S01.E02: Other Lives

[Drogo]

Jason and the SEAL team go on an evidence-collecting mission in Syria and discover innocent civilians in desperate need of rescue just as enemy forces close in on them. Meanwhile, the team debates whether to tell Ray that his wife has gone into labor.

[blackwing]

Tried this show again.  Still boring.  And David Boreanaz is still terrible.  

I do like Max Theriot and he was good in the scene at the bar.  Too bad he had to play opposite the tired TV trope of the liberated man-hating independent intelligent woman, that actress was awful.

[piequinn35]

I don't understand their training to be on green team or tier 1 whatever I'm not in the military, what happens to Clay now that he's at the bottom 5? Clay you need to be a team player geez.

[Spiderorchid]

Before I watch - is the dog ok?

[Chaos Theory]

5 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

I don't understand their training to be on green team or tier 1 whatever I'm not in the military, what happens to Clay now that he's at the bottom 5? Clay you need to be a team player geez.

The bottom of the bottom 5 got cut.  The remaining 4 are at risk to get cut.  Clay is really good but he does need to stop asking dumb questions and be a team player.   I actually think this is the most interesting story.  I was initially concerned that after the pilot he would be suddenly on a tier one team but the show is showing that even though they pulled him for a mission that he is really not ready to be on a high level team.  

[CooperTV]

3 hours ago, Casey said:

Before I watch - is the dog ok?

Yes! And the dog is a real trooper!

I like that the creators want their product to look different and real-life-like. The New Guy is still an obnoxious brat and I don't think his learning curve works at all but everything else so far looks good.

[Raja]

7 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

I don't understand their training to be on green team or tier 1 whatever I'm not in the military, what happens to Clay now that he's at the bottom 5? Clay you need to be a team player geez.

Tier 1 is SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force

[Xantar]

I tried, but I'm out. I actually like David Boreanaz in general, but I don't care about his domestic drama. And new guy is an annoying, entitled prick. Whining about helping other people climb over a wall is not a good way to endear yourself to a unit that works as a team. I cared so little about him that I had no idea what the list at the end was supposed to mean. Was his name on it? Was his friend's name the one crossed out? What the hell is his name anyway?

Doesn't matter. I don't care. 

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, CooperTV said:

And the dog is a real trooper!

The dog is a real paratrooper!

[Irishmaple]

I've enjoyed both episodes of this show. It helps that I like Boreanez, though not enough to watch more than a handful of his previous show. Of all the talent on Buffy, I never thought Boreanez would go on to have the career that he has. The guy's worked solidly for 20 years! I also read a lot of Suzanne Brockman which convinced me that SEALS cannot be anything other than hot and competent.

Most of the characters came across well in this episode. Boreanez' Jason lead with his head and his heart. The team did well. The scientist stepped up. The people at the FOB scrambled to save civilian lives, while the pragmatic SEAL pointed out how crappy those lives were going to be. I didn't mind the domestic stuff because neither wife was surprised to find herself married to a military man who had to go do military stuff at less than convenient times. Ray's wife was not shown complaining about going through labour and delivery while he was off elsewhere. And Jason's wife asked how his day went, didn't push beyond his evasion, and then did some mental math as she watched him interact with their son. I thought the actress did well with showing her realization that Jason had seen some shit and it involved a young boy. 

I can't stand the new guy. The actor has resting smug face and I much preferred the other new guy so I hope he sticks around. Clay seems to have missed the fact that the SEALS are a team. That flirting scene was awful. Alona Tal had a thankless role and looked impressed by the fact that the guy quoted the two best-known lines in A Streetcar Named Desire. Based on what he quoted, I would have assumed he watched the relevant episode of The Simpsons.

The dog is hardcore.

[piequinn35]

I am confused, if Clay has not passed the training for Green Team (for Seal Team 6) why was he in Jason's team last ep? There could be any other Seals that could have joined them to replace Nate.

Sonny's dog has a name = Severus. :)

[sigmaforce86]

I like it in a I can play a word game and still watch/listen kind of way - it's not so serious that I can't look away or I'll miss something big and it's not quite so stupid that it gets tuned out completely.  I thought the parachute scene this week was well done switching to their pov and night vision.   If they continue with every episode "they go in, they encounter a problem, they fix it, they come home safe...and repeat" that's when it'll get tiring and reduced to tune out status.   As much as I love Max Thieriot I don't feel compelled by his story line, I blame that mostly on us knowing he's a series regular so any drama or angst over will he make it/will he wash out is pretty much taken away and the "we hate him because of his dad" backstory doesn't really add much - the best thing might be to fast track that a little, write his epiphany or whatever wakes him up to act like he's on a team into the first 6-9 episodes not drag it over a full season.  Also really like Alona Tal - please writers promise she'll be used better in future episodes than what she was given as an introduction.  Honestly between those two and David I guess I'm watching it for the actors and while it's not horrible they do need to step it up a bit.

[HurricaneVal]

2 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

Of all the talent on Buffy, I never thought Boreanez would go on to have the career that he has. The guy's worked solidly for 20 years!

I know, right?  He must have a hell of a work ethic, and back when I read People magazine (before it became all Kardashian/Dancing with the Stars/Bachelor/Bachelorette all the damn time) a positive David Boreanez blurb would come up fairly regularly so he must have had one hell of a publicist.

[Ohmo]

17 hours ago, Casey said:

Before I watch - is the dog ok?

 

6 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

Sonny's dog has a name = Severus. :)

Well, I find myself always worried about Severus.  I know he's a working dog and all that, but dogs don't choose a career in the military.  I hated the idea that he might be exposed to nerve gas.

I really want to like this show, but I keep comparing it to the Unit, which I think did a much better job on the family side.  Jason's fine, and I like the guy whose wife just had the baby, but there's no cohesion on the family side, which makes it difficult to become invested.  Jason and his wife are already estranged, so there's not a lot of chemistry there.  Nate's dead, so Molly's separated from the team.  There really is not that much holding the family side together in any sort of story.  Why should I care about these families?

I like the woman who handles all the logistics better than the analyst.

[piequinn35]

Ah fine my friend told me that Clay was with them in ep1 because he was the translator geez.

I missed that. :/

[dwmarch]

23 hours ago, Casey said:

Before I watch - is the dog ok?

Even the wolf is okay. Some Syrian kids try to shoot a wolf at the beginning of the episode and they're sure they hit it but all they find are dead cows. (Spoiler alert, the cows are not okay.)

Michael Irby was some brilliant casting, considering he played a tier-one operator on The Unit. It was also great to see Linda Park whom I have not seen much of since her days as Hoshi Sato on Enterprise.

One thing stood out to me as absolute bullshit in this episode: the gossip about the team member's baby reaching the team while they were on a mission. No way, no how, not ever would that happen. Say some frantic miltary wife calls somebody (anybody really) to say "ermagerd, my baby might die!" Whomever takes that call on the military side will certainly empathize. They will make assurances that the father will be informed as soon as possible. And then they will sit on that information until the baby daddy is stateside once again. They certainly would not radio it out to the SEAL team so that the CO can agonize over whether he should decimate the combat effectiveness of his unit by spreading the news!

In the "things military that the general public will have a passing familiarity with" we have the Mogadishu mile and the Syrian kid who broke all of our hearts when we saw him. I was surprised they killed the little guy off.

Edited October 6, 2017 by dwmarch

[piequinn35]

^Yeah that one too, does it really happen IRL? maybe for the show the family have direct contact to their CO (Eric forgot his last name, the guy with Jessica Pare) if something happens, I thought I heard Ray told Jason that when his wife gave birth Eric (I guess when he was their team leader) did not tell him too.

22 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

I also read a lot of Suzanne Brockman which convinced me that SEALS cannot be anything other than hot and competent.

Starret and Wolchonok :) Read that too.

[Irishmaple]

I was all in for Max and Gina :)

[piequinn35]

2 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

I was all in for Max and Gina :)

Max wasn't a Navy Seal, no?

sorry for off topic

[Irishmaple]

No, I think he was CIA. But hot and competent. There's CIA and SEALs in the show so we're just borderline with the off-topic!!

[Ohmo]

17 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Michael Irby was some brilliant casting

I'm going to have to go back and look because I didn't notice him.  Who did he play?  I'd love it if he was in this show permanently...him or Max Martini.  I always bought that both actors could be believable military men on the Unit.  They sold their roles well.

[mojoween]

I really want to like this because I adore David but military stories shot overseas are just not really my bag.  Also visually I hate ten minutes of film shot in night vision.

I did love the muzzle they put on the dog before they jumped out of the plane but I get so nervous every time the dog is on screen I can't even focus.

The answer "too many," to the question of "how many?" when people's lives are on the line is a terrible fucking answer.

I'm still sticking with it though because again, David.

Michael Irby was the guy who controlled the bottom five, right?  He was in Bones once and also a baddie in a Fast and Furious movie.

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, mojoween said:

 

Michael Irby was the guy who controlled the bottom five, right?  He was in Bones once and also a baddie in a Fast and Furious movie.

And was part of the special operations team on NBC's Taken last season with a new show runner he may be gone when it returns mid season 

[rainsmom]

On 10/5/2017 at 4:36 AM, Casey said:

Before I watch - is the dog ok?

Thank you for asking this. I think we need to post this at the beginning of every episode thread so those of us who are... too stressed... by the dog can relax and enjoy the episode. (Or avoid it totally!)

Edited October 8, 2017 by rainsmom

[Lady Calypso]

Oh! Daniel Gillies! You're still making cameos. I honestly just assumed that he made his cameo in the pilot as some sort of favour to someone. But it looks like he might be appearing more in flashbacks than I thought. I mean, I figured there would be flashbacks from time to time. I just didn't expect one so soon.

The show is still not great, but I imagine because I don't like it, it'll get renewed for a second season. Again, I like the actors, but the writing feels like amateur writers wrote it. Like, 70% of the writing is just cliches and drama. The team is also shown to be unprofessional at times on the field. 

I'm rooting for the dog, in all honesty. The dog is all I care about. 

Oh, I learned who the final team member is! I totally didn't recognize AJ Buckley for some reason. I like his character too. They haven't forgotten that Buckley's good at the comedy.

The editing in this episode was pretty bad. Not just the stupid night vision shots; at least those, I understand that they're trying to be different and edgy (though, in my opinion, it ended up looking more pretentious due to how many shots they used). No, some of the shots that they chose were just bad. 

Hi, Alona Tal! I like her as an actress personally, but she doesn't always choose the best roles to showcase her strengths. Her character here is downright irritating. But really, on a better written show, her character wouldn't be as bad. I predict her death....either at the end of this season or next season, if the show gets renewed. 

ETA: Oh, one more thing. Hey, Mandy? When you have your Navy Seal team out on the field, getting surrounded and they ask how many, give them a number. "Too many" isn't an accurate number in a high tense situation.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lady Calypso

[CoyoteBlue]

On 10/5/2017 at 10:37 PM, piequinn35 said:

Ah fine my friend told me that Clay was with them in ep1 because he was the translator geez.

I missed that. :/

Yeah, the reason Jason was so irritated with the kid was because he acted like he was joining this elite team - nope, kiddo, you're a "strap", just specialized support for the real team. So now the kid is trying to actually earn his way onto the team.

I love Cerberus, the paratrooping dog. Just hangin' there from his harness, happy as a clam, while he gets kitted up with his goggles and custom oxy mask.

Edited October 12, 2017 by CoyoteBlue
Cerberus, not Severus or Sirius!

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

I love Severus, the paratrooping dog. Just hangin' there from his harness, happy as a clam, while he gets kitted up with his goggles and custom oxy mask.

I believe he was fast-roping from the heli in Episode #1...

Gotta get my Budweiser to watch this show!

[Ohmo]

On 10/7/2017 at 10:01 PM, rainsmom said:

Thank you for asking this. I think we need to post this at the beginning of every episode thread so those of us who are... too stressed... by the dog can relax and enjoy the episode. (Or avoid it totally!)

Yes, we need a Sit Rep on Severus in each episode thread.  I know it's tv and that dogs actually do go into dangerous military situations, but I don't want to watch that on tv. Don't hurt Severus, show.  Seriously.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Ohmo said:

Don't hurt Severus, show.  Seriously.

Cerberus.  But with only the one head.

They'd have to be pretty dumb to let anything happen to her!

[CoyoteBlue]

On 10/10/2017 at 6:33 PM, Netfoot said:

Cerberus.  But with only the one head.

They'd have to be pretty dumb to let anything happen to her!

Cerberus it is! And it's almost as cool as her real name: "Dita The Hair Missile Dog was born on July 2, 2014 in Muncie, Indiana, USA. She is an actress, known for SEAL Team (2017)." 

[Artsda]

I think seeing Daniel Gilles in the flashbacks is my favorite part of the episodes.

[Brookside]

On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 2:36 AM, Casey said:

Before I watch - is the dog ok?

This is all I wanted to know and I don't even like dogs.  Can't he get a doggie helmet and some doggie body armour?