On-Season Week 31

WEEK 31

As more shows drop off this roundup, our weeks will inevitably shrink. As it is, there are only 4 shows to review today, with our four Sunday and Friday shows all not airing, leaving us with only those from Monday and Tuesday. High hopes are held for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where Nathan Fillion guest stars as an actor playing an actor playing a detective in a TV show, mirroring how he spent the last 8 years of his career in Castle; meanwhile, Caleb returns in Quantico, something we've been hoping for a long time.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 4x14 "Serve & Protect"

"Jake and Rosa investigate a theft on the set of their favourite TV show Serve & Protect. Meanwhile, Terry is questioned over why Veronica dislikes him, and Boyle and Holt attempt to blackmail the Deputy Commissioner."

Devereaux rejects the accusation he was the thief

Nathan Fillion's quite a big name. Booking him for a guest spot is quite a big deal. Having that guest spot consist of just 3 scenes in a 20-minute episode which professes that his character will disrupt the police investigation with his delusions of being a detective simply because he plays a detective on a canon show is ... well, it's nothing short of a travesty. How do you book a big name like Fillion and give him nothing to do?
   Props though for the twist that Devereaux, the character Fillion plays, was the thief: he was trying to have his female co-lead ousted from the show and thus stole her laptop so he could leak compromising images. Hmm. Fillion plays a character trying to get his female co-lead ousted from a show he stars in? Art really does imitate life.
   Beyond that, Veronica Hopkins continues to grade the 99 with a hateful bias stemming from a feud with Terry based on their break-up years ago. This creates a hilarious cold open and then an above-average B-plot where Amy and Gina interrogated Terry until they worked out why Veronica was mad. This was the funniest segment of the episode.
   The worst was Boyle and Holt's C-plot of blackmailing the Commissioner. It was cringeworthy for the odd instructions from Boyle on how Holt should insinuate blackmail, and really disrupted the episode's flow.

   VIEWERS: 1.91m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.7

VERDICT: Boyle and Holt's C-plot was largely terrible, but the A- and B-plots were very good. I'll give it an 8.5/10

Bull - 1x19 "Bring It On"

"Bull is hired without his knowledge by narcissistic criminal defense attorney Jules Caffrey, who is on trial for murdering his fiancée."

"Bring It On" brought flashbacks of Terry Robison, the narcissistic doctor who appeared earlier in the season, but Jules Caffrey was a level above him. In his own heightened narcissism, Caffrey hired Bull on live TV without speaking to him first, ignored Bull's instructions far more than Robison ever did and even defended himself in court. This last matter sidelined Benny a bit, but everyone at TAC was probably just enjoying the storm, as Caffrey's headiness led him repeatedly into hot waters with the jury, whose opinion fluctuated depending on the narrative of the prosecution.
   That is, until the trump card was revealed: that Caffrey's wife was actually a con artist, and she had been killed by her brother because she fell in love with Caffrey and stopped trying to con him. Oldest story in the book is the con artist who fell in love with her mark (check Hustle or Leverage for examples), and it really did feel like a trump card here. I'm not sure I liked it: it seemed like a far-fetched way of providing an out for Caffrey in an episode I where I would have liked to see him cause his own downfall. It would have been a cautionary tale for all future narcissists Bull defends.
   Meanwhile, there was no movement on the Benny front, but that's OK because a three-episode arc in the final 3 episodes will wrap up his storyline here. What we did see was Cable's relationship with gamer Wes, which managed to stay intact even after Cable caught him gaming again. How Bull continues to make its relationships (Cable and Wes, Bull and Diana) the best parts of episodes I don't know, but they do.

   VIEWERS: 10.32m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1

VERDICT: Trump card really felt like a trump card and brought the expected result of proving Caffrey's innocence. But once again, relationships trumped plot for quality. I'm team #Wable. 7.5/10

Quantico - 2x18 "Kumonk"

"The taskforce put the rest of the collaborators' faces on the board."

Five pings alert the taskforce to an impending act by the collaborators, and they eventually work out that a murder case in Cleveland is being manipulated towards a guilty verdict because the loophole was missed in a gun rights bill previously passed by President Claire Haas; Roarke's plan was to then step up and undermine Haas. Fortunately, Haas was alerted to this by the taskforce and managed to rescue favour of the protesters outside the courthouse, despite the guilty verdict. It was a fun step away from a typical high-stakes terror attack, and one that gave us an insight into Miranda's whereabouts following the G20 we didn't realise we needed: she's remained at the FBI, but barely.

Caleb returns to Quantico

   Meanwhile, Clay's disillusionment acts as a ploy to bring Caleb back, and Caleb has fun both winding up his brother and, later, shredding Shelby with some cutting remarks. He also reminds her not to get the full male Haas set by starting anything with his engaged brother (she slept with Caleb and his dad in season 1). I hope we see more of Caleb.
   Elsewhere, the taskforce figure out Nimah and Raina swapped and that Raina has remained working with the taskforce while Nimah is being held as a terrorist; Chen is revealed to be working under the directive of Director Keyes, but towards the same purpose as the taskforce (and puts the final few faces on the board of collaborators); Harry's fate is revealed (Chen told him to disappear, which Harry duly did; this was a weak cop-out since Tovey couldn't be on the show any longer, but there wasn't a better way to properly write him out); and Sasha, Ryan's Russian reporter lover, was killed in a car bomb just as their relationship and her ambiguous loyalty was getting juicy.

   VIEWERS: 2.76m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.5

VERDICT: Quantico took the mystery and deepened it, which is ironic given the game is now much clearer since all the faces are on the board. Some bad writing in there, but nothing to overt. 9/10

Scorpion - 3x22 "Strife on Mars"

"As the team prepares for Toby and Happy's bachelor(ette) party, Scorpion are commissioned to fix a generator in a biodome that replicates the climate on Mars."

OK. Biodome. Not relevant. No one cares. Good plot. Gotta skip on.
   Toby and Happy bachelor(ette) party. Funny. Awesome.
   But #Waige? What even happened here?
   The introductory "previously on Scorpion" had interesting reminders of 3x03 "It Isn't The Fall That Kills You", when Walter got stuck in space and hallucinated Paige, to whom he admitted his love. When things in the biodome spiralled, Walter's memories of these hallucinations were triggered by his olfactory senses, and he spent a large portion of the episode confused as to why he remembered this so vividly if Paige wasn't there - and why had she admitted she loved him? But his response, after some serious thought, was nothing if short of horrifying (read classic) Walter O'Brien.
   He fired Paige.
   And did so under the pretence that her job to help him connect more with regular people was complete.

Cabe and Sly in Toby and Happy pinata masks

   This after Ralph suggested to his mum that she consider her own romantic feelings for Walter.
   Even Sherlock over in Elementary isn't this bad at dealing with people!
   Of course, Paige reacted with utter contempt and stormed out, leaving me wondering if Walter sourcing a job for her at occasional taskmaster and tech mogul Richard Elia's company was insult to injury. But it certainly leaves Scorpion in a precarious situation.
   I do wonder if this is building to a Castle-esque situation, whereby the situation between the main love interests builds to a climax that can only be solved by them splitting apart or getting together. I feel this is where #Waige is right now. But to do that Walter will have to admit he acted emotionally in firing Paige, something he probably doesn't even understand he did.

   VIEWERS: 6.59m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1

VERDICT: An above-average entry with a total "what the hell" moment at the end. Incredible and unexpected cliffhanger. 8/10

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Quantico - Roarke (on America): "Our definition of democracy is a first draft written centuries ago."

BEST EPISODE THIS WEEK:

Quantico might have gotten a higher episode rating from me (which should mean it would be here instead), but there's just something about how watchable that Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode is that I think should oust it despite me giving it a lower rating based on a very poor C-plot. Not only do I love Nathan Fillion (who, while wasted in only 3 scenes, manages to steal all 3 of them), but the cold open and the closing scenes were very strong punchlines, which doesn't usually happen to this degree. The A-plot could have used some stronger punchlines in the middle, but it was still brilliant and so was the B-plot with Terry being questioned over why Veronica dislikes him. It was just a strong episode that really had a lot of replay value, and it's a standout episode of the season.

LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP: On-Season Week 30

NEXT WEEK'S ROUNDUP: (will be posted here when complete)

Final thoughts

It was a quiet week in terms of TV shows to review, and at this late stage of the game ratings are considerably less important than before. We know that Bull and Scorpion are back next year but Brooklyn Nine-Nine perhaps has some work to do with poor results, although the onus for those results can rest on FOX's shoulders for giving it such a lengthy hiatus. Quantico is of course likely cancelled - but until then its high-quality, dramatic and contemporary social commentaries can be enjoyed to their fullest!

Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you next week!

Sam