The Enemy Within - General Discussion

[Loandbehold]

13 hours ago, BaskingsharkGTX said:

(Also as we approach the finale, it is worth noting that I still genuinely don't remember what Morris or The Blonde Woman's actual character names are and only in the last couple of episodes has it sunk in that The Stubble Guy is called Bragg although I have no clue what his first name is.)

Ditto on most of the character names. Although I do know that Morris is Agent Keaton just b/c JCarp calls him that at least seven times an episode. In fact, she calls him that so often, I believe his first name is "Agent." Which means for Bragg, I'm now going w/ "The" as his first name, and "Stubble Guy" as his middle (Christian) names. 

[alvajon]

1 minute ago, Loandbehold said:

Ditto on most of the character names. Although I do know that Morris is Agent Keaton just b/c JCarp calls him that at least seven times an episode. In fact, she calls him that so often, I believe his first name is "Agent." Which means for Bragg, I'm now going w/ "The" as his first name, and "Stubble Guy" as his middle (Christian) names. 

The REAL “stubble guy” is Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) of Blindspot, though is he affectionally called “neck beard” on that show.

[Dowel Jones]

Jennifer Carpenter's character name is Erica Shepherd, if that helps.

[4N6MAL]

How do you arrest an FBI agent and not remove his firearm from his hip before you put him in hand cuffs? Or take the firearm away at all for that matter?!?! 😲

[Ohwell]

I know the writers didn't intend for it to be this way, but the whole "my daughter" thing has turned out to be a running joke.  I was in another room but heard the promo for the next episode and heard "my daughter."  I just had to laugh.

[GeorgieNY]

On 5/17/2019 at 11:48 AM, Ohwell said:

I know the writers didn't intend for it to be this way, but the whole "my daughter" thing has turned out to be a running joke.  I was in another room but heard the promo for the next episode and heard "my daughter."  I just had to laugh.

So has the “trust Erica Shepherd”... I worked on one of the episodes but it’s so bad I can barely watch so I ffwd the episodes to see if the scene made it in- more than once when I randomly stopped one character or another was saying some variation of “do we trust, can we trust, why do we trust...” etc. I was cracking up alone in my living room.  I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen a tv show with worse writing consistently. Also whenever they say Tal I immediately think of the oft advertised drug Taltz. 🤣🤣

[preeya]

Edited May 21, 2019 by preeya

[doLLish]

So...literally nothing happened the entire season. There is no difference between the first episode and the last. We all know Tal is still alive. Erica is still a prisoner. We still don’t know what’s going on in her head or what her endgame is. What was this show really about??

[Dowel Jones]

Can anyone explain how Keaton got from Langley to Cuba in such a short time?  Was there any debrief after the shootout at the graduation party? Oh, and maybe the FBI should let some of those Army guys in attendance handle the shooting, because, you know, that's what they do.  You guys apparently couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from inside the barn.

Writers room:  Okay, we've got S2 all mapped out.  Shepherd eliminates the possible moles one by one through her ninja CIA skills, until the season finale, when,  what?  We got canceled?  Well, shit. 

Plot requirements aside, Keaton should have shot Shepherd straightaway, and then shot Tal.  That's the end plan, right?  Sorry, Shepherd, but you are an archenemy and there's no point in saving you. 

I love how the big bad always gets led into discussing his plan.  "Why do you want to know? Ha, puny rodent, I will never tell you my secret plan to destroy the CIA, because you are going to help me expose it agent by agent, right after we blow up the secret prison by using the ventilator shafts."

You would think that Shepherd's guards, having been clocked once already, would be more prepared for her shenanigans.  But no, apparently they didn't think. 

Everyone would be a lot happier if they just. trusted. Shepherd.

[preeya]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Can anyone explain how Keaton got from Langley to Cuba in such a short time?  Was there any debrief after the shootout at the graduation party? Oh, and maybe the FBI should let some of those Army guys in attendance handle the shooting, because, you know, that's what they do.  You guys apparently couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from inside the barn.

Writers room:  Okay, we've got S2 all mapped out.  Shepherd eliminates the possible moles one by one through her ninja CIA skills, until the season finale, when,  what?  We got canceled?  Well, shit. 

Plot requirements aside, Keaton should have shot Shepherd straightaway, and then shot Tal.  That's the end plan, right?  Sorry, Shepherd, but you are an archenemy and there's no point in saving you. 

I love how the big bad always gets led into discussing his plan.  "Why do you want to know? Ha, puny rodent, I will never tell you my secret plan to destroy the CIA, because you are going to help me expose it agent by agent, right after we blow up the secret prison by using the ventilator shafts."

You would think that Shepherd's guards, having been clocked once already, would be more prepared for her shenanigans.  But no, apparently they didn't think. 

Everyone would be a lot happier if they just. trusted. Shepherd.

There were so many holes in this episode, with not enough time to enumerate. Although my biggest was this: if Tal wanted to takeout the CIA thing why use "ground forces" and not just bomb the place? After all, he's Tal. That entire shootout scene was totally underwhelming along with the interspersed "hand combat." What a joke.

[Ohwell]

7 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Plot requirements aside, Keaton should have shot Shepherd straightaway, and then shot Tal.  That's the end plan, right?  Sorry, Shepherd, but you are an archenemy and there's no point in saving you. 

The biggest takeaway from this show is that Keaton is stupid.  Also, when they were watching "Her Daughter!" playing volleyball and she told him a bald-faced lie about something she said she didn't know, but she did, the idiot Keaton actually believed her.  The blonde woman has the hots for Keaton but I can't figure out why.

[preeya]

What happened to Mole-inaro? Not even one mention of her in the finale.

Also, Stubble guy gets blown across the room from a bomb blast that he was merely inches away from, and Keaton's explanation of his condition is "Superficial wound. He'll be okay."

[Loandbehold]

1 minute ago, preeya said:

Also, Stubble guy gets blown across the room from a bomb blast that he was merely inches away from, and Keaton's explanation of his condition is "Superficial wound. He'll be okay."

Literal depiction of "plot armor."

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, preeya said:

Although my biggest was this: if Tal wanted to takeout the CIA thing why use "ground forces" and not just bomb the place? After all, he's Tal.

With all that money at his disposal, you would think that he could buy a couple (or several dozen) Predator-type drones and just lay waste wherever he wanted.  I'm sure Raymond Reddington could arrange the purchase, or at least he could have up until this week.

[sempervivum]

I didn't understand why Erica shot Keaton at all. Why didn't she just shoot over his shoulder (instead of in it)? It seems like the shock of the shot (so to speak) was all that was needed to distract Tal, and if Keaton had been unharmed, he could have helped in the fight instead of just lying there. I loved Erica having to 'explain' that she 'didn't hit his lungs or heart so he should be OK'- yeah, I think he figured that one out.

I was also completely confused by the scene changes. I initially thought the scenes in the (I guess) Cuban town were in some blighted section of Miami or something. I actually had to google Guantanamo Bay to find out it's off the shore of Cuba, to figure out that Siessssstra Whatever must be there (right?)

The whole scene with the special ops graduation ceremony was bizarre. It appeared that they had all these super important, vital-to-the-security-of-the US-and-highly-competent people conveniently gathered in a rickety knotty-pine paneled camping lodge, whose 'security' was quickly and easily breached. Um, this doesn't fill me with confidence in your operation, Keaton-et-al.

So the new Big Bad is a top person in the US government? Or just in the CIA? Everything I've looked at says no decision announced by NBC as to  renewal (or cancellation) yet, so we may never find out.

[preeya]

4 hours ago, sempervivum said:

So the new Big Bad is a top person in the US government? Or just in the CIA? Everything I've looked at says no decision announced by NBC as to  renewal (or cancellation) yet, so we may never find out.

Although I watch this show with an entirely different perspective (from other shows) it is really bad and should be canceled. There have been shows that are (were) better than this and have been canceled.

[Ohwell]

4 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I didn't understand why Erica shot Keaton at all. Why didn't she just shoot over his shoulder (instead of in it)? It seems like the shock of the shot (so to speak) was all that was needed to distract Tal, and if Keaton had been unharmed, he could have helped in the fight instead of just lying there.

That's a great point.  All that was needed was the shock of the shot.  But then I guess we wouldn't have seen Amazing Erica Who Can Take Out Anybody do her thing.

[preeya]

18 hours ago, doLLish said:

There is no difference between the first episode and the last. We all know Tal is still alive. Erica is still a prisoner. We still don’t know what’s going on in her head or what her endgame is. What was this show really about??

I don't think Tal is still alive.  If the show isn't cancelled, next season will likely be centered around finding the someone from Tal's dying words: "There was someone else, high up in the U.S. intelligence community... Someone who shares my beliefs."

[doLLish]

6 hours ago, preeya said:

I don't think Tal is still alive.  If the show isn't cancelled, next season will likely be centered around finding the someone from Tal's dying words: "There was someone else, high up in the U.S. intelligence community... Someone who shares my beliefs."

I personally think he’s alive but I also agree with you. I definitely don’t expect him to be the focus of next season if there is one. We’ll get a mention of him or see him pop up around the finale or so. Something like when they finally catch the higher up intelligence officer he’ll allude to it or flat out tell them they aren’t as smart as they think they are and he’s still alive.

I’ve watched enough television to know that if there’s no headshot, the person that was shot is more than likely still alive lol

Edited May 22, 2019 by doLLish

[Loandbehold]

23 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I didn't understand why Erica shot Keaton at all. Why didn't she just shoot over his shoulder (instead of in it)? It seems like the shock of the shot (so to speak) was all that was needed to distract Tal, and if Keaton had been unharmed, he could have helped in the fight instead of just lying there.

To sort of defend the show, Erica has one bullet in the gun and several people pointing guns at her. If she misses Keaton, he has to know to immediately act like he's been shot and go down, instead of being surprised that (a) she actually did shoot; and (b) then missed him. By hitting him, she gets one armed guy to take his weapon off her so he can check that Keaton was shot and if he's dead. Meanwhile, the others have also relaxed. And this is what gave Super!Erica the time to disarm one guy and shoot everyone w/ a gun that has a full or mostly full clip.

10 hours ago, doLLish said:

I’ve watched enough television to know that if there’s no headshot, the person that was shot is more than likely still alive lol

To take a lesson from FarScape, there's dead and there's head-on-a-stick dead. And only the latter is (usually) certain. It was disappointing that Erica didn't put two shots into Tal's head just to make sure.

[Guest]

On 5/16/2019 at 11:46 PM, Dowel Jones said:

Jennifer Carpenter's character name is Erica Shepherd, if that helps.

I really wish they had mentioned that at some point.

[doLLish]

2 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

To take a lesson from FarScape, there's dead and there's head-on-a-stick dead. And only the latter is (usually) certain. It was disappointing that Erica didn't put two shots into Tal's head just to make sure.

Lol right??

When she went to shoot him for the last time I just knew she was gonna shoot him in the head. It didn’t make sense for her not to. When she didn’t I was like “Okay, I’ve seen this movie a thousand times.”

[preeya]

Not only is Tal dead, the entire show is dead.

Just learned it has been canceled: https://1clickurls.com/oSJmIyD

Edited May 23, 2019 by preeya

[Ohwell]

Not surprised at all.

[BaskingsharkGTX]

Does anybody remember way way way back when once every season, no matter what the show, there would be a “Greatest Hits/Clip Show” episode where the characters got together to reminisce about times past? It meant you could re-use all the most expensive stunts and most memorable moments, strung together with some shot-on-the-cheap filler scenes set at Fonzie’s birthday party or whatever and save majorly on budget. 

This was The Enemy Within’s Greatest Hits episode. Except it didn’t actually re-use any footage, it just found new and innovative and more wildly stupid than ever ways to re-use its top ten cliches, cringes and craptostic cop-outs. You know - all the things that have made the last 12 weeks so very, very special. Starting with;

#1. HER DAUGHTER.

It literally took less than a minute for HER DAUGHTER to make an appearance. Exactly 57 seconds in, to be precise, while JCarp is in her dungeon, chatting to Tal on the phone which the guards have still not noticed she has, Tal asks her why she’s helping him and the answer (drumroll please)…. “For the safety of MY DAUGHTER.”

Bonus awful dialogue In the same conversation; “You have a friend in me!” So JCarp is Woody and Tal is Buzz? And Morris is Randy Newman?

#2. Fools who (still) doubt the wisdom of JCarp.

Pettigrew; “What if you’re wrong?”

Seriously, Pettigrew, she knows everything about everything and everyone and has never been wrong one single freaking time since you met her when The Stubble Guy went and recruited you from the Spy School you were teaching at in episode 3 because there weren’t enough characters who didn’t have enough to do on this show already. She can guess the color of your underwear correctly based on how many steps it took you to cross the room, define Pi to the 5,479,993rd decimal and figure out how to disarm a nuclear bomb with a bicycle pump and SHE IS ALWAYS RIGHT. 

Can you just go read “Hostage Negotiation for Dummies” again, please? And make notes this time.

#3. Worthless guards who, #4, get the crap kicked out of them by someone half their size.

Stupid guards. Did you not know that JCarp was just playing along this whole time to make you feel better about yourselves? You are mere insects to her. She could Karate you into oblivion  and make her escape any time she wants. While handcuffed even.

Can you just go read “Not Sucking At Being Guards for Dummies” again, please? And make a LOT of notes on the chapter about searching the people you’re guarding for stolen cellphones this time.

#5 JCarp Deduces Stuff.

OK. Deep breath.

From her conversation with Tal, JCarp figured out that Tal had figured out that she would figure out that Morris would figure out that Grand Central Station was a diversion, but not that Tal wanted him to figure out that it was a diversion and that he (Morris) would also figure out that he should go raid that no-budget Jerry Bruckheimer Industrial Smoke and Fire Factory metal processing plant but he (Morris) wouldn't have figured out that he (Tal) wanted him (Morris) to figure it out and that it was a trap and then they (Morris and the Scooby Gang) would get blown up. 

And she figured it out just in time to save everyone including The Stubble Guy who did get blown up, but not really and so Pettigrew got to kneel over him and look concerned just like he got to do when she got shot at the racetrack, and they had a moment, but also not really, and if this is meant to be a slow-burn romance, it is glacially freaking slow and their first date will be in season 15 except not really because there is no way in hell this show lasts that long.

#6 Chatty Tal.

Seriously, Tal, you are so damn chatty. Standing there posing all silhouettey by your palm tree in your puffy army pants. Maybe if you hadn’t been quite so chatty, JCarp wouldn’t have figured out your EVOL PLAN and Morris would have gone up in smoke, but you were, so he didn’t. And there you went again at the end too, all “Do you feel peeeeace, Agent Keaton? Now you can understand me and blah blah blah there is no peeeeeeece for men like you and meeeeee and do not shoot me, JCarp, I have another MOLE who is so high up you can’t imagine who they are and they will carry on my EVOL PLANS and we can take them down together and can you ssssssmelll the salt in the air and we are not so dissimilar and oh no you shot me.”

Tal. Chatty to the end. I’m so glad she shot him. Twice. 

The alternative was that I was going to shoot myself.

#7 Stylish wool coats.

Looking sharp there, Cabrera.

#8 Ambushers ambushing. But who ambushes the ambushers? The ambushees, that’s who.

So, class, today we learned that when the CIA’s covert ops trainees graduate from their super-secret covert ops training, they have a super-duper-secret clandestine graduation ceremony at some shitty (but secret) house in the middle of nowhere and literally EVERY HIGH RANKING CIA OFFICIAL EVER attends because they are all so secure in the super-secret clandestineness of their shitty secret house and even secreter graduation ceremony that they all roll up in official SUVs. And nobody notices a bunch of random guerrilla ambushers surrounding the place in the freaking woods waiting to attack them. 

#9 Extremely elaborate evil plans that are actually pointless (and some more Deducing).

JCarp used her mind-sensing skills to figure out that Tal was going to spring his operativessssss from Sierrrrrra Maestrrrrrrra’s weird underground prison place using the ventilation shafts to collapse the roof. Or something.

Seriously, what would spy shows do without ventilation shafts? 

Anyway, Tal promised JCarp that he NEEDED to spring ALL HIS HUNDREDS OF IMPRISONED EVIL EXPERTS for his PLAN to DESTROY and get REVENGE. 

And then we learned from “roll call” that there were 57 of them.

Given that he seems to have had no problem at all recruiting dozens and dozens and dozens of guards, politicians, pilots, pirates, FBI and CIA agents and Mole Girls over the past 12 episodes, I’m not sure what’s so special about this lot that they were worth going to all this trouble to bust out of underground jail. 

(Special bonus #9b Onscreen Introduction Caption for Agent Baez. Who got killed about 2.5 minutes after said caption, which I think is a series record.)

And last but not least;

#10 The Most Hated Woman in America (and Cuba)™ Who Nobody Recognizes (and another bonus #10b, HER DAUGHTER. Again.)

So JCarp, The Most Hated Woman in America™, snuck back into America from Cuba and nobody noticed. Perhaps she was The Most Hated Woman in America Who Was Wearing a Groucho Marx Mustache, Fake Nose and Glasses™.

But of course, Morris knows where to find her. At HER DAUGHTER's school (where nobody recognized her again) watching HER DAUGHTER do sports. (And a final bonus #10c, Hannah Unfazed By Anything. Playing volleyball here. Ho hum. Kinda boring. Darn I broke a nail. Oh. There’s my mom. The Most Hated Mom in America™. The one who’s supposed to be in jail. And who just showed up on my doorstep telling me she was going off on some, yawn, secret mission. Whatever. Gonna give her a little smile but I ain’t gonna let that put me off my game. I wonder what's for dinner.)

And then of course, JCarp LIED to Morris. But does he know she’s lied to him? And if so, does she know he knows? And does he know she knows he knows? And does she know he knows she knows he knows..?  

AND THE DANCE BEGINS AGAIN!

And then they killed the lights and it was a wrap and everyone went home and fired their agents for getting them to agree to do this terrible freaking show and when the studio was completely dark, a little voice rang out from the dungeon set and it said;

"Uh, hello? It’s me. Mendoza. Remember me? The girlfriend? The one Tal couldn’t live without? I’m still here. Can you like let me out now please? I’m guesting on a Law and Order next week and I need to be at rehearsals or they'll recast with that woman from episode three of Whiskey Cavalier. Is anybody there? Hellloooooo?! HELP!”

I was sad there was no Senator Eleanor Waldorf this week though. I was kind of hoping the whole episode would just be her and JCarp hanging out together, sitting in leather chairs,  sipping wine while gazing intently at each other through narrowed eyes and Deducing Stuff about each other, sort of like Killing Eve With Boredom. 

And then they get hungry and order pizza and when the delivery guy arrives, Senator Eleanor is like “When we called in our order, I realized that the person answering the phone was speaking approximately 1.5 times faster when they told me today’s special was pepperoni than when they said ‘Thank you for calling Sal’s.’ and with extra emphasis on the word "pepperoni". From that I deduced that you under-ordered meat products this week and are nervous that you won’t be able to fill orders.” And JCarp is like “And from the angle you’re holding that pizza box at, I deduce that the pizza inside it is approximately 2 grams lighter than usual which makes me suspicious that whoever made it skimped on the extra cheese I requested.” And the Pizza Guy is like “Look, I will give you double coupons and two dipping sauces but can you just stop deducing stuff and give me my $28.50, please? We've been here for half an hour and other people want their pizzas too.”

Edited May 23, 2019 by BaskingsharkGTX

[tennisgurl]

Sorry, but when one of the first lines you very dramatically say is "you've got a friend in me" all I am going to be thinking of the whole episode is gonna be this: 

[BaskingsharkGTX]

3 hours ago, preeya said:

Not only is Tal dead, the entire show is dead.

Just learned it has been canceled: https://1clickurls.com/oSJmIyD

Hmmm, interesting. That seems to be the only source, though, and I'm wondering if it's correct. They canned Whiskey Cavalier, which probably has a similar budget to this crapfest and that was (allegedly) a close decision and (amazingly) TEW has had higher ratings than WC. As such, I thought it might get a second season.

[Dowel Jones]

They could have scored more points, with me at least, in their portrayal of Cuba if the various agents had been picked up by someone in a '49 Mercury or some Caddy with giant tail fins.  But no, they just got a crummy jeep.

[Trini]

33 minutes ago, BaskingsharkGTX said:

4 hours ago, preeya said:

Not only is Tal dead, the entire show is dead.

Just learned it has been canceled: https://1clickurls.com/oSJmIyD

Hmmm, interesting. That seems to be the only source, though, and I'm wondering if it's correct. They canned Whiskey Cavalier, which probably has a similar budget to this crapfest and that was (allegedly) a close decision and (amazingly) TEW has had higher ratings than WC. As such, I thought it might get a second season.

TV Grim Reaper (formerly of TVbytheNumbers) called it when it wasn't in NBC's Fall 2019 schedule; but either way, there hasn't been an 'official' announcement.

[BaskingsharkGTX]

9 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

They could have scored more points, with me at least, in their portrayal of Cuba if the various agents had been picked up by someone in a '49 Mercury or some Caddy with giant tail fins.  But no, they just got a crummy jeep.

To be fair, in that moment of truly inspired idiocy, JCarp did make excellent use of that handy 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe 4-door fastback coupe to short-circuit her tracker implant.

Edited May 23, 2019 by BaskingsharkGTX

[preeya]

9 hours ago, BaskingsharkGTX said:

To be fair, in that moment of truly inspired idiocy, JCarp did make excellent use of that handy 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe 4-door fastback coupe to short-circuit her tracker implant.

Yeah, what are the odds that jumper cables already attached to a battery would be right there when she needed them? This was 100% shades of MacGyver.

Edited May 23, 2019 by preeya

[Loandbehold]

4 hours ago, preeya said:

Yeah, what are the odds that jumper cables already attached to a battery would be right there when she needed them? This was 100% shades of MacGyver.

The first episode, where JCarp used the tray to break her tooth and get sent to the dentist was inspired since she knew there would be equipment she could use to short out the device. This, besides being derivative, was just stupid. Even for this show.

14 hours ago, BaskingsharkGTX said:

I was sad there was no Senator Eleanor Waldorf this week though. I was kind of hoping the whole episode would just be her and JCarp hanging out together, sitting in leather chairs,  sipping wine while gazing intently at each other through narrowed eyes and Deducing Stuff about each other, sort of like Killing Eve With Boredom. 

BWAH! There went my lunch spitting onto my computer screen.

I'm going to miss this show for JCarp, Agent Keaton, and MY DAUGHTER, but mostly for BASKINGSHARKGTX's episode recaps and drinking games. May we find ourselves together in another show's forum.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Loandbehold
Because "sort" and "short" are actually two different words.

[tennisgurl]

Basically, nothing happened this season. Erica is still in jail, just that she might be able to keep consulting, Tal is maybe dead, Her Daughter is still weirdly chill about all of this, and there is still some big bad out there. And shooting someone isnt really that big of a deal I guess. Tis but a scratch! 

This show had a lot of potential, having an interesting premise and a good lead, but just kind of fizzled out quickly. It just kind of became this bland procedural that never used its premise to its full potential. 

So Erica did not tell Keaton the truth about a possible mole because...she is the only person smart and badass enough to figure it out? Because season two needed more drama?

Edited May 23, 2019 by tennisgurl

[kassygreene]

29 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Basically, nothing happened this season. Erica is still in jail, just that she might be able to keep consulting, Tal is maybe dead, Her Daughter is still weirdly chill about all of this, and there is still some big bad out there. And shooting someone isnt really that big of a deal I guess. Tis but a scratch! 

This show had a lot of potential, having an interesting premise and a good lead, but just kind of fizzled out quickly. It just kind of became this bland procedural that never used its premise to its full potential. 

So Erica did not tell Keaton the truth about a possible mole because...she is the only person smart and badass enough to figure it out? Because season two needed more drama?

Because even the writers were too fed up to try?

[Dowel Jones]

8 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

So Erica did not tell Keaton the truth about a possible mole because...she is the only person smart and badass enough to figure it out?

The only thing I can think of is that she suspects him, as well as everyone else.  Personally, I suspect Her Daughter.

[BaskingsharkGTX]

9 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

This show had a lot of potential, having an interesting premise and a good lead, but just kind of fizzled out quickly. It just kind of became this bland procedural that never used its premise to its full potential. 

This is the crux of the show's problems. Everything that could have set it apart, it completely blew, starting with the pilot.

Morris is forced to work with the woman who is responsible for his fiancee's death. I have observed on here before that literally every spy show and movie now uses the death of someone close to the lead as a motivating factor. It is an extremely tired trope. But forcing the lead to then work with the person responsible has (as far as I can remember) not been done before. But instead of taking that one original concept and exploring the conflict, having Morris' doubts about JCarp being evil grow across the season in spite of his wanting to hate her for what she did while keeping it ambiguous as to whether she's good or bad, they throw it SPLAT onto the screen in episode one that she was actually just doing it to protect HER DAUGHTER and Morris is the first to know. 

Thereafter, their relationship is just kind of... meh. I mean, it seems like they quite like each other. But that's it. The writers pay lip service to having people be shocked that Morris is OK with working with her via his fiancee's parents, but those were throwaway scenes that went nowhere and the whole thing just fizzled. Interrogator dude seemed to be the most suspicious of her and he never even really does anything about it. It's all just so lame.

And so instead of interesting character study intertwined with rising action, we got a surfeit of soggy and ill-defined characters hanging around a generic control room, a campy little terrorist who likes making phone calls and lots of shots of JCarp glowering at stuff in a dungeon. 

It may be unfair to blame the writers - after all, this is a network show, so they may have been pressured into making it conform to procedural expectations (the dreaded Network Notes). Maybe if this had been on cable or streaming it would have been better. Snarking aside, it really does feel like a missed opportunity. Although as ever, I'm glad people enjoyed the snark and thank you for the nice comments! 🙂

Edited May 24, 2019 by BaskingsharkGTX

[Loandbehold]

12 hours ago, BaskingsharkGTX said:

Interrogator dude seemed to be the most suspicious of her and he never even really does anything about it. It's all just so lame.

Neither does Stubble Guy.

Meanwhile, nothing happened w/ Interrogator Dude just putting on the flag pin he got from the one guy he was actually able to get information from. Was it a bug? Did it contain a deadly poison? Could it morph into Captain America's shield? Could it morph into Captain America's shield holding a deadly poison? We'll never know.

[kitmerlot1213]

On 5/21/2019 at 1:19 AM, doLLish said:

So...literally nothing happened the entire season. There is no difference between the first episode and the last. We all know Tal is still alive. Erica is still a prisoner. We still don’t know what’s going on in her head or what her endgame is. What was this show really about??

I just rewatched the finale and I thought Erica shot Tal through the heart and killed him dead.  It was of course after Tal very thoughtfully revealed that he was working with someone who was even higher up in the government.  I did like Erica's calm "I don't need your help" right before she shoots him--very badass 🙂

[Loandbehold]

1 hour ago, kitmerlot1213 said:

I just rewatched the finale and I thought Erica shot Tal through the heart and killed him dead.  It was of course after Tal very thoughtfully revealed that he was working with someone who was even higher up in the government.  I did like Erica's calm "I don't need your help" right before she shoots him--very badass 🙂

Even if Erica did shoot him in the heart, we've all seen too many shows and movies where the person survives - usually b/c they are (shockingly) wearing a bullet-proof vest. That's why you should always put one or two shots in the head to make sure the person truly is dead. The More You Know. [/psa]

[Dowel Jones]

And we all know that Tal is completely heartless, so there's that, too.

[alvajon]

Just saw where NBC has cancelled The Enemy Within.  So much for that... I will watch the fifth and final season of Blindspot, also NBC, but after that, I’m not investing any more time in NBC’s projects.  Enemy was corny but fun, leaving us with a cliffhanger, too, of course.  At least Blindspot will have closure.  Bye bye NBC

[Ohwell]

I always get Blindspot and The Blacklist mixed up. 

[BaskingsharkGTX]

Aw, we are officially officially cancelled. 

Goodbye JCarp! You are no longer The Most Hated Woman in America™! Goodbye icy narrow-eyed stares! Goodbye Morris! Goodbye FBI dungeon! Goodbye Stubble Guy! Now you can shave! Goodbye MY DAUGHTER! Good luck with those driving lessons! Goodbye Blonde Woman whose name I never did remember! Goodbye Microsoft AI! Goodbye Drunk-Cam car chases! Goodbye Tal! I'll miss you least of all!

[alvajon]

I forgot about Manifest, also on NBC.  It got a season two and it is crazier than Enemy.  Kinda like Under the Dome--how did that ever last so long?

[preeya]

On 5/30/2019 at 9:46 PM, alvajon said:

I forgot about Manifest, also on NBC.  It got a season two and it is crazier than Enemy.  Kinda like Under the Dome--how did that ever last so long?

Manifest was renewed with a mid-season start date. What's up with that?

[JenLily]

On 5/30/2019 at 11:46 PM, alvajon said:

Kinda like Under the Dome--how did that ever last so long?

Because Under the Dome was the most hilarious, ridiculous, over-the-top show EVER! It's second only to The Following when it comes to unintended hilarity. Manifest (and The Enemy Within for that matter) are not nearly as fun.

[Trini]

2 hours ago, JenLily said:

Because Under the Dome was the most hilarious, ridiculous, over-the-top show EVER! It's second only to The Following when it comes to unintended hilarity. Manifest (and The Enemy Within for that matter) are not nearly as fun.

Are we leaving Zoo out of this conversation? Because HOO BOY.

[alvajon]

On 6/3/2019 at 3:41 PM, Trini said:

Are we leaving Zoo out of this conversation? Because HOO BOY.

Zoo, that was a wild ride.  What was it we were always waiting for? the attack of the killer zebras? Can’t even remember now.