S03.E14: Death Trap

[Danielg342]

Quote

The station 42 crew responds to a wellness check at the home of a hoarder that escalates into a full-blown house fire, and Vince and Sharon are forced to face the reality of his father's ballooning cognitive troubles

 

Edited March 8 by Danielg342

[Danielg342]

"Is that the light at the end of the tunnel or is that the light of an oncoming train?"

Before I go on, I do actually think this was an enjoyable hour that mostly kept my attention. It was nice to see Jake and Violet and Bode and Audrey blossom and Gabriella maybe has a new partner in Finn.

I also have to say that the show is playing all the right beats in the tragedy of Walter Leone. Man, is Walter's decline just absolutely heartbreaking. There's no other way to describe it.

...but...

This episode seemed to set up some potentially perilous storylines for Bode/Audrey and for Manny, and I'm not sure it's just those characters who will feel the peril but the show too.

For one, I doubt Manny is going to die, but the show seems to want us to think that. Even then, I'm not sure it's a great narrative choice- a death for Manny in this way feels random and sudden, and it would feel very cheap. Not a worthy end for a character who has been integral to the show from the start.

The bigger problem is Bode and Audrey and those drugs. I have to question Bode's wisdom for carrying the drugs on him as a way of making sure he doesn't relapse. It's kind of like a recovering alcoholic who keeps a bottle of wine on their desk without ever opening it- being so close to the source of the temptation is not going to make you resist the urge to give in to the temptation. It's just going to be a constant trigger to get you to give in to the temptation once more, because your brain sees what is being tempted with all the time.

Now, maybe I'm wrong and this will all work out...but the show laid the prospect of a relapse heavily for both Bode and Audrey, so I have my concerns.

In principle, a relapse storyline may not be a bad thing. Anyone battling addiction knows relapses are possible and many who try to break from addictions will suffer a relapse. There's nothing wrong with that.

...but...

This is a show that has already torpedoed Bode with him making a terrible decision before. A show whose writers derailed their positive momentum previously with a completely imbecilic storyline choice.

So, while a relapse storyline can be great in the right hands, do I trust that the writers are great enough to write a relapse storyline that doesn't derail its characters and doesn't send this show down the path of a recycled storyline that it had already tried- and failed at- before?

(Oh, and Audrey relapsing instead of Bode doesn't mean the show has learned from its mistakes...it just means they're transferring them to another character)

What this all means is that, with eight episodes (I presume) to go, the show is now at a crossroads. One where the writers have to decide if they're actually capable of writing newer, engaging stories with its characters that charts new territories for them or if they're just an also-ran production so bereft of ideas that the only storylines they have are the ones they constantly recycle.

We will see.

[possibilities]

So... what is going on at 3 Rock? Is someone poisoning them one by one? Maybe the guard? 

Is the sister of Birch going to sue them? Is Eve going to be in trouble/take the fall for whatever bad thing is happening?

Or did the sister take a bribe to keep quiet about whatever is being covered up?

---

I was annoyed that Bode and Audrey were talking disparagingly about the person and her house during the rescue, before they found her. If she had overheard them she would be less likely to speak up or want to be found, since they were being very disrespectful of her. And it's just hurtful and rude, in any case. Talk about it later, when she's not in earshot.

And then, once they did find her, I was annoyed that they were just standing there in the flames. I realize it was a tough situation, but they should be trained in what to do with a freaked out person who is non-compliant with a rescue, and I'm sure "just stand there and burn up with them" is not the protocol.

---

Walter's story is heartbreaking. And yes-- good care is outrageously expensive.

A friend of mine had a stroke that wiped out her short term memory. She had long term memory, and recognized people she knew, and remembered her past. But she was completely forgetful of things that happened a few minutes ago, including that she had had a stroke that paralyzed half of her body.

She wound up in a nursing home where they left her in bed 24/7, with literally nothing to do. She was driving her roommate crazy because every few minutes she would forget where she was and ask: where am I? What am I doing here?

So they put her in a wheelchair and parked her in the hall alone all day.

When her roommate died, the roommate's family gave my friend the [deceased] roommate's TV. That's how little she had to do-- not even a tv until her dead roommate's family gave her theirs. And this was the place people said was the better of the options at the time!

To get her into this hellhole, Medicaid tried to take her house-- which her husband was still living in. Finally, after they proved he was still there, they allowed him to stay, and they would only take the house after he died or went into care himself.

I called her a lot while she was in this place, and she would be happy to talk on the phone. Friends would also visit her as often as they could. We would talk about the past, and common interests like gardening.

But then she got COVID while there (in 2024) and died. 

So, yes, unless you have a lot of money, it is really, really tough.

[Madding crowd]

Jeff Fahey doesn’t look old enough to me to be Vince’s dad. In real life he is 72 and Billy is 58. So he could have been a dad at 14 but then he wouldn’t have been a stern firefighter throughout Vince’s childhood. I think the mystery of who/what is causing the men to get sick is at least new and interesting.

I’m not sure I could date someone who carjacked a car with a toddler inside then just got high while the scared baby cried for his parents. I know she’s sober now but that story is just too much. It is sad there aren’t good answers for people with dementia. 

[DanaK]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

So... what is going on at 3 Rock? Is someone poisoning them one by one? Maybe the guard? 

Is the sister of Birch going to sue them? Is Eve going to be in trouble/take the fall for whatever bad thing is happening?

Or did the sister take a bribe to keep quiet about whatever is being covered up?

---

I was annoyed that Bode and Audrey were talking disparagingly about the person and her house during the rescue, before they found her. If she had overheard them she would be less likely to speak up or want to be found, since they were being very disrespectful of her. And it's just hurtful and rude, in any case. Talk about it later, when she's not in earshot.

And then, once they did find her, I was annoyed that they were just standing there in the flames. I realize it was a tough situation, but they should be trained in what to do with a freaked out person who is non-compliant with a rescue, and I'm sure "just stand there and burn up with them" is not the protocol.

---

Walter's story is heartbreaking. And yes-- good care is outrageously expensive.

A friend of mine had a stroke that wiped out her short term memory. She had long term memory, and recognized people she knew, and remembered her past. But she was completely forgetful of things that happened a few minutes ago, including that she had had a stroke that paralyzed half of her body.

She wound up in a nursing home where they left her in bed 24/7, with literally nothing to do. She was driving her roommate crazy because every few minutes she would forget where she was and ask: where am I? What am I doing here?

So they put her in a wheelchair and parked her in the hall alone all day.

When her roommate died, the roommate's family gave my friend the [deceased] roommate's TV. That's how little she had to do-- not even a tv until her dead roommate's family gave her theirs. And this was the place people said was the better of the options at the time!

To get her into this hellhole, Medicaid tried to take her house-- which her husband was still living in. Finally, after they proved he was still there, they allowed him to stay, and they would only take the house after he died or went into care himself.

I called her a lot while she was in this place, and she would be happy to talk on the phone. Friends would also visit her as often as they could. We would talk about the past, and common interests like gardening.

But then she got COVID while there (in 2024) and died. 

So, yes, unless you have a lot of money, it is really, really tough.

My dad had dementia about the last 6 years of his life and my mom had battled on and off with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for several years before then so her physical health was not good. They wanted to stay independent but we finally got them into assisted living after some health emergencies. The assisted living was expensive though it was a small place in a small town so better priced than most, but still around $5000 a month. After mom passed, we had to move him to a more expensive private facility with a memory care unit because the AS place could no longer handle him since they didn't have a memory care unit and we didn't want to put him in a VA facility (which wouldn't have cost much if anything) because my brother felt it was basically a nursing home and didn't want that for him. He only lasted weeks though as he went downhill real fast after mom died. So Walter's story is familiar to me and heartbreaking

10 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

"Is that the light at the end of the tunnel or is that the light of an oncoming train?"

Before I go on, I do actually think this was an enjoyable hour that mostly kept my attention. It was nice to see Jake and Violet and Bode and Audrey blossom and Gabriella maybe has a new partner in Finn.

I also have to say that the show is playing all the right beats in the tragedy of Walter Leone. Man, is Walter's decline just absolutely heartbreaking. There's no other way to describe it.

...but...

This episode seemed to set up some potentially perilous storylines for Bode/Audrey and for Manny, and I'm not sure it's just those characters who will feel the peril but the show too.

For one, I doubt Manny is going to die, but the show seems to want us to think that. Even then, I'm not sure it's a great narrative choice- a death for Manny in this way feels random and sudden, and it would feel very cheap. Not a worthy end for a character who has been integral to the show from the start.

The bigger problem is Bode and Audrey and those drugs. I have to question Bode's wisdom for carrying the drugs on him as a way of making sure he doesn't relapse. It's kind of like a recovering alcoholic who keeps a bottle of wine on their desk without ever opening it- being so close to the source of the temptation is not going to make you resist the urge to give in to the temptation. It's just going to be a constant trigger to get you to give in to the temptation once more, because your brain sees what is being tempted with all the time.

Now, maybe I'm wrong and this will all work out...but the show laid the prospect of a relapse heavily for both Bode and Audrey, so I have my concerns.

In principle, a relapse storyline may not be a bad thing. Anyone battling addiction knows relapses are possible and many who try to break from addictions will suffer a relapse. There's nothing wrong with that.

...but...

This is a show that has already torpedoed Bode with him making a terrible decision before. A show whose writers derailed their positive momentum previously with a completely imbecilic storyline choice.

So, while a relapse storyline can be great in the right hands, do I trust that the writers are great enough to write a relapse storyline that doesn't derail its characters and doesn't send this show down the path of a recycled storyline that it had already tried- and failed at- before?

(Oh, and Audrey relapsing instead of Bode doesn't mean the show has learned from its mistakes...it just means they're transferring them to another character)

What this all means is that, with eight episodes (I presume) to go, the show is now at a crossroads. One where the writers have to decide if they're actually capable of writing newer, engaging stories with its characters that charts new territories for them or if they're just an also-ran production so bereft of ideas that the only storylines they have are the ones they constantly recycle.

We will see.

Again some really good character stuff, though only one fire/rescue I think

[Dowel Jones]

Hey, Finn.  Did you maybe think about trying the front door, as Bode did, before climbing up on a rickety box on top of a shed to try and pry open the window.  You were lucky the stuntman knew what he was doing in that fall (snark).

12 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I have to question Bode's wisdom for carrying the drugs on him as a way of making sure he doesn't relapse.

Not to mention if he gets pulled over for so much as a traffic stop and the cop looks at his record, a quick search reveals some contraband and he is going down for possession, puppy dog eyes and a lame excuse notwithstanding.

I can understand Eve's concern over the first inmate death but stay in your lane.  You're a fire captain only.  You're not Severide and you don't do investigations.  That's CDCR's responsibility.  The writers are making her way too involved with the crew.

[The Wild Sow]

Anyone else disappointed that they didn't find Gordon's body somewhere in the hoarder's house?  Of course, they probably haven't gone through the whole house yet!

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Did you maybe think about trying the front door, as Bode did, before climbing up on a rickety box on top of a shed to try and pry open the window.

Hilarious. The contrivances of TV.