S03.E17: Convergence

[CooperTV]

Quote

When a computer sting uncovers the possible mole in the CIA arms smuggling ring, Elizabeth’s questioning of the suspect makes her think that a larger, more dangerous force is behind the operation. Also, Henry worries that the doomsday cult is drugging his embedded operative, and Elizabeth and her State Department staff come up with an unorthodox approach to solving black rhino poaching in Namibia.

Promos

[kwnyc]

Do I see Rico Colantoni? Does that mean

Spoiler

his criminal mastermind survived in "Person of Interest?" ;-)

[Netfoot]

Well, I knew that the guy was going to stop one just as soon as I heard he'd been released.

And I knew that Henry was in trouble, too.  I actually thought the wackos'd grab him and take him into their compound, so a simple flesh-wound in the leg was letting him off easy.  But there was no way they were going to show him meeting in the woods with Agent Dead-Man-Walking twice!  

Don't know how believable the new Viagra-for-Rhinos plan is, and don't like the new Principle Deputy Coordinator to the Ambassador At large for Global Health Diplomacy.  I hope that character made a once-and-done appearance this episode.  

I had a Visible V8 Engine kit when I was a kid.  (I had a Visible Man kit, too.  We called him Washkansky.)  At any rate, I am not feeling this attempt to de-brat the obnoxious Jason.   It just feels artificial.

[shapeshifter]

". . . hope Dong is up for it," heh. Yes, my inner child is apparently a 14-year-old boy. And so is the writer's.

Is there any hope that Henry's asset, Ian, bonded with the cult because of the LSD and can still be rescued?

By the time Henry got shot, I was just relieved that they weren't going to come up with any more excuses for Tim Daly to be seated in order to cover for his real life skiing accident.

[sheetmoss]

I thought the writers were clever in how they wrote in Tim Daly's Sundance skiing accident that broke both his legs  in late Jan, with the shooting - I noticed that thruout the episode you never saw him standing.

I wonder if we can look forward to a Rear Window-ish episode w/Henry in wheelchair?

Edited March 27, 2017 by sheetmoss

[CheshireCat]

1 hour ago, sheetmoss said:

I thought the writers were clever in how they wrote in Tim Daly's Sundance skiing accident that broke both his legs  in late Jan, with the shooting - I noticed that thruout the episode you never saw him standing.

I'm definitely glad they opted to write it in instead of writing around it.

 

Quote

I wonder if we can look forward to a Rear Window-ish episode w/Henry in wheelchair?

I doubt it since he's not the lead and it's not a crime show, so an episode like that would probably feel totally out of place. And it would be out of place, too, in my opinion.  

Edited March 27, 2017 by CheshireCat

[Brian Cronin]

1 hour ago, CheshireCat said:

I doubt it since he's not the lead and it's not a crime show, so an episode like that would probably feel totally out of place. And it would be out of place, too, in my opinion.  

Wait, he's NOT the lead? What show are you watching? ;)

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, sheetmoss said:

. . . I wonder if we can look forward to a Rear Window-ish episode w/Henry in wheelchair?

It could be a great comic relief B-plot confined (no pun intended) to a single episode.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, sheetmoss said:

I thought the writers were clever in how they wrote in Tim Daly's Sundance skiing accident that broke both his legs  in late Jan, with the shooting - I noticed that thruout the episode you never saw him standing.

I wonder if we can look forward to a Rear Window-ish episode w/Henry in wheelchair?

Only instead of solving one murder, he will foil a conspiracy designed to cripple the US government, all of the US allies, and all endangered animals.

[kwnyc]

Rico Colantoni is so good at playing "the most evil person in the world who is pissed off and decides to help you." Glad to see him at Madam Secretary's door again (though would her detail REALLY just let him through like that?) They've made it clear he consorts with mobsters, so he can do things that the gov't is prohibited from doing. (Because "Sometimes Democracy Blows," the forthcoming memoir by Russell Jackson.)

And yes, Jason has turned into a complete asshole. I hope there's some kind of maturity/redemption arc in the picture, or at least they send him off to boarding school. Noodle really IS the best kid; loved how she called Henry out on his sexism. ;-)

Now we're going to have to go through the "who is the mastermind behind the purloined weapons and supplying the doomsday cult?" for the rest of the season, I suppose. And it really is kind of beyond-the-pale unbelievable that Henry & Bess figured out they are going for the SAME GUY/org (in his hospital room). 

Also, the kids know that Dad wasn't in a car accident. He's already been beaten by mysterious thugs this season, and probably they can tell the difference between a broken leg and a healing gunshot wound. Also: the FBI guy refusing to have the cup tested to find out if their guy inside is being drugged is weird: of course they want to keep their operative safe. If he turns out FBI guy is part of the Big Conspiracy, I think that the CIA and FBI really need to do a better job of vetting their folks. This show sure has a lot of rats in their intelligence community!

But they certainly are keeping things interesting, and I'm glad of that.

[Netfoot]

44 minutes ago, deaja said:

Only instead of solving one murder, he will foil a conspiracy designed to cripple the US government, all of the US allies, and all endangered animals.

Plus cure cancer and discover FTL.

[betsyboo]

7 hours ago, kwnyc said:

 (Because "Sometimes Democracy Blows," the forthcoming memoir by Russell Jackson.)

And yes, Jason has turned into a complete asshole. I hope there's some kind of maturity/redemption arc in the picture, or at least they send him off to boarding school. Noodle really IS the best kid; loved how she called Henry out on his sexism. ;-)

+1

+100

[Dowel Jones]

7 hours ago, kwnyc said:

Also, the kids know that Dad wasn't in a car accident.

The cover story should have been that he got hurt skiing.   Jason could have got in another "old man" gig when he asked for the lift tickets.

Lawyer from hell should have been at the AG's doorstep before close of business that day.  If he had any brains at all he would know that the Big Bad would just as soon kill him too to cover their tracks. And get their $500k back, too. 

I would like to know what part of an ankle can take a through and through gunshot without requiring major surgery and a cast.

If the Viagra for Rhinos plan were actually effective, it would have been done in real life.  The thing with folk remedies is that the people who believe in them won't believe in science anyway, no matter how much you tell them, or what 80's celebrity you get to endorse it.  And by the way, the Kiowa helicopter, even though we have retired it,  can be a very effective weapons platform, Bess.  Along with the night vision goggles from last year, the receiving government has a lot of opportunity to create problems.  Better listen to the CIA guy, once in awhile. 

When Jason mentioned that the distributor was bad, I had this mental image of a guy at the hobby store asking a multitude of questions while fiddling with the parts computer, and then saying "Yeah, we don't have that part in stock right now.  We'll give you a call in a week or so when it comes in. You can leave the model if you want, and we'll fix it for you."

Other tv detectives just show up (2 of them!) at a place of employment and arrest a guy for anything from arson to murder.  In the State Department, apparently it takes an entire squad of heavily armed commandos to take down a computer nerd.

[VinceW]

On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 1:58 AM, sheetmoss said:

I thought the writers were clever in how they wrote in Tim Daly's Sundance skiing accident that broke both his legs  in late Jan, with the shooting - I noticed throughout the episode that you never saw him standing........

Actually, Tim Daly did not break both legs. He broke his right ankle and his left kneecap. If he had actually broken both legs, he would have both legs in casts and he would not be able to finish the season. Still, it is hard to imagine five more episodes with him in a wheelchair. No Henry, no show. I wonder how much of the episode was rewritten to accommodate his injuries since the storyline was Henry centric for the most part. The car accident explanation was predictable, but unfair to the kids. Elizabeth was right to be upset over his exposing himself to unnecessary risk from the cult. I expect that the CIA arms smuggling plot will dominate the rest of the season given the appearance of the mole lawyer Jim Fox (POI) acting as a foil for Elizabeth.

Edited March 29, 2017 by VinceW

[shapeshifter]

I wonder if "the convergence" of Henry's and Bess's plots was already planned, or if it was done after Tim Daly's accident as a way to limit his screen time, and, also, if the addition of Enrico Colantoni to the plot arc was done post-accident, also to take up some of the slack with Tim Daly being restricted to seated scenes. I also wonder if they'll use a stand-in and dim lighting for some walking scenes for Henry — although I suppose that really won't be necessary now that the character is similarly injured. And, finally, just one more musing: Did anyone else think they showed Blake striding about more than usual, perhaps to compensate for the missing visual energy that would have been generated by Henry/Tim Daly? 

Edited March 28, 2017 by shapeshifter

[CheshireCat]

14 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if "the convergence" of Henry's and Bess's plots was already planned, or if it was done after Tim Daly's accident as a way to limit his screen time,

Maybe some nice interviewer will ask some time soon. But the article which reported his accident cited a source close to the production which had said that they were already so far along in the shooting schedule that few adjustments would probably be needed. That kind of makes it sound as if they hadn't had much action planned after this anyway.

[betsyboo]

"Bring in the Green Berets...???!?"

"It worked in Dumbo Drop."

I love everything about this show.

[Xantar]

I had no idea Tim Daly was injured in real life. And I definitely didn't notice that he was sitting down in everey scene until it was pointed out here. Well done, show.

I'm Vietnamese, and I was cracking up at all the "Dong" innuendos. Although the ambassador's name was actually "Dang" in the credits. They really could have just used the name of the Vietnamese currency if they were going for that joke. And yes, Asian superstitions are pretty destructive. Just ask the sharks.

Jason is a brat, but it's clear that the writers want us to think he's a brat. Just like they wanted us to think Stevie was immature and annoyingly self-righteous. I don't have to like every character all the time. The problem only comes when the writers try to push a character as the best ever and we don't buy it.

Elizabeth shouting, "Someone please feed me!" was pretty adorable.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Xantar

[CheshireCat]

I think Jason and Stevie were/are pretty normal kids. If one season equals a year then Jason should be 15. I think there are only handful of children who don't have problems with their parents at that age and as annoying as the kids' behavior might be, I find it far more realistic that way as if they were well-behaved all the time and only ever said smart things and made smart decisions.

[Guest]

17 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I would like to know what part of an ankle can take a through and through gunshot without requiring major surgery and a cast.

Well, I would like to know what kind of bullet stands a chance against the ankle of Captain Doctor Superman Arm Candy Man of Steel Henry McCord!

[VinceW]

2 hours ago, deaja said:

Well, I would like to know what kind of bullet stands a chance against the ankle of Captain Doctor Superman Arm Candy Man of Steel Henry McCord!

Give the writers some credit. At least the bullets didn't bounce off his legs.

Edited March 28, 2017 by VinceW

[kwnyc]

In our world (which sometimes jives with Madam Secretary's), conservationists have started de-horning rhinos in the wild, to prevent poachers from killing them.

[Casually Observant]

On 3/26/2017 at 9:39 PM, shapeshifter said:

". . . hope Dong is up for it," heh. Yes, my inner child is apparently a 14-year-old boy. And so is the writer's.

Is there any hope that Henry's asset, Ian, bonded with the cult because of the LSD and can still be rescued?

By the time Henry got shot, I was just relieved that they weren't going to come up with any more excuses for Tim Daly to be seated in order to cover for his real life skiing accident.

Dong.  Yes, that was funny. Even funnier was the closed captioning typist spelled it 'Dang'. She was probably too embarrassed to spell it correctly.

On 3/26/2017 at 10:58 PM, sheetmoss said:

I thought the writers were clever in how they wrote in Tim Daly's Sundance skiing accident that broke both his legs  in late Jan, with the shooting - I noticed that thruout the episode you never saw him standing.

I wonder if we can look forward to a Rear Window-ish episode w/Henry in wheelchair?

Good catch Shapeshifter & Sheetmoss!  I'd forgotten about the skiing accident. I had no idea it was that bad. : (

[Casually Observant]

On 3/27/2017 at 6:30 PM, Dowel Jones said:

Lawyer from hell should have been at the AG's doorstep before close of business that day.  If he had any brains at all he would know that the Big Bad would just as soon kill him too to cover their tracks. And get their $500k back, too. 

And by the way, the Kiowa helicopter, even though we have retired it,  can be a very effective weapons platform, Bess.  Along with the night vision goggles from last year, the receiving government has a lot of opportunity to create problems.  Better listen to the CIA guy, once in awhile. 

*Both good points.  Lawyer Fox should have been arrested or put in protective custody immediately after the bullet took down his client.  I figured the client was going to be picked off as soon as he walked outside.  I just can't believe Bess (and everyone else) didn't expect this and have the client surrounded or put in protective custody after giving him immunity.  The good news is I really like the actor who plays the attorney and think he'll add to the show for sure.

*When they were discussing the rhino situation they said that in previous years the U.S. had given the country night vision goggles, and long range weapons in 'their fight against rhino poachers'. Now they want helicopters, too. Really? Now they can become terrorists and/or hunt the rhinos more effectively with free U.S. weapons!!  

[Netfoot]

Did you hear that Marvel is bringing out a new line of Henry McCord comics?  I'm not sure if he will have a shield, a hammer or a set of bracers, but he will be able to leap tall buildings with a single bound...

[CheshireCat]

5 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Did you hear that Marvel is bringing out a new line of Henry McCord comics?  I'm not sure if he will have a shield, a hammer or a set of bracers, but he will be able to leap tall buildings with a single bound...

Are you serious?

[Dowel Jones]

Mild mannered Henry McCord, equally at home in the halls of academia or the mean streets of the world, wherever his latest assignment takes him.  Suburban dad with a deep well of advice for his children, or undercover operative with a tight lip and an expert knowledge of any subversive element, because he speaks 3 languages (5 fluently).

[sinkwriter]

I laughed a lot, watching this episode. From Elizabeth's inability to find food, to Blake's repeated attempted-innuendo jokes (and his "hop to it" willingness to feed Elizabeth on demand, LOL), Matt's eating of the last doughnut and his ensuring there was a full tray of treats for Elizabeth the next day (which he displayed to her immediately as she walked through the door, which totally cracked me up), and Nadine's wicked pleasure at hearing that Mike can't stop asking about her... heeeee. Love it. 

It was a fun episode and they worked in Tim's injury nicely - I had totally forgotten about it until he got shot and they showed him in the hospital with both his legs bandaged. Great job, show.

I do find it funny when Henry and Elizabeth kept talking about "Do you think the kids know we're lying to them?" when Jason had barely left the room. Why don't people on TV shows ever whisper or speak in lower voices when they're trying to hide something? It just continues the wacky universal premise that as soon as a character steps 5 feet away, they can no longer hear anything going on in the room.  (Yeah, right.)

Edited March 30, 2017 by sinkwriter

[Hanahope]

On 3/27/2017 at 9:30 PM, Dowel Jones said:

If the Viagra for Rhinos plan were actually effective, it would have been done in real life.  The thing with folk remedies is that the people who believe in them won't believe in science anyway, no matter how much you tell them, or what 80's celebrity you get to endorse it. 

Except that viagra does work.  I kept wondering if someone would point out how many rhinos died in the two years because the deputy was too embarrassed to talk about penises.

I too never noticed that Henry was seated so much recently.  Just thinking back...oh yeah.  and good editing on his "getting out of the car and standing up, then rushing back into the car".  never saw his whole body doing those moves.

It was funny that Bess couldn't get food in the State Dept. when most of the time, she's grabbing a muffin from a tray full of food.