S01.E10: Not Your Hero

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Ben reaches a new milestone as a rookie and, as is tradition, receives something from the crew. Chief Ripley holds final interviews for the role of captain but is interrupted when the team is called to a massive skyscraper fire.

 

[Dowel Jones]

*GROAN*  That's all I got.

Well, almost.  Will someone tell me why Pruitt didn't just call 9-1-1, instead of asking for his very own aid car? Will someone tell me just what the incident command structure in Shondaland Fire Department is?  Will someone tell me just who is their training officer?  Will someone tell me why they store barrels and barrels of flammable liquids and tanks of gases on the 26th floor of a building?  Will someone tell me how a fire that vents to the outside air develops enough pressure to blow out windows with projectile results on the next floor up?

[readster]

7 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

*GROAN*  That's all I got.

Well, almost.  Will someone tell me why Pruitt didn't just call 9-1-1, instead of asking for his very own aid car? Will someone tell me just what the incident command structure in Shondaland Fire Department is?  Will someone tell me just who is their training officer?  Will someone tell me why they store barrels and barrels of flammable liquids and tanks of gases on the 26th floor of a building?  Will someone tell me how a fire that vents to the outside air develops enough pressure to blow out windows with projectile results on the next floor up?

Drama, Drama, Drama.

Also, the building evacuation made no sense at all. Those people would have been sent out right away once the rest of the stations started showing up. I know they had masks and stuff, but really, once they had an all clear, you get people out. Waiting for four flours to blow with glass to all of a sudden be: "This building is screwed, get out!" I felt so bad for Ben, sitting there having to choose between Montgomery and Molly and poor Molly. The section Chief has gone from being a favorite to being a dumb ass, his entire: "Protocal" I wanted to go: "No, that doesn't work here." Plus, he would have been getting people out right away too. Plus, the entire: "I have to close the fire doors." No, you start closing those right away as you explore and and put out fires. You can push them open, plus, fire doors in a modern building like that. They wouldn't have door stops, they would have magnetic locks to close. Even poor private schools have their fire doors set up like that. All the chemicals together on one floor like that, they would have been shut down years ago. You also can't house that many items on a high floor like that. More in the basement or storage floor area. Ok, but the entire building layout was screwed up, who built the thing?

  Several cliffhangers: "Who will live and who will die. Find out in the fall." Wow, just so many holes and now the Captain is realizing he screwed up and might bring down the entire Station if an outsider becomes captain. Plus with Bishop, sorry her ears would have been checked out and you can tell if ear drums have been damaged from a large explosion. Plus the way it is going in and out like that. No, sorry doesn't work that way unless your ear drums are deteriorating slowly. Plus, someone would have noticed: "You can't hear me can you?" 

[mxc90]

I have no doubt it was the boss that put the first expensive dress shoe in Molly's chest. A pink slip would have sufficed when they got downstairs.

How much blame goes to Ripley for this mess?

Good for Miller to own up to the garage mishap. 

Station 19 is so dysfunctional.... one can't hear, one is afraid of fires, one can't follow the chief's orders, one can't do his duties due to lack of sleep, and one can't find tacos. I am sure they were called to the fire last for a reason. 

 

Sorry for the rambling question:

After the fire fighters leave for a call, are the doors closed? If yes, who's tasked to close them or are they closed automatically? On Chicago Fire, there are admin people in the house so there is no need.

In this episode, Pruit was left behind so the doors are open but if he was on active duty, there's no one left at the station (unless there are other characters in house we haven't seen). Also, if there is someone else at the station, why did Pruit call the cop for medical assistance?

Edited May 18, 2018 by mxc90

[SnoGirl]

After watching this episode, I decided the writers wrote a bunch of things they wanted to happen, and then couldnt decide on what they wanted so they just had all of them happen. Seriously, I dont know the last time I watched a show with so many cliffhangers.

[Dowel Jones]

10 hours ago, mxc90 said:

After the fire fighters leave for a call, are the doors closed?

Yes, the doors are closed.  The reason for this is people do burglarize fire stations for anything they think can make a buck for them.  All the engines/trucks/etc.  that I have ever seen have door remotes so they can close the door behind them, and, just as importantly, open it when they get back at 3:00am and nobody's waiting up to open a door for them. 

[LadyMustang65]

This is the first Shonda Rhimes show I've ever seen, so I don't know if it's her or what.  I started watching because it looked interesting.  I realized recently that I'm just hate-watching it now.  Seriously, we're supposed to believe this group of (mostly) immature assholes is the best fire station in Seattle?  If that were true, the city would have burned to the ground years ago.  I happen to agree with Pruitt (although apparently for different reasons) - neither Andy nor Jack is Captain material at this point in time.  They both lack maturity and judgment.  There's more to being a good Captain than being "passionate" and "bitchy."  Andy is worse than Jack - she'll get people killed some day because she refuses to accept that protocols are set for a reason, and she refuses to accept the concept of a greater good.  She's smarter and braver and whatever than anyone else.  Yeah, no.  She's arrogant, immature, and lacks discipline and judgment.  Jack is a bit more disciplined, except apparently when it comes to keeping it in his pants, but he is also arrogant, immature and lacking in discipline and judgment.  The two of them screwing around in the station while on duty is enough to disqualify them from a leadership position.  A leader puts others ahead of himself and his own desires.  A leader can delay gratification to an appropriate time and place.  Those two just suck.  The worst thing is that I hate Andy more than Jack, but it's set up for Jack to be the one who dies.  Unless, of course, we have the "miraculous" save where he maybe jumps out the window on the 29th floor and through his sheer superiority manages to land safely somewhere?  Or something equally stupid.  

Montgomery was one of my favorite characters on the show, so naturally the gay man who lost his husband and is finally getting a chance to be happy again must die.  Unless, of course, they 'miraculously' save him too.  

I don't know.  I can take most of the preposterous and ridiculous situations.  It's tv.  They take license for dramatic effect.  But I think what I hate the most about this show is the condescending attitude these people have towards every other firefighter in the city.  They don't want an "outsider" coming in to their precious little station?  Grow the fuck up, people.  Just because someone isn't from your little clique doesn't mean they can't be a good firefighter or an effective leader.  A good Captain would assimilate themselves into the culture of the fire station they were assigned to - keeping what works and tweaking little things here and there.  And no, every other firefighter in the city isn't a terrible firefighter who would screw up their station.  Christ on a cracker, people!  What a bunch of whiny crybabies to assume that just because their Captain might be from another station, it automatically means that they would suddenly start being unable to do their jobs effectively or be as good as they used to be.  Seriously, who the hell do these people think they are?  If they're half as good as they think they are and as they keep saying they are, they would be able to adjust to a new Captain and continue to excel.  I really think that just bugs me the most.  Their whole "their shit don't stink" attitude while they've got two lieutenants with martyr complexes who can't control their hormones, a girl who's scared of fire, a guy who is too stupid to understand that it's dangerous to do that kind of work while sleep-deprived, another one whose hearing is affected apparently only in random situations where it's guaranteed to cause problems for someone, a newbie, and a nice gay guy.  If they want me to believe these are the greatest firefighters the world has ever seen, they really should give me some grown-ups to watch.  Or honestly just get rid of Andy and Jack.  I said it before and I'll say it again - neither of them are Captain material at this point.  Not even close.  Despite some annoyance at times with them, I like the other characters just fine, but I just can't with these two alleged 'leaders.'  They're awful.  Andy even more so than Jack.  Most of the time Jack is an asshole because Andy started it.  Andy is an entitled brat.  She did paperwork for her father so she's capable of running the station?  Really?  And just because she's the daughter of the current Captain she thinks she's somehow "owed" the job of Captain.  What has she actually done to earn that position?  She only became a Lieutenant in the first place so she could try for the Captain job, so she was fine with being a firefighter as long as it was her dad running things, but God forbid Jack, who's apparently been a lieutenant for a few years now, should get the job.  Or some pathetic, disgusting, lowlife "outsider" who will "ruin" their station.  Nope.  Only Andy can do the job right.  I know I'm going off on a tangent here probably, but why is it that so many people, including other women, seem to think that a "strong" woman must be a shrill bitch?  It is so rare to see a strong woman character who isn't nasty, doesn't complain about everything, isn't rude and condescending all the time, who just does her job and does it well while treating the people around her with respect.  I know the show writers want us to think of Andy as a strong, capable woman but she just comes across as an immature, rude, spoiled, entitled brat.  I don't like her, she certainly hasn't earned the Captain's job, but I have a feeling she's going to get it anyway since Ripley apparently saw her in some new light just because she was doing her job at a skyscraper fire just like every other firefighter there was doing their job. Ugh!

Oh, and while I'm complaining about things, if those little balls are so effective, why doesn't everyone have them?  Why are they bothering with hoses when they could just be running around throwing miracle orbs at the fire?  And while I'm at it, if Andy had that damn thing with her to being with, why the frick did she bother jumping through the fire to get to the other girl?  Why not just throw the damn orb, put out the fire, and then not risk getting burned trying to be a hero?  

Edited May 19, 2018 by LadyMustang65

[Netfoot]

20 minutes ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Montgomery was one of my favorite characters on the show . . .

Lucky for you, you could find someone to like!

[LadyMustang65]

8 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Lucky for you, you could find someone to like!

I'll take my little victories wherever I can find them.  < lol >

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, LadyMustang65 said:

This is the first Shonda Rhimes show I've ever seen,

Welcome to Shondaland.  With a few minor changes in names and locations, your post could apply equally to Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and Grey's Anatomy.  Personally, I think that some fitness studio that practices Pilates should sponsor some of the episodes, because of all the constant handwaving and facepalming that goes on.

[candall]

I read these ten tepid comments to the season finale while I still had 15 minutes left to watch.  And now I'm incredibly annoyed because I realize they aren't going to resolve ANYTHING.

 

Later:  well, at least Jack didn't hurl himself down the elevator shaft to prevent anyone from risking themselves trying to save him.

 

I believe, as a general rule, people don't enjoy cliffhangers--let alone a Season Finale composed entirely of cliffhanger set-ups.

[thewhiteowl]

That was much too much. I can't keep track. Montgomery is the only one I even care slightly about and he is been kind of a jerk. Jack can go, so he'll probably be fine. I think Dad's a goner, tho.

[anna0852]

I'm pretty sure Ben and Andy have contractual immunity. The rest are up for grabs. It's kind of ingenious actually. It gives the showrunners a chance to remove any characters that they feel weren't working and reboot heading into season 2. If they want to. It's also a cheap shot.

[LisaM]

Nice to see Vanessa Marano from Switched at Birth. 

Are they cutting 3 cast members? 

[torqy]

What they said above!

My sister in law was married to a firefighter. She just hated shows about firefighters because no matter how good the initial premise, they just ended up as soaps with red trucks.

[Chas411]

Andy continues to suck. She is seriously the worst. 

So who do we think they're going to get rid of?

[renatae]

On 5/20/2018 at 7:50 PM, anna0852 said:

I'm pretty sure Ben and Andy have contractual immunity. The rest are up for grabs. It's kind of ingenious actually. It gives the showrunners a chance to remove any characters that they feel weren't working and reboot heading into season 2. If they want to. It's also a cheap shot.

Ben can stay, but I loathe Andy. I can't believe a character so insufferable is supposed to be the one we're meant to like the most.