S06.E03: Stay in Your Lane

[shapeshifter]

S6.E3 Stay in Your Lane
Air Date: Feb 27, 2024

Quote

When a local club owner is found dead, the team works quickly to find the motive behind the murder of a seemingly innocent man. Meanwhile, OA is smitten with a new love interest but is concerned that she's mixed up with the wrong crowd.

 

[shapeshifter]

I replayed Cate's shooting. Several times. It was definitely Viktor who shot her.

 

Instead of having to pay an actor to be a red herring, we have the red herring of Maggie ripping off the windshield wiper of the car with no plates and smashing the car window with it before she gets thrown off the hood at high speed.
And walks away.
No mention to Jubal to look for a car with a missing driver's window and wiper blade — whether intact or torched.

 

And, speaking of saving $$ on actors, we never even saw the informant who described Luka and/or Viktor as "really good looking," who, I agree were just "okay looking."
Maybe it was just supposed to lay groundwork for another reason for OA to break up with Gemma?
That is, as AO self-describes, his being from Queens means he doesn't have the "sophisticated worldview" to match Gemma's expectations
— that is, that the CI could be a woman 
— but "sophisticated worldview" might also mean drug dealers are business men, not criminals.
Ooo. Wait. Could Gemma be the narcotics agent's confidential informant???

 

Tiffany's dress and earrings were fabulous. 
Too fabulous?
Tiff was already wearing them when OA told her that his gf (friend of shot caller/Luka's gf, Cate) "works for a PR firm that specializes in fashion."
I've never owned anything like that, but it looked pretty pricey to wear undercover to a disco if you didn't already know you wanted to look like you too were into fashion.

 

So, to be continued, more or less.
The blood of Gemma's dead girlfriend under OA's watchband seemed biblically symbolic.

 

[Dowel Jones]

I was wondering if Gemma was pulling the long con on OA, and is actually tied in with the Ukranian gangsters.

Well, stupid preppy girls gonna stupid preppy girl, no matter what.  How stupid do you have to be to sell a lot of cocaine to someone you just met in a disco club? So she takes a bullet in the end, probably wondering "How did I screw this up so bad?"

I bet OA is going to confiscate that sex tape for, uh, evidence purposes.

Tiff is doing a terrible job of undercover surveillance at the bar.  Standing alone, staring at the crowd, and never once cracking a smile.

[Xeliou66]

Pretty good episode, and I wonder how OA’s story with his new girlfriend will continue, OA never let on that he saw them at the club or that he knew what happened with Kate getting shot.

I liked the undercover action at the club, particularly how they got the suspect’s fingerprint.

Kate was epically stupid and I felt no sympathy for her, she would’ve been safe if she had just run away but no she comes running back to her scumbag boyfriend and apologizing for working with the feds.

Not as much of Jubal and the agents in the command center in this one, but I always like those scenes.

Enjoyable hour and I wonder what will happen with OA’s love interest and when they’ll come back to it. Sometimes OA annoys me in episodes where he is personally involved, but I liked this one.

[Snazzy Daisy]

OA has a type - wealthy and pretty. First Mona, then Gemma. But Gemma seems vapid as compared to Mona.

Just like Tiff a couple of weeks ago, Maggie is also indestructible. There’s no broken bones, cuts, scratches, bruises or concussion after everything that happened. 💪🏼

Luka is described as really good looking and Cate is said to be gorgeous. Clearly there’s a miscommunication between script writers and casting team. I feel deceived. 🤣

[Netfoot]

I hate when glaringly obvious yet easily avoidable errors are allowed to make it to air.

Tiffany: "9mm casings..."

Only they aren't 9mm casings. They are clearly "revolver" casings with an oversized rim easily seen especially on the case on the left. Not sure what size exactly because nothing else in frame gives scale, but .38 Special maybe?

Maggie: "9mm casings..."

Again, nothing to give scale but these are clearly "automatic" casings as per the recessed groove giving a rim of roughly the same diameter as the rest of the casing. These could easily be 9mm. 

They obviously had the right props so why go to air with Tiffany sounding like a fool when they could have easily got it right?

(Some automatics are chambered for "revolver" ammo, like Smith & Wesson's venerable Model 52, chambered for .38 Special Wadcutters. Similarly, some revolvers are chambered for "automatic" ammo, like the Ruger SP101, chambered for 9mm. Not common, but not unheard of.)

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Maggie ripping off the windshield wiper of the car with no plates and smashing the car window with it...

Will go back and rewatch but I thought that was a telescoping baton, not a windshield wiper. A tool generally reserved for use when interrogating suspects.

Edited February 29 by Netfoot

[MarylandGirl]

Why is everyone on this show so bad at undercover work? I feel anxious whenever one of them is undercover, thinking "OK, when are they going to mess up and make it obvious what they're doing?" Doesn't help that the first ep of the season led to one of them dying from that. I mean, I'd be terrible at it, as I'm an awful liar, but I'm also not in the FBI!

It was an engaging episode, though I agree that Maggie's lack of any lasting injuries seemed unrealistic. Also, what is up with her bangs? Did she have the same look in the other two eps this season? I found them weirdly distracting this episode.

Tiffany looked great in that dress, but how old is she supposed to be on the show? Would it have been realistic that she worked in the Hamptons at the same time as Kate? Who I assume is supposed to be early 20s? And seems like it might have been safer for her to have said, "Mutual friends," then Kate could have said, "Yeah, she knows Ellie from back in the day" or something. Or to have figured that out in advance, as it's an obvious question.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, MarylandGirl said:

Why is everyone on this show so bad at undercover work? I feel anxious whenever one of them is undercover, thinking "OK, when are they going to mess up and make it obvious what they're doing?" Doesn't help that the first ep of the season led to one of them dying from that. I mean, I'd be terrible at it, as I'm an awful liar, but I'm also not in the FBI!

It was an engaging episode, though I agree that Maggie's lack of any lasting injuries seemed unrealistic. Also, what is up with her bangs? Did she have the same look in the other two eps this season? I found them weirdly distracting this episode.

Tiffany looked great in that dress, but how old is she supposed to be on the show? Would it have been realistic that she worked in the Hamptons at the same time as Kate? Who I assume is supposed to be early 20s? And seems like it might have been safer for her to have said, "Mutual friends," then Kate could have said, "Yeah, she knows Ellie from back in the day" or something. Or to have figured that out in advance, as it's an obvious question.

This post just made me realize the reason I literally cringe at undercover episodes in any show (and often turn them off, don't watch, or at least go do something in the kitchen) is because one of the show's main characters is going to wind up being tortured or otherwise abused when their cover is blown.
So, a question for anyone with real life knowledge of UC work: 
Is that typical? 
 

[EtheltoTillie]

8 hours ago, MarylandGirl said:

Why is everyone on this show so bad at undercover work? I feel anxious whenever one of them is undercover, thinking "OK, when are they going to mess up and make it obvious what they're doing?" Doesn't help that the first ep of the season led to one of them dying from that. I mean, I'd be terrible at it, as I'm an awful liar, but I'm also not in the FBI!

 

I just came here to post the same thing.  Right after posting the same thing in the Blue Bloods episode.  Two in one night. Two weeks ago they screw up the undercover assignment and the partner dies.  Tiff is upset but now she’s back doing it again. Then they have my most unfavorite trope: the arrestee who has to wear a wire to vitiate her crime. That is unfairly dangerous. And looked what happened. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Oh they’re doing it on The Rookie too with the Lucy plot. 

[MarylandGirl]

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I just came here to post the same thing.  Right after posting the same thing in the Blue Bloods episode.  Two in one night. Two weeks ago they screw up the undercover assignment and the partner dies.  Tiff is upset but now she’s back doing it again. Then they have my most unfavorite trope: the arrestee who has to wear a wire to vitiate her crime. That is unfairly dangerous. And looked what happened. 

Oh, yes, the arrestee wearing a wire. As soon as they told her they had a way for her to get off for the drug charges, I was like, "Well, she's dead."

[Dowel Jones]

Anyone with half a brain (which excludes the majority of arrestees on TV) would say "I want to talk with an attorney.  Now"  And a good attorney would at least attempt to get the charges reduced by a plea bargain with the DA.

[Snazzy Daisy]

5 hours ago, MarylandGirl said:

Oh, yes, the arrestee wearing a wire. As soon as they told her they had a way for her to get off for the drug charges, I was like, "Well, she's dead."

They did the same in S04•E21 when they forced and exploited Kayla to steal her boss’ phone and turn against her BF. In the end, she lost everything and still got convicted for accessory to murder. The agents then moved onto the next case. Easy.

[Xantar]

RIP World’s Dumbest Drug Dealer

There is an inherent problem with filming  undercover or spy scenes. The actor who is playing the undercover person has to convey nervousness to the tv audience, but that always means that in the scene they are wearing an “I’m so guilty I’m so guilty!” expression on their face. In real life they would immediately get caught, and it always takes me out of the scene whenever it happens.

We barely know anything about Gemma, so of course she seems shallow right now. However, even from the little we know, she doesn’t come off well in comparison to Mona. Mona was a principled person with a definite worldview, and she did interesting work. Gemma is…a PR person in the fashion industry?

[mythoughtis]

We are left to assume that OA would have told Gemma about her friend’s life choices, but she got that call telling her about the friend’s death first.    This is going to end badly for OA. Gemma is going to blame him  for her arrest and death even if Gemma is law abiding.  And I don’t think Gemma is law abiding.  Most normal law abiding people will avoid going to a club with friends who are dealing at that club. Even if they don’t morally care what the friend does,  they don’t wish to get caught up in the mess. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

We are left to assume that OA would have told Gemma about her friend’s life choices, but she got that call telling her about the friend’s death first.    This is going to end badly for OA. Gemma is going to blame him  for her arrest and death even if Gemma is law abiding.  And I don’t think Gemma is law abiding.  Most normal law abiding people will avoid going to a club with friends who are dealing at that club. Even if they don’t morally care what the friend does,  they don’t wish to get caught up in the mess. 

Yeah, it sure looks like there's no happily ever after in this relationship.

But Gemma might not have known her friend was dealing.
OA said Gemma "comes from money," whereas Cate's conversation with Tiff was:

• [TIFF] Thanks, girl, for hooking me up.
• [CATE] No problem. My parents cut me off, so you gotta do what you gotta do. Gucci's not cheap.

So I'm speculating that Cate was dealing to keep up the appearance of having "come from money" too, and wouldn't want her wealthy friend Gemma to know there was any problem with her cash flow.

IDK. Maybe Cate didn't really need the money and was dealing to impress her boyfriend?

Do we know how old Gemma and OA are supposed to be? 
And how old Cate was?
(I'm thinking of age 25 as the age when the brain is developed enough so you stop doing dumb things.)