All Episodes Talk: S.W.A.T.

[Danielg342]

There's always something that draws me back to this show, despite its flaws.

You just knew that Hondo's storyline wasn't going to end with Hondo's resignation or Cortez's resignation or "Hontez" ending in some form. You knew that Landry Belmont's complaint was going to be shown to be hokey and that Hondo would be back in SWAT by episode's end.

Why? It's not Episode 1.22 yet. The team in real peril doesn't happen until a season finale.

Yet it all just worked, especially in that it tied to the earlier episode where Street's mother was revealed to be a drug dealer. At least this show is consistent with its past work.

As for the case itself, Deacon did well as the lead, and it was nice that Hondo told him, "you don't need me to hold your hand". That's real teamwork right there. A bit paint-by-the-numbers, but at least we "saw" most of the clues that led to the arrest, instead of having characters come back with info they gathered off-screen.

Ally too was a nice character, and she had some nice chemistry with Tan. Brooke Nevin (who played Ally) was a joy to watch and had down that "tough but warm" look to a tee. It's a pity her and Tan won't be a thing (it looks) but Tan probably deserved it based on how he treated her. It would be fun to learn that she became some kind of vigilante that protected the weak from the greedy in the underworld, because Ally had that vibe about her, and the character would be fun to watch and follow again and again.

I feel like there could be a series made about her, but that's just me.

Overall, it was a win. Very much so.

[CooperTV]

Quote

As the SWAT team goes inside a prison riot to rescue civilian hostages, Hondo suspects the inmates have an ulterior motive behind the uprising. Also, when Deacon’s wife, Annie, stops by headquarters to celebrate Deacon’s 10th anniversary with the SWAT division, her visit takes an unexpected turn.

Promos

 

[Netfoot]

"We make a stealth entry!  That gives us the element of surprise"   <Blammo!>  <Blammo!>  (Nothing like explosives to make your entry stealthy!)

Really neat gizmo that winched them up the rope to the top of that tall building.  Uh... who got the rope up there in the first place?

[CooperTV]

Quote

Hondo teams up with an old DEA friend, Special Agent Katrina “K.C.” Walsh, on a task force aimed at unmasking the secret leader of a fentanyl drug smuggling ring. Also, Jessica and Michael Plank, president of the Police Commission, begin implementing her new law enforcement community initiatives.

Promos

[threebluestars]

I didn't like as a viewer that we're left wondering about Annie, but it is a lot more realistic than most things on this show, so I'll allow it lol.

I totally thought when Annie showed with the cake that something would happen to Deke, so I liked being faked out and have it be her. That was a nice switch up.

[mccartygirl]

3 hours ago, threebluestars said:

I didn't like as a viewer that we're left wondering about Annie, but it is a lot more realistic than most things on this show, so I'll allow it lol.

I totally thought when Annie showed with the cake that something would happen to Deke, so I liked being faked out and have it be her. That was a nice switch up.

I thought the same thing! I was worried about Deacon. Poor Annie, hopefully she is okay. 

[Danielg342]

I thought and I thought...before deciding that, finally, SWAT gets an A.

I'm really starting to like this show, so it was only a matter of time.

I'm still not going to call this a flawless episode- I still think the depth of its cases could use work, as well as its characters- but, for once, we got a story that was at least a little more than just "things blow up until the final showdown with the baddie".

The prison rioters rioting because of their poor conditions was a nice touch, and a topical one since it's a problem for many prisons. Perhaps the jab at "corporate prisons" was a predictable one, but it's still one that needs to be made.

I also think the show did a great job with the suspense in the action scenes. I had a real sense that I didn't know how they would play out, even though I knew none of the team would be goners. There are too many shows that drop the ball in situations like that so good work, SWAT.

I appreciated as well the fact the gangly, nervous guard wasn't revealed to be a bad guy in some way. That's a misdirect too many shows go for, and the tone of the episode needed a guard who was "in over their head"- because, as the conditions of the prison were, the staff truly were in over their heads.

Lastly...Annie. Stinks we don't know what happened to her, and I think for a character that's little more than a plot device stretching out her fate is unnecessary, but the scenes played all the right beats. I cried too with Deacon, and I'm not even a married guy with kids.

Great work.

[Raja]

I was wondering where TJ McCabe was since they used the other legacy names in the series. It seems as if Deacon also has a nickname of TJ, at least that is what the Commander called him when he made it to the hospital. Perhaps that are retconning the characters name.

[mojoween]

Best episode yet, IMO.  LOVE that they did the switch up after Annie reminded the head guy that it was Deacon’s anniversary and SHE was the one who got sick. It’s such a familiar TV trope and they went the total opposite way.

It made me think of the ER where Cynthia Nixon had a stroke and we saw it from her point of view.  The actress who plays Annie did a tremendous job of showing with only her eyes how terrified she was.

I worry about the head guy.  It might be three years, but he is clearly not over Barbara’s passing.

Go Jessica!  Weird that there seemed to be fifty cops around but she took charge and did it herself.  Now that I think about it, it was good quick thinking on her part, obviously there was no time for her to explain what was happening.

I love Luka.  “I’m a shooter, not Sherlock Holmes”.

[Netfoot]

21 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I love Luka.  “I’m a shooter, not Sherlock Holmes”.

Yes, but this is why SWAT has no business "running down leads," and generally doing Police Work.  They should stay in their playpen until called upon to shoot someone.

By the way, didn't they initially operate from a deserted strip mall?  Haven't seen that recently...

[jhlipton]

On 1/12/2018 at 7:44 AM, Netfoot said:

Really neat gizmo that winched them up the rope to the top of that tall building.  Uh... who got the rope up there in the first place?

Batman and Robin!  C'mon, I can't be the only one who flashed back to the Dynamic Duo walking "up" a building!
Seriously, though, they probably have some sort of propelled grappling hook.

On 1/12/2018 at 11:34 PM, Danielg342 said:

The prison rioters rioting because of their poor conditions was a nice touch, and a topical one since it's a problem for many prisons. Perhaps the jab at "corporate prisons" was a predictable one, but it's still one that needs to be made.

Here's the thing though -- all the threats that Jessica and Hondo made to the prison owner were just hot air; I doubt he's doing anything illegal.  For-profit prisons are designed to be modern day "plantations", and if anyone complains, they get told "don't do the crime if you can't do the time".  Prisoners being four to a cell, having to work in sweatshops (for no pay), getting slop for food -- it's all been well-documented for about a decade with absolutely no push-back.  I'm sure Mr Prison-Owner sweated all the way to the country club.

[Danielg342]

19 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Here's the thing though -- all the threats that Jessica and Hondo made to the prison owner were just hot air; I doubt he's doing anything illegal.  For-profit prisons are designed to be modern day "plantations", and if anyone complains, they get told "don't do the crime if you can't do the time".  Prisoners being four to a cell, having to work in sweatshops (for no pay), getting slop for food -- it's all been well-documented for about a decade with absolutely no push-back.  I'm sure Mr Prison-Owner sweated all the way to the country club.

I won't dispute that, sad as that truth may be.

What I will be interested in is if the show follows up on the threats "Hontez" made. If they never mention Mr. Prison-Owner ever again, then their threats are hollow and their grandstanding will be meaningless. If they write that Mr. Prison-Owner was actually arrested or sued for a significant amount of money then the show at least backed up its talk. Certainly the way they focused on him at the end makes me think they won't end the story there- we may even go back to that prison.

[Danielg342]

I forgot to mention earlier I dug that the prisoners were watching The Young and the Restless. For those who don't know, that was Shemar Moore's first big TV role, and Criminal Minds (his previous show) made the same joke in Season 4's "The Instincts". I wonder if this means we'll get a CM allusion down the road.

[jhlipton]

9 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I forgot to mention earlier I dug that the prisoners were watching The Young and the Restless. For those who don't know, that was Shemar Moore's first big TV role, and Criminal Minds (his previous show) made the same joke in Season 4's "The Instincts". I wonder if this means we'll get a CM allusion down the road.

Criminal Minds is on the same network as SWAT so it is possible.  I suppose there would be a lot of comments like "You look a lot like this guy I knew..."

[Danielg342]

21 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

Criminal Minds is on the same network as SWAT so it is possible.  I suppose there would be a lot of comments like "You look a lot like this guy I knew..."

I picture a day Reid goes on SWAT and tells Hondo exactly that. :p

[Raja]

My brother the FBI Special Agent

[Danielg342]

I picture them more as cousins than brothers, because we met Derek Morgan's immediate family in "Profiler, Profiled" and only met his sister. So, unless they're estranged it'd be easier for Hondo to be his cousin.

[BooksRule]

This was an okay episode.  I guess the Korean real estate guy is the 'big bad' for the season, although if he didn't already know that the authorities were on to him, Hondo sure tipped him off when he threatened him.  I did like the beginning raid and how gleeful the team was about pulling it off.

I'm not sure about Plank.  Is he a good guy or not?  He seems okay, but his getting the surgeon to come in to operate on Annie seems to hint at some deals being made or favors that will be due.  That's the only reason I can think of for the Annie health subplot, since it looks like she's going to be okay. As for the surgeon, I thought he was Treat Williams at first, even though I hadn't seen his name in the credits.  The actor looks familiar, but I see that he's mainly played very small parts on some shows I've watched.

[Danielg342]

Last week was amazing. This week...well, I should expect a drop-off.

It's not a dramatic one, because it's still a very solid episode. I also think this could have been a bellwether episode if its story was just a little tighter.

First, I do appreciate that it was Hondo at the end who needed to heed his own advice. Secondly, I also appreciate that this case didn't end neatly with a bow with the ultimate bad guy brought in at the end, much like how real cases work.

I just think it was a little choppy that Hondo suddenly announced after rescuing the kid that "we still need to get the top guy". It's as if the script writer forgot a piece of the story and merely tacked it on to the finished product, so it jarred the pace.

It was also predictable that the DEA agent's kid would get kidnapped. When has a crime show ever introduced somebody's kid and not used them to create drama for a main character or a guest star? As soon as we met Calvin, he was as good as bait.

More to the point, though, is how Hondo seems to remind me a bit too much of Criminal Minds' Derek Morgan. Now, in principle, this isn't bad- Morgan was my favourite on CM and Shemar Moore always played him to have a depth CM never gave him, so I'm happy S.W.A.T. is exploring that.

However, on CM, Morgan was prone to boneheaded, reckless decisions borne out of pure emotion, a trait that, while it's fine when the character is a subordinate and "new to the job", it's not one that would make the powers that be think "this guy would be great to lead a team".

You'd expect at least some maturity and the know-how that there are certain points where you have to keep your emotions in check, and deciding whether or not to confront your suspected "big bad" is one of those points.

I mean, think about it- just two episodes ago, Hondo was the subject of a complaint. Yeah, it was dubious, but there was a reason Commissioner Hicks took it seriously- because it was something Hondo would do.

Hondo should be smarter than to put himself in a situation where he'd be the subject of a real complaint, and that's precisely what he did.

Yeah, big developer guy is...probably...the Big Bad. However, there's a reason why people like him are called "suspects" because, until they're proven guilty, you only suspect that they've done something wrong.

Not "I know they did something wrong".

So you investigate them under the radar, build enough evidence to secure a warrant, and then arrest him, maybe with bravado included.

Not barge into his office building, interrupt his meeting, thrust the gruesome picture of a dead man in his face and bark at him about all of the wrongs you think he's done.

Yeah, I get that Hondo wanted to intimidate the developer and let him know that he'll "pay the price" for kidnapping Calvin. However, two points:

1. If the developer is, indeed, the Big Bad of the Fentanyl Trade (as he probably is), the developer now knows the Los Angeles Police Department are on to him. Perhaps he should have figured they were anyway once he started trafficking in fentanyl, but when people don't know they're being investigated, they let their guard down a little thinking they're "safe". That aspect is now out the window, and who knows if the LAPD will gather enough evidence to arrest him.
2. If the developer isn't the Big Bad of the Fentanyl Trade (which is still possible), he's got a great case to launch a complaint against Hondo for harassment and police overreach. Hondo threatening an actual criminal is one thing, but an innocent civilian? That's the kind of thing the police in dictatorships do and it's the last thing anyone in American policing wants to associate themselves with. Not to mention the very big mistake Hondo made in threatening someone who didn't deserve it.

(Part of me wonders if Hondo's threat was meant to set him up to be the first officer to be reviewed by Cortez's panel or for her panel to eventually put him under review. They made too big a deal out of Cortez's proposals for them not to feature sometime later)

Bottom line is, if the show wanted to show that Hondo lets his emotions get the better of him at times the better play would have had Street tell Hondo while they're driving to meet the developer how bad an idea it is for Hondo to do that, with Hondo realizing this point and turning around. Yeah, it's not as dramatic as a confrontation with the developer in front of all of his friends, but it would point to the restraint and calculation that Hondo would need to have in order to be a good leader.

I'm not saying that we never see Hondo let his emotions take over and see him make a boneheaded mistake because of it...I'm saying it should at least not come when a reasonable person would deduce losing his head would be a bad idea.

Morgan was the hotshot, and that was fine then. Hondo should at least show that he's understood he's been burned by those tendencies before and has actually worked to control them, instead of them controlling him.

Other thoughts:

• Victor Tan had some interesting insights into the perception of Asian culture vs. the reality. His admission that he'd never "date his own kind" because of how they resemble his erstwhile parents was interesting.
• Luca knows Korean. I wonder if they're working on making him the "Reid" of S.W.A.T.
• I'm glad Annie made it but I also hope that's the end of that storyline. It felt repetitive to go through her medical drama again.
• No Mumford again after brief appearances last week and in "Miracle". What's the point of having his team around if the show will never use them?
• Chris had very little to do, and maybe had only a handful of lines that weren't "stay down!" or "hands where I can see them!". Maybe this was her turn to be shafted, in much the same way that Tan seems to have been the odd man out in previous episodes.

[mojoween]

I can’t tell if the commissioner is a good guy or not.  He’s saying and doing all of the right things, but he’s also going to want to cash those chips in later and I fear it’s somehow going to come down badly on Jessica.  He also seems like he’s married?  But it still feels like he’s going to hit on Jessica every time he talks to her.

Interesting that someone mentioned here last week that S.W.A.T is not supposed to do investigative work and this week the captain said just that.

I feel like Hondo asking Street to come with him when he interrupted the dinner has a deeper meaning they didn’t reveal yet.  I can’t believe it was just for Street to be like “remember when you yelled at me in the bank?”

They went overboard with Luka’s knowledge of Korean so I feel like that is going to go somewhere later.  Or they just had time to fill in this episode and decided to throw all that in.

[Netfoot]

45 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Interesting that someone mentioned here last week that S.W.A.T is not supposed to do investigative work and this week the captain said just that.

And why would a SWAT team be questioning suspects already in custody?

[CooperTV]

Quote

Hondo and the SWAT team join forces with the FBI on a manhunt to find members of a militia group planning a domestic terror attack by weaponizing cyanide. Also, as Jessica’s new police initiatives with Michael Plank, president of the police commission, move forward, she braces herself for the negative impact the plans could have on her relationships within the department, on S.W.A.T.

Promos

[Danielg342]

Quote

join forces with the FBI

Holding out hope for a Criminal Minds cameo, or at least a reference. That would be fun.

[Raja]

33 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

Holding out hope for a Criminal Minds cameo, or at least a reference. That would be fun.

I remember back in the day CBS forbid an X-Files reference in their show, Picket Fences. In this case they are both CBS. As the more serious show I guess Criminal Minds producers would have the go, no go rights 

[webruce]

I to liked that the guys in the room with the ice cream watching the soaps was showed. Not everyone wants to destroy things and kill people in prison. i didn't put 2 and 2 together on the "Young and Restless" "Morgan promo".  I just figured it was a plug for a CBS show, just like the "Sherlock Holmes" plug for "Elementary" which won't be back until April? But a "Criminal Minds" connection is interesting.

I liked that the guard who stabbed the inmate was actually, as listed above, a lightly trained guard that was in over his head. I thought about him being the one that helped the prisoners revolt or something. And one of the prisoners in the cell would let it slip. But glad he wasn't.

When Annie came to the precinct with the cake and Hicks was acting a bit weird, I was at first thinking he was going to do something wrong. But as he explained he isn't over his wife, Barbara. He knew that Annie didn't know Deacon was off on a dangerous mission, and word at any time could come back that he or others were injured or killed. So he was kind of stalling her probably wondering what to actually do. Now by her talk, she did understand, she was kind of joking about him being out on a dangerous call. Not sure if the prison riot was on the news yet or not. I did cry with Deacon and the team. Nice everyone was there. Annie did play her seizure well, and Hicks did his end too. Deacon telling Hondo he did the right thing, probably was only to reassure him that he wouldn't be mad at them. I do hope all will be good. 

I was surprised when Gunnar Cade shot Warden Harvey on cam. But him only stabbing Sister Carmelita and letting her slowly die was bad too. I guess he hates what she was trying to do for the prisoners. I was glad that JR Coultrain(sp)wanted to help the Sister, and not rape her like I first thought after he watched her when she was stabbed. But when Hondo went after Cade I was glad he had Rocker as back up, but then when Rocker took the one prisoner, it left Hondo again alone with  the worst baddie, Cade.

When Street and Tan had to wrestle Moco Hernandez, I was thinking, wait Rocker is their back up. He is Lou Ferrigno Jr., doesn't he have some of his dads "Hulkiness"? But they finally stopped him.

Also I liked that Mumford's team was on another call, and showed up later to help out. Sure SWAT probably has days it isn't busy, but some days it had to be.

I agree to on the "Sweat Shop" part, true someone will probably "look " into it, but most probably won't change.

Also not all 2 man teams had PD back up.

Also the "Seizure" episode name fits both Annie's condition, and the take over of the prison, crafty.

Edited January 25, 2018 by webruce
added thought or 2.

[jhlipton]

In case anyone thinks this episode went overboard, look up the history of the Angola prison.  A slave plantation is now a slave prison.

The 13th Amendment enshrines slavery for anyone, innocent or guilty, found guilty of a felony:

Quote

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.

Edited January 26, 2018 by jhlipton

[Toothbrush]

On 1/20/2018 at 3:41 AM, Danielg342 said:

(Part of me wonders if Hondo's threat was meant to set him up to be the first officer to be reviewed by Cortez's panel or for her panel to eventually put him under review. They made too big a deal out of Cortez's proposals for them not to feature sometime later)

Count on it. I'm also betting on a Hondo/Cortez/Plank love triangle. As much as I hate that a workplace romance has to be shoehorned into every show that features a work situation, I really like Hondo & Cortez together. 

On 1/20/2018 at 8:21 AM, Netfoot said:

And why would a SWAT team be questioning suspects already in custody?

Because...drama!! 

I knew Calvin would be kidnapped the moment Hondo & KC started talking about him. He sure was a cutie. But KC's wig was one of the worst I have ever seen.

[Raja]

On 1/20/2018 at 5:33 AM, mojoween said:

 

They went overboard with Luka’s knowledge of Korean so I feel like that is going to go somewhere later.  Or they just had time to fill in this episode and decided to throw all that in.

I think it was just a one and done deal. Just so we don't go to Officer Tan for all things Asian and not bring in a translator character. He doesn't seem to be part of a big three even if they do go the route of the big bad real estate developer being responsible for all evil in the city as happened in the first season of The Shield. But now the language with local contacts has been done for the limit character building, I guess they could also have him be a vet who was based in Korea for a year along with being a patrol officer in the area.

[Danielg342]

3 hours ago, Raja said:

I think it was just a one and done deal. Just so we don't go to Officer Tan for all things Asian and not bring in a translator character.

Luca knowing Korean felt "tacked on", like it was something the writer of the episode thought would be great to establish at that moment. This wouldn't be bad if the show remembers it and goes back to it, but this kind of "fly by the seat of their pants" character development has been seen many other times on this show already. How often has a character- even Hondo- made mention of some important aspect of their character via a throwaway line?

[threebluestars]

The guy playing Crocken (sp?) was on an episode of Criminal Minds.

Mac Brandt (the sovereign dude) was on Kingdom with Lina Esco.

I have a feeling Jessica has underestimated just how much this proposal is going to blow back on her.

Edited February 5, 2018 by threebluestars

[Danielg342]

OK, so there was no Spencer Reid. Next time, Hondo. Next time.

We did get Greg Collins, who was on Criminal Minds twice- in "25 to Life" (Episode 6.11), where he played a detective, and in "Mayhem" (Episode 4.01) where he played a Captain, Captain Warner. That scene was one where he had to confront Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), where Warner was securing a scene where Morgan's boss, Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner, had just been in an accident. Morgan tried to enter the scene to help his boss but Warner wouldn't let him until Morgan profiled him and applied Warner's sense of camaraderie from his days as a Marine Corps member to convince him that he shouldn't stop Morgan from fulfilling his duties to his teammates.

Anyway...not the Earth-shattering crossover, but it's a start.

I thought, overall, this could have been an "A" but I felt like something held it back. It was pretty disjointed, with a haphazard storyline with Street and "the letter", Deacon and his letter (and Annie writing him one), Cortez and her proposals and the case itself. I appreciate that the show is trying to explore multiple angles and try to have the show be more than "just the case", but it needs to do a better job with the pacing and integration so that we don't lose track of the storylines when we do get to them.

One thing I did appreciate is that they resisted the urge to put Street in peril as a "lesson" for why he needed a letter. Having Chris appeal to him worked much better, since it made Street realize he does have a family- his SWAT team.

I also appreciated that Mumford and his team actually had work to do and was useful in the successful completion of the case, instead of using him as a "rival" to Hondo or just essentially making a cameo. Peter Onorati has some real chops, but this show wastes them by not using his team properly. If there was a part of the show I would cut out, it's Mumford, since we don't need another SWAT team- unless that team is a "backup" or has a specialty that Hondo's team doesn't have. I would rather have the latter since it's realistic for a city the size of Los Angeles to have multiple SWAT teams- but the show needs to figure out how Mumford "fits in" first.

I also found it amusing that the FBI agent assigned to the case kept on drinking energy drinks- that seems to be the "new alcohol" in police circles. Or any circle these days.

The whole "sovereign" thing was also a neat concept, although I think the team got lucky. It didn't seem like it would take much for the sovereigns to open the valve and contaminate the water, so how Hondo stopped them "in the nick of time" is beyond me.

Still, good work.

Oh, and one last thing- maybe it's me, but Peter Facinelli (Commissioner Plank) look like he could be built to be a SWAT guy himself? Why waste him as a suit?

[Raja]

6 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

 

I also appreciated that Mumford and his team actually had work to do and was useful in the successful completion of the case, instead of using him as a "rival" to Hondo or just essentially making a cameo. Peter Onorati has some real chops, but this show wastes them by not using his team properly. If there was a part of the show I would cut out, it's Mumford, since we don't need another SWAT team- unless that team is a "backup" or has a specialty that Hondo's team doesn't have. I would rather have the latter since it's realistic for a city the size of Los Angeles to have multiple SWAT teams- but the show needs to figure out how Mumford "fits in" first.

I also found it amusing that the FBI agent assigned to the case kept on drinking energy drinks- that seems to be the "new alcohol" in police circles. Or any circle these days.

The whole "sovereign" thing was also a neat concept, although I think the team got lucky. It didn't seem like it would take much for the sovereigns to open the valve and contaminate the water, so how Hondo stopped them "in the nick of time" is beyond me.

Still, good work.

 

Most of it is just a legacy callback to the original series where the teams were deployed to Olympic SWAT and Sunset SWAT. Since that city was not actually Los Angeles you could not have them being accused to placing them on closely paralleling major streets. 

The contaminate the water supply plan reminded me of Three the Hard Way where Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly each saved a city "the hard way" from white supremacist.

[Netfoot]

"I am not an American Citizen!  I am from England/France/Barbados/S*!thole/Norway/Jamaica, so I don't have to obey the law!  I can be robbin' and a stabbin', and a lootin' and a shootin', and you can't stop me!  Oh, also, I demand all the rights afforded to me by the system I repudiate..."

[CooperTV]

Quote

Hondo and Jessica’s secret relationship comes to a crossroads when Michael Plank, the president of the police commission, discovers their affair. Also, when Hondo and the team assist with the federal investigation to bring in an undocumented fugitive, they find themselves at the center of a citywide immigration debate.

Promo

[Toothbrush]

More of Shemar Moore is never a bad thing, but having him interrogate suspects takes me out of the story every time. At least they had the FBI agent make an anemic objection, but her quick acceptance of Hondo's reasoning was lame. If anything an LAPD detective should have been doing the questioning if keeping it local was so crucial, not SWAT. I understand - the show is called SWAT after all.

On 2/2/2018 at 1:20 AM, threebluestars said:

I have a feeling Jessica has underestimated just how much this proposal is going to blow back on her.

Oh big time. That scene with her & Hicks was really telling. I appreciate how Jessica is so convinced that she is on the side of the angels that she cannot see the forest for the trees, and reform is needed, no doubt about it, but she is new enough that she needs to learn to play politics. Not saying I agree, but that is the way it is. Favors being owed to Plank and the city being run on favors was brought up *again*. 

On 2/4/2018 at 2:15 AM, Danielg342 said:

One thing I did appreciate is that they resisted the urge to put Street in peril as a "lesson" for why he needed a letter. Having Chris appeal to him worked much better, since it made Street realize he does have a family- his SWAT team.

I also appreciated that Mumford and his team actually had work to do and was useful in the successful completion of the case, instead of using him as a "rival" to Hondo or just essentially making a cameo. Peter Onorati has some real chops, but this show wastes them by not using his team properly.

I agree with these points. I was waiting for Street to be injured, thus learning his letter lesson. Chris appealing to him was nice, but I hope they are not setting up a Chris/Street romance. I was so afraid that instead of saying that him stopping hitting on her helped them to become friends, she was going to say that it made her realize that she did like him in a romantic way. And I totally expected the injured officer to be ax ex of Chris'. I guess I need to set some TV tropes aside when I watch this show..lol

Peter Onorati is great. I wish he had more to do on this show. 

Peter F. would be great in SWAT, but he is also good in this role as the smooth politician whose quid pro quo outlook on life will (my speculation) cause problems for Jessica (& by extension SWAT) in the future. 

[Danielg342]

On 04/02/2018 at 10:07 AM, Raja said:

The contaminate the water supply plan reminded me of Three the Hard Way where Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly each saved a city "the hard way" from white supremacist.

With Jim Brown the football player. Interesting.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Danielg342

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Danielg342 said:

With Jim Brown the football player. Interesting.

Fred (The Hammer) Williamson was a defensive back in the early 60s  NFL and  AFL also.

[Danielg342]

On 12/02/2018 at 3:19 PM, CooperTV said:

Hondo and Jessica’s secret relationship comes to a crossroads when Michael Plank, the president of the police commission, discovers their affair.

Looks like we're starting off the second half of the season with a bang. Glad they're resolving the issue sooner rather than later.

[Danielg342]

Wow.

Very wow.

So much wow.

Worthy of a repost:

There was just so much good in this episode, I'm not sure where to begin.

First, I thought the show did a very good job handling and balancing the politics, especially by grasping the police's side of the equation. I can bet there are a few cops that hate the laws they have to enforce and what it does to the families they're affecting, but they're not the ones who write up the laws so there's little they can do.

Here, I especially enjoyed Street's conflict at going viral. The show could have easily had him brush off the situation by just saying, "I'm doing my job" but the show gave Street depth by having him understand what he did and doing what he can to make things better.

Far too often you don't get proactive cops who actually try to change things for the better or at least try to make up for the worse parts of their job, so it was great to see Street do that.

I also thought the case was pretty well presented and paced, with enough twists and turns to keep me invested. That bit where Carlos Acosta didn't seem as pure as we thought was a nice touch, and that final bit of urgency where the team had to save Ariana was fun too.

The Promise Guard was also refreshingly balanced, as they hit all the notes you'd expect them to hit. They were not treated as bad guys, just people who want to uphold the laws, and their remark that they don't need to worry about "the rules" was truly on point. I also dug that Deacon seemed on board with what they were doing- to an extent- and that Tan had a very rational (if tragic) reason not to be "pro-immigration" himself.

Then there's Cortez.

If the episode had one drawback it's that they didn't make much of Mumford being upset at Cortez's proposals, nor did they do much with the vandalism of her car. I hope they'll come back to that before the end of the season.

I also must bid- for now- thee farwell to "Hontez". I have to give the show a bit of a side-eye for Michael Plank insinuating that a hug meant Hondo and Cortez were in a relationship, but the rest of that story was well played. I do believe it's rich of Plank to talk about ethics and chastise Cortez for not being ethical when he leaked the proposals...but, what does that matter? What Hondo and Cortez were doing was still wrong- Plank also being wrong doesn't change that.

I do appreciate that it was Hondo who made the call to break off the relationship- too often it's the woman who makes that call. I do feel for Cortez and Hondo, since both Shemar Moore and Stephanie Sigman did really well to bring out the emotion of the moment.

Yeah, a bit understated...but it's to be expected where both people know their relationship wasn't appropriate at the time and know it's not over because the love is gone but because they simply need to protect themselves.

Well done. Especially for Sigman, who doesn't get a whole lot to do.

Overall, this is a very nice episode. Hopefully it's a harbinger for things to come.

[CooperTV]

Quote

Hondo and the team go on the hunt for a serial killer who escaped justice two years prior by faking his death. Also, Hondo worries that Buck Spivey (Louis Ferreira), the team’s former leader, is spiraling into depression in the aftermath of being fired from the department.

Promos

[mojoween]

Plank said he saw Hondo and Jessica kissing but we didn’t see that, did we?  Weren’t they just hugging?  

He may be creepy and sneaky but he’s not wrong.  If Jessica wants to clean up the department she needs to follow the rules too.

[mythoughtis]

Superior - staff relationships are never a good idea.  Seems to me that  there are lots of captains positions. Transferring to another area in LA wouldn’t derail her career.   Of course,  It might complicate the storyline. 

I thought Street  got a bad deal. He looked for the guys ID just to get a name.  I don’t think he realized the guy was an illegal immigrant until after ICE had the guy in hand.   His actions weren’t the same to me as him actively working in concert with ICE. If LA is a sanctuary city, who authorized SWAT to back up ICE in the first place?  Of course, I am biased because I think all law enforcement should work together to enforce all applicable laws. 

I did  think the writers did a good job of trying to present all sides.   

Not impressed with the Promise Guards. Kidnapping  is a crime too. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by mythoughtis

[jhlipton]

22 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

If LA is a sanctuary city, who authorized SWAT to back up ICE in the first place?

That would be the guy who complained that SWAT backed up ICE... 

[Danielg342]

OK...so it was a bit of a rote case...and Cortez's storyline just doesn't have the juice it should have.

I mean, I hope there's more to it because resolving it with a "talk" seems weak. Cortez doesn't get to rile up a bunch of officers and all that happens is a stern talking to.

I want something meaningful.

...but the interpersonal relationships really made this episode. Especially those surrounding Buck Spivey.

The show did a very good job showing the other side of the police killings, and how even an accidental shooting can eat at a cop.

...and it ate at Buck good. Talk about hitting the skids...or, well, the gutter.

...but I'm glad Buck and Raymont got to talk things out. Perhaps it's hackneyed and wouldn't happen in reality, but I think in today's age, where police violence tends to have a one-sided focus, it's great to see the show acknowledge that, at the end, there still can be room for reconciliation and that a resolution is always preferable to constant fighting.

Who knows if Buck will be better for meeting Raymont or even if Raymont can even forgive Buck...but if things are ever to get better, all we need to do is start talking...and start they did.

Other notes:

• I thought Natasha Hall was wasted as Keri. She did look smoking hot in the sports bra and leggings...wow. However, I would have liked it more if Keri had more to do than sob at the cognitive interview and jump into Luca's arms every now and then.
• Speaking of which...Keri and Luca had chemistry. Show?
• I did appreciate that the show had the female hostage at the end get tortured via the electrical shocker...in a time when TV shies away from "The Damsel in Distress" it feels kind of refreshing that this show isn't shy about it- and also doesn't make a big deal about it. The show will care as much for female victims as they do for male victims, and that too is refreshing.
• Thought the Vanity Killer got away but glad Luca got him.
• Street is really growing on me as a character. Now that they've stopped that ridiculous newbie storyline and let the actor's natural charms come through, the character is really starting to get better. He has a real camaraderie with everyone and it's fun to watch.
• Great to see the counselor again.
• Lastly, the show's great comedic moments:
  • Deacon leaving the comment card by the fence.
  • Street being a crappy bowler, always hitting the gutter.
  • "I never thought you listened"

[CooperTV]

Quote

The job becomes personal for Hondo when his criminal informant friend is killed while seeking information about a robbery crew that a joint SWAT and FBI task force is trying to capture. Also, when the FBI task force leader acts erratically, Jessica worries the woman’s behavior will endanger the team in the field.

Promo pictures

[Danielg342]

Figured we'd have to wait until March Madness is over for the show to come back. Bummer. It's really getting good.

[mccartygirl]

On 3/8/2018 at 11:23 PM, Danielg342 said:

Speaking of which...Keri and Luca had chemistry. Show?

Deacon leaving the comment card by the fence.

But Luca is probably old enough to be her dad or at least waaay older brother. I do like his character a lot and I find the odd couple living arrangements great. 

And on a shallow note (as usual) I am crushing on Deacon! I loved Better Off Ted, but didn't think he was that cute. I love him in this role though. He's perfect as S Moore's right hand guy. 

[Danielg342]

21 minutes ago, mccartygirl said:

I do like his character a lot and I find the odd couple living arrangements great. 

And on a shallow note (as usual) I am crushing on Deacon! I loved Better Off Ted, but didn't think he was that cute. I love him in this role though. He's perfect as S Moore's right hand guy.

One day I hope we actually get to see how Luca lives and see just how bad a roommate he is. Of course, I fear this could be a "Noodle Incident" (to borrow the term from Calvin and Hobbes) where the show might be better off always referring to it and never displaying it, because all those times we've been told about how bad Luca is as a roommate may never live up to our expectations about what it would actually look like.

...and I wholeheartedly agree that Deacon and Hondo have great chemistry. I think the whole team is good but Deac and Hondo are a special pair.

[mccartygirl]

1 hour ago, Danielg342 said:

One day I hope we actually get to see how Luca lives and see just how bad a roommate he is. Of course, I fear this could be a "Noodle Incident" (to borrow the term from Calvin and Hobbes) where the show might be better off always referring to it and never displaying it, because all those times we've been told about how bad Luca is as a roommate may never live up to our expectations about what it would actually look like.

...and I wholeheartedly agree that Deacon and Hondo have great chemistry. I think the whole team is good but Deac and Hondo are a special pair.

I think the whole team is great and seem to fit well. 

Wouldn't it be funny if in the end final episode that it comes out that Luca is a millionaire because he never had to pay for rent or mortgage. 

[webruce]

I did like the episode. I felt very bad for Luca and ofcourse the guy that was chained to the pillar. I know the promos showed the building blowing up. but when the scene happened, I thought he would save him, or stay with him, and somehow be shielded when the building blew. I am glad that Detective Ben Rose didn't blow them off as not knowing anything, or act like a stupid cop himself. It happens way to many times on these shows. That's what I always liked about "Elementary", the PD knew how to do cop things, they just needed Holmes and Watson to figure it out quicker. I was glad the team saved Lance Roy and Tina. The fight between Luca and Martin Harwell(the unsub) was good. I at first thought that Chris should have fallen in too, but then thought of it as a good thing for it to be just Luca. He was fighting his demons just like Buck was. It is also nice that he helped Keri Sims and had her see Dr. Wendy Hughes. I do like Keri and Luca together, they can stay as close friends and not be lovers. I could not find her age on IMDB but he is young looking and in good shape, so it wouldn't be that long of a stretch(for me)to think that something could happen between them. Hondo did ask about his keeping in touch with her. But they could workout together, go to sporting events and have dinner and not leap into bed together. And if they do ,so what!  I wouldn't mind seeing her in future episodes. She doesn't have to be in on another case. Maybe helping the team workout?  Both shouldn't stop seeing Wendy.  Just because Harwell is behind bars, doesn't mean the nightmares go away.

I know it seemed like an easy fix for Jessica Cortez when she explained to Rocker about the situation. And it was nice that Jeff Mumford could make his cameo by being with Rocker and Val when they came forward. The threat letter was bad enough, but they did not do the vandalism to her car. So there is someone else out there that hates what she is trying to do for PD. Hicks seems to be hard on her with the "I told you so!" bit. One person who was invisible this day was Micheal Plank. I still sometimes think he is not always on the up and up. He sometimes acts like a used car salesman, lol. But with his connections to get the Doctor to do the operation and like that it makes me wonder if he isn't a problem too, or wrongly connected?  Either way this probably will have more problems before it is fixed. I know the want to be together is still strong for her and Hondo, but it is good that they will meet at a neutral place to give him his things.

I liked that Hondo was worried about Buck and even though he saw him more often that Jim Street became more worried also. Buck trying to help pay off Reymond Harris's College bills anonymously was a noble attempt. It was cute that Street couldn't bowl. I at first thought he was doing that to get Buck to open up. I liked it a lot that Hondo got Reymond and Buck to sit and talk. It may not solve all the pairs issues, but it is a start as listed above. I agree also that more disputes need this. It would be nice in the future to see the team at the bowling alley having fun together. It can just be a ending clip or talk of meeting on their day off or something. We don't need the team in the Bowling Alley and have a gun man or something come in as we have seen to many times.

I liked that Hondo and Victor Tan did some of the investigating and also that Deacon and Chris did to. It is nice to mix up the groups. With Criminal Minds it was nice for Morgan and JJ to be a team, or JJ and Hotch, but I liked to when they put Hotch and Rossi or some other combos together to investigate. I thought it cute also to have Deacon work for the power and light company and leave the comment slip by the gate, lol. I liked it also that Street gets a beer, according to Hotch because he put up with Luca as a room mate for so long, lol. It is nice that they are an "odd couple" type, and not over the top. It would be funny to if we found out that Luca was a rich surf kid who didn't want to flaunt it.