S08.E18: Exploited

[Danielg342]

Quote

When a violent shooting rocks a Los Angeles nightclub, Hondo and 20-Squad are thrust into the dark world of sex trafficking, going head-to-head with a notorious biker club as they race to find a missing girl. Meanwhile, a figure from Alfaro's past resurfaces, raising the question of whether his wounds run too deep for forgiveness, and deputy chief Bennett pushes commander Hicks to the breaking poin

 

[Danielg342]

I could go on the usual screed about how terrible Hollywood is at writing about prostitution in general, because the beats are always the same (the women are exploited and practically prisoners, their customers are self-entitled jerks and their handlers are abusive control freaks).

...but...

I'm not sure that was the worst part about this episode.

I'll be honest, I might have missed writing this review because I fell asleep briefly and my brother woke me up.

Imagine that.

S.W.A.T., the show that's all about action, excitement and "edge of your seat" stuff...was so dull that I felt like taking a nap instead.

The main problem was this episode was a classic case of the writers jamming way too much into one episode and thinking it makes for a "complex" case, when all it created was a mess.

Instead of maybe focusing on one thing- a shady producer recruiting women with promises of movie roles only to force them into prostitution (which is a sad reality) or the team having to race against a vigilante group to rescue a missing woman- they combined both and then added several other things to it that added nothing to the case.

I mean, halfway though the episode, it seemed like the writers forgot the vigilante group even existed.

I guess Tan really had to have that moment with the scared girl, and the show had to do the silly posturing about "finding evidence so they can confront shady producer guy" when knowing shady producer guy was the last one to see the missing woman alive was all the evidence they really needed for a search warrant.

Then there's Hicks...so, is he gone for the rest of the series now?

Also, is Hondo as SWAT Commander really such a bad thing?

I hate to say it, but I'm glad this is wrapping up. It's a mess.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Hey, that’s Damian Powell from FBI International as Kate’s brother.

I almost didn’t recognize Melinda Clarke with black hair.

It’s ridiculous that Tan and Cabrera were able to video chat with Lucy in their normal voice without alerting Bryce’s security personnel.

Come on, Hicks! Why give up so easily? It’s so not you.

[b4pjoe]

I'm guessing Hicks will be back once his superiors find out he furiously resigned instead of taking the faux "promotion" schemed up by the lady that I can't even remember what her name is. Or he pulls off some heroic stunt and they decide they can't go on without him being in charge of SWAT.