Season 03

[Dowel Jones]

The FBI actually dodged a bullet (bad pun, I know) by killing Stafford.  If he had gone to trial, a clever attorney would have asked "What evidence led you to suspect my client?" and a little digging might have unearthed that completely illegal black bag operation to see the videotapes.  I thought that stuff more or less went away with COINTELPRO.  And now they're deporting Vega.  No, he won't talk to the press at all, detailing how they originally arrested him for a misdemeanor masquerading as a felony, and how they coerced him into spying on some innocent people, especially if someone makes the connection to Hassan's statement about the videotape system.  That's the way to engender trust in the FBI, right?

[Rambler]

I’m still struggling to figure out why they didn't simply show the photo of the restaurant owner to the guy who stole the car. Or have him sit with a sketch artist. I’m pretty sure if someone just paid me a thousand bucks to steal a car I would remember his face. Oh right, then we would miss out on all the O/A angst.

Sorry Vega, but if you are undocumented you have to be especially careful to follow the law. Stealing $30 worth of food is not the same thing as sticking a candy bar in your pocket. Your deportation is on you.

[Ellee]

Is Rina going to be a part of the show now?

Is everyone aware when they are under surveillance?

Does OA change now?

Edited March 11, 2021 by Ellee

[WendyCR72]

Here is the synopsis for S03.E09, "Leverage" (with the right description this time!), airing on March 16, 2021:

When a political reporter is kidnapped and held without a ransom demand, the team must dig into her past relationships in order to pin down her assailant’s motive. Also, Isobel’s relationship comes under fire when the case makes a connection to her boyfriend, Ethan.

 

[AnnA]

On 3/11/2021 at 6:12 AM, Ellee said:

Is Rina going to be a part of the show now?

 

I'm terrible with names but I'm assuming Rina is the female FBI agent from the terrorism squad.  If so, I don't like her and I really hope she's not going to be part of the show.   

[mxc90]

So we can get Isobel's boyfriend introduced and broken up with her in one episode but we have to endure Nestor and Maggie for multiple episodes? At least, he wasn't here this week. Good!

I understand the actress playing Isobel needs more work to do on the show but she should not have been involved in the questioning of Ethan so much. Let Jubal, OA or Maggie handle him.

I'm impressed the witness would know which hand the gun was held by the kidnapper when he shot at him.

I don't blame ex cop Daniel for tasing OA. He and Maggie didn't identify themselves when they burst in to his apartment. Daniel's door must be made of some cheap material for the wood OA used to knock it down so easily.

How many volts hit OA? He was down and back up in seconds to chase/catch the Daniel. OA's scream was funny!

Addie got the watch as a birthday present that night from the senator and she already set it up to be tracked by GPS by the time she left the hotel. She must have spent most of the night ignoring or faking it with the senator and playing with the watch instead.

Good to see they discuss in a group, Tiffany (not OA or Maggie) makes a suggestion and they work with it. 

Is that device Tiffany used to take info from Sergei's phone legal?

As soon as Sergei and Victor left the car to go in the park, there should have been another team going to the car to check the trunk for Addie or at least use a body heat detector to see if someone was in there. Made no sense that few agents were sent.

The Senator handled all the illegal activities, meetings with Sergei, getting the cash all on his own? I'm shocked that no other aides were involved! Ethan is an oblivious Chief of Staff.

Victor is easily startled to quickly pull the trigger. Twice he shoots as soon as commotion starts.

Fortunate for Scola wearing the vest.

Edited March 17, 2021 by mxc90

[NYGirl]

And as in every single kidnapping episode of every single show.... the kidnapper gets killed while making the drop thereby not revealing where the victim is.  They are lucky that Viktor was toting Addie around in the trunk of the car.

I feel bad for Isobel and Ethan.  He seemed like a nice guy..  As soon as we met him I knew he was a goner.

Edited March 17, 2021 by NYGirl

[Xeliou66]

I really liked this episode - one of the best of the season. 

The investigation was really strong and in depth and kept me guessing throughout, this was one of the best cases they’ve had this season. It was solid from start to finish. 

I liked how everyone was involved and got a nice role, one of my favorite things about how the show has improved since the start is how it now feels like a true team effort instead of just a few people working the case. 

I liked the scenes between Jubal and Isobel a lot, I thought both of them handled things very professionally and I liked getting more scenes of them together and seeing them interrogate Ethan. Isobel was right to let Jubal take the lead once it got personal, but I was fine with Isobel talking to Ethan as she might’ve been the only one who could get through to him. 

Liked the final showdown at the park although I agree more agents should’ve been present, I guess they didn’t want to spook either the senator or the kidnappers. 

I liked how everything was wrapped up nicely, I liked that we got to see the victim reunite with her sister.

My only complaint is that it gets tiresome having a significant other of one of the characters being involved in the cases frequently, but in this case it worked fine and I couldn’t tell if Ethan was going to be good or bad. 

Overall this was really good, I was worried it would be another politically heavy episode but I liked that it took the twist into being about organized crime and corruption. 

Very strong episode on the whole.

[Dowel Jones]

Isobel should have recused herself right from the start.  If it had gone to trial, a good lawyer would have got almost all of her testimony thrown out.

OA was lucky he didn't eat a bullet after breaking into the ex-cop's apartment.  The guy would have been within his rights to shoot first, vests or not.  And any real cop would have looked at Maggie and said "Assaulting a federal officer? Alright, I'm calling my attorney right now.  And by the way, you can explain yourself in court during the civil suit."

Jubal:  "Okay, he lawyer'ed up.  That sounds like an admission of guilt to me.  See what you can dig up on him."  Or it could be a law abiding citizen protecting himself against a juggernaut.

Maggie shoots the window out.  <The bullet goes right through the other door, ricochets off the pavement, and kills a bystander.>   Maggie, you realize you could just as easily break the window with the butt of the weapon, right?

[meira.hand]

Why was Tiffany at the stakeout for the ransom drop off? Her face was unmasked and Sergei could easily have recognized her. This was very sloppy.

[Netfoot]

20 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Is that device Tiffany used to take info from Sergei's phone legal?

Was it legal last week when they did their "Sneak & Peek?" This is the FBI we're talking about. OA wanted to arrest the cop-now-PI because he OA broke the man's door down illegally, and got his ass tazed. He's lucky he didn't get a .40 cal. to the forehead!

19 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Liked the final showdown at the park although I agree more agents should’ve been present, I guess they didn’t want to spook either the senator or the kidnappers. 

Wow, they all had neon signs over their heads as it was! Blinking "COP" in bright red. The only one without the neon sign was the one with the tee-shirt that read "Don't mind me, I'm not undercover law enforcement..."

 

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Wow, they all had neon signs over their heads as it was! Blinking "COP" in bright red.

I mean, who sits on a park bench in the dead of winter with snow all around you?

[FormerMod-a1]

18 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

I mean, who sits on a park bench in the dead of winter with snow all around you?

In Covid years? lots of us.  At least in my area here in MN.

[jabRI]

And OA could break down a door with a pallet? Kind of bizarre police work

[jabRI]

And how was it 'getting the goods' for a PI to photograph a political reporter arguing/talking to a senator's aide? isn't that kinda normal?  this whole episode seemed a throwaway to show how hard it is for fbi agents to have a personal life.

[WendyCR72]

Here is the description for S03.E10: Checks and Balances, airing on April 6, 2021:

The team must track down two assailants who wear animal masks while committing armed robberies, with the latest leaving an off-duty 26 Fed security guard dead. Also, Tiffany and Scola butt heads on whether or not to accept the local NYPD’s offer to help in the investigation.

[Raja]

23 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

with the latest leaving an off-duty 26 Fed security guard dead

What in the world is a 26 Fed Security Guard?

[Netfoot]

24 minutes ago, Raja said:

What in the world is a 26 Fed Security Guard?

A security guard who ate 26 waffles for breakfasts?

[WendyCR72]

48 minutes ago, Raja said:

What in the world is a 26 Fed Security Guard?

[Xeliou66]

On 4/3/2021 at 10:15 PM, Raja said:

What in the world is a 26 Fed Security Guard?

26 Fed is where the FBI office in NYC is located, they’ve said it a few times on the show. So I guess the victim is a security guard who worked at the FBI office.

[SunnyBeBe]

Why does Isobell apologize to her boyfriend at the end as he’s walking out with his luggage?  What did she do wrong?

[mommalib]

Scola is kind of a jerk and for some reason this episode was the first time I realized that.

[mxc90]

From the security guard's and the wife's discussion in the car about his retirement and not enough money, I got the feeling he wanted to rob the check cashing place but the thieves got there before him. Too bad we never got to know the story of what he was going to do.

Show didn't waste time setting the tone between the Scola and NYPD. It's just coffee Scola. 

Scola clocks out and doesn't shut off his computer. Enough time for Tiffany to read his file and hit send! So the "gift rule" he follows to the letter but shutting off his computer policy... not so much.

The two analyst looking at Jubal about the strip club was funny. 

Suspect is running down the street, OA gets on the phone to give a description, doesn't bother give chase and then the show cuts to a commercial break. After the break, we see footage of the suspect waiting on the street and then calling for a cab. OA could have easily caught up to him if he ran after him.

At the auto shop, did the 10+ swat members with Tiffany and Scola decide to go back to HQ or take lunch after the shots were fired? They were no where to found.

I would be pissed too if a bullet whizzed by my ear. I can't  blame Scola on that one.

I thought Tiffany was going to talk to Dixon on her own and not have Scola present? After showing family man Dixon and hearing about his daughter's acceptance, I thought there was no way he would be in on these crimes. But shouldn't he be in some trouble for falsifying records?

Kyle failed the entrance exam twice and still made it into the NYPD??!!!!

Maggie saw a gun missing a tag earlier and didn't think about/mentioned it until OA saw another gun missing a tag. Did Maggie forget the purpose of their assignment? How were they so sure the NYPD clerk at evidence wasn't in on it the caper and not tip off Palmer?

Scola and Tiffany are attempting to arrest Palmer with guns drawn and the background actors of FBI/NYPD just hang around acting aimlessly. Terrible directing given! Made the scene look weird!

Edited April 7, 2021 by mxc90

[sempervivum]

27 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

Kyle failed the entrance exam twice and still made it into the NYPD??!!!!

And then made detective. Yeah, he must be a slow learner or something.

[MerBearHou]

43 minutes ago, mommalib said:

Scola is kind of a jerk and for some reason this episode was the first time I realized that.

I absolutely disagree.  He’s just more impersonal and “strict” when it comes to the letter of the law, the way I see him.  I was annoyed as hell at Tiffany, over and over.  I get that’s how the character is written but she’s got to embrace that she’s FBI now, not PD.  Big deal if she has to pay for her own coffee because that’s FBI regulation.  I’m tired of her lecturing and side-eyeing her partner.  And yes, as this episode should have shown her, cops are not all pure like she saw her old buddy Dixon who indeed fudged the rules and flat out lied to alibi a killer / bad cop.  Scola did Dixon a huge favor by not reporting him in the end — he accepted that the big purpose was achieved by getting Howard’s killer.  But in the end, I hope Tiffany knows she should’ve not gone so soft on Dixon because of their history.  

 

[mommalib]

5 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I absolutely disagree.  He’s just more impersonal and “strict” when it comes to the letter of the law, the way I see him.  I was annoyed as hell at Tiffany, over and over.  I get that’s how the character is written but she’s got to embrace that she’s FBI now, not PD.  Big deal if she has to pay for her own coffee because that’s FBI regulation.  I’m tired of her lecturing and side-eyeing her partner.  And yes, as this episode should have shown her, cops are not all pure like she saw her old buddy Dixon who indeed fudged the rules and flat out lied to alibi a killer / bad cop.  Scola did Dixon a huge favor by not reporting him in the end — he accepted that the big purpose was achieved by getting Howard’s killer.  But in the end, I hope Tiffany knows she should’ve not gone so soft on Dixon because of their history.  

 

You say strict I say jerk, just because she's FBI doesn't mean she has to treat PD as if they are beneath her or be impersonal toward them. And I don't think she feels cops are pure but she understood that Dixon is a good man and a good cop who was just trying to look out for his partner, it's not like he knew or could have predicted that his partner was a killer. Scola needs to stop being a robot.

[Xeliou66]

I liked this episode - it was interesting with the cops pulling off a copycat robbery, I didn’t see the copycat angle coming, good case with pretty good suspense, although I saw that Palmer was going to be a bad guy as soon as he shot at the robber running from him and Scola.

I liked an episode that centered around Tiffany and Scola, I like them both, I was on Scola’s side throughout this episode though, Tiffany had blinders on because of her connection with Dixon, and Scola was right to be suspicious of Dixon. One thing that wasn’t pointed out was that if Dixon had come clean sooner about covering for his partner, he might’ve been taken into custody before he could kill his accomplice Webb. So I thought Dixon should face punishment for his actions, and while the prosecutors might not be pressing charges, surely everything that happened would come out at Palmer’s trial including the fact that he covered for Palmer, so he would probably face discipline from the NYPD. Tiffany had a major blind spot when it came to Dixon. And I didn’t like Tiffany’s attitude at the start about the coffee, Scola was just going by the book, he’s a by the book guy and I thought Tiffany’s attitude wasn’t called for.

I liked seeing Jubal’s eagle eye pick up on the pen the woman casing the stores was writing with, giving them the lead they needed to catch her and the robbers, Jubal’s a sharp guy.

Overall this was a good episode, some very good investigation and everyone got a nice role, and I liked the focus on the Scola/Tiffany partnership, even if I was annoyed with Tiffany at times.

[Raja]

On 4/3/2021 at 7:15 PM, Raja said:

What in the world is a 26 Fed Security Guard?

 

On 4/5/2021 at 3:50 PM, Xeliou66 said:

26 Fed is where the FBI office in NYC is located, they’ve said it a few times on the show. So I guess the victim is a security guard who worked at the FBI office.

I guess they are narrow, not broadcasting the show. Either that or a New York bias among the promotional team.

[Dowel Jones]

I wonder how all those cops got lined up at the junkyard to make a breach, and no one (until OA) notices that there is a guy slumped over in his car in front of everyone, with blood spatters all through the inside of the car.

[Sweet Tooth]

6 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I absolutely disagree.  He’s just more impersonal and “strict” when it comes to the letter of the law, the way I see him.  I was annoyed as hell at Tiffany, over and over.  I get that’s how the character is written but she’s got to embrace that she’s FBI now, not PD.  Big deal if she has to pay for her own coffee because that’s FBI regulation.  I’m tired of her lecturing and side-eyeing her partner.  And yes, as this episode should have shown her, cops are not all pure like she saw her old buddy Dixon who indeed fudged the rules and flat out lied to alibi a killer / bad cop.  Scola did Dixon a huge favor by not reporting him in the end — he accepted that the big purpose was achieved by getting Howard’s killer.  But in the end, I hope Tiffany knows she should’ve not gone so soft on Dixon because of their history.  

Totally agree with this.

At first, I thought Scola was being a pretentious jerk. But then as the show went on, I realized Tiffany was being a giant brat.

She was letting her relationship with Dixon cloud her judgement. She kept making excuse after excuse and not backing up Scola. She chose sides, and it definitely wasn't with her present job and partner.

Scola could have gotten in HUGE trouble if he didn't pay for the coffee. Tiffany's insistence that he hurt the cop's fee-fees, at first seemed reasonable, but again, as the show wore on, I realized she was not thinking like an FBI agent.

Her allegiance should be with her partner. He has to know she has his back. They're in life-or-death situations. She was siding with people who were possible suspects and refusing to admit they might be involved. And she nearly compromised the investigation to do it.

She was told NOT to let Dixon know what was going on, and yet the first chance she got, she was ready to spill the beans. Scola saved her AND the case by reminding her they WERE NOT ALLOWED to let the SUSPECT know what the deal was.

Tiffany nearly killed their whole case at every turn, and Scola's adherence to the rules saved their a$$es time and again. He even told her that if Dixon wound up being guilty, he didn't want it to blow back on her. His only concern was saving her and the case. He had his partner's back. She didn't.

Edited April 7, 2021 by Sweet Tooth

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, mxc90 said:

From the security guard's and the wife's discussion in the car about his retirement and not enough money, I got the feeling he wanted to rob the check cashing place but the thieves got there before him. Too bad we never got to know the story of what he was going to do.

Not being a regular watcher of this show, I hoped this thread might reveal the answer to this, but I guess nobody knows. Is that common for this show to leave something hanging?

Likewise:

5 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

while the prosecutors might not be pressing charges [against Dixon], surely everything that happened would come out at Palmer’s trial including the fact that he covered for Palmer, so he would probably face discipline from the NYPD.

couldn’t this blowback on Scola and Tiff?

Plus similar stuff mentioned upthread. As far back as on Barney Miller in the 1970s cops weren’t supposed to take freebies (coffee or meat from a butcher etc.) because they could get audited because it compromised them and on L&O it was a mark of dirty cops. But I guess Tif is too young to have watched L&O?

Or, are all these dropped balls why this show doesn’t have a big enough audience to warrant separate episode threads? I’ve tuned in a few times to see Jeremy Sisto, but he just seems to bark a few orders and then disappear.

I immediately knew H!ITG! Jeremy Davidson (dirty cop Palmer) was a bad guy because he has been playing bad guys ever since he was on Roswell 20 years ago and alien bugs ate his brain, heh.

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by shapeshifter

[mxc90]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Not being a regular watcher of this show, I hoped this thread might reveal the answer to this, but I guess nobody knows. Is that common for this show to leave something hanging?

It's not common.  

The security guard and wife have never appeared on the show before this episode. This will not be answered in a future episode.

Maybe the writers felt the need to add their dialogue thinking the audience will get an emotional impact when he's killed??

I would say there's a deleted scene of the wife explaining his intentions to an agent but I don't think she would mention: "Yeah! We needed the cash and he was going to rob the place after his shift".

[shapeshifter]

58 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Not being a regular watcher of this show, I hoped this thread might reveal the answer to this, but I guess nobody knows. Is that common for this show to leave something hanging?

It's not common.  

The security guard and wife have never appeared on the show before this episode. This will not be answered in a future episode.

Maybe the writers felt the need to add their dialogue thinking the audience will get an emotional impact when he's killed??

I would say there's a deleted scene of the wife explaining his intentions to an agent but I don't think she would mention: "Yeah! We needed the cash and he was going to rob the place after his shift".

Heh. Yeah. On L&O when Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) were on the case, the conversation between the wife and the victim would've probably been the real plot.
So. Are we supposed to understand that the victim did plan to rob the place, or are we supposed to wonder if maybe they were just talking about the late 60s guy holding down a second job?

 

[mxc90]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Heh. Yeah. On L&O when Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) were on the case, the conversation between the wife and the victim would've probably been the real plot.
So. Are we supposed to understand that the victim did plan to rob the place, or are we supposed to wonder if maybe they were just talking about the late 60s guy holding down a second job?

I was anticipating Howard would tie in some way but nothing.

Maybe he was in on the plot with the copy cat robbers to rob the place at another time (promised a large portion) but didn't know this team would be there at the time he arrived at work. 

Maybe he was going to get a third job being a security consultant and a fourth being a bouncer at Jubal's favorite strip joint.

Maybe they were talking budget cuts. Cancelling their expensive cable subscription and try cheap pirated streaming or no more expensive fine dining at a restaurant on Tuesdays/Fridays and just go with Chipotle.

Maybe they settled on the idea to start a ponzi scheme or a go fund me (for his wife's stroke) and he was going to get started on the customers there getting their cash. Spent all night rehearsing his sales pitch to them.

Edited April 7, 2021 by mxc90

[EtheltoTillie]

10 hours ago, mxc90 said:

From the security guard's and the wife's discussion in the car about his retirement and not enough money, I got the feeling he wanted to rob the check cashing place but the thieves got there before him. Too bad we never got to know the story of what he was going to do.

I thought this too, but then I decided it was a red herring as nothing later connected them.  Also, he was revealed to have installed extra security at that store, so he wouldn't have robbed it.  I guess they were just talking about him taking an extra job.

[FormerMod-a1]

Plus his wife only dropped him off at work, she wasn't waiting.  They  had to inform her he had been killed.

[EtheltoTillie]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Plus similar stuff mentioned upthread. As far back as on Barney Miller in the 1970s cops weren’t supposed to take freebies (coffee or meat from a butcher etc.) because they could get audited because it compromised them and on L&O it was a mark of dirty cops. But I guess Tif is too young to have watched L&O?

 

 

This is bringing back memories for me.  I live in NYC.  In the early 70s as a college student I worked for a while in a neighborhood takeout burger joint (not a chain), and we were told to give the cops free food.  We just didn't ring up their orders. 

But soon after that anticorruption issues became very big here (Serpico came out around that time), and things really tightened up. (I was no longer working at that restaurant, so I don't know how they handled it.)   I haven't seen cops getting freebies openly in decades. It's not worth it.  This has been official policy forever now.  Obviously, there are still crooked cops out there, but they're not centered on getting free donuts.  Best to concentrate on stealing from drug dealers.

It was an interesting episode as both characters grew in relation to this topic.  Scuola loosened up a little and Tiff learned some stuff as well, about her former partners. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by GussieK

[preeya]

10 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

11 hours ago, mommalib said:

Scola is kind of a jerk and for some reason this episode was the first time I realized that.

I absolutely disagree.  He’s just more impersonal and “strict” when it comes to the letter of the law, the way I see him.  I was annoyed as hell at Tiffany, over and over.  I get that’s how the character is written but she’s got to embrace that she’s FBI now, not PD.  Big deal if she has to pay for her own coffee because that’s FBI regulation.  I’m tired of her lecturing and side-eyeing her partner.  And yes, as this episode should have shown her, cops are not all pure like she saw her old buddy Dixon who indeed fudged the rules and flat out lied to alibi a killer / bad cop.  Scola did Dixon a huge favor by not reporting him in the end — he accepted that the big purpose was achieved by getting Howard’s killer.  But in the end, I hope Tiffany knows she should’ve not gone so soft on Dixon because of their history.  

THIS ↑ 100 times. She (Tiffany) has an on/off attitude towards her partner that is annoying. I get that she's former NYPD, but cut the through the ancient history crap and move on.

[Netfoot]

11 hours ago, mxc90 said:

It's just coffee Scola.

Personally, I've never liked the idea that cops should always expect free coffee. Four of them. And blueberry muffins. And cheese danishes. From a coffee shop they've never set foot in before, far less patronize regularly. Except, is it patronage when you never pay, and just help yourself to what ever you want, free?

The coffee shop I used to frequent would occasionally give me a free coffee. Because I was a regular, and a paying customer, and because I always treated the staff with respect. 

11 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I’m tired of her lecturing and side-eyeing her partner.

Well, get used to it, because I think that's her narrative.  Personally, I wouldn't want to work with her...

10 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I liked this episode - it was interesting with the cops pulling off a copycat robbery, I didn’t see the copycat angle coming, good case with pretty good suspense, although I saw that Palmer was going to be a bad guy as soon as he shot at the robber running from him and Scola.

Agreed all. I also don't understand the brief scene right at the beginning, between Howard and his wife. I initially thought he was planning to rob the cheque-cashing place, but if not, what was the scene about? Generating our sympathy for the guy for when he gets shot shortly thereafter? If that was the case, we should have seen more about the poor wife, post-shooting. So, I don't know what that was about.

7 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

She was told NOT to let Dixon know what was going on, and yet the first chance she got, she was ready to spill the beans. Scola saved her AND the case by reminding her they WERE NOT ALLOWED to let the SUSPECT know what the deal was.

Frankly, I don't think she's a good agent. She may have been a good cop - we've been told so but we don't know so, because we never saw her in that role. But whether or not she was a good cop, she definitely isn't a good agent. Hopefully (for her, and for us viewers) she will improve with on-the-job experience. Only I don't see her learning from her mistakes, just bottling up resentment, every time anybody corrects her. And since Scola is the one mostly in her company, that resentment is being directed towards him.

[Kelda Feegle]

I don't know what prices are like in the USA but that coffee and bakery package would have been somewhere between $20and $40 AUD. That's a serious freebie. Scola was completely right to pay. 

[NYGirl]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Heh. Yeah. On L&O when Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) were on the case, the conversation between the wife and the victim would've probably been the real plot.
So. Are we supposed to understand that the victim did plan to rob the place, or are we supposed to wonder if maybe they were just talking about the late 60s guy holding down a second job?

 

I thought they were arguing because he was going to rob the place but it was because he had a second job as a security guard in that place and he was reporting for work.

[Netfoot]

5 minutes ago, Kelda Feegle said:

I don't know what prices are like in the USA...

The coffee shop I used to use before small businesses were banned by government would charge between $9 and $10 for a coffee and the same for a pastry. (That's dollarettes.) So the order would have been minimum $9 x 9 = $81 dollarettes or US$40. Probably more. I'm trying to picture the scene where a cop they've never laid eyes on before walked in and demanded that they give him all of that.

[Dowel Jones]

It makes absolutely no sense that Howard would walk into a check cashing place, without a disguise, where he was known to the staff, and attempt to rob the place.  As a retirement plan that is sorely lacking.

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, NYGirl said:

I thought they were arguing because he was going to rob the place but it was because he had a second job as a security guard in that place and he was reporting for work.

Just now, Dowel Jones said:

It makes absolutely no sense that Howard would walk into a check cashing place, without a disguise, where he was known to the staff, and attempt to rob the place.  As a retirement plan that is sorely lacking.

Maybe the Red Herring (thanks @GussieK for reminding us upthread of the term) is supposed to signify that the Howard did intend to rob the place (maybe because he helped install the cameras and knew how to work around them after everyone else was gone) and it was just ironic that he got killed by crooked cops doing a copy-cat robbery. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

...US$40. Probably more. I'm trying to picture the scene where a cop they've never laid eyes on before walked in and demanded that they give him all of that.

Neither Scola nor Tiff asked to get it for free. The other regular cops told the barista not to charge them. There are reasons they would do this, including to show off and to make Scola and Tiff complicit in the Regular Cop Patrons' taking advantage of the coffee shop. 
I suppose if the coffee shop is in a high-crime neighborhood, the owner might offer freebies to the local police because their presence prevents criminals from going there. But that's not the way policing is supposed to work.

[Netfoot]

29 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Neither Scola nor Tiff asked to get it for free. The other regular cops told the barista not to charge them.

Agreed. But she then made an issue of him following procedure and declining the offer. That puts her firmly with the entitled cops, and not with her putative partner. 

[zoey1996]

14 hours ago, mxc90 said:

From the security guard's and the wife's discussion in the car about his retirement and not enough money, I got the feeling he wanted to rob the check cashing place but the thieves got there before him. Too bad we never got to know the story of what he was going to do.

The security guard was reporting for duty at the check cashing place.  He also worked for the FBI.  A line later in the show said that he had decided not to put in his retirement papers for the government job because he and his wife couldn't make it work financially. I hope she'll be OK now, though.

[mxc90]

1 hour ago, zoey1996 said:

The security guard was reporting for duty at the check cashing place.  He also worked for the FBI.  A line later in the show said that he had decided not to put in his retirement papers for the government job because he and his wife couldn't make it work financially. I hope she'll be OK now, though.

Understood.

From the time he was in the jeep with his wife until the moment he walked in and was killed, no one knew he was a security guard/worked there (show made a point to cover his shirt). That's the time frame I'm commenting on just based on their conversation.  

[illdoc]

Question: Did the robber flag down the cab while still wearing his mask???? If so, why would the cabbie stop (and did he continue wearing it in the cab)? If not, since the robber was facing the camera, wouldn't they have gotten a picture of his face, rather than having to track down the cabbie/tattoo?

[Grrarrggh]

That "security guard" should have been forced to retire. Paul Blart was more impressive than he was.

[WendyCR72]

Here is the description for S03.E11: "Brother's Keeper", airing on April 27, 2021:

Quote

After a man is killed by an explosive package shipped to his home, the team attempts to capture the sender and intercept his latest deadly parcel. Also, Maggie tries to trust her younger sister, Erin, is truly staying out of trouble as a new college student in NYC.