HTGAWM - 5.05 - It Was the Worst Day of My Life - Best Scene Poll

About the Author - Dahne

One part teacher librarian - one part avid TV fan, Dahne is a contributing writer for SpoilerTV, where she reviews and/or creates polls for Teen Wolf, How to Get Away with Murder, The Librarians, and others. She also runs the annual Character Cup. She's addicted to Twitter, loves live tweeting, and co-hosted The 100 "Red-Shirted" and Teen Wolf "Welcome to Beacon Hills" podcasts for Southgate Media Group. Previously she wrote a Last Week in TV column for her blog and SpoilerTV. ~ "I speak TV."

NCIS: New Orleans - 5.05 - In the Blood - Review: The 100th Episode

Note - Before jumping into this guest review, I’d like to say congratulations to the cast and crew on their 100th episode. In a generation of DOA shows, increased competition, and shortened seasons, it is a great accomplishment. An especially big congratulations goes out to Scott Bakula for reaching the 100th episode for the first time after coming so close with Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise. To help celebrate their 100th, NCIS:NOLA welcomes Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats as their musical guest. They also bring back the prolific Jim Whitmore, Jr. to direct. He has previously directed 10 episodes for the show, which is second only to James Hayman, and has directed around 60 episodes for the NCIS franchise. Supervising producer and writer Ron McGee adds his talents to the hallmark episode too, making this his 7th script for the show.

As the episode opens, a man tries to talk his way out of trouble with a quartet of armed thugs. They push him to a storage unit but when he opens it up, there’s nothing of value inside. His days are about numbered when out of nowhere, someone else shoots the thugs and lets him escape. Meanwhile, Pride is dreaming of watching his mom play piano while he reads a Hardy Boys book. It’s sweet and serene until Pride’s annoying spirit guide pops in to snark at him and Flashback Dad thinks it is appropriate to take his preteen son to his mistress’ house with a gun in the glove box. No wonder Flashback Mom gives Flashback Dad the evil eye on their way out. Still there’s no time to sleep in New Orleans, even if the Angel of Death is your co-pilot, so LaSalle calls to ask Pride to join them at the storage container. Much exposition ensues but the bottomline is that Young Pride’s toys and Hardy Boys book are there, making his dad the prime suspect. Cassius is newly released from prison thanks to a letter Pride wrote the parole board, but he’s skipped out on his probation officer to meet up with Jimmy Boyd, the man from the opening scene.

Jimmy’s mama recently died and left him a house in Treme, so they all convene there. Either Pride’s recent near death experience has left him clairvoyant or Annoying Spirit Guide is actually the Ghost of Mistresses Past, because this is the same house Pride was just dreaming about. He comes out of his reverie just in enough time to save Gregorio and a shootout occurs. Hannah kicks butt as she takes down some White Pride chick and the rest of the group dies. That’s NCIS - 1, bad guys - 0. Well, kind of. As they examine the house for more shooters, Pride and Gregorio find Cassius beaten but alive. Cassius: “Hiya, kid. Hell of a reunion.” Ha! This is gonna be fun. To say Pride is unexcited to have his father back in his life is an understatement. Loretta’s not too fond of him either and lectures Cassius about how Pride doesn’t need this right now. Cassius tries to whine his way into some sympathy by saying he had to learn about Pride almost dying on the news, but Loretta shuts that down quickly. Loretta: “Well I hope it would make you question your parenting skills.” Man, do I love how she never puts up with nonsense. The conversation is broken up once Pride learns from the White Pride chick that Cassius planned the River Grand Casino heist 20 years ago. Legend has that the thieves got away with $3 million. Pride heads in to interrogate his father but things escalate quickly, leaving Loretta to physically intervene. Loretta: “Family time’s over.”

Back at the office, details on the robbery are sketchy because the casino didn’t want bad press. That leaves Pride to interview an old family friend, Gina Powell, who was the floor manager at the time. She introduces Pride to Todd Jamieson, who is in “risk management” and isn’t any more eager to talk about the heist than the casino was decades earlier. Thankfully Patton finds out that Jimmy Boyd is still in NOLA, so the team follows that lead while Pride goes home to sleep and finds himself mid-flashback. Young Pride gets tired of waiting in the car for his dad so he sneaks up to the house, only to find Cassius kissing another woman. Poor baby. He just got proof that his dad is a lying, cheating, no-good jerk. He also finds out that he has a half-brother in the flashback….who just happens to be standing over him with a gun in real life. Startled, he realizes Jimmy Boyd is his half-brother and acknowledges him as such. Pride: “You gonna shoot your own brother, Jimmy?” Jimmy: “Been imagining this moment my whole life, actually meeting my half brother face to face.” Pride: “Always pointing a gun at me when you imagined?” Jimmy: “No, that part’s a little bit of a surprise.” Pride’s in no trouble though because Jimmy is anti-gun. He even has the safety still on.

After a bit of banter, Pride takes Jimmy to the office where Jimmy stuns Gregorio and Patton by announcing that Pride is his brother. Their reaction is priceless and Patton makes me laugh, saying: “Pride, you sure you don’t want Sebastian to run a DNA test or something?” Bwaaahh!! Jimmy confirms that the casino money was in the storage container, having helped Cassius move it there  years ago but he doesn’t know where it is now. Before Pride can storm the hospital demanding answers, Cassius escapes. Good thing Jimmy knows where he’ll be because Cassius still needs a fake id. After some creative blackmail, Pride gets the drop-off point from his print man, but instead of arresting Cassius, the same guys who killed the white pride thugs show up again. Cassius gets away but Jimmy is kidnapped, while trying to save his dad. At a dead end, Pride heads back to his team. Gregorio: “We’re gonna find him and Jimmy.” Pride: “I hope so. I just learned I have a brother. I’d like to keep him alive long enough to get to know him.” After some exposition, they learn that Gina Powell planned the robbery and is killing off any links to it to keep her mob-tied bosses from knowing about her role. Time to find Cassius and crash a party.

The first step is easy with the perks of Pride’s new job. He has Texas Highway Patrol set up a roadblock and stops Cassius before he can get to the border. They chat about how Cassius set up Pride’s Little League coach by planting drugs in his vehicle just because he wanted Pride to get more playing time. Yikes! Talk about rough parents. I bet they had trouble finding a replacement. Pride, however, has no problem finding the missing casino cash lined the in ceiling of his dad's Caddy. Busted. Getting Jimmy back is a little tougher though.  Pride confronts Gina at the Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats concert and brings out the $3 million in cash, which gets Jamieson’s attention. He takes everybody up to the roof and has his men bring Jimmy up too. In exchange for his brother, Pride has to give them the cash and Cassius. Pride agrees, Jamieson’s men shoot up Cassius’ Caddy (although he’s not in it), and Jamieson shoots Gina for good measure. Jamieson is about to shoot Pride too when the cavalry arrives. Jimmy manages to get a gun and saves Pride’s life. Yeah for brothers!

Now that the heroics are all over, Cassius turns on the charm to his boys but neither are buying it. Even Jimmy has soured on him, given that he was headed out of the country while Jimmy’s life was in danger. Cassius: “I always knew we’d get out of this mess. We make a good team.” Pride: “I think we’ve got a different definition of team and we.” Jimmy: “You were almost to Mexico.” Cassius is slick though and has exchanged his info on the white supremacists for a one-way ticket to Witness Protection. There’s a reason why he rose to become New Orleans’ top fixer. With Cassius no longer on their hands, Pride and Jimmy are free to get to know each other better and hang out at the bar, talking smack about their mothers’ gumbo recipes and listening to Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats again. All is fabulous until Annoying “I’m not your spirit guide” Spirit Guide shows up again. Pride is sleeping with Jimmy on the couch in the other room. She warns Pride that she’s his clock and it seems like time is about out. I am getting seriously bad Dallas vibes here. Time for her to go.



My Thoughts:

It was great getting some more background on Pride’s rocky childhood and Scott Bakula’s interactions with Stacy Keach were phenomenal. That was my favorite thing about the episode. I remember Keach from his Mike Hammer days, so it was fun to see him play such a slippery character. That being said, the entire episode revolved around Pride so there wasn’t much time for the other characters. That’s especially a shame due to it being the 100th episode. I would have liked it to have more of a team feel.

Speaking of teams, the new kids are great. Hannah’s introduction is a perfect example of how new characters can be integrated without causing unnecessary upheaval and drama. (Looking at you, Moseley on NCIS:LA.) I love how she isn’t threatened by Pride taking a more active role in their cases than he should technically have given his new job title. Plus, she takes on the leader role without having to bully others into following her lead, making her a true leader. I hope when Pride inevitably returns as team leader, she sticks with them as second in charge because TV can always use another smart, capable, kick butt female character. I also really liked the introduction of Jimmy. He’s a good foil for Pride, but he’s still basically a decent guy. Sure he gets into some trouble, but he’s not trying to hurt people. I think that by having Jimmy as a recurring character, it will give Pride more dimension and they have great bromance chemistry as well.

My biggest issue here is the continued presence of Annoying Spirit Guide. I found her irritating in the premiere and I’m not sure why she is still around. I know we are supposed to be concerned about Pride’s health but that could be easily achieved by adding in more sleeping and other health snippets. It was even more annoying in this episode because Pride was seeing things he needed for the case but before they actually came in play. It would have made more sense to have the snippet about the book after he found it in the storage container, not before. The things in the case should have been a springboard for his memories, not the other way around. The continued presence of this angel of death is giving me a bad feeling. I do not need a do-over. I need the show to conclude this particular plot pathway before I no longer care how it plays out.



Grade: B

Best Scene - Cassius tells his boys that he’s heading to WitSec and that he loves them
Best Character Interaction - Pride and Cassius
Best Magic Trick - LaSalle getting out and under the Caddy without Jamieson seeing him
Best Come to Jesus Moment - Loretta tells Cassius that he’s a bad parent
Best Reaction - Gregorio and Patton learning Jimmy is Pride’s half brother
Most Kick Butt - Hannah



Best Quotes:
1. Hannah: “Pretty sure DC wouldn’t approve of me bringing the regional SAC onto a tactical op.” Pride: “Can’t disagree.” Hannah: “As long as we’re clear on how we’re p** them off this week.”
2. Cassius: “Seeing my two boys together just warms my heart.” Pride: “Could have happened a lot sooner if you’d had been honest.” Cassius: “We all got regrets in our lives. I guess that I’ve got more than my share.” Jimmy: “I regret ever letting you through my front door.”
3. Gregorio: “Cassius Pride, New Orleans legend. Fixer to politicians and gangsters alike. Had his finger in every corrupt pie in the city.” Hannah: “Guess that apple fell far from that tree, huh?” Patton: “Whole other orchard.”



Screencaps from SpoilerTV, Seat 42F, Stacy Keach Work Page, CBS, Living New Orleans, and IMDb.

About the Author - Dahne

One part teacher librarian - one part avid TV fan, Dahne is a contributing writer for SpoilerTV, where she reviews and/or creates polls for Teen Wolf, How to Get Away with Murder, The Librarians, and others. She also runs the annual Character Cup. She's addicted to Twitter, loves live tweeting, and co-hosted The 100 "Red-Shirted" and Teen Wolf "Welcome to Beacon Hills" podcasts for Southgate Media Group. Previously she wrote a Last Week in TV column for her blog and SpoilerTV. ~ "I speak TV."

Bull - 3.05 - The Missing Piece - Review and Poll

Directed by Stacey K. Black
Written by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka

In what may be the most terrifying episode yet, Bull defends a doctor accused of murder, who claims he’s never even met the victim. In and of itself, this is unremarkable in a crime show. After all, most people claim their innocence when accused of anything, much less murder. The problem lies in the twist. In most procedurals, there is an abundance of circumstantial evidence while the detectives look for something more concrete. However, here, there is zero circumstantial evidence against Dr. Harper. He’s a suburban dad and well-respected Midtown pediatrician. He has no police record and nothing ties him to the dead Bronx drug dealer. Nothing except his DNA. It’s a 100% match to tissue found under the victim’s nails. Case closed? The team must find a viable alternative explanation for why their client’s DNA was found on the victim or lose the trial because in a post-CSI world, a vast majority of people believe that DNA is the ultimate evidence.


What follows is an interesting philosophical debate. Is science or instinct more reliable, more valuable? Can DNA ever be misinterpreted? Is it possible for science to send an innocent man to jail or is that man not as innocent as first impressions make him seem? Bull is looking for jurors who “go with their gut” when making decisions, and the show asks the same of its audience. It makes its case by citing examples of when DNA evidence got it wrong or at least was misinterpreted. In one case, DNA is linked to multiple crimes throughout Europe. Turns out that DNA belongs to a Latvian woman who works in a cotton swab factory. Her DNA gets mixed in with a batch of swabs that forensic investigators are using in their investigations. Instead of having a mass murderer on their hands, they have some questionable factory sanitary procedures. Ew. Danny also researches DNA migration, which simply says that our DNA is everywhere through the millions of skin cells we shed. Those cells are then transferred to others through the common things we touch. Neither situation is likely to sway a jury though.

Things get even more muddled as new circumstantial evidence comes to light. Dr. Harper admits that he had an oxycodone addiction, although he still maintains his innocence. Then the ADA calls his friend and neighbor, Dr. Parsons, to the stand. Although he is reluctant to put his friend in a bad light, Parsons does admit to subscribing opiates to Harper 3 times before cutting him off. He is also forced to corroborate that oxycodone abuse is generally a gateway to heroin addiction. There’s the circumstantial evidence and tie to the victim that the prosecutor was missing. Things get even worse for Harper, when the drug dealer’s son testifies against him. Let’s just say that the outcome looks bleak. So much so that Bull asks for a plea bargain and strongly urges Harper to take it. It’s here where the audience is asked to weigh their own beliefs. The story has so far been sympathetic to Dr. Harper, but evidence is piling up. Are first instincts correct or is this a clever tale told by a master manipulator?

Frankly, they could have heightened this part of the story more in the writing and acting as well as in the episode placement. You can see both Bull and the lead attorney’s growing frustration with the case, but coming on the heels of the Excessive Force episode, it is hard to believe that they would go for a client twist like that again so soon. In the end, what could have been an intriguing unreliable narrator storyline turns more into a cautionary tale on the American justice system’s overreliance on DNA and science. It also rushes to a soap opera-ish end that is highly unsatisfactory. An unknown murderous identical twin? Really? That and lab mix-up were the first things that came to mind. I would have liked a bit more ingenuity on the part of the writers. Plus, killing off said twin is over the top. I realize that they want to keep the TAC team the heroes and thus don’t want them to be the reason a murderer is free, but I could have done without the wrap-up. That’s what fanfiction is for.



Highlights:

The best part of the episode for me is the guest acting of Jeremiah Burkett, who plays Dr. Michael Harper. It’s a challenging role because he needs to make the character charming but still come off as a genuine family man, to be competent and smart while still baffled about his circumstances. Like the show itself claims, he’s instantly likeable and sells the character’s innocence well. This is particularly true when he’s confronted with all the evidence against him and realizes that his legacy will no longer be all the kids he helped or his family but the label of murderer . His speech about being a man of science but not being able to believe that science because he knows the truth is hard-hitting and poignant.

The red herring in the middle of the episode was fantastic too. I really did expect the Grand Central Station explanation to pan out. I liked the idea that hard work could save the day, especially since it involved Danny and Taylor working together. Color me surprised when he turned out to be a she and to have no bearing on the case at all. I actually think I would have liked this explanation for the DNA transfer better than the identical twin ending.



Issues:

First off, I admit that everything I know about the law, I learned from Law & Order so please comment below if I’m wrong, but there are a lot of things about the trial itself that seems off to me. I’m not even talking about the magic of TV law where tests come back in an hour and someone can go from crime to indictment to trial in the course of a week. That I expect. Off the cuff lawyering I do not. I’m not even sure why the prosecution would take this case to court before thoroughly investigating the situation. What is the rush? I get that DNA evidence is powerful (and the theme is that we shouldn’t rely on just one factor), but there are enough significant factors to warrant slowing down. That brings me to the second issue - all the surprise witnesses. Why in the world were they surprises? Either the prosecutor jumped the gun and lucked into the whole prescription addiction thing right when he needed it most or the defense should have had prior notice of the neighbor testifying. Same with the kid. It’s hard for me to believe that the defense has adequate time to prepare for a rebuttal when they don’t even know about the witness until a few minutes before court is in session. Shouldn’t someone have called out the prosecutor for this during the trial? I would have loved to see someone wipe that irritating smirk off his face.



Most Scary:

Call me an old-fashioned optimist, but I’d like to believe that there are still some ethics in the legal system these days and not just a bunch of loopholes where one side out-sleazes the next. TV law, not so much. From Law and Order’s winning at all cost prosecutors to How to Get Away with Murder’s outright illegal actions, it’s hard to root for any side. In this episode, the prosecution was particularly egregious. Pretending to be a customer of the genetic testing company, while genius, left a very bad taste in my mouth. I love genealogy and originally planned to do a family kit but my mother balked at it. She didn’t want her medical information out there and available to be sold off to others. At first that sounded way too conspiracy theory for me, but this episode added a whole new level of sinister. Technology is increasing daily but laws are often years behind it so things like genetic testing do open up a plethora of ways to invade people’s privacy. Let’s just say that I don’t think Ancestry.com is sponsoring this episode.



Episode Awards:

Best Scene / Best Speech - Dr. Harper’s “I’m me” speech
Best Character Interaction - Dr. Harper and his wife
Biggest Save - Marissa looking for adoption records
Worst Decision - Marissa puts the alcohol on the table in front of Bull instead of pouring a glass and removing it from the table
Most Troubling - the police could use those genealogy kits to accuse people of crimes
Most Smug / Most Irritating - the ADA who plays fast and loose with the rules and is gleeful about it
The “Say What?” Award - the lawyer asks for alcohol at a work meeting instead of the drink offered. Who does that?
The “Facepalm” Award - Bull is cyberstalking his newly married ex. Absolutely nothing good can come of this. Stop being creepy.



Quotes:

1. Bull: “Let’s not forget about freewill. Our DNA is not our destiny. We can change it piece by piece, choice by choice, if we’re strong enough, which you were.”
2. Bull: “You didn’t lie to a suspect. You lied to a public corporation.” ADA: “It has no effect on the legitimacy of the evidence.” Benny: “It doesn’t say a whole hell of a lot about the integrity of the DA’s office.” Bull: “Kind of hard not to wonder what other rules you’d be willing to break.”
3. Benny: “She just told you that?” Chunk: “I’m like a human can opener. People spend time with me and they can’t help themselves.”
4. Bull: “Words lie. Body language doesn’t.”
5. Benny: “You know, just because a person abused a prescription drug, that doesn’t make him a killer.” Bull: “No, the DNA makes him a killer.”
6. Wife: “He’s a pediatrician. He makes kids feel better when they’re sick. He comforts them when they’re scared. That’s who he is.”
7. Danny: “I want you in my lifeboat, baby.”

About the Author - Dahne

One part teacher librarian - one part avid TV fan, Dahne is a contributing writer for SpoilerTV, where she reviews and/or creates polls for Teen Wolf, How to Get Away with Murder, The Librarians, and others. She also runs the annual Character Cup. She's addicted to Twitter, loves live tweeting, and co-hosted The 100 "Red-Shirted" and Teen Wolf "Welcome to Beacon Hills" podcasts for Southgate Media Group. Previously she wrote a Last Week in TV column for her blog and SpoilerTV. ~ "I speak TV."

Quote of the Week - Week of Oct. 14

A weekly feature highlighting the best quotes on TV as picked by the SpoilerTV team. We'd love to hear your picks too so please sound off in the comments below.

Bull -
1. Taylor: “I’ve already discussed money and benefits and hours with Marissa.” Bull: “Hours? We don’t do hours.” Taylor: “I do, but I promise you, you and your company will be the second most important thing in my life. Second. That’s all I have to offer and I’m offering it to you.” Bull: “Sold.”
2. Bull: “I’m not gonna drop dead from a sip of whiskey.” Marissa: “You don’t know that. I might kill you.”
3. Cable’s Mom, Ellen: “I don’t suppose you’ve ever lost a child, Dr. Bull. Make it hurt.” Bull: “I’m sure gonna try.”

The Cool Kids -
1. Margaret: “Wait a minute. You’re not out to your son? How could he not know?” Hank: “I see the struggle that you’re having there, Margaret. It’s a struggle that we’ve all had ourselves. Now what we’ve landed on - and no offense Sid - is that...um, that boy’s just not bright.”
2. Hank: “Can’t you just pass me, man?” Doctor: “Sorry. I took an oath.” Hank: “What if I gave you $200.” Doctor: “Works for me.” Charlie: “What about your precious oath?” Doctor: “I oath the bank 100 grand in student loans.”
3. Doctor: “You guys were trying to cheat on the eye exam? Well neither of you will be getting a lollipop.”

Fresh Off the Boat -
1. Jessica: “No idea what they’re doing.” Louis: “No idea, but neither did we.” Jessica: “And our kids turned out pretty great because we always had each other’s back even if it was behind each other’s back.”
2. Louis: “Because one false move and the house gets egged. Sure, we could clean it all up but the shame will last for years.”
3. Jessica: “So the fact that we were so bad made you feel better about also being so bad?”

God Friended Me -
1. Rakesh: “Hope you burn in hell? That’s a mixed message for an atheist.”
2. Isaac: “Why do you two care about this so much anyway?” Ray: “Because they’re annoying people, but they do grow on you.”
3. Ray: “You two make a good team. It’s more rare than you think.”

The Good Place -
1. Eleanor: “I will literally see all of you in hell.” Jason: “Not if I see you first!” (Mads)
2. Chidi: “I'm going to eat all this chili or die trying.” (Mads)
3. Lawyer: “It just seems a bit odd to transfer the totality of your account, 131,000,000 British pounds, to this person. A man who is so flagrantly ignoring the ‘one lollipop per customer’ rule.” Jason: “No. I walked out and back in each time, so I'm different customers.” (Mads)

The Haunting of Hill House -
1. Luke: “Who do you think did this?” Hugh: “Well, if I'm honest, none of us. But you probably knew that already, didn't you?” (DarkUFO)
2. Hugh: “She was worried about a lot more than Luke.” Steven: “Like what?” Hugh: “She said the bent-neck lady was back.” (DarkUFO)
3. Steven: “Nelly's dead.” Luke: “How?” Steven: “It was suicide.” Luke: “No, it wasn't.” (DarkUFO)

How to Get Away with Murder -
1. Annalise: “Come here. Come here. Shhh. This is not my decision. It’s all you. You’re allowed to feel nothing, all right? Forget all of this and just...just...be where you are. Or we...we can find him. All right? I’ll be here either way, whatever you want. I’m here, okay? I’m here.”
2. Annalise: “You know what I’m trying to change the damn world here. Literally. I’m Martin Luther Damn King trying to blow up the entire justice system.” Connor: “And I’m trying to help you do that. Ask anyone out there. I wrote up that motion for the judge. Me.” Annalise: “No, you’re bringing me your little b** boy problems just like everyone else out there. You want me to save the world and be nice at the same time. Well that’s not me, and shame on you if you haven’t figured that out yet. Mr. Maddox, you’re now my second chair.”

Last Man Standing -
1. Mike: “And there’s the day we all get the cr** scared out of us by blood-sucking vampires, Tax Day. Of course, Halloween can also be scary. In fact, many of us, it taps into our deepest, deepest, darkest fears - other people’s children coming to our house. If you’re like me, you’d actually prefer zombies.”
2. Mike: “If you don’t want demons at your door, don’t give them the good stuff. I’m telling you, Satan hates candy corn,”
3. George: “I thought this was just a storage room. I didn’t realize it was a gateway to hell. You should have put up a sign or something.”

Manifest -
1. Olive: “Dad, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I called Danny instead of you. I just, I didn't want you to…” Ben: “I know, I know.” Olive: “No, you don't. Because you don't know what a total screw up I am. And Danny knows I'm a mess, but you still see me as this sweet 10-year-old little girl, and I'm not. I'm so not her anymore.” Ben: “No. No, in some ways you're this whole new person. And you know what, I really love this whole new person.” (Aimee)
2. Grace: “I want you to be half of this parenting team. I cannot do it alone, but neither can you. Trust me, you have no idea what we've been through with her.” Ben: "We, meaning you and Danny?” Grace: “Ben, you weren't here.” Ben: “I am now! And neither one of you seem to be able to let this guy go! But maybe it's not fair for me to ask you to.” (Aimee)

Murphy Brown -
1. Jim: “You do not have to give equal time to a man who says that Tom Hanks runs a shadow government!” (Claire)
2. Murphy to Shannon: “Truth? I’m surprised that you can use that word without bursting into flames.” ~rhymes with Bannon (Claire)
3. Murphy to Shannon: “You’re an old, white guy afraid of losing his place at the table.” ~I think this quote sums up the USA’s last few, very bleak years. I love how this show is giving us Americans, who still value what our country has been and can be again when Trump is gone, a voice...and it’s so funny, too! (Claire)

NCIS: NOLA -
1. Pride to La Salle: “You can handle this alone, but you don’t have to." ~The sense of family is so real with this crew. (Kelly)
2. Pride to Chris: “Look, I didn’t survive 3 bullets to push paper around. I’m here because of my family and that’s you.” (Dahne)
3. Hannah: “I’m gonna try the impossible and convince a teenager she’s wrong.”
4. Sebastian: “Yeah well, I’ve seen Jaws a million times. Never gonna unsee this.”

Raven’s Home -
1. Levi: "It's never normal here." ~This is such an understatement for this show. (Prpleight)
2. Nia: "This is a nightmare. I was supposed to take Miles to the carnival and now if I don't show up with him my friends are going to keep calling him [air-quotes] ‘Miles’." Levi: "Why are you telling me?" Nia: “Well, because...you're the only one I know is still you.” (Prpleight)

Riverdale -
1. Cheryl: “You can't discriminate against someone because they're better looking than you.” (Mads)
2. Betty: “What caused the blue lips?” Coroner: “The cyanide was mixed into a sugary drink called Freshade, blueberry flavored. There’s something dimly familiar about this. If you had asked me before if I thought this was murder or suicide, I’m not sure what it is. But, whatever it is, it is darker than what happened to Jason Blossom or with The Black Hood. No, what we’re looking at here, I believe, is the true face of evil.” (Mads)

SEAL Team -
1. Clay: "I've never dealt with this [death] when it had to do with someone's wife. We don't do this." ~What I didn't expect from the episode was how hard a non-combat death would hit the rest of the team. One example of how the writing has improved this season. (Prpleight)
2. Jason: "I need you back on Bravo Team, if you're okay with that." Ray: "Well, you already know the answer. I been waiting to roll with you six months." Jason: "Yeah, well, the thing is I won't be there. What you see here, two beautiful kids. What I see, I see the only parent they have left. I'm standing down." Ray: "Just for this mission? Not forever?" Jason: "I don't know." ~I was so worried they were going to make Jason a guy I couldn't root for. This moment put me at ease. (Prpleight)
3. Emma: "You've never stayed behind. Not ever. Not for anyone." Jason: "Well, this time, this time I am." Emma: “I thought for sure you were leaving.” Jason: "So did I." (Prpleight)

Single Parents -
1. Douglas: “Hey, your kid is amazing and sensitive and makes me a card every time I get a kidney stone. Plus, you want to know the truth. We would like to think that there is some direct line between what we do and how our kids turn out, but you know what, it’s a cr** shoot. We do what we can and who they end up becoming is up to them.” Angie: “Wait. So you’re telling me I can do whatever I want as a parent and it doesn’t matter whatsoever.” Douglas: “Not exactly the take away I was hoping for, but whatever makes you feel better.”
2. Poppy, staring at Will’s stress baking: “Will, please tell me that you have drugs or something in these because that would be less crazy than what I’m looking at.”
3. Angie: “You’re a weirdly cute baby. I don’t like it. I don’t trust it. I’m not gonna pick you up. Night, chubster. See you in hell.”

Superstore -
1. Dina: “Listen to me, you rejected American Girl doll.” (Mads)
2. Jonah: “Hey, Dina. Uh I was just looking for this um, Del Taco receipt for 12 tacos.” Dina: “You must have been very hungry. No judgement.” (Mads)
3. Jonah: “I don't appreciate you trashing me and laughing behind my back.” Amy: “I never laugh at you Jonah. You never say anything funny.” (Mads)

The Walking Dead -
1. Negan: “That's a real pretty picture you paint there, Rick. When do I get to see it.” Rick: “Never. You're gonna die behind these bars, you know that.” (DarkUFO)
2. Maggie: “Some people can be redeemed, and others can't.” (DarkUFO)
3. Rick: “It was a hard day, hardest we've had in a while. A man lost his arm, projects behind schedule, people were at each other’s throats. Thing is though as bad as it was, when the day was done, they came together. Not all of them, but enough. They chose to be together. You see what I'm getting at? No matter what happens, it's human nature to come together. That's just what we do.” (DarkUFO)

Young Sheldon -
1. Missy: “My dad does football with my older brother, so they’re like a team and my mom and Meemaw spend all their time fussing over Sheldon so they’re like a team too.” Dr. Thorpe: “So no one’s on your team?” Missy: “Nope. It’s just me.”
2. George: “Missy won that round.” Sturgis: “It’s actually not a contest, George.” George: “This is Texas. Everything’s a contest.”

About the Author - Dahne

One part teacher librarian - one part avid TV fan, Dahne is a contributing writer for SpoilerTV, where she reviews and/or creates polls for Teen Wolf, How to Get Away with Murder, The Librarians, and others. She also runs the annual Character Cup. She's addicted to Twitter, loves live tweeting, and co-hosted The 100 "Red-Shirted" and Teen Wolf "Welcome to Beacon Hills" podcasts for Southgate Media Group. Previously she wrote a Last Week in TV column for her blog and SpoilerTV. ~ "I speak TV."

Bull - 3.03/3.04 - Excessive Force / Justice for Cable - Review

Excessive Force: directed by Russell Fine / written by Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price
Justice for Cable: directed by Randy Zisk / written by Bill Chais

Excessive Force and Justice for Cable are opposite episodes for me in many ways, but both still evoked strong emotions. In Excessive Force, Bull is approached by the police commissioner to help defend a white female officer who shot an unarmed black man. Initially uninterested, he is persuaded to talk to the officer and when he learns that the plaintiff is suing the city for a minimum of $25 million, he takes the case. Not everyone at TAC is happy about that and while there were some highlights, most of this case frustrated me. I enjoyed Chunk talking to his daughter about having the “police talk” when he was a teenager, but a lot of the dialogue was heavy handed and it felt very one-sided. The police commissioner had no grasp of the political ramifications of the case, but was focused only on getting a win. The plaintiff was painful to watch. It got so bad that at one point I turned off the program and went to bed. This episode was shaping up to be one of the worst for me...until the plot twist.

By far the best thing about Excessive Force was how it completely surprised me. The plaintiff and the defendant are lovers looking for a huge payout? What? I never saw that coming, and I’m usually pretty good at spotting big plot points. Suddenly everything made sense - the one-sided discussion, the police officer being the worst defendant ever to step foot on the stand, even though she had to have been cross-examined at some point earlier in her career. The inconsistencies that bugged me the most were fixed in one fell swoop. It was a big writing gamble and for me, it mostly paid off. Mostly. The pacing was still very rough, even in the rewatch, and while I understand where they were going, I think the actress playing the police officer was too understated. I wanted to feel something for her so that the twist would be emotional as well as interesting plot development. I think that perhaps exposing the twist earlier and letting there be some fallout to the deception would have helped.

Unlike Excessive Force, which I struggled through in the beginning, I looked forward to Justice for Cable since the premiere. I, like the show’s characters, needed some closure for Cable. Add to it the superb acting from Jill Hennessey and I was already hooked. Once again, the case is not going for subtle. The TAC family learns that the bridge collapse that killed Cable was no accident as previously believed. Explosive charges were placed in a portion of the framework by terrorists working with a maintenance crew and set to go off at a certain time. For reasons that still don’t make any sense, this terrorist group wanted it to be ruled an accident but they are found and killed in Europe. End of story, right? But there’s still no closure and it unduly complicates the death. They could have made it neglect or shoddy equipment that caused the collapse but neither would produce such a thoroughly villainous defendant as John Honaker. Bull accuses Honaker of making his bank billions by allowing known terrorists to skirt the banking laws meant to combat the funding of evil.

It’s a complicated case full of intricate computer coding and boxes upon boxes of bank transactions, but in the end only two things matter: it wraps up Cable’s storyline and introduces Taylor. Like Lethal Weapon’s premiere, there was good and bad in how they dealt with the death of a main character. I liked how they started with a wake. It fit Cable’s spirit and Jill Hennessey rocked the part of the grieving mother. My only concern is that it focused mostly on Bull, although he is the one who had the least connection with Cable. This is one time when the supporting cast deserved a chance to take the lead. In particular, I would have liked to see more of Marissa’s reaction since we didn’t get to see her response to hearing about the death either. Using the case to get closure was also hit and miss for me. Since it all took place in one episode, it felt rushed. A case of this magnitude could have easily become the focus of the whole season, giving the show a serialized thread within the procedural format. Similar to shows like NCIS that often have one Big Bad they chase throughout the season while still working individual murders, I think that a slower roll out of the trial would allow for better closure and a more in-depth look at the different stages of grief. The TAC team is closer than the usual workforce and it would make sense to allow the grieving process to continue throughout the season.

The most positive aspect of the episode for me though was the introduction of Taylor. While I will miss the youth aspect and energy that Cable brought, it is more important that they didn’t simply create a carbon copy character. That never works. I like that Taylor brings her own new perspective. While the others allow Bull and his company to overwhelm their lives, Taylor will bring more of a balance. We were already seeing that in Marissa’s marriage, but Taylor’s child changes everything for her. I loved how she stressed to Bull that her child will always come first but she will still give her best to the company. She doesn’t have to be 24/7 to be an asset and her background in Homeland Security gives her access to resources that complement Marissa’s. I also liked her practical approach to problems. When Bull basically tells her that he’s going to throw her under the bus to get the results he wants, she deals with the situation at hand with ingenuity and class. I’m not sure I would want to work with him after that, but I’m sure glad that Taylor is going to be a part of this team.


Grades: C+ / B+

3.04 Quotes:
1. Taylor: “I’ve already discussed money and benefits and hours with Marissa.” Bull: “Hours? We don’t do hours.” Taylor: “I do, but I promise you, you and your company will be the second most important thing in my life. Second. That’s all I have to offer and I’m offering it to you.” Bull: “Sold.”
2. Bull: “I’m not gonna drop dead from a sip of whiskey.” Marissa: “You don’t know that. I might kill you.”
3. Benny: “We have a new Cable?” Marissa: “We have a temporary Taylor.”
4. Marissa: “Don’t stay here too late, and look...don’t fall asleep in your office. And don’t drink.” Bull: “Can I at least have a few friends over, have a small party? I promise to clean up. Dad said it was okay.” Marissa: “Night, John Boy.”
5. Cable’s Mom, Ellen: “I don’t suppose you’ve ever lost a child, Dr. Bull. Make it hurt.” Bull: “I’m sure gonna try.”
6. Ellen: “I told him to go duck himself.”


Screencaps by SpoilerTV and Remote Control.

About the Author - Dahne

One part teacher librarian - one part avid TV fan, Dahne is a contributing writer for SpoilerTV, where she reviews and/or creates polls for Teen Wolf, How to Get Away with Murder, The Librarians, and others. She also runs the annual Character Cup. She's addicted to Twitter, loves live tweeting, and co-hosted The 100 "Red-Shirted" and Teen Wolf "Welcome to Beacon Hills" podcasts for Southgate Media Group. Previously she wrote a Last Week in TV column for her blog and SpoilerTV. ~ "I speak TV."