S08.E02: Gang Unit

[Danielg342]

When a spree of brutal stash house robberies spills into Los Angeles, the team joins with the sheriff's department's gang unit to unmask a violent crew who leaves no witness alive.

[Danielg342]

I want to say that Gamble's story is getting some legs and that this was a bit of an innovative approach to the "obstructive bureaucrat" storyline that police procedurals often use.

...but...

Something's a bit off.

First, the case. About the only real highlight was Deputy Doubs (Emerson Brooks) reconnecting with Deacon and working through their baggage, although Doubs' appearance was very plot convenient. Still, Brooks and Jay Harrington actually came off as former partners and old buddies that had a lot of baggage between them, so I'll give them credit for that.

I had the Sheriff's Gang Unit as obstructive bureaucrats right from the start. I didn't think they'd actually be the criminals in this episode, so that's a bit of an innovative twist. It's not really novel because a lot of police procedurals do the "dirty cop" storylines, and the Sheriff's unit didn't exactly come across as very likeable.

So even if the show thought it was clever with its twist, they still bungled things by telegraphing how bad the Sheriff's deputies were.

I'll give the storyline this much- it did give us a chance to see Hicks in action again, which is always great to see.

It also helped move the Gamble storyline along. Which...I guess has potential.

To be fair, Annie Illonzeh performed her role very well and her acting performance was so strong that i think she's earned a spot as a regular on this show.

...but I worry about what Gamble will do once her introductory storyline concludes, because I'm not sure it has a lot of legs.

I mean, once Gamble proves herself that she's a real cop and that she's not a criminal like her other family members are, where does she go?

I also have to question the wisdom of the show deciding to ramp up Gamble's story in episode 2. Illonzeh may be a recurring character who is only being considered for a regular's role but I still figured Gamble's storyline could take up the whole season, and maybe it should.

There's no reason to ramp things up in Episode 2 when we have a full season order of 22 episodes to work with.

I feel like this should have been a midseason finale kind of episode with all the tension it brought to the fore. Then the Sheriff's deputies could have been made into more formidable opponents and the sense of Gamble's "point of no return" would have had more impact.

It could have also opened more narrative possibilities with perhaps a mistake by Gamble making the operation go sideways and make everyone really question where her loyalties lie...and give the Sheriff's deputies a bit more depth since they could at least say to SWAT, "we were right".

Still, I'm intrigued where this could go, despite my reservations. Illonzeh did her job and I think she's earned a spot full-time, which I think may be more important down the road. Hopefully the writers craft more storylines for her that are worthy of her performance.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Hey, that’s Javier from Fantasy Island as Deputy Cesar Torres. Wow, SWAT S08 has all these gorgeous guys as villains — David Fumero, John Gabriel Rodriquez and Gilles Marini in last episode. Sorry Deac, I get distracted! 🤣

It’s good to see Hicks gets some actions too.

Deacon and Dobes, a tale as old as time. Old buddies getting reunited is a much better story than the unretirement nonsense. 

A bunch of dirty cops judging Devin for what her criminal father did. The nerves. I hope “we hate Devin Gamble” campaign will be toned down from now on. Exasperated Devin is as annoying as whiny Chris or arrogant Powell. Overdoing it will blemish the character.