S08.08: Left of Boom

[Danielg342]

Via Paramount Press Express:

Quote

Hondo and the SWAT team race to stop a nuclear attack on Los Angeles when radioactive material is stolen from a local lab. Also, Powell delves into Alfaro’s past when he displays a talent for boxing as the department prepares for the annual LAFD “smoker” boxing tournament

 

[Danielg342]

Oh no! There's a hit on someone from 20-Squad! Who will it be?

Tune in...next time! In January, when the series comes back!

Uh...um...

Different Bat time! (Friday, 10PM)

...but...

Same Bat Channel!

*sigh*

Has S.W.A.T. passed into the threshold from "bad S.W.A.T. television" to simply "bad television"?

I mean, I'm not sure this episode plunges to the depths of Season Four's "Crusade" or the ridiculousness of the first six episodes of Season Five...but those episodes failed more in their execution than in their crafting.

This episode...while also failing to execute (obviously), failed in its crafting.

Lazy writing abounded almost everywhere, and this was about as uninspiring a performance as you'll see anywhere on TV, especially by Hollywood standards.

I mean, I'm not sure it's really worth it to get into the nuts and bolts of this episode because I believe this episode exposes the show's gashing wound, the kind of fatal wound that dooms all TV series eventually.

When you get to the point, as you do here, where the show relies on cheap antics to generate drama, rests on contrivances, doesn't develop anything and talks more than it shows, then you have a show that's really just going through the motions.

...and when the writers get so lazy that they feel they can just rely on some kind of "formula" and put in little work to give their episodes any kind of depth at all, that's when you know the show is in trouble.

People like to talk about when shows "jump the shark". I think, after reviewing so many TV shows over the years, it's better to talk about the moments it became clear the shows' writers and producers stopped trying.

Just like the "jumping the shark" moment, the moment "the writers stopped caring" is also difficult to pin down.

Calling it "in the moment" is even more difficult because, as long as the show is still airing, there's always a chance it can bounce back.

However, I do feel pretty confident that, when I look back at S.W.A.T. as a whole, once it's all said and done, I'll look at S8 and think, "this is the moment it all started to really go downhill without any chance of turning back".

There may still be some moments of brilliance later, but I think it's (almost) safe to say the halcyon days of this show are over.

[Snazzy Daisy]

What a frustrating episode!

It’s a fall finale and Deacon is MIA. 😣

Then they leave us with a crazy cliffhanger and we have to wait till Jan 31 to find out whose future hangs in the balance. Hope it isn’t Hondo because it’ll be too cliché.     
 

[Danielg342]

4 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Hope it isn’t Hondo because it’ll be too cliché.     

There'd be no drama either. He's a producer on this show and the main character...unless there's something big we don't know about with Shemar Moore, there's no way Hondo is leaving the series.

[mojoween]

Zoe is SO annoying I’m not saying I’m rooting for it to be her, but I’m not not rooting for that either.  She badgers every single freaking person she talks to.