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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S02.E07: Birdwatching

MostlyC

By MostlyC
in Lethal Weapon [V]

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AES13

AES13

I want to enjoy this show as much as I did during the 1st season but they keep asking me to suspend my disbelief too much.  Riggs (supposedly a police officer) has actually been a danger to the public in the last couple of episodes and it's played for laughs.  Murtaugh acts like a neanderthal doofus and I question why his wife is still with him.  Both issues would be helped by not playing everything to the extreme.   

Given how quiet it's been here lately, it makes me think I'm not the only one who questions why I'm bothering to watch.  The answer for me (of course) is Clayne Crawford.  I find him very charismatic and just wish they would use him better.  Once he's "over" his guilt about his father's death, what's next?  Does his dog die?  Whatever happened to his dog?

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Happy Harpy

Happy Harpy

(edited)
12 hours ago, AES13 said:

I want to enjoy this show as much as I did during the 1st season but they keep asking me to suspend my disbelief too much.  Riggs (supposedly a police officer) has actually been a danger to the public in the last couple of episodes and it's played for laughs.  Murtaugh acts like a neanderthal doofus and I question why his wife is still with him.  Both issues would be helped by not playing everything to the extreme.   

Given how quiet it's been here lately, it makes me think I'm not the only one who questions why I'm bothering to watch.  The answer for me (of course) is Clayne Crawford.  I find him very charismatic and just wish they would use him better.  Once he's "over" his guilt about his father's death, what's next?  Does his dog die?  Whatever happened to his dog?

Personally, I watch for the characters namely Riggs, Murtaugh, Trish, Avery, Bailey, Bowman (who found rapidly his place imo) and Scorsese, plus Palmer and Leo. And the cast, of course.

This episode didn't quite mesh for me. There are always hits and misses in any TV show season and this was one. Especially with comedy, which is the most difficult genre. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good either.

I usually dislike cameos with superstars because they're "Oh, superstar!" with the obligatory sucking-up "Oh you're so great I'm such a fan" scene. I wasn't surprised, in a way, that the related plot seemed to come straight from an episode of The Nanny, the all time specialist (and The Nanny did it better). In spite of Wayans and Sharpe's comedic talents, it was meh.

I don't know where Riggs' storyline is going. It's well acted and as said above, the visual is chilling (quite realistic for an 8PM show) but I don't see a direction yet so I wonder what's the point. Most characters don't know what his deal is, which I think isolates him and since he's the co-lead it creates some unbalance. Maybe they think they won't keep the show interesting if Riggs isn't on edge an angsty, but if they keep him like this for the sake of it, it isn't going to work either imo. Also, I think that even as recurring, Palmer added a spark to the show and steered Riggs in a better direction, where he could stay "crazy Riggs" but heal at the same time; sorry not sorry.

I did like the B-Team subplot. It's a good idea to develop the supporting characters and involve the viewers little by little, on the long run it can help to avoid the main characters running in circles and becoming caricatures of themselves.

Edited by Happy Harpy
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Commando Cody

Commando Cody

This episode was a little too graphic for me. I watched the second half during breakfast this morning and I lost my appetite. 

I like the B-Team. 

If this show gets renewed for a third season, what do you think Riggs's next trauma should be? 

I have wonder if shows go downhill mostly because of network interference. Lucifer isn't as good as it used to be either. the new MacGyver was never great to begin with, but now they are forcing useless characters on us like they did with Sleepy Hollow. 

It is as if the writers don't think the show can survive without Riggs having some sort of a horrible life. The dead wife should have been enough. Now we have the child abuse back story - instead of Tom Waits guest starring as his father.  Riggs's father could have had a shady background instead. Possibly more like Nate's father on Leverage. 

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DearEvette

DearEvette

On 11/22/2017 at 10:05 PM, MaggieG said:

I think the house where the Noble's lived is the same house Renata lived in on Big Little Lies

It totally is.  I saw it and said 'Hey, that's Laura Dern's house from Big Little Lies!"

I am enjoying the B-Team.  Good on the show for letting them come out to play a bit more.  Also I am loving them amping up Scorsese's personality this season. 

I love Riggs and understand that his being fucked in the head is canon on the show, but man his traumas have become the worst part of the show.  I thought since he's come to terms with his wife's death that we'd gotten past the worst of that. I really don't need this newer one. I think he could still be the reckless adrenaline junkie who just doesn't give a fuck and not have it be underscore by some deep seated trauma.

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MissLucas

MissLucas

That house sure comes around. I remember it from Numb3rs.

A tad too dark for my liking - but I'm glad Riggs decided to talk to Cahill in the end. There really was no more room to play this for laughs. Speaking of laughs: Murtaugh needs another plot ASAP.

The B-team was great. I would actually watch a show with these two if the writing was always this good. 'Flipper Slayer' was the best line of the episode.

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juliet73

juliet73

I like the B team too and Avery. I'm over Riggs and all his childhood trauma. And I don't know what they are trying to do with Roger. Damon Wayans is naturally funny and it came across in his character last season. This season it seems like they are forcing Roger to be funnier when it's totally not needed. Still don't like the Dr.

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Orbert

Orbert

(edited)

We're still watching, but it's not as compelling as first season, and if the traffic here is any indication, others feel the same way.  I really thought we'd be past the whole "Riggs life is one big tragedy" thing after his wife's storyline was concluded, but it seems that they want to have a new crisis for Riggs every season, and this season it's the ghost of daddy with his face partly blown off.  Ugh.

Agreed that both Riggs and Murtaugh seem over-the-top a bit too much, going past tragic/funny/whatever and into just plain unbelievable.  I did like that Roger mentioned the bird.  Up until that point, it wasn't clear whether it was all in Riggs' mind or if it was real.  But the ravens really are following him around, which is cool, but also kinda weird and there's no real way to explain it.

Scorcese continues to grow on me, and I already liked his weird, off-kilter style.  The B-team also continues to grow.  It was funny going to a place where Bowman's some kind of local hero.  Played for laughs at first, he really did know the inside of surfer culture and it came in handy a few times.  If the secondary characters hadn't stepped up this episode, it would've been pretty much a waste.

Oh yeah, almost forgot.  Three high-fives for Bowman, then a fourth on the way out the door to chase the bad guy.  Awesome!

Edited by Orbert
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kmcarte

kmcarte

On 11/25/2017 at 3:48 AM, Happy Harpy said:

I did like the B-Team subplot. It's a good idea to develop the supporting characters and involve the viewers little by little, on the long run it can help to avoid the main characters running in circles and becoming caricatures of themselves.

So true, every show has to eventually be an ensemble on some level.  So many shows can't seem to get this right, I think this one's doing okay.   

 

Riggs' behavior is so far off the grid this season.   I think they're building up to a thing where he's losing it without having his wife as a touchstone.  Her killer is caught, their relationship has a different type of shadow over it from the cartel thing.  So he's kind of lost something that was integral to him keeping his focus.  I honestly think that the Dad stuff is really good and compelling.    It's well shot and Crawford is a very strong actor with a ton of range.  The actress playing the doctor is pretty weak, she's also a terrible doctor.  Like, terrible terrible.  A big part of her character is supposed to be how competent she is and Riggs might not be an ideal patient,but she is hard core failing.  

 

I felt so bad for the dead surfer, he seemed like a good dude.  

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