S04.E05: Goon Struck

[Chicago Redshirt]

4 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

I'm the same. Is the weird French FG inspector someone we've met before? Should I know him? Did we see Major and Don-E stuff someone in the boot of their car last episode?

Confuzzled.

HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS? I've never seen Chinatown either but "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown" is up there with "I'm your father, Luke". Or possibly "It must be bunnies" but either way this is a pop culture standard.

I don't think we've met Enzo before. It's entirely possible he was in the background at a FG meeting or something and didn't say anything. I'm pretty sure with how obnoxious he was, if he had been featured, I would have remembered.

 An aside - I'm assuming that Enzo is named after the baker in Godfather who helps defend Vito while he's in the hospital. But I'm not sure if the reference makes sense. Also not sure how "Enzo" makes sense as a French guy's name.

I think the show just plunged us in the middle of the action with Major and Don-E, with no set-up. Not the best choice IMO. They could have spent a line or two to establish what was going on. 

"I am your father" is what Darth Vader says, not "I'm your father, Luke."

Anyway, some people are not dialed into pop culture at all, and some people have pretty big pop culture blind spots. I'd guess that a good portion of adult Americans wouldn't be able to explain the meaning of "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" either. And 90 percent wouldn't be able to identify "It must be bunnies" as coming from "Buffy."

[Goldmoon]

Hey, Audience, take it easy.  I have heard the movie Chinatown mentioned since I am pushing sixty years old (yikes), but never knew what it was about. I needed Clive to explain it too!  My pop culture probably crosses with yours at many points, but not all.  I think, as in Vampire Diaries, Enzo is short for Lorenzo, which, while it sounds more Italian to me, would work as a French name. 

Bad episode all around.

[MisterGlass]

I don't think he was actually French.  I think that was the brain he'd eaten talking. 

[tennisgurl]

I really thought I had missed an episode when Major and Don E were kidnapping from random woman out of apparently a club or something. So it looks like Chase kidnaps a generals daughter so he will be less likely to attack. And he killed the Coyote woman because he cant have people being taken in and out of the city because it hurts his control of Seattle. 

I admit I did enjoy the ice hockey brain more than the last few, but I wish not everything was so connected to the bigger stuff with the zombies. I miss the procedural aspect, and while I do like some of the elements of seeing how a zombie Seattle would run, I miss the show being what it was. 

[Ray Adverb]

5 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I don't think he was actually French.  I think that was the brain he'd eaten talking. 

That's what I thought too.  Remember: when a zombie eats a brain, he doesn't act like the person he ate.  He acts like an exaggerated caricature of that person.

[biakbiak]

5 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I don't think he was actually French.  I think that was the brain he'd eaten talking. 

Didn't he show up later in the episode no longer on French brain?

[Chicago Redshirt]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Didn't he show up later in the episode no longer on French brain?

I don't think so. The last time we saw him was when he came to the station and claimed Dead Enders were behind the shooting. Liv tuned him up and he said she would pay for it and according to cc said something French.  

There was a scene with Chase and another FG guy, Hobbs, at the morgue. 

If he was in the execution scene at the end, Enzo didn't have any lines.

10 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I don't think he was actually French.  I think that was the brain he'd eaten talking. 

The people at FG generally don't eat whole brains. They eat brain tubes, which consist of multiple brains smushed together and which don't superimpose any personality traits or memories onto the zombies. Since FG makes the brain tubes, it makes sense it gives its employees a full supply of them. Eating the brain tubes creates stability and reliability. It is better to have people acting like their normal selves rather than at the whims of whoever they last ate. 

Now it could be that Enzo was an exception, or recently went to the Scratching Post or Romero's or something. But there's no particular reason to think that. No dialogue indicating "Man, he's even worse than usual on French brain" or something like that.

[AudienceofOne]

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Now it could be that Enzo was an exception, or recently went to the Scratching Post or Romero's or something. But there's no particular reason to think that. No dialogue indicating "Man, he's even worse than usual on French brain" or something like that.

Also, no real French person ever behaved like this. That was a French inspector cliche from English films and television. That's what made it even more weird. And everybody was acting like they already knew him, which made it weirder. It heightened the sense that we'd missed an episode. 

[Cthulhudrew]

Is this the first time they've mentioned "General Mills?" Because the name is so glaringly tongue-in-cheek I'm surprised if I missed it before.

[possibilities]

On 3/29/2018 at 3:44 AM, AudienceofOne said:

HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS? I've never seen Chinatown either but "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown" is up there with "I'm your father, Luke". Or possibly "It must be bunnies" but either way this is a pop culture standard.

Well, I know about Luke and his dad, but I didn't know about Chinatown, nor bunnies. 30 lashes with the pop culture savvy litmus noodle isn't going to change things, but I'll take the lashing if it also comes with explanations.

[Chicago Redshirt]

22 minutes ago, Cthulhudrew said:

Is this the first time they've mentioned "General Mills?" Because the name is so glaringly tongue-in-cheek I'm surprised if I missed it before.

Pretty sure it's the first time, yeah.

[AudienceofOne]

Most of the time I manage to mesh this internet thing with my sense of humour but sometimes it fails. Yes, I thought the Chinatown reference was pop culture standard but I wasn't being entirely serious. That's why I choose "I'm your father, Luke", which is one of the examples used when explaining the Mandela Effect (everyone remembers the quote wrong and I even quoted it wrong) and "It must be Bunnies", which is iconic but only if you're a fan of the Buffy musical. That's the thing about pop culture: what you think is widely-knowns turns out in the end to be niche. 

Mea culpa, internet. 

[LoneHaranguer]

17 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I really thought I had missed an episode when Major and Don E were kidnapping from random woman out of apparently a club or something. So it looks like Chase kidnaps a generals daughter so he will be less likely to attack.

Or, it'll push the general to be dead set on attacking after a black ops team tries to get her back.

[Affogato]

4 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Or, it'll push the general to be dead set on attacking after a black ops team tries to get her back.

I think this is more likely. Also all of this has to be on the internet. 

[Ray Adverb]

7 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Or, it'll push the general to be dead set on attacking after a black ops team tries to get her back.

I have a feeling that Chase's plan is going to backfire.  Kidnapping the general's daughter might make the general ease up, but in the process Don made that screwup at that convenience store.  Now the public knows that a zombie escaped quarantine.  That is going to terrify people, to the point where public pressure will mount to take drastic measures to contain the outbreak.  The general (I still refuse to use his stupid name) might ease up, but it's not really his call.

[Affogato]

4 hours ago, RayAdverb said:

I have a feeling that Chase's plan is going to backfire.  Kidnapping the general's daughter might make the general ease up, but in the process Don made that screwup at that convenience store.  Now the public knows that a zombie escaped quarantine.  That is going to terrify people, to the point where public pressure will mount to take drastic measures to contain the outbreak.  The general (I still refuse to use his stupid name) might ease up, but it's not really his call.

I have to say that don e is so likable that it is good that we see his bad sides fairly frequently. He’s like a cute dog that bites and pees on everything. 

Edited March 31, 2018 by Affogato
Ot it issue

[Clanstarling]

On 3/27/2018 at 2:39 AM, RayAdverb said:

I liked the stereotypical French investigator.  Not in an objective sense, but because it was nice to have a character that was more obnoxious than brain of the week Liv.

It did seem to make her less annoying, didn't it

 

On 3/27/2018 at 7:21 AM, Paloma said:

Showing my age here, but Mama Leone's was a clear Billy Joel reference--they even quoted a couple of lines from the song.

Loved the Billy Joel reference and lines. And yes @ElectricBoogaloo it does sound like a restaurant with coupons on the back of your sales receipts, as well as a Veronica Mars reference. It's a reference that just keeps giving. :)

On 3/28/2018 at 2:53 AM, RayAdverb said:

Chase Graves needed the general's daughter (I wish I could remember her name) to be turned into a zombie so that the general (I remember his name but it was so stupid that I will not repeat it).  But he needed 1) for it not to be public knowledge 2) for Major to have some sort of excuse 3) for there to be a witness to this excuse.  Don E. is an idiot who won't ask questions, so he makes a great witness.

His idiocy, at least for me, keep me from involving him in any sensitive mission, period.

On 3/29/2018 at 5:47 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Anyway, some people are not dialed into pop culture at all, and some people have pretty big pop culture blind spots. I'd guess that a good portion of adult Americans wouldn't be able to explain the meaning of "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" either. And 90 percent wouldn't be able to identify "It must be bunnies" as coming from "Buffy."

Love pop culture references, spout lines all the time (frequently use one that has my younger colleagues puzzled until I explain its origins). But some I miss (like the bunnies). I knew the Chinatown line - but since I hated the movie and only stuck it out a few minutes, I didn't really understand the fuller meaning of it until this show.

I loved Clive being uncharacteristically happy and playful in the beginning. He's so engaging when he's not scowling. I got a small vibe (and am not generally a shipper) that he and Peyton might connect. They're pretty much the last of the main cast who are 100% human, no? (Ravi's experiments make him somewhere in the grey zone)

I was glad that this episode gave Chase a chance to be something more than gung-ho martinet. His struggle was a pleasure to see. I dislike one note characters.

Edited March 31, 2018 by Clanstarling

[Sunshinegal]

I love Clive and Ravi's interactions.  I like that they are becoming closer and better friends.  Chase is trying very hard to get a handle on the situation in Seattle and you can see the weight it is putting on his shoulders.  He is not a bad guy, but he is making bad decisions.  Killing Renegade will blowup in his face (and he likes her and didn't want to kill her but felt like he had no choice not to).  I feel that Liv, Major, Chase and Peyton really want to do the right thing and are conflicted and all of them will make bad decisions.  None of them are getting a good handle on this situation.  Hopefully it will play out well in the end.

I have a feeling that Blaine will be the only one who comes up on top in all of this. 

Plus I did like the Don E and Major interaction. 

Glad we didn't see Angus.  The religious zealot scenes bore me.

[MisterGlass]

On 3/30/2018 at 8:25 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

The people at FG generally don't eat whole brains. They eat brain tubes, which consist of multiple brains smushed together and which don't superimpose any personality traits or memories onto the zombies. Since FG makes the brain tubes, it makes sense it gives its employees a full supply of them.

...

Now it could be that Enzo was an exception, or recently went to the Scratching Post or Romero's or something. But there's no particular reason to think that. No dialogue indicating "Man, he's even worse than usual on French brain" or something like that.

While brain tubes are their primary food source, there have been several FG people hanging around in Blaine's establishments.  There was one a few episodes ago who ordered the blue brain of a Shakespearean actor.  There was no direct reference to Enzo having been there (I'm assuming it's on a cutting room floor with the Major and Don E roadtrip backstory), but that's what I inferred.

I wonder if the only member of FG who sticks to just the brain tubes is Chase.

[Machiabelly]

I loved it when Clive did the Great White North theme. And even threw in "wobbly pops".

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I wonder if the only member of FG who sticks to just the brain tubes is Chase.

Probably. He's so buttoned down (and ready to pop) that I can see him coming up with the idea of de-personalized brains in the first place. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would enjoy being ridden by someone else's visions. A teetotaler, if you will.

[chaifan]

Can someone explain Mama Leone/Renegade for me?  I thought her primary smuggling business was getting humans out of Seattle, like the sick little boy.  Wasn't turning the sick guy into a zombie more like an exception?  Or did she have a bigger plan to increase the zombie population?  If so, why?  Because I don't get the morals behind that when she's all about helping people. 

I'm with the rest of you who were just confused by this episode and felt they missed something.  The show is getting sloppy.

Also, why do we rarely see Don-E in anything except classic Don-E mode?  He has access to fresh, non-processed brains.

I forgot that Chase was also a zombie.  I keep thinking of him as human. 

[Sunshinegal]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

Can someone explain Mama Leone/Renegade for me?  I thought her primary smuggling business was getting humans out of Seattle, like the sick little boy.  Wasn't turning the sick guy into a zombie more like an exception?  Or did she have a bigger plan to increase the zombie population?  If so, why?  Because I don't get the morals behind that when she's all about helping people.

As I understand it (and I could be wrong) Mama Leone just wants to help people.  She will sneak humans out of Seattle if they needed to be sneaked out.  If somebody has an illness like cancer she will scratch them to save their life.  Major did the same thing for that general's daughter when she OD.  It doesn't seem like she had a plan to increase the zombie population.  She just helped people who were sick and through word of mouth a lot of people came to her to become zombified. 

If anybody else can clarify further, please do.  I don't know if I am missing anything, but if I am please comment.

[AudienceofOne]

The issue here was that Mama Leone was taking it upon herself to turn people if she thought it was the right thing to do. Also she undermined the authority of the New Seattle regime by making the border porous. That's why she was executed for breaking the law while Chase Graves has turned a blind eye to not one but two turnings by his own people. 

Even he knew he was doing the wrong thing but military regimes create border and law-and-order issues in order to divert attention from the real societal problems - in this case, the chronic food shortage. We all should know - we see it in our countries every day. And it's why this show continues to be one of the best things on TV even if it's not doing some other things well. 

[Sunshinegal]

Just now, AudienceofOne said:

The issue here was that Mama Leone was taking it upon herself to turn people if she thought it was the right thing to do. Also she undermined the authority of the New Seattle regime by making the border porous. That's why she was executed for breaking the law while Chase Graves has turned a blind eye to not one but two turnings by his own people. 

Even he knew he was doing the wrong thing but military regimes create border and law-and-order issues in order to divert attention from the real societal problems - in this case, the chronic food shortage. We all should know - we see it in our countries every day. And it's why this show continues to be one of the best things on TV even if it's not doing some other things well. 

I agree that is why Chase executed her.  Even though it is bad optics.  Honestly I can see all sides here.  Mama Leone wants to help people but she hasn't considered what it would take to feed them.  Making the border porous can backfire if they smuggle too many humans out (or zombies) and the US Government can think that there would be acceptable collateral damage and just nuke Seattle.  Renegade, Chase, Major, Peyton, Clive, Ravi and Liv all want to do the right thing but the situation in Seattle is messy and complicated and there are no easy answers. 

[muffkins]

April Wine!  Don't know if it's been on TV before, but I thought it was a great song to use.  Also, why did they have to smush her head?  Wouldn't shooting her in the head do just as good a job?  With less mess?

[dubbel zout]

Smushing her head is more dramatic and visual. It really makes the point.

[Pindrop]

It now feels like two different shows fighting each other. I wish they would just retcon the entire wall/zombie militia crap and get back to the parts that work.

[CoderLady]

11 hours ago, Pindrop said:

It now feels like two different shows fighting each other. I wish they would just retcon the entire wall/zombie militia crap and get back to the parts that work.

Agree. I think they're painted themselves into a corner with the walled-city development. There's no place to go from there that doesn't involve a lot of people getting dead. I'm hoping for some magic shenanigans with someone finding a way to mass produce and distribute the cure (now that we know it exists and where it is) and a partial reset of the status quo from before this season.

Edited April 5, 2018 by CoderLady

[JamieLynn832002]

I feel like they either need to fully commit to the New Seattle stories and drop the case of the week or find a way back to just case of the week. This hodgepodge of both doesn't work, at least not the way they're handling it. I'd prefer going back to the original format because New Seattle is a little too standard zombie show which I have no interest in.

[Blakeston]

I understood the plotline with Major and Don E and Sloane (once it was explained at the end), but god help me, I don't understand the Chiclet thing.

The hockey player was missing a tooth, so Liv (being on his brain) put a black chiclet in her mouth because she wanted to recreate the look? Did I get that right? And are black chiclets even a thing?

[Clanstarling]

4 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I understood the plotline with Major and Don E and Sloane (once it was explained at the end), but god help me, I don't understand the Chiclet thing.

The hockey player was missing a tooth, so Liv (being on his brain) put a black chiclet in her mouth because she wanted to recreate the look? Did I get that right? And are black chiclets even a thing?

I just thought they were using the word chicklet - that is, they didn't really mean chicklet, but it was a good pop culture reference. But I didn't think too deeply about it, so I could be wrong.

[vavera4ka]

On ‎3‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 9:45 AM, Affogato said:

Chase didn’t want to kill renegade either. He felt he had no choice. Chase is, to quote the shadow hunters, a ‘the law is hard but it is the law’ person.  I don’t know if we will get to know him enough to actually care but this would seem to be driving towards something. I wonder if Liv tries to smuggle Major out?

if we are taking references back to their original source, than this is not quoting shadowhunters, but a thousands years old maxim or Roman law: Dura lex sed lex.

On ‎4‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 4:45 PM, Blakeston said:

I understood the plotline with Major and Don E and Sloane (once it was explained at the end), but god help me, I don't understand the Chiclet thing.

The hockey player was missing a tooth, so Liv (being on his brain) put a black chiclet in her mouth because she wanted to recreate the look? Did I get that right? And are black chiclets even a thing?

From what I understand is when Liv got laid out at the end of that practice the impact knocked the tooth out of her mouth. I'm not sure how that type of healing would happen, but I guess the gums healed but the tooth was still out. Later Ravi gave her few teeth from the dead guys he had at the morgue. I guess he went by the type of tooth and a size. She then inserted a new tooth into that gap.

Edited April 10, 2018 by vavera4ka

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 4/7/2018 at 4:45 PM, Blakeston said:

I understood the plotline with Major and Don E and Sloane (once it was explained at the end), but god help me, I don't understand the Chiclet thing.

The hockey player was missing a tooth, so Liv (being on his brain) put a black chiclet in her mouth because she wanted to recreate the look? Did I get that right? And are black chiclets even a thing?

"Chiclet" is hockey slang for teeth, not actual pieces of gum. Liv lost a tooth while being a goon, and Ravi gave her an assortment of "chiclets" to replace it with.

P.S. the Google tells me that there are/were black licorice Chiclets. So if someone wanted to stick actual black chiclets in place of a tooth, that's an option. 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Chicago Redshirt

[possibilities]

Wouldn't a candy chiclet dissolve in the mouth?

Not that it matters; I was just thinking about candy.

Edited April 12, 2018 by possibilities

[KaleyFirefly]

On 3/28/2018 at 8:18 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I had a little more perspective since I read some of the forum before watching the episode.

But here's what it seemed to me happened in the Major-Don-E plot line, with some commentary.

Chase has known this General Mills was a problem and was pushing to nuke Seattle. (It wouldn't have killed the show to drop a mention or two about him in previous episodes, would it?)

Chase (either on his own or with Blaine's help) came up with the idea that kidnapping the General's daughter and bringing her to Seattle would get him to back off on plans to nuke Seattle. (Clearly overlooking that it could just as easily have the opposite effect and have the General take it as a declaration of war. Also clearly forgetting that there are actual coyotes who specialize in getting people in and out of New Seattle, such as Renegade, who are better equipped to do this smuggling).

Presumably, the plan was to say, oh no, we don't know how your daughter got here, but she's here now and she now must stay in the quarantine zone. Guess you should not nuke us (Which doesn't work if daughter can communicate with Daddy Mills ever.)

Chase does not want to risk FG getting blamed for this. Also, FG doesn't necessarily have the connections and smuggling set up to get things in and out of Seattle without being caught. (Again, Renegade.)

So Chase turns to Blaine to do things on the down-low. Blaine agrees, and puts his best man on it. Sadly, that's Don-E. Don=E has the connections with the smugglers. Chase wants to put someone he trusts on it, so that is Major. (Again, it would probably be better to get literally almost anyone else because Major is at least somewhat recognizeable to the public at large as the Chaos Killer. Although I wonder if it's now known that he was "killing" zombies, now that the existence of zombies is not a secret.). 

So off-screen, they find Daughter Mills and drug her further to abduct her. (Major's Chaos Killer skillset is super sharp, I guess. Why not trank Plus, since Daughter Mills was half-wasted it wouldn't be too hard.)

They do their road trip thing, and camp out at the hotel as we saw. Major decides to take a nap after seeing that Don-E possibly revealed that zombies are out of Seattle (which doesn't make sense because 1) it was established that zombies don't actually need to sleep in season one and 2) going to sleep and leaving the obviously untrustworthy Don-E in charge is a terrible idea. Plus why didn't they tie Sloane up, especially after she cold-cocked Don-E?)

They go to sleep and Sloane decides not to escape, but to get some drugs. (Were they hers? Don-E's? Presumably not Major's.)

So when she ODs, Major has to turn her into a zombie, knowing that could be a death penalty for him.  

Yeah, this is what happened, but it's really bad writing. A stupid subplot.

[KaleyFirefly]

On 4/7/2018 at 5:45 PM, Blakeston said:

I understood the plotline with Major and Don E and Sloane (once it was explained at the end), but god help me, I don't understand the Chiclet thing.

The hockey player was missing a tooth, so Liv (being on his brain) put a black chiclet in her mouth because she wanted to recreate the look? Did I get that right? And are black chiclets even a thing?

I thought it was Ravi suggesting to Liv that she use one of the extra cadaver teeth they have laying around the morgue apparently (using the word "chiclet" as slang for "tooth" because the little white candies look like teeth). However, you can't just stick a tooth in your mouth, that wouldn't work! I mean, c'mon, show -- I don't expect absolute medical accuracy but that was kind of dumb.

[jhlipton]

I missed this episode, and I'm glad I did.  Black women don't last too long on shows like this, so that's the main reason Renegade had to be offed -- everything else is cover-up. But who needs a black woman in charge of a group when we have the whitest woman who ever whited?

[Sunshinegal]

5 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I missed this episode, and I'm glad I did.  Black women don't last too long on shows like this, so that's the main reason Renegade had to be offed -- everything else is cover-up. But who needs a black woman in charge of a group when we have the whitest woman who ever whited?

Especially when they in episode mentioned bad optics.  And she is a recognizable face and I thought we will see more of her.  Plus she has gravitas.

[Clanstarling]

9 hours ago, KaleyFirefly said:

I thought it was Ravi suggesting to Liv that she use one of the extra cadaver teeth they have laying around the morgue apparently (using the word "chiclet" as slang for "tooth" because the little white candies look like teeth). However, you can't just stick a tooth in your mouth, that wouldn't work! I mean, c'mon, show -- I don't expect absolute medical accuracy but that was kind of dumb.

He did, and she did use one. Given that she's technically dead, medical accuracy impossible, and zombie physiology vague at best,  I'll handwave the tooth working.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Clanstarling

[aradia22]

This was really confusing. When did Major and Don E. decide to kidnap/smuggle a girl? Who is this girl? I was completely lost during that subplot.

Who is this random French guy? Has he been around the whole time and I just blacked it out?

I did like that the case of the week tied back to Blaine and Renegade's kidnapping but this felt like a really convoluted way to get there. Also, the tone of the whole thing felt very off. It wasn't very Chinatown, actually. Even without the jokes, the investigation felt weird. I know Liv's visions usually spark progress in the case. But each show has its own rhythms. Maybe it was a little too Cold Case-y for me... where someone who was there the whole time eventually just confesses to you. Or maybe it was that the actor was a little too calm and lampshading it (only to have him confirm that yes, he does care) did not help with that. 

I like that Chase isn't a complete ass but I have no idea what we're supposed to feel about him or if we're supposed to have any understanding of his motives. Vaughn was easy to get. Vivian was shady but you sensed she was ultimately good even if there was a plan (that I don't think the writers thought through) that she was hiding. Chase feels like a decent guy but he's not that kind of drill sergeant intimidating as far as military guys go and he's not as kind as Vivian. I think part of the problem is he doesn't seem very proactive. He's fairly reactive and it feels like he's just getting swept along by the plot, even when he does things like put Renegade on ice. 

Oh good, an anonymous crowd of random people shouting. I definitely feel things about this... Where the hell are the writers going with this plot? This execution better not just be fodder for Liv/Major. And it's difficult to sympathize with the whole "saving lives by turning people into zombies" which is apparently what the smuggling is now? I still don't get what we're supposed to think about Chase but they do have a lack of brains (even if they eventually cut off the guy in FG dipping into the supply) and it's not going to get better by making more zombies. If there end up being a bunch of hungry Romeros then that's just more people who get killed. Who does that help? This plot is nonsense right now.

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 hours ago, aradia22 said:

This was really confusing. When did Major and Don E. decide to kidnap/smuggle a girl? Who is this girl? I was completely lost during that subplot.

Who is this random French guy? Has he been around the whole time and I just blacked it out?

The writers just jumped us into the middle of the action with the kidnapping. But presumably, there was some plan between Chase and Blaine to kidnap Sloane Mills. Sloane is the daughter of General Mills (not the writers' best effort at cuteness), who has been advocating turning Seattle into a parking lot. The thought apparently was that if they brought Sloane to Seattle and held her hostage, General Mills would chill out about the parking lot talk. Unfortunately Don E f---ed up, and Major had to turn her into a zombie. So FG has her and apparently will communicate to General Mills that if Seattle gets nuked, his daughter will too.  

Random French guy is Enzo, a FG inspector. According to IMDB, this episode was his first appearance. And

he apparently wasn't just on a wacky brain. The over-the-top French stuff is just how he rolls.