S04.E09: Land of the Free

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

TC (Eion Macken) and Jordan (Jill Flint) accompany a SWAT team on a raid and wind up with an emergency room full of sickened immigrants, including one with murderous intentions. Scott (Scott Wolf) pulls a dream team together to impress the Colonel in charge of setting up a combat training program. More is learned about Cain's (guest star Mark Consuelos) past. Kenny (JR Lemon) shares some big news with the group, while Shannon (Tanaya Beatty) keeps something personal from Paul (Robert Bailey Jr.)

[starri]

Oh, god, if Shannon is pregnant...

[Ohwell]

She probably is.

[CoderLady]

Standard go-to plot twist for single women pursuing professions with no interest in starting a family right now.

[Ohwell]

If Shannon really is pregnant, that baby will come out with just a dead-eyed grunt, no crying at all. 

[statsgirl]

Kudos to the show for showing the detention system realistically.  That's a ripped from the headlines, a woman arrested by ICE when she went to court to testify against an abuser.  I'm sure they're going to get slammed for this episode.

I'm currently doing a course in refugee mental health.  One of the things I learned is that people put into detention have much higher rates of mental illness.

Good for the show getting the term "first generation" right.  Too many people think that it refers to the first generation born in the new country but it refers to the generation that emigrates.

I liked that the SWAT team leader was a woman.  The little robot was cool.

I also really liked the conversation that Paul had with Drew  and later with the ICE patient about being sigmatized in your own country

LOL at the bag of drugs the old lady brought in.  My mother was a retired doctor so she knew her drugs and she still needed a printout, revised regularly, to show the doctors what  all the drugs were that she was taking when she went to .

I knew Mark Consuelos wasn't sticking around because he's got a new show.  But I still don't care about Caine's secret.

I like the resolution about the hospital training combat medics. It took me a while to figure out that it was Rob Estes playing the general. (I guess Jennifer Beals wasn't interested in coming back.) But poor Amira, Jordan/TC are so obviously endgame.

The worst:  Am I supposed to believe that drug dealer had that razor blade in his mouth through the car crash and hostage taking and conversations?.  Just no.

[LittleIggy]

First generation may also correctly be used to refer to the first family members born to immigrants in a new country. Anyway, what was the deal with Cain?

Edited August 25, 2017 by LittleIggy

[dargosmydaddy]

Maybe my years of watching Flashpoint have soured me, but the manhunt for razor-mouth guy seemed like an enormous clusterfuck.

I did like that the show finally gave us a reason for TC's occasionally slipping accent. 

At least Shannon wasn't pregnant.

[saber5055]

I think Jennifer Beales' show, Taken, was renewed. She's the best reason for watching that. Meanwhile, I wish TC would take the opportunity to bathe, shave, comb his hair and trim his beard now that he's back in the states and, supposedly, has access to water and soap, at least at the hospital. The guy is so skanky looking, I just can't imagine him as a doctor. You know, someone who is concerned with germs. Is this homeless look popular now among health professionals?

[starri]

22 hours ago, statsgirl said:

My mother was a retired doctor so she knew her drugs and she still needed a printout, revised regularly, to show the doctors what  all the drugs were that she was taking when she went to .

I wish more patients were like your mom.  I'd even take one like woman with the bag.  I have a list on my phone, and I only take a few.

Honestly, the immigration portion of the episode was surprisingly tasteful and thoughtful, given the right-wing slant the show typically has.  And honestly?  I didn't hate that they finally gave an in-universe reason for TC's shaky accent.

Since Jordan is now in a place where she won't take any more of TC's crap, and since Amira's best trait has been not taking his crap from jump, I hope the show doesn't shy away from making him into the Big Damn Hero that we all got so sick of.  I mean, Paul even pointed out to Drew how many laws he's broken over the years.  It's nice that someone other than Topher can do that.

I know Shannon's not exactly popular around these parts, but I did really love the story with her and the DREAMer kid.  Working with Scott seemed to give her a spark she doesn't usually have.

I don't know, this show is so unapologetically stupid, I'm back around to feeling quite affectionate for it. Both with heavy things happening in the news, and just general stress at my own actual real-life hospital, it's nice to just guffaw at the well-intentioned ineptness.

[CoderLady]

12 minutes ago, starri said:

I don't know, this show is so unapologetically stupid, I'm back around to feeling quite affectionate for it. Both with heavy things happening in the news, and just general stress at my own actual real-life hospital, it's nice to just guffaw at the well-intentioned ineptness.

I agree. They've spliced a dumbass hospital nighttime soap with a show that's honestly trying to highlight problems some communities (returning veterans and immigrants so far) are struggling with. TC will probably forever be annoying and unaccountable, everyone is screwing everyone else, there's lots of family drama, and there's usually a dramatically implausible happy ending for the patient of the week, but this show has grown on me.

[saber5055]

What reason was given for TC's on/off accent? I missed that part.

[thuganomics85]

I got a kick out of the big conference meeting, where Scott, Jordan, and Amira all looked like a million bucks, and then there was T.C. who look like he just rolled out of bed.  Sure, he can't fault the bruises (well, besides the whole going into the air ducts in the first place thing), but he didn't bother even running a comb through his hair, let a lone a shave and a haircut.  Then again, The General guy said he knew all about T.C. and his "quirks", so I guess T.C. was just keeping it real, man!

It was nut seeing one of the Salamanca cousins from Breaking Bad as the cartel guy they had to chase down.  Not use to him actually saying things!  And I did not recognize Lindsay Pulsipher at all as the head of the SWAT team.

They did a decent enough job with the immigration stuff, although as usual, they did there best to make sure they didn't offend too many viewers by having almost everyone involved not be fully to blame for anything, and everything ends up working out at the end.  Well, except the cartel guy and the one ICE agent who was just to dick to almost everyone for really no good reason.

While I usually find Paul to be a worry-wart and immature, I'm kind of with him now.  I know that there are some quick marriages that end up being a success, but Kenny and Belle do seem to be rushing things.

So, T.C. and Scott have some P.I. looking for Annie?  That has to be revealed soon, I imagine.

I'm guessing Amira being CIA is going to make T.C. rethink the relationship, now?  Granted, the show really need to give up pretending like T.C./Jordan aren't the endgame.

I always love the nurses and the little things they do during all of the scenes.  For this one, it was Nurse Mollie's reaction to all of those pills, and her reactions to Kenny telling Paul about the engagement.  Never leave, Nurse Mollie!

Cain's been kidnapped by the Cartel and getting escorted to Riverdale!

Surprised that next week is already the finale.  So many things up in the air and I don't know if the show will be able to catch them.

[dargosmydaddy]

58 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

What reason was given for TC's on/off accent? I missed that part.

That he was born in Ireland and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was ten.

 

9 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

So many things up in the air and I don't know if the show will be able to catch them.

Right? I don't know how they're going to do it all. We've got...

-Whatever drama was going on in the previews (more gunfire, someone injured)

-Whether or not the army will decide to keep the training program at San Antonio General

-Fugitive/ hostage Cain

-Discovering Annie's dead

-Some kind of resolution to Drew going to Ranger school, and what that will do to his relationship with Rick

-I still think they were foreshadowing a heart attack for Papa Cummings in the previous episode

-Something more with Kenny/ Bella

-Shannon looking to leave

Am I missing anything? I realize some of these are lesser storylines that could wait til a potential next season, and that something will surely be a shocking cliffhanger finale, but even so, they're juggling a lot of balls in the air...

[Ohwell]

16 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

-Shannon looking to leave

I've forgotten a few times that this show was even on, so I missed those episodes, including this one.  However, if Shannon leaves, I'll try not to miss any episodes next season.

[statsgirl]

Is Shannon looking to leave because of Jordan's evaluation?

I know she's not popular here but I think the show needs someone who is working class and not picture pretty. She connects well to ordinary people.

2 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

That he was born in Ireland and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was ten.

That was a nice touch, to show that it's not only Mexicans and Muslims who are immigrants to the country.  Eoin Mackie himself was born in Dublin.

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

 Well, except the cartel guy and the one ICE agent who was just to dick to almost everyone for really no good reason.

The cartel guy was pure cartoon villain.  The ICE agent, well, I've just been reading the Phoenix New Times about Sheriff Arpaio and I'd say they toned it down a lot.

[Ohwell]

I don't mind the fact that Shannon is "working class and not picture pretty," that's fine (actually, I think she is pretty).  It's just that the actress who plays her is such a bad actress, showing little or no emotion.  I understand that she had a bad upbringing, but her facial expressions are usually dead-eyed, soulless stares (or glares).  

So yeah, if she does leave, I'll be glad.  

[Height-Nonchalance]

I love Shannon so much.  She's compelling and I think Tanaya Beatty is playing her just right.  Part of my fondness is that she is the reincarnation of Virginia O'Brien, who, for those that don't know her, was a film actress in the 1940s known for her deadpan (in song and dance).  Really, look for her in YouTube, perhaps performing Salome, and I can almost guarantee you'll see something familiar.

[dargosmydaddy]

I like Shannon, too, and I think Tanya Beatty is gorgeous.

[Xantar]

I'd kick TC off long before Shannon. He's not amusing, relatable, or sympathetic. He's so stupid that he thinks it's a good idea to climb into an air duct after a murderer armed with only a knife. And I yelled, "ARGH!" out loud when he said, "I had to" and Jordan said, "I know you did." No he didn't! Don't enable his adrenaline junkie stupidity!

Also, I've come to the conclusion that security guards are the greatest threat to safety on this show. I'm pretty sure they have never actually subdued anyone or used their weapons. They pretty much exist to have their guns stolen. I know secured holsters are often called "widow makers," but right now the lack of weapon retention is turning out to be the real widow maker!

[tvfanatic13]

I thought that Jordan was sarcastic in that response Xantar.

[Emily Thrace]

On 8/25/2017 at 8:34 PM, starri said:

Honestly, the immigration portion of the episode was surprisingly tasteful and thoughtful, given the right-wing slant the show typically has.  And honestly?  I didn't hate that they finally gave an in-universe reason for TC's shaky accent.

Yeah I feel like the shows patriotic streak sometimes works to its advantage and this was one of them. It means they try to look at things from a different angle and sometimes they hit on something really good because of it. The good ICE agent was affecting and not a story I'd really seen anywhere else. It was nicely balanced.