I assume Russell ran away at that point.    He’s probably calling because he’s actually gotten therapy due to his upbringing and is really to deal with things.  Colter needs therapy and his Mom needs to disappear into the sunset.    

[Snazzy Daisy]

13 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

I personally think his dad fell.   Russell just happened to be standing at the top of the hill when Colter looked up. I assume Russell ran away at that point.   

Their mother is so sus. She adamantly pushes Colter to block Russell’s number. Lady, what are you afraid of??! 🤔

[possibilities]

I also assumed dad fell. But mom is so shady that it makes it look like she's at fault somehow... even though she wasn't even known to be in the area at the time.

I think it would be fun to see the tracking objects switched up, too. 

[Daff]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, possibilities said:

Also, what the hell kind of car was it that would command that big of a reward, and which would not be insured against theft?

A Shelby Cobra (if mint), is a very rare and valuable classic (probably valued well into 6 figures). Yes, probably insured to the max, but the owner would be crying huge tears on the insurance money, while mourning the loss of his/her lovingly cared for “baby”. The intrinsic value is in the history. Search a bio on Shelby.

[shapeshifter]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, possibilities said:

Also, what the hell kind of car was it that would command that big of a reward

Good question.
I guess the point was that the show’s hero would rather take clients who are missing humans rather than, say, the Batmobile: 
https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/original-batmobile-sale-229462/amp/
or K.I.T.T.: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a35131520/david-hasselhoff-knight-rider-kitt-auction/

But now I think a hero who finds missing Batmobiles and K.I.T.T.-type cars is the show that should have been.

[Dowel Jones]

8 hours ago, Daff said:

A Shelby Cobra (if mint), is a very rare and valuable classic (probably valued well into 6 figures).

Last scene in the episode is Colter screaming across Nevada in the Cobra on I-80, hitting around 130-140, and answering the phone:  "No sir, I haven't found the Shelby yet, but I've got a few leads..."

[Daff]

On 2/28/2024 at 6:22 AM, shapeshifter said:

guess the point was that the show’s hero would rather take clients who are missing humans

That and the obvious injustice of the well to do playing fast and loose with people’s lives, bribing the officials, and thumbing their noses at the law.

[ribboninthesky1]

I mostly watch this doing other things, so maybe I missed it - is Colter former law enforcement? Something about the way he was questioning the rich boyfriend bugged me.  

I like Rennie, but she's on the wrong show. 

[Trini]

On 3/1/2024 at 7:09 PM, ribboninthesky1 said:

I mostly watch this doing other things, so maybe I missed it - is Colter former law enforcement? Something about the way he was questioning the rich boyfriend bugged me.  

Not that we know of, so far. But I'd guess that he isn't because he's supposed to be an 'outsider'.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 2/26/2024 at 10:00 PM, sharifa70 said:

I have never paid for medical care up front except for my co-pay. I get treated, then if there’s an extra charge I either pay before I leave or I get billed later. I didn’t think it was weird at all that he walked out of the exam room like that - pausing at the reception desk on his way out would have been a pointless detail in the episode.

I wonder if Colter has health insurance, though/

[ribboninthesky1]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

Not that we know of, so far. But I'd guess that he isn't because he's supposed to be an 'outsider'.

Thank you, Trini.  It's interesting when he's interrogating people as if someone owes him answers.  He's not even a private investigator, so the sense of entitlement/condescension from him when he's questioning folks has me rooting against him a bit, even though it's supposedly a righteous cause. Maybe that feeling will fade. 

[Trini]

2 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Thank you, Trini.  It's interesting when he's interrogating people as if someone owes him answers.  He's not even a private investigator, so the sense of entitlement/condescension from him when he's questioning folks has me rooting against him a bit, even though it's supposedly a righteous cause. Maybe that feeling will fade. 

Yeah, I know this is CBS, but this doesn't need to be another Cop Show.

[sharifa70]

19 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

I wonder if Colter has health insurance, though/

Even if he doesn’t have health insurance they wouldn’t bill up front, would they? They’d have to know what they’re treating, how many stitches, what (if any) pain meds, etc. You don’t just walk up to the counter, say “I’ve been stabbed,” and they say “it’ll cost $500.”

[love2lovebadtv]

36 minutes ago, sharifa70 said:

Even if he doesn’t have health insurance they wouldn’t bill up front, would they? They’d have to know what they’re treating, how many stitches, what (if any) pain meds, etc. You don’t just walk up to the counter, say “I’ve been stabbed,” and they say “it’ll cost $500.”

yes, absolutely!

When you're private pay, they have you pay up front LOL

[possibilities]

I have tried to get an estimate before I go in for an appointment and they ALWAYS say they can't say what it will cost until after the treatment, because they can't be sure what is involved. The "no surprise billing" law has not helped.

I don't care, though, whether or not the show tells us how Colter pays for his urgent care. It's not relevant to the plot and it takes up time I'd rather they give to character development... which they also aren't doing much of.

[possibilities]

I wonder how formal the arrangement is between him and the dispatchers who find cases for him. It might be one of those things where "If you find the case, I'll give you a cut of the reward" which would still give him right to refuse or change his mind about what cases he's taking.

He takes all the risk, also. So it would make sense for him to have some say in what cases he takes.

For them, it's easy money, just basically internet searching. I don't get the sense that he works FOR them, but rather that they work for him, or that it's a friendly mutually beneficial but informal kind of deal.

They really should flesh those things out. 

Edited March 4 by possibilities

[Court]

On 2/26/2024 at 5:59 PM, Snazzy Daisy said:

This is a much better episode than the other twos. The story has heart, Kira is a sympathetic character and there’s a twist re the actual killer.

After 3 episodes, I find the side characters (Velma, Teddi, Bobby and Reenie) are way more interesting than Colter. The lack of team communication is still a turn off for me.

Reenie the horny traveling attorney! Logic be damned. 🙄 She says Colter’s ability to gather much info in a short period of time is impressive. Err girl, the credit should be given to Bobby, mostly. Colter is the muscle.

I thought Colter is stabbed in his (right) front abs but then the wound is on his (right) upper back. Weird. Anyway, what a good reason to take off his shirt again huh. 🤣

I don’t think Russell killed their dad. He could be reaching out to Colter now just to tell him their mother did. Just a theory.

 

Yep, I've thought from the first episode that Mom killed his Dad.