APB - General Discussion

[Primetimer]

If you've found yourself thinking, 'Man, there's not enough fascism on my TV these days,' brother, have we got the show for you.

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[EAG46]

Bless you Philip for taking on this show, or at least its pilot episode. I'll watch with you if you need fellow liberal backup.

[mspaul]

Plus, if this tanks, maybe they'll bring back Lucifer sooner than May!

Edited February 3, 2017 by mspaul

[Iseut]

Aww, Justin Kirk. I've crushed on you since Angels in America. Unfortunately, everything I've seen you in since is...not good.

[Blue Castle]

Thank you for this review. Every time I see the commercials for this show I become enraged and you articulated all the issues of its crap premise perfectly.

[MrSmith]

Well, I'm planning to check this out, but I can still sort reality from fantasy. Plus, dystopian stories and worlds can be fun. Of course, usually life isn't imitating art quite as closely as it seems it will do for the next four years. From what I've seen of the previews of this show, this is definitely not how things should be done. Though, the app for reporting crime is really the thing that interests me the most and, to my mind, would be likely to help close the gap inherent in "Us vs. Them" - thereby helping to change it to "We". And to me it looks like the show intends to kit the cops out with more non-lethal means of stopping "the bad guys" and that's something the real world would surely benefit from.

[candall]

I liked it well enough, and oddly, I disagree that this means I have "a lot to answer for."

I thought it was rather creative to imagine what might be achieved if these financial moguls got their jollies plugging holes where the government has fallen short, rather than funneling millions--billions--of dollars into securing political office for anyone who will promote the donor's agenda and bottom line. With the Koch money from one television ad, far fewer kids in the downtown St. Louis public school system would have to schedule which days it's their turn to take home the textbook. How nice if the whole country hadn't been gerrymandered to hell and back and legal aid attorneys didn't have to buy their own ball point pens, instead.

But, not cool, because the beneficiaries in this show are cops . . . natural enemy of the citizenry? Do you think, if that non-lethal gun technology depicted in the show were actually available, the prevailing attitude among police officers would be "Nope! Dirt baths for dirt bags"?

As a leftie about two clicks from the bloodiest heart end of the spectrum, I think it's ironic that refusal to recognize the possibility of dissent is a hallmark of the fascism and authoritarianism referenced in the recap, yet anyone who endorses, or even WATCHES, a television show the reviewer finds personally abhorrent is somehow vaguely tantamount to being a Nazi sympathizer.

Broad strokes there, friend. Very broad strokes.

[MrSmith]

My wife and I thought the first episode was very good. The writing is pretty good and there were some very funny parts. The acting is pretty good, too, and it's nice to see Natalie Martinez again. I'm not sure where the author of this article gets all the "fascism" from because I didn't get any of that from actually watching the show. In fact, it's not even a dystopian world. The tech is only mildly futuristic and some of it would be a definite improvement over what we have now. The super-powered tasers and improved body armor definitely would be. (When it comes to the tasers, this assumes they wouldn't end up killing people by causing a cardiac arrhythmia.) Just that it would be nice if the police had something that was non-lethal with that kind of stopping power, because that could be their primary weapon rather than a standard firearm.

I also liked the idea of the APB app. A faster, more accurate way to communicate with the police when you need them would be nice. It might actually reduce the "us vs. them" problem we have in the real world right now.

I was a little disappointed that they caught the guy that murdered the main character's friend so quick. I was hoping this would take two or three episodes because that would let them develop the characters a little more before we got that pay-off. The show also did a bad job of indicating the passage of time (days, specifically) and they had to resort to dialogue to tell the audience that a day had passed.

Overall, it's a fun, enjoyable, well-written (better than average, anyway), and well-acted show with enough funny and light-hearted moments to counter-balance what could otherwise be a very dark show.

[walnutqueen]

I'm glad I didn't read this review before I watched the show.  In fact, Phillip Michaels makes me glad I rarely read reviews, and I'll certainly be avoiding his from now on.  Sneer all you want at the show, but dissing the viewers like that?  So not cool, man.

Bleeding heart liberal here, too, and I didn't hate this show.  I'm going to watch again.  Neener, neener.

[MrSmith]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

I'm glad I didn't read this review before I watched the show.  In fact, Phillip Michaels makes me glad I rarely read reviews, and I'll certainly be avoiding his from now on.  Sneer all you want at the show, but dissing the viewers like that?  So not cool, man.

Bleeding heart liberal here, too, and I didn't hate this show.  I'm going to watch again.  Neener, neener.

Agreed. I was trying to think of how to word my ... irritation (yeah, we'll go with that) ... at the condescension and arrogance toward - and disrespect for - the reader that was on display in the review. I just could never think of something that was printable. So, thanks for that, @walnutqueen.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I liked some things a lot.  Less lethal and very powerful tazers were cool.   Modified Cadillac police cars?  Better than the NCIS Charger!  It's Knight Rider II, y'all.  The ridiculously multi-faceted drones were awesome, but, as I said, ridiculous.  The APP is a decent enough idea.  An easy work around for a gang would be to send in a bunch of false reports well away from their true target area.  The real issue, in the end, is the lack of manpower.

The moment I absolutely hated was after Murph brought down a skel :) and moved her hand over as if she needed to activate her microphone.  Everything is heard as it is!  We just had that particular piece of exposition as to the new comm system.  Just turrible.

The other main issue for me was the very real problem the Mayor presented:  All the other precincts were aligned against them.  Yet, we had pursuits across those lines several times.  More than one of those commanders would have seen to it that those chases were shutdown.  Then there would have been some hellacious fights amongst the cops over jurisdiction for the arrests.  Never mind all of it would be digitally captured.  This was clearly Chicago a la da Mayor Daley the Elder.  Territorial LOYALTIES across every aspect of government were literally everything.  This guy and that precinct would be shut down mercilessly, or da Mayor would be brought down trying - citizens be damned.  

I'm not sure the lead actor is up for this role.  He seemed unreal or even altered.  Perhaps this was intentional in portraying a tech inventor.  Martinez was aight as Murph.  But, come on!  Cal Tech grad in that job?  In that city.  In that department???  The lead male cop?  Way too much the pretty boy and waaaaaay too cookie cutter "tough guy, not tough guy."  If he turns out to be a genuine weasel working with da mayor to sabotage Reaves?  That would work very, very, well.  I do want to see more of the female assistant to Reaves.  That character has some real possibilities.

Ambitious effort which opens up real time, real world, crime and enforcement questions.  If they go after these with some nuance and get away from the heavy-handed mayor/Reaves conflict, this could be a great show.

[HerkyJerky]

This show wasn't bad.  It held my interest (plus the actress who plays Ada is gorgeous!)  I remember Justin Kirk from Jack & Jill.  Does anybody else remember that show from back in the day?

[Accidental Martyr]

The return of Sheriff Linda! Good to see she's still working in law enforcement.  ?

1 hour ago, HerkyJerky said:

This show wasn't bad.  It held my interest (plus the actress who plays Ada is gorgeous!)  I remember Justin Kirk from Jack & Jill.  Does anybody else remember that show from back in the day?

I was just thinking about that show the other day. Weird.

[ParadoxLost]

I was a little disappointed, I wanted to like the show more than I did.

I think its worth a few episodes to see if it settles in.  I hope it doesn't follow too closely a procedural format because I don't think I can sit through too much repetitiveness with cops answering APB app calls while Gideon tags along on the drone.

Gideon is also distracting to me because of how much he reminds me of Damien Lewis and he's playing a character that is basically Tony Stark without the Iron Man suit. 

OK.  Now I've gone and read the episode review.  I'm having flashbacks to when (in another place) posters are warned about certain behavior and then reviewers blatantly disregard.  Not cool.

Edited February 9, 2017 by ParadoxLost

[MrSmith]

13 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I liked some things a lot.  Less lethal and very powerful tazers were cool.   Modified Cadillac police cars?  Better than the NCIS Charger!  It's Knight Rider II, y'all.  The ridiculously multi-faceted drones were awesome, but, as I said, ridiculous.  The APP is a decent enough idea.  An easy work around for a gang would be to send in a bunch of false reports well away from their true target area.  The real issue, in the end, is the lack of manpower.

The moment I absolutely hated was after Murph brought down a skel :) and moved her hand over as if she needed to activate her microphone.  Everything is heard as it is!  We just had that particular piece of exposition as to the new comm system.  Just turrible.

The other main issue for me was the very real problem the Mayor presented:  All the other precincts were aligned against them.  Yet, we had pursuits across those lines several times.  More than one of those commanders would have seen to it that those chases were shutdown.  Then there would have been some hellacious fights amongst the cops over jurisdiction for the arrests.  Never mind all of it would be digitally captured.  This was clearly Chicago a la da Mayor Daley the Elder.  Territorial LOYALTIES across every aspect of government were literally everything.  This guy and that precinct would be shut down mercilessly, or da Mayor would be brought down trying - citizens be damned.  

I'm not sure the lead actor is up for this role.  He seemed unreal or even altered.  Perhaps this was intentional in portraying a tech inventor.  Martinez was aight as Murph.  But, come on!  Cal Tech grad in that job?  In that city.  In that department???  The lead male cop?  Way too much the pretty boy and waaaaaay too cookie cutter "tough guy, not tough guy."  If he turns out to be a genuine weasel working with da mayor to sabotage Reaves?  That would work very, very, well.  I do want to see more of the female assistant to Reaves.  That character has some real possibilities.

Ambitious effort which opens up real time, real world, crime and enforcement questions.  If they go after these with some nuance and get away from the heavy-handed mayor/Reaves conflict, this could be a great show.

See? That's what's neat about the APB app idea. I hadn't yet considered how it could exploited and you come along and you're like "Yeah, here's a weakness". SO. MUCH. FUN! I enjoy these kinds of discussions. When I have time, I'll have to think about how you would correct for that without simply throwing more police officers at the problem.

As for Murphy trying to activate her microphone, ever hear of muscle memory? That's something that would become in-grained very quickly since you'd be doing it many, many times every day. Since she's not a rookie, then I figure it's safe to surmise she's been doing the job for at least two years (and probably more given her knowledge of the beat and its inhabiting miscreants). As far as I'm concerned, details like that make it more realistic - not less - and she should continue to reach for her radio for some time to come.

I didn't see anything that indicated they were crossing precinct boundaries. The only thing they showed that indicated any of this went beyond Precinct 13 was the app downloads at the end of the episode. They never involved police from other precincts, except when the mayor sent two uniforms to collect Reeves. Now, if you're relying on real world knowledge of precinct boundaries in Chicago and if the show ignored them to fit its narrative, then that's a personal problem. No one that isn't intimately familiar with real world Chicago precinct boundaries is going to know the show is ignoring them, and the writers aren't having their characters violating precinct boundaries because - according to what's been shown and discussed - the officers of Precinct 13 are operating within their precinct. And if the writers are ignoring the real world Chicago precinct boundaries, so what? Does anyone really think this is the first show to do that?

As for Murphy being a Cal Tech graduate and being a police officer in Chicago, the only thing I can say is that life takes strange turns sometimes. There are myriad reasons that could happen in real life. For now, I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt and see what they do with her backstory. As for the lead actor (Justin whats-his-name), I'm not sure what you mean by him seeming "altered". I thought he did a good job with the part as an engineer who owns several companies and gets over-excited about the newest technological thing he/his companies has/have created and who's excited about the possibilities for helping the police in his precinct work smarter and be more effective, efficient, and safer.

Overall, I'm looking forward to what they do with this show in the future and I'm excited to see how it develops.

[Racj82]

why couldn't just have given me a live action version of this?

The show wasn't bad though. Just very disposable tv. With so many shows going on these days, your at least for me needs to feel like I need to see it. I don't do background noise, catch it when I catch it type shows anymore. Too much great stuff out there.

[janeta]

Where has this forum been??  Have been looking for it for days...

 

Anyway, the beginning was a total ripoff of the beginning of Iron Man.  I loved it. :-)

I was wondering why all the panic about the rookie being shot--wasn't he wearing the souped up body armor?  Everybody acted like he'd died.  (I assume he didn't die...) And when Reeves was flying around drawing the Bad Guy's fire out the window, all I could think was, "Wait! There are trains running behind the drone--! Clear your backstop!"

Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool and will be watching (assuming it comes back).

Edited February 9, 2017 by janeta

[zxy556575]

I enjoyed it but yeah, a little on the disposable side. I liked that Gideon had a personal/emotional motivation and not just his ego or simple tech nerdiness. Murphy strikes me as being a little young to be the all-knowing vet, but I can let that go as long as she doesn't start Mary Sue'ing it up on the regular.

This was a lot more fun for me than the new 24 show.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

@MrSmith   Thanks for the great post!

I saw Reaves as severely distracted and scattered and his emotions were at times as if he were living on a multi-second delay, as if his life were talk radio.  Spectrum?  Altered?  Something.  I doubt that was intended to the degree I perceived such.  That doesn't make my perception correct!

Given the incredibly important plot point as to boundaries, it was ridiculous that we saw no example of it.  Criss-crossing the Chicago River is/was a dead giveaway, as crossing a river would be in almost any city.  Clearly a YMMV, and I am fine with that.  Except, again, the crucial nature of the territorial divide on this specific show.

I thought about Murph's muscle memory taking over.  Then I remembered how the show made it a point to show us how quickly she had taken to the new technology (more quickly than the boy toy lead male cop)- like the proverbial duck to water.  The Cal Tech grad!  Then, they dumbed her down by doing this.  This is supposed to be a smart show about a smart set of protagonists.  Again, YMMV.  No worries.

I hope we can have many more opportunities to share our observations!!!!!

[Lonesome Rhodes]

It appears the show enjoyed a solid debut in the ratings.  

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/okay-numbers-foxs-new-monday-lineup/

[TDT]

Hmm this show is like Robocop w/o the title character..kind of a coincidence that Natalie Martinez's character's name is Murphy LOL

I don't know if there are any online gamers on here,but when i first heard the title i thought Fox was going to do a live-action series adaptation of the free-to-play game called APB Reloaded,which essentially is a Grand Theft Auto Online knockoff..wonder if the game's developers want to do a cross-promotion of sorts with Fox ;)

Edited February 10, 2017 by TDT

[MrSmith]

@Lonesome Rhodes You make a good point about the importance of the boundaries of Precinct 13. As for a river being a natural boundary between precincts, I've never actually given it much thought before now. So, that had not occurred to me. And you are right that they've done a very poor job of defining the boundaries of Precinct 13. I may have to pay more attention to this in future episodes and see how they handle it. Even if they continue to do it poorly, I'll probably forgive them for it because I enjoyed the rest of the first episode quite a lot. We'll see, though, because new shows are always on probation for the first three episodes; this includes shows which change a lot between seasons, a la Sleepy Hollow (which has since been kicked from my TiVO).

As for Murphy and her muscle memory, I'm still going to go with her muscle memory taking over. I just know how hard it can be to override that, even when you know on an intellectual level that doing that is no longer necessary.

And I'm still disappointed that they solved his friend's murder in the first episode. I was really expecting that to be a story arc for at least the first half of the season, if not the entire first season. It would have given them latitude to show further dissension amongst the officers in Precinct 13 and afforded additional opportunities for this conflict with the mayor. I feel like the lead male cop is going to somehow double-cross Reeves (Reaves?), but I also feel like they haven't done enough character building with him yet for us to be certain that's coming, understand why (the character's motivations), or even care that he double-crosses Reeves. We'll see what they do, of course, but I'm borderline pessimistic here.

@TDT I caught that reference/similarity immediately. In this case, it's supposed to be her first name, which doesn't really add up - especially since officers are usually referred to by their last names.

[MrSmith]

14 hours ago, janeta said:

Where has this forum been??  Have been looking for it for days...

 

Anyway, the beginning was a total ripoff of the beginning of Iron Man.  I loved it. :-)

I was wondering why all the panic about the rookie being shot--wasn't he wearing the souped up body armor?  Everybody acted like he'd died.  (I assume he didn't die...) And when Reeves was flying around drawing the Bad Guy's fire out the window, all I could think was, "Wait! There are trains running behind the drone--! Clear your backstop!"

Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool and will be watching (assuming it comes back).

Yeah, they were pretty slow in creating this forum.

I was also wondering why everyone was so up-in-arms over the rookie being shot. My wife and I both thought he should be mostly ok since he either would have been hit in the body armor or the shoulder (and opposite his heart). Besides, it wasn't really Reeves' fault that he got shot. If those cops had been chasing a suspect into that building without Reeves' involvement, that rookie would have done the same thing and still got shot. As for clearing his backstop, maybe they'll make a point of this later (like, he fails to clear it again and someone gets hurt).

[thuganomics85]

I just realized they finally put up a forum.

It wasn't great, but it was better then I expected.  Enjoyed Justin Kirk as Gideon.  He tends to play smarmy characters, but it works for this one.  Fun seeing Natalie Martinez playing a smarter cop compared to Poor Dumb Deputy Linda on Under the Dome (oh, Linda.  You might have been the stupidest character on that show, and that is saying something.)  Gideon's intern was decent.  Ernie Hudson.... stood around a lot.  But, hey, Kevin Chapman!  Too bad he's only a guest.  I miss Fusco.

I certainly can see why the idea of a billionaire buying police force could be eye-raising in real life, and there is a very slippery slope there. But since this is just TV, I don't mind seeing how it plays out, and I don't think it's automatically be shown as a good thing.  I think the episode already showed some of the downsides and questions that will go along with it, so I'll give it a chance.

Only thing I wasn't wild about was the whole evil mayor thing and him wanting to bring down Gideon.  Can't Nestor Serrano ever play an upstanding citizen?

We'll see where it goes.  If nothing else, I saw that Matt Nix created it and I enjoyed Burn Notice.

[Goatherd]

I can't help comparing this show to Pure Genius -- same idea, different industry. I'll give this one a chance, but so far I like Pure Genius better, and even that one is on thin ice.

I haven't heard the term "disposable" before, but it's a good fit.

[juliet73]

This show was OK, but I think it would be way better if Finch was the billionaire and Reese, Carter and Fusco were cleaning up Chicago. Side note: if you never have watched Person of Interest, check it out. It's kind of similar to APB but a trillion times better! 

Edited February 12, 2017 by juliet73

[AngelKitty]

Well, I kinda liked it.  I don't generally like cop shows unless there is some sort of scifi or supernatural element. Plus I love gadgets.  So this fits that bill. I said to Mr. Angelkitty that it was Cops with GEAR!

[CoyoteBlue]

On 2/10/2017 at 6:28 AM, MrSmith said:

I was also wondering why everyone was so up-in-arms over the rookie being shot. My wife and I both thought he should be mostly ok since he either would have been hit in the body armor or the shoulder (and opposite his heart). Besides, it wasn't really Reeves' fault that he got shot. If those cops had been chasing a suspect into that building without Reeves' involvement, that rookie would have done the same thing and still got shot. As for clearing his backstop, maybe they'll make a point of this later (like, he fails to clear it again and someone gets hurt).

Rookie got shot in the neck, IIRC. Neck and head are still fair game.  But yeah, wouldn't those cops have run into the building after the guy in the same way with or without Reeves? I don't remember some particular action of his making it more dangerous for them.

On 2/10/2017 at 6:25 AM, MrSmith said:

@Lonesome Rhodes You make a good point about the importance of the boundaries of Precinct 13. As for a river being a natural boundary between precincts, I've never actually given it much thought before now. So, that had not occurred to me. And you are right that they've done a very poor job of defining the boundaries of Precinct 13.

I will agree that there's a lot of pretty architecture in the Loop, but goddamn, that dry-erase high speed monitor chase was ridiculous. He was apparently running to Carson's for some ribs after picking up some chocolate at Blommer's before (I assume) he went shopping at the Merchandise Mart. That is not "crappiest precinct in Chicago" territory by a long shot.

[Netfoot]

I enjoyed the show.  Escapist techno-babble rubbish, but still entertaining enough to watch.   For a few more episodes, at least.

The review was crap.    But I would say that, wouldn't I?  Because apparently I'm a crypto-fascist.  

[Bobbin]

"Almost Human" without the androids. Solving Chicago's crime problem ... one crime at a time. Btw, archived paper files can and should be digitized. 

[janeta]

Quote

When Gideon accompanies Murphy on a ride-along to see the impact of his reforms, they run into a pharmacy robbery that results in the injury of a child. Gideon vows to get involved and tests out a new drone, but after that fails, he is inspired by an unlikely source to create new electric motorcycles to help find the suspects. Meanwhile, Murphy is disturbed when she hears that someone close to her is the leader of a new project that could take down Gideon's plans for the 13th district.

I knew the dog was going to be OK, as well as the little girl, but I liked it anyway.  Good to see the guy playing Blockhead back on my screen.

Am i the only one still watching? :)

Edited February 15, 2017 by SilverStormm
Corrected episode format

[AngelKitty]

I'm still watching. I sure hope by next week they remove the Captain's sergeant chevs and give him some bars on his collar. I work for a police uniform store and notice these things. 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, janeta said:

Am i the only one still watching?

No.

But, they are going to run out of gadgets to invent soon.  First week, APB app, uber-cars, uber-tasers and uber-drones.  Second week, APB app v2.0, uber-bikes, ultra-uber-drones, and uber-dog- prosthetics.  Next week, ???.

Also, will stay just to see how soon before they start balling.  But that looks like it could be any day, now.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

So, they had the robber's car on the big board as Murph was chasing him.  he goes into a park.  She has to stop to tend to the victim (well, she didn't have to, but she did).  There were no more cars in pursuit, which is the only time that has happened thus far, and what of the overhead view?  Did it magically disappear when he hit the little girl?  It wasn't a drone, but they had something "watching" the chase.  Until they didn't.  Ugh.

What truly is problematic is how the writers set-up a fallacious tension guilting Reeves.  Last week, we had the rookie cop ignoring procedure, putting himself in harm's way and getting hisself shot.  That had not a thing in the world to do with the technology.  This week, the mother of the hospitalized little girl blames him for not instantly creating Shangri-La in the Windy City.  And he internalized the blame!  Nevermind he is a frickin' process genius who instantly grasps tiny anomalies.  

I did love the commercial he put out to the APP users.  Was he evoking John Steed or perhaps Napoleon Solo (Avengers; U.N.C.L.E.) with that hat and cane?  It felt like a callback and I appreciated it.

We get a "Q" character.  Good idea.  Did it have to be Jerry from ER????

Edited February 15, 2017 by Lonesome Rhodes

[janeta]

I wonder if they're front loading the gadgets because they didn't know how many eps they'd get? Do we have any idea what the ratings are?

i do like the dialogue; "your impatience is a known design parameter." Hee!

[Netfoot]

On 2/12/2017 at 4:17 AM, Goatherd said:

so far I like Pure Genius better...

Really?  Nobody could work for an asshole like James Bell, especially when working in an industry as litigation-prone as Medicine.  But once again TPTB thinks we will all love the antisocial jerk, if he is competent.  And they have given him that great, fountain of immediate, infallible technology that is Unlimited Money.  (You really can buy anything, if you're rich enough.)  And this isn't all that off-topic, because this exact same failing can be found on APB, except that Gideon Reeves is a much more likable asshole than Bell.

[rove4]

On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 0:08 PM, juliet73 said:

This show was OK, but I think it would be way better if Finch was the billionaire and Reese, Carter and Fusco were cleaning up Chicago. Side note: if you never have watched Person of Interest, check it out. It's kind of similar to APB but a trillion times better! 

^^This. I gave this a try (two episodes) but I'm not feeling it. None of the characters stand out in any way, in fact the actress playing Murphy is pretty bad IMO.  The storylines have also failed to interest me. I'm done.

[juliet73]

I'm assuming Murphy is in her late 20's/early 30's.  I don't like that the show represents her as the best cop/detective ever at the precinct when she's probably only been a cop for less than 10 years.

Jerry from ER was able to build not one, but two, super motorcycles in 11 hours?  Sure thing show.

Question...if they are following around ONE suspect with all the fancy cars, drones, surveillance videos, etc what happens to all the other crimes happening at the same time?  They're chasing some scumbag that just robbed a drugstore and using all their resources to catch him.  In the meantime, other people are getting murdered, raped, robbed, assaulted, etc and nothing.

Edited February 15, 2017 by juliet73

[Aethera]

Let's leave the politics out of it, please!

[BooBear]

Ok I was willing to give this show a shot but they made the only mistake that can turn me off a show:

They had a dog, a beautiful German Shepard, get hurt.

**** done ****

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, juliet73 said:

Question...if they are following around ONE suspect with all the fancy cars, drones, surveillance videos, etc...

You'd think a bright red custom vehicle wouldn't be that hard to track down, in a single precinct.  

[janeta]

I assumed that, like the fancy drone, the bikes were prototypes that they were working on and just rushed onto the streets.

took a quick look at TVBTN; this ep came in second in its timeslot, i think; 4 million something viewers IIRC. 

[MrSmith]

16 hours ago, BooBear said:

Ok I was willing to give this show a shot but they made the only mistake that can turn me off a show:

They had a dog, a beautiful German Shepard, get hurt.

**** done ****

You're aware this is fictional and the dog is not actually hurt, right?

[CoyoteBlue]

3 hours ago, MrSmith said:

You're aware this is fictional and the dog is not actually hurt, right?

And now he's bionic! (which just goes to show how obvious this show is because when Chekov's Amputation happened, I immediately figured the dog was getting a bionic leg)

I have no idea why they made a deal about the motorcycles not having a rear-facing camera to aim the strip when they didn't actually get in front of the suspect to deploy it - they crossed in front of him and just laid them down across his path. No camera needed.

Edited February 16, 2017 by CoyoteBlue
Second thoughts

[Coconuts]

21 hours ago, BooBear said:

Ok I was willing to give this show a shot but they made the only mistake that can turn me off a show:

They had a dog, a beautiful German Shepard, get hurt.

**** done ****

My problem with the dog was that that dog would have stopped the instant it heard the command "No". This wasn't just a pet, it was a highly trained dog. They stop the instant you tell them to because otherwise they'll get hurt. 

I wasn't sure whether the "We'll change the world" and all of the "disrupt" stuff was supposed to be a Silicon Valley easter egg or not.

[thuganomics85]

Knew neither the dog or the girl was going to die, although the dog losing its leg is still a step farther then other shows.  I did crack up when Brandt was all "He hurt my dog!" and Gideon was like "And a girl.  Don't forget about her."  Silly, Gideon.  You should know by now the order of importance over someone being harmed and the outrage that follows.  The most outrage is always for cute animals, and then it is followed by children, not as cute animals, women, and then men.  Get with the program, Gideon!

So, I guess Kevin Chapman's character from the pilot was the Captain who quit as a protest, and that is why Ernie Hudson is now in charge. Hope this means he'll do more then just stand around.  Although, they do seems be trying some kind generational banter between him and Gideon's young intern.  Ah, age jokes!

I did like the actor playing Pete/the tech guy.

Still getting use to Natalie Martinez actually playing a decent cop!

The big arc is that the Mayor is forming a taskforce to look into Gideon and the 13th district, and naturally, it will be run by Murphy's douchebag ex.

[juliet73]

15 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

 

Still getting use to Natalie Martinez actually playing a decent cop!

 

She plays a cop in EVERY show she's in. The one time she didn't play a cop was in Secrets and Lies. However, in that show her character's name was Jess MURPHY! 

[Xantar]

This show had potential, but it really got squandered because the writers couldn't exercise any imagination.

So far, the revolution in the 13th precinct is an app (basically souped up 911), body armor (which is nothing new), tasers (ditto), GPS enabled cars (ditto), and drones. That last one is the only genuinely new tool in crime fighting. This episode features motorcycles going really fast and deploying spike traps, but getting ahead of someone and cutting them off is such a standard tactic that even real life police use it.

Come on, where's the innovation? How about new methods for collecting forensic evidence? There is currently research going on using neural imaging as a lie detector. How about trying that out? 

Of course, the actual problem that the cops face is a social problem, not a technological one. But I wouldn't expect a network TV show to get into that kind of nuance.

[walnutqueen]

On Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 3:28 PM, Coconuts said:

My problem with the dog was that that dog would have stopped the instant it heard the command "No". This wasn't just a pet, it was a highly trained dog. They stop the instant you tell them to because otherwise they'll get hurt. 

I wasn't sure whether the "We'll change the world" and all of the "disrupt" stuff was supposed to be a Silicon Valley easter egg or not.

I hesitate to contradict you, but I spent many years watching multi-jurisdictional police dog training at my workplace, and even highly trained dogs often ignored the "no" command and had to be physically pulled off the heavily padded fake perp by their trainer/handler/partner.  A number of them also had to be pulled off my face (they loved to lick!); dogs, much like humans, can sometimes get caught up in the heat of the moment.  Do they usually obey commands?  Yes, of course.  But in a hot chase situation, especially when the handler is at a distance, it doesn't always work out that way.

As an aside - body armor for every police/military dog in service - just like their human counterparts.  They deserve it, and most police departments can't seem to find the funding for it.  [/soapbox]

[Accidental Martyr]

"He drives a red sports car." 

That detailed description will really help track this guy down.