CooperTV February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Charlie and Payton must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to apprehend a terrorist. Link to comment
ottoDbusdriver February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 (edited) 3 years ago in showtime -- 2 years before Payton's son/Charleston's fiance was killed in Kabul, Charleston Screw is spending 6 months in Afghanistan and was banging Nick Vera near the be-yoot-i-full poppy fields. So when did Charleston Chew have time to date let alone get engaged to then Senator Payton's son ? Especially since Nick was her one twu wuv. And why isn't Charleston's face all scratched up from Nick's facial scruff from their day off in Afghanistan ? How can Jack Dawkins be on site in 20 minutes in a helicopter from a carrier, yet it takes an airstrike 1/2 an hour to get to the target from the same carrier. WTF ? Would they really let Charleston Chew just waltz through security in the White House like that while a stupefied security guard looks on ? And Charleston gets called on trying to protect her fuckbuddy Nick Vera by POTUS in front of the staff in the SitRoom. If Charleston wasn't expected at the SitRoom meeting, why did she suddenly have a seat at the table ? It got a bit ridiculous with Charleston pushing her personal agenda versus getting Hakam/Fatah -- she should be fired for insubordination. Kurt discovers that the Krieg group has back doors into the military satellites, and suddenly get reassigned. Safecracking -- there's an app for that, that Kurt uses to steal documents from Navarro's home before getting nabbed by Sid. If Sid was protecting Fatah for the Krieg Group in Mindanao and working for Charleston Chew, is he playing both sides ? Who is his true allegiance for ? Since when is the White House Correspondent's dinner held at the White House ? And when POTUS leaves, Charleston Chew is put in charge of the mission. Just as the picture leaks to the press that Nick/Charleston were connected to Fatah. Oh, the humanity ! How did Hakam/Fatah know to bolt into the tunnels ? Did the Krieg Group tell them ? Of course they did.Now that Nick has given away the position, how will Charleston Chew manage to screw things up so Nick lives ? Watching Charleston cry in the SitRoom was plain embarrassing -- we didn't see anyone else go all weepy over Nick's death (but come on, he's not dead until we see a body). Not to ask a silly question, but why was no one shooting Nick while he was standing there like an idiot with the radio at the end of his extended arm ? And not to ask another silly question, but that bomb blast missed Nick, so he's probably still alive, and it only hit one of 4 trucks. Why didn't they use a bigger bomb or a Tomahawk from one of the cruisers/destroyers in the carrier group (the carrier group that was painfully absent in the scenes of the USS Reagan -- sorry, but carriers never go anywhere by themselves, they are always escorted). Quick question -- why was Nick using Fatah's walkie-talkie to communicate back to the CIA ? He had a satellite phone -- why didn't he just call them ? Did he forget his charger ? Did he run out of minutes on his rate package ? Since the bombs probably didn't kill anyone (if the Blacklist is any indication of how effective TV airstrikes are </snark>) and Jack Dawkins decided not even bother to land to confirm a proof of death, how long before Hakam, Nick and Fatah show up again ? Kurt gets threatened by Charleston Chew, but pleads that he was working for Navarro -- so was he sending those texts to Charleston Chew as part of the plan to get fired ? I really doubt it. What's even harder to believe is that Charleston Chew was tromping around in those ridiculously inappropriate high heels in the SitRoom and at that safe house -- it's not like she was invited to the White House Correspondent's Dinner ? And it turns out that Fatah pulled a Mandarin from Iron Man 3 -- Hakam was the puppet he created and Fatah was pulling the strings the whole time. Only one problem -- in the real world, Number 2s in organizations like Al-Qaeda or the Taliban are getting whacked every other week. How is Fatah still alive ? And how come none of the vest bombs have gone off somewhere yet -- what are they waiting for ? Plot convenience, because I would expect Fatah will be a little pissed that the US just tried to off him. Edited February 10, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver 3 Link to comment
CooperTV February 10, 2015 Author Share February 10, 2015 (edited) Oh, Nick, no! We haven't seen the body, so we still have hope, I guess? I like the romantic subplot and symbolism of poppy fields, though. Very pretty and surprisingly poignant. POTUS annoyed me, as usual. Everyone else in the White House and their shenanigans was more interesting that this vengeful and gleeful POTUS. The acting CIA director is probably the best. Matthew Lillard is having a blast, I can tell. In the twist that surprised no one, our Kurt is a CIA mole in TKG. And in the twist that surprised Charlie a lot, Al Fatah is a big bad. I mean, you didn't see that coming? Uh... And Nick got blown up as the result. Not fair! Edited February 10, 2015 by CooperTV Link to comment
cali1981 February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 I kind of figured that Kurt was still CIA inserted into TKG to get a handle on their dealings and information sources. Isn't Sid (James Remar) a black ops guy who works for TKG? So because he has a soft spot for Charlie, he kidnaps Kurt for her? Wouldn't that put him in jeopardy courtesy of Victor? I will admit that I did not see Fatah being the #1 man coming and that the alleged Sheik is just a front man (not very durable employment though). Fatah has been playing Nick and Charlie for how many years? Why he must be the smartest man on the face of the planet. And per the tease for next week, Charlie "resigns" from the agency so she wage a one woman operation to find and kill Fatah? I have liked this show but, after last night, I'm so sure about it anymore. 1 Link to comment
ottoDbusdriver February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 And per the tease for next week, Charlie "resigns" from the agency so she wage a one woman operation to find and kill Fatah? I missed the preview, but this sounds even more ridiculous than Charleston Chew tromping through the West Virginia woods looking for escaped terrorists from the previous episode. Is she going to go all Death Wish and exact her revenge on Fatah for getting her one twu wuv killed ? 1 Link to comment
saber5055 February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 (edited) Thanks, Otto, as always, for the recap. I missed most of what was going on because I was busy staring at KH who looked gorgeous in that black turtleneck, and I was trying to see how she did her hair up like that so I could try the same 'do myself. Because of that, I completely missed this: And why isn't Charleston's face all scratched up from Nick's facial scruff from their day off in Afghanistan ? Darn. I usually think about things like that. I'm thinking Nick isn't dead, and maybe escaped on one of those Medivac helicopters. Wait ... wrong show. When I wasn't staring at KH's hair, I was busy comparing the hair/nose of TKG's mole guy. His pointed-front hairdo exactly matched his hawk nose. What was up with that? Meanwhile, I heard a radio interview with Nestor the other night. He's busy filming Bate's Motel so he will have that State of Affairs piece of glass empaled in him for a while. Edited February 10, 2015 by saber5055 Link to comment
Kromm February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 Just when you think this show couldn't get any more ridiculous, we get to a point where in the real world a President would be impeached, and Charleston Chew in jail (or at least publicly fired). Meh. 1 Link to comment
Kromm February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 I will admit that I did not see Fatah being the #1 man coming and that the alleged Sheik is just a front man (not very durable employment though). Fatah has been playing Nick and Charlie for how many years? Why he must be the smartest man on the face of the planet. And per the tease for next week, Charlie "resigns" from the agency so she wage a one woman operation to find and kill Fatah? I have liked this show but, after last night, I'm so sure about it anymore. Don't be ashamed of not seeing it. Because it's a stupid plot. You know, when Do The Charleston was saying "Fatah's been playing us the whole time" I was actually yelling at the set... "no, you dipshit. He's been playing YOU." Every bit of the idea of Fatah being turnable, and then turned came from her. Ergo, every bit of this shit falls on her head. All the dead bodies, all the criminal negligence, all of the well deserved public roasting/embarrassment, maybe all of the jail time (or at least total unemployability) that would follow in a realistic portrayal. And this is supposed to be our protagonist? The purveyor of the worst fuckup in intelligence history since those agencies tipped off about 9/11 dropped the ball. Right. Link to comment
paigow February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 How can Jack Dawkins be on site in 20 minutes in a helicopter from a carrier, yet it takes an airstrike 1/2 an hour to get to the target from the same carrier. WTF ? The pilots flew to Alaska by mistake, watched the jets from OHIO fail to destroy The Blacklist prison, then returned to the Phillipines. 2 Link to comment
saber5055 February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 The pilots flew to Alaska by mistake, watched the jets from OHIO fail to destroy The Blacklist prison, then returned to the Phillipines. Okay, thanks for one of the best laughs I've had for a while. Well done, paigow. 1 Link to comment
roomtorome February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 I now understand. This show is about CC's soap opera love life with a side dish of "state affairs" thrown in. Stupid. Can this possibly be renewed? Oh, and worst POTUS I've seen - at least that I can remember. So unimpressive and ineffectual even when blustering. 1 Link to comment
Netfoot February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 "A man is only as loyal as his options." WTF does that mean? The strike team is 20 minutes out, and the storm will "make landfall" in 45 minutes. Now, since the team can complete it's mission in 2 minutes (if it can't, they should have called the SAS) they could be there and back with 3 minutes to spare. So what's the problem? What possible use could anyone have for sacks of poppy flowers by the truckload? Was it Remembrance Day? Hunh. Not impressed -- I've got the UV-5RA right here! Nick isn't dead. A man who can withstand a blowtorch to the bollocks would scoff at a mere airstrike! 1 Link to comment
ottoDbusdriver February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 What possible use could anyone have for sacks of poppy flowers by the truckload? Was it Remembrance Day? FYI -- those were opium poppies, which are used to make heroin. Link to comment
Netfoot February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 FYI -- those were opium poppies, which are used to make heroin. But you don't make opium from the flowers. You wait until the petals fall off, by which time a bulb-like seed pod has formed. These pods are slitted or scored while still on the plant, so the sap or 'milk' seeps out. This sap when it drys and is scraped from the pod, is raw opium. The last thing you want to do is pick the flowers, because this prevents the pod from developing. So, I don't know what the truckload of poppy flowers was for, but it wasn't the production of opium! Link to comment
ottoDbusdriver February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 But you don't make opium from the flowers. You wait until the petals fall off, by which time a bulb-like seed pod has formed. These pods are slitted or scored while still on the plant, so the sap or 'milk' seeps out. This sap when it drys and is scraped from the pod, is raw opium. The last thing you want to do is pick the flowers, because this prevents the pod from developing.So, I don't know what the truckload of poppy flowers was for, but it wasn't the production of opium! Good point -- forgot about that. Link to comment
Dowel Jones February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 Nick is such a tool. If I had been there, I would have provoked an argument with one the fighters, and said "You think I'm a plant? Well, you carry the satellite phone for a while. See if anybody calls." Link to comment
SunnyBeBe February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 If Hakam and Fatah are one and the same person, then why did Nick call and report that Hakam had arrived? I don't get it. Link to comment
ottoDbusdriver February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 If Hakam and Fatah are one and the same person, then why did Nick call and report that Hakam had arrived? I don't get it. Nick didn't know that Hakam was a puppet front for Fatah and that Fatah was the real mastermind behind Ar Rissalah -- Charleston Chew only figured it out after talking to Kurt well after Nick was 'supposedly' blown up real good. </FarmFilmReport> Link to comment
saber5055 February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 (edited) But you don't make opium from the flowers. You wait until the petals fall off, by which time a bulb-like seed pod has formed. What? You are letting logic and reality color your opinion of this show? Obviously, this episode was written by the same guys who based the entire plot of the X Files movie on their (mistaken) "fact" that bees pollinate field corn. (Corn is self-pollinating.) You do know way too much about how to make opium, Netfoot. Perhaps they were taking those poppy flowers to give to the Shriners to sell on highway intersections to benefit veterans. I don't have a clue why the bad guys, who knew Nick was a plant, would let him call in an air strike when Nick is right there with them. Edited February 11, 2015 by saber5055 1 Link to comment
CooperTV February 11, 2015 Author Share February 11, 2015 I don't have a clue why the bad guys, who knew Nick was a plant, would let him call in an air strike when Nick is right there with them. I think Al Fatah was going into hiding, and decided to blow up the decoy using the US forces. Not a bad plan. He didn't think Charlie would find out the truth. Link to comment
Kromm February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 What possible use could anyone have for sacks of poppy flowers by the truckload? Was it Remembrance Day? I trust you're being sarcastic, 'cause poppies are fairly famous for one specific purpose other than that. Or maybe two, if you count garnering and drying the seeds for baking. Oh I know! Those guys growing that field of them were gonna start a bagel business! Link to comment
william0102 February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 (edited) What I don't get is why Charlie was so pissed at the end.As far as she knows, Hakim and Fattah are dead, so why was she so angry and acting like she had a new mission? Half of this episode was a love note to Nick, and we know he's alive, so waste of half an episode in my mind. I could understand if she was crying and upset (because she thinks now there's two men she cares about that are dead), but it was like whoever directed it knew what was going to happen in the next episode and wanted it so that Charlie was going to be pissed and looking for revenge (again).So Fattah is going to have saved Nick, Nick will think that he can't go back because he killed a US soldier, so he follows Fattah around and is slowly turned. That would be interesting right? Can they do that please? I really don't want to see some team up between Jack Dawkins and Daddy Morgan aka another plant in TKG, go in and save Nick, only to have Fattah escape. Yes, I know for some reason she has gone out to shoot the hell out of somebody in the next episode, but again whyyyyy because it already seems like she knows Fattah escaped the strike.I could care less about all the politics. President Peyton is boring and I hate her right hand dude, and her husband. Edited February 11, 2015 by william0102 1 Link to comment
mandigirl February 12, 2015 Share February 12, 2015 Quick question -- why was Nick using Fatah's walkie-talkie to communicate back to the CIA ? He had a satellite phone -- why didn't he just call them ? I don't think he had time to get his sat phone before the group began running into the tunnels. If he had stayed, or gone back, it would have brought more attention to him. Given that Fatah gave him the walkie-talkie, I'm pretty certain whatever frequency it was giving out was some distance from where Nick, Fatah and the rest of the group actually was. You know, when Do The Charleston was saying "Fatah's been playing us the whole time" I was actually yelling at the set... "no, you dipshit. He's been playing YOU. HAHA! That's what I was yelling at the tv too!! I don't blame her for not knowing that he was playing them-- because, he really put on a show-- but the fact that she never even SUSPECTED that Hakam, with no known photographs of him or background whatsoever, might just be a front for someone in Ar Rissalah (including Fatah) is just crazy. So when did Charleston Chew have time to date let alone get engaged to then Senator Payton's son ? Especially since Nick was her one twu wuv. Without more explanation, this seems to have been really ret-conned. Charlie didn't even seem to like Nick at the beginning of the series and she certainly wasn't happy to see him initially. Now we get this backstory that they were in love or at the very least exploring a serious relationship together. She tried to pull a gun on him when he showed up in the pilot! Link to comment
Kromm February 12, 2015 Share February 12, 2015 What I don't get is why Charlie was so pissed at the end. As far as she knows, Hakim and Fattah are dead, so why was she so angry and acting like she had a new mission? She knows that Fatah was leading Nick around, ergo it was a setup. Fatah is not suicidal, therefore he had an escape plan. The only thing she's really assuming is that Nick is dead (where in fact, he could very much be alive--the easiest plan to fool the Americans would be some kind of repeater or cloning device on the phone we saw Fatah give Nick, so that the signal the planes were tracking were in the wrong place. Leading the Americans to carpet bomb a spot a mile away, for example, then they declare they've killed the mean terrorist, then Fatah totally embarrasses them the day after by popping up (or rather, having his sock puppet fake leader pop up if Fatah himself was declared to be some dead hero turncoat who'd been helping the US, the day after the US crows about killing them). Him keeping Nick alive would then make even MORE sense, because then he'd keep leverage on Charleston The Idiot for even longer. Link to comment
Netfoot February 12, 2015 Share February 12, 2015 I trust you're being sarcastic, 'cause poppies are fairly famous for one specific purpose other than that. But (as discussed above) opium is not actually made from poppy flowers... So, it's most likely they were going to use the poppy flowers to decorate a church for someone's wedding. Or to make garlands for everyone to wear on their brow, as they danced around with their AK-74's. 1 Link to comment
Kromm February 12, 2015 Share February 12, 2015 But (as discussed above) opium is not actually made from poppy flowers... So, it's most likely they were going to use the poppy flowers to decorate a church for someone's wedding. Or to make garlands for everyone to wear on their brow, as they danced around with their AK-74's. Yeah, but that's kind of the point. The hauling away of the flowers is on one level network writer stupidity, but it can also be construed easily, inside the show, as a ruse. They're not growing and guarding with guns a poppy field to decorate a church. They'd be taking the flowers away in one truck, and later I suppose the seed pods in another. Link to comment
Netfoot February 12, 2015 Share February 12, 2015 Yeah, but that's kind of the point. The hauling away of the flowers is on one level network writer stupidity, but it can also be construed easily, inside the show, as a ruse. They're not growing and guarding with guns a poppy field to decorate a church. They'd be taking the flowers away in one truck, and later I suppose the seed pods in another. The only explanation is network writer stupidity. The seed pods form when the flowers die/mature, so you don't cut the flowers, because if you truck the flowers away, there are not going to be seed pods to harvest later. And you don't cut the pods down to extract the opium -- it is extracted from the pods while they remain attached to the living, growing poppy plant. The comment about decorating the church was supposed to be comic farce. Link to comment
saber5055 February 12, 2015 Share February 12, 2015 The hauling away of the flowers is on one level network writer stupidity, but it can also be construed easily, inside the show, as a ruse. I vote writer stupidity. And since I'm from Chicago (Home of: "Vote, and vote often"), I vote twice for writer stupidity. 2 Link to comment
Texasmom1970 February 15, 2015 Share February 15, 2015 How can Jack Dawkins be on site in 20 minutes in a helicopter from a carrier, yet it takes an airstrike 1/2 an hour to get to the target from the same carr the table ? Because Jack is awesome like that 1 Link to comment
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