S02.E01: Fracture 2018.10.03

[CooperTV]

Quote

Jason and Bravo Team head to the Gulf of Guinea to rescue American hostages after an oil platform is overtaken by armed militants.

Promos

[Lonesome Rhodes]

First thing was the air drop for the training.  Would that be approved - wicked expensive?  Why would that be necessary? 

How did they find all the bombs, and know they found them all?  

Worst?  Why on earth would Havoc have initiated the career conversation with Davis just as the operation was entering critical phase?  

God wants specific squad assignments?  Ray jeopardized the stew out of them all.  That last mission where he was saved by the table?  Outrageous.  He's fortunate he even has the training slot. 

I did like the essential savvy of the hostages.  They weren't infantilized.  Stunned, sure.  But, they kept their wits enough to save themselves.  Good stuff.  

The last conversation when #1 got home was very good.  He was coming down off a huge high.  She called him on it.  No hysterics.  Just some deep truth from some smart, and wise, adults.  There's no squaring that circle.  

Glad the show is back.

[Raja]

59 minutes ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

First thing was the air drop for the training.  Would that be approved - wicked expensive?  Why would that be necessary? 

How did they find all the bombs, and know they found them all?  

 

Yes you do the HALO jump because you just don't take five jumps at Fort Benning and then hope you are ready for a real mission. They have to constantly jump just as they constantly shoot and swim to remain in practice. Now the question becomes do you do everything separately or do you roll it all into one dress rehearsal.

That perfect intelligence work for the EOD sailor but then didn't work for knowing about the terrorist quick reaction force so the Navy could intercept them on the way to the rig.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Quite right, Raja.  They have to keep their rating individually.  It is not required that they jump together in union and certainly not as part of that practice mission.  I just know that more and more, getting a big bird in the air for non-mission critical purposes is very difficult from a budgetary standpoint.  Our pilots are screaming bloody murder over it, and many are leaving the services altogether because of it. 

[sigmaforce86]

11 hours ago, Raja said:

That perfect intelligence work for the EOD sailor but then didn't work for knowing about the terrorist quick reaction force so the Navy could intercept them on the way to the rig.

That's the only part that didn't make sense to me in terms of planning - didn't they say something on the plane about a few more terrorists boarding the platform from a boat and that made the total about 12?  If so and they knew boats were being used I couldn't figure out why they didn't have support for the possibility of more boats coming or at least another lookout keeping an eye on the sea while Clay kept watch on the rig.

Clay's jump was terrifying (to someone who's not fond of heights) but since it was meant to be one of the more exciting parts of the show I wish they hadn't given it away in the commercials and previews.  Points to CBS though for showing the entire rescue from boarding the ship to after that jump with no commercial break.

Also liked Stella's comment to Clay - how she can handle his occupation and hazards but they need to be honest with each other about it.  Not sure I like the hints of two plot lines that seem to be brewing:   First one is Clay maybe being forced into academic social situations he either doesn't like or isn't prepared for; not that it's a terrible way to go but I'd hate it if they took it too far, made him look really dumb or all brawn no brains in front of Stella's co-workers or have him act dickishly rude to them.  Second one is Sonny and his partying; again not a bad plot but my viewing preference would be to not take him into full drunken intervention territory or, worse, an impaired while on a mission episode.

[Netfoot]

With the sun two hours over the horizon, why did the operators of the extraction RIB have NGVs bolted to their heads?  

[Raja]

43 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

With the sun two hours over the horizon, why did the operators of the extraction RIB have NGVs bolted to their heads?  

Blackhawk Down. The Rangers got caught without their's when the mission went longer than expected. Mounted on the helmet instead of in a bag it can't be left behind to save weight as a soldier's instinct had the Rangers do.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Raja

[Netfoot]

4 hours ago, Raja said:

Blackhawk Down.

Salient!

[CooperTV]

Two good things about this episode: Sonny and the New Guy with their shirts off. Some mediocre things: the action wasn't bad.

Edited October 5, 2018 by CooperTV

[Xantia]

2 hours ago, CooperTV said:

Two good things about this episode: Sonny and the New Guy with their shirts off. Some mediocre things: the action wasn't bad.

Hello New Guy!

[justawatcher]

There was a lot of shirtless in this episode. Also, did anyone catch when Clay and Stella came back from jogging she said something about either a husband or married? Did I miss something?

[mojoween]

Clay is getting a little big for his britches.

Stella irritated me when she bitched at Clay for his humor because she’s scared.  Did she ever think that he uses humor as his own coping mechanism?  After all, HE’S the one who is constantly in danger.  It’s not all about you, Stella.

And that’s the last time I defend Clay.

I feel like Jason and Alanna had the same conversation last year.  He’s not going to quit, and if she can’t accept that, then maybe they need to move on.

No Cerberus!  Boooooo.

[CooperTV]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

I feel like Jason and Alanna had the same conversation last year.  He’s not going to quit, and if she can’t accept that, then maybe they need to move on.

Also, if I remember correctly, Alana didn't want to be married to him because he's bad at sharing and because she had different priorities in life (like a proper vacation and a husband that works day job). And now they're not even married but she's still mad, now for different reason. The writers should have dropped the entire thing.

[mythoughtis]

Alanna and their kids add nothing to the show. They are merely there as a tool to show the difficulties of a military marriage. They could do that off screen with phone calls and texts.   Ray’s wife, on the other hand, actually seems a good fit for her role.

I see no chemistry between Clay and Stella. Now between Sonny  and the military support specialist ( I like her but never remember the characters name)- I see chemistry there.  The CIA strategist can leave more often.  We didn’t miss her at all this episode. 

Please  explain to me why the youngest greenest guy ( Clay) is number 2.   I know Sonny doesn’t like being number 2, but Clay? I find that a little unbelievable. But I guess we have to justify why the actor is one of the leads. Truthfully. I felt Rays actions last season were probably actually realistic of guys that are trained to be able to perform even if they are injured. None of them ever then want to admit that they should step away from their job. A job, that just like the rest of us,pays the bills. Ray felt his combat pay was necessary to his family. Civilians often depend on their overtime pay. 

[Lunula]

Jason shunning Ray is incredibly hypocritical given that he went back into action, what, the next freaking day after a massive concussion that he knew he was feeling after-effects from. So it was "okay" for him to go into combat with a traumatic brain injury because the end result was that no one got killed? Not liking that bit of drama at all. 

Let's have Mandy gone for every episode, permanently. She was the only character last season that was 100% unbelievable to me. Maybe it was the writing, or the directing, but I think it's just that I don't feel she's a good actress - or else that she doesn't have the moxie for this role. 

I don't quite understand Clay in the Bravo 2 position, either. I like the new guy, though. 

I'm glad Jason is moving out and finding his own place. I never liked the story of Alana breaking down and leaving him because she can no longer handle "the life" as it were. I get it, I was with a Navy fighter pilot for two years and it sucked never knowing - but given that they obviously still love one another, I'm finding it difficult to root for her at all. 

Finally, Sonny is breaking my heart. One of my mom's closest friends when I was younger married an ex-Navy SEAL (the only one I think I've ever known) who served in Vietnam. It was her 2nd marriage and his 3rd (they eventually divorced a few years later) and I always saw him as a lonely guy. Even when we were all together, having a cookout and with a lot of people, he was always isolated - apart from the rest of us. I just don't think he ever felt comfortable with life "on the outside" as he would call it. Glad that the show has a character like him, full of life when he's with his brothers but pretty lost when he's not. 

[Chas411]

On 8 October 2018 at 3:22 PM, Lunula said:

et's have Mandy gone for every episode, permanently. She was the only character last season that was 100% unbelievable to me. Maybe it was the writing, or the directing, but I think it's just that I don't feel she's a good actress - or else that she doesn't have the moxie for this role. 

This!

I didn't even realise until the end but the episode flowed so much better without her. She's the weakest part of the show for me. 

[TV Anonymous]

On 10/4/2018 at 1:02 AM, Raja said:

Yes you do the HALO jump because you just don't take five jumps at Fort Benning and then hope you are ready for a real mission. They have to constantly jump just as they constantly shoot and swim to remain in practice. Now the question becomes do you do everything separately or do you roll it all into one dress rehearsal.

That perfect intelligence work for the EOD sailor but then didn't work for knowing about the terrorist quick reaction force so the Navy could intercept them on the way to the rig.

A bit of correction, the HALO is MFF, not static jump. So it is Yuma Proving Ground and 30 free fall jumps beyond Fort Benning.