On-Season Week 8

WEEK 8

Week 7 - at a 7.3 average - didn't pan out for some shows as well as intended, so with Week 8 we'll hope to see improvements. Hawaii Five-0 and Elementary have making up to do after both squandering the chance to produce memorable milestone episodes; Conviction returns but Bull and Brooklyn Nine-Nine remain out for their second and third weeks respectively. Everywhere else, it's business as usual once more.

Code Black - 2x06 "Hero Complex". Wait, I mean ER 5x15 - "The Storm Part 2". Um ... no ... er ...

"A rape victim, her attacker and the man who rescued her all come into Angels, but the story isn't how it first seems. Willis helps euthanise an ALS patient; Mike has spinal surgery."

The events of Charlotte Piel's death are well behind the staff of Angels Memorial already, but Malaya's near-rape the previous season equips her well to sensitively handle the tormented teenager who was assaulted at a frat party, especially when the doctors presume incorrectly which of the two men is the rescuer and which is the rapist. It was a reveal you could see coming a mile off, but it was executed quite well, and the actress's performance was exceptional.
   Meanwhile, Dr. Doug Ross helps Joi, the mother of a young boy with a terminal illness, in ending her son's life. No, wait. Colonel Ethan Willis helps a young woman, Joy, in an assisted suicide. To be accurate, Code Black continues to snap up plotlines that ER did 15 years ago when Willis, much like Doug Ross did in 1999, euthanises a 22-year-old woman suffering from ALS. The patient's circumstances and the manner of the euthanasia differed, but they were identical in base premise. But it wasn't executed to be as heartbreaking as the promos suggested, and in the end Campbell's furious confrontation with Willis after the fact was the strongest part of the plot.
   Elsewhere, Dr. Abby Lockhart treats Simon, a comedian with leukaemia. Wait, no. Dr. Savetti treats Stewart, a comedian with a heart condition. Also, Angus and Mike's father showed up and once again forgot he's not actually Mike's medical proxy so his opinions are invalid. Mike had the surgery to try and fix his spine (he couldn't feel his legs) and hopefully it all went OK and he'll be back soon. I like Tommy Dewey who plays him.

   VIEWERS: 6.03m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.9
   (Significant rises in both areas but will it be good enough come May? I don't think so)

VERDICT: A stronger episode, but again Code Black shows its predilection for condensing ER's season-long arcs into a single episode and failing to execute them half as well. 7.5/10

Conviction - 1x05 "The 1% Solution"

"CIU investigate the murder of a rich woman named Debra Porter where the convicted was an underprivileged man the family had taken under their wing."

Following directly on in both plot and subplot from Hayes' interview meltdown about privilege benefiting those who have committed crimes, "The 1% Solution" asks the question more confrontationally by having Hayes put CIU on the case of an underprivileged man, Jared Willett, convicted of killing a rich woman, Debra Porter. The case took a number of turns, including evidence the defence refused to submit in the original trial, the murder weapon being planted on someone else and the eventual revelation that Jared and the rich woman's son, Sean, had perpetrated the murder together because it was heavily inferred she disapproved of their gay relationship. It was another hot topic, but this time gave some relief to all the freeing of convicts CIU had been doing by having the conviction they were investigating turn out to be legitimate.

Hayes alone in her office

   In the main subplot Hayes, kicked out of her brother Jackson's house, began sleeping in the CIU offices and called Jackson every morning until he picked up and let her apologise for her interview meltdown. And Wallace, now under investigation by the FBI for corruption, told Hayes their personal relationship was over and hired hotshot lawyer Naomi Golden as his attorney - a woman who happened to be the ex-girlfriend of both Wallace and Hayes. While I don't particularly like Jackson's character at all - he's smarmy and doesn't care for the moral exposure Hayes provided in her interview because it negatively affects him - I enjoy Wallace and Hayes pitted against each other, and hiring their ex is a sure way to push them further apart.
   Finally, Frankie struggles with his conscience as he tries to decide whether he should present his imprisoned boyfriend's case to CIU for review, in the end concluding he needs more time to think about it. I wonder if the show will cover this, given it's likely to only have another 8 episodes left before cancellation. A case revolving around one of the team's close friends or relatives would be an interesting break from the usual format.
   VIEWERS: 3.74m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.6
   (Significant drops in both areas saw Conviction hit two new series lows)

VERDICT: The cumulative consequences of Hayes' actions are piling up and causing drama to surround each case she plucks out of thin air to review. And each case is a myriad of intrigue and so relevant to the contemporary world. 8.5/10

Update: Due to Conviction's poor ratings performance, ABC has announced that, while the remaining episodes will air, there will be no back order. Shocker ...

Elementary - 5x05 "To Catch a Predator Predator"

"A man who catfished sexual predators online and forced them to admit to their crimes is shot in a seedy motel room right before he could shame the next predator he had stalked."

After a below-average episode that ignored the momentousness of its positioning, "To Catch a Predator Predator" worked its magic to rejuvenate my faith in the writers. It was, for all its cleverness however, quite hard to follow the episode through all the suspects, since the murder plot wasn't a typical one. The victim, Novak, was stalking and identifying sexual predators, but the motives for his murder expanded far beyond simple revenge on the part of said sexual predators, growing so far as to be too complex for me to explain here (also partly because the ambiguity surrounding each suspect doesn't answer anything).

Sherlock realises who the killer is

   In the end, the killer was a victim of one of the sexual predators, Shane Fitzhugh, who Novak exposed. She had finally come forward about the abuse and a case against Fitzhugh was being built, before Novak took matters into his own hands, causing Fitzhugh to flee to Bali. Cue the woman being so furious with Novak for ruining her justice that she went to confront him and ended up killing him. Her identity hinged on her statement to police admitting she was now on an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety cocktail, which Sherlock had spotted at the desk of a woman earlier on in the episode. And it created that great moment where Sherlock realised who the killer was - and in that same moment so did I as a viewer. That kind of moment is rarely created in TV, and for all the episode's over-complex narrative, creating that moment creates forgiveness.
   What I can't forgive is the unsurprising and boring reveal that Shinwell is somehow still involved in criminal activities, however willingly or otherwise that may be. Or the throwback mention of the appalling Kitty Winter, Sherlock's apprentice from season 3. She's gone. Thankfully. Let it lie.
   VIEWERS: 4.68 (series low)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.6 (equals series low)

VERDICT: A stunning reveal cancelled out an over-complicated episode - but one that was a giant step up from last week and probably still the second-best episode of the season so far. 9/10

Update: If you've read my roundup earlier this week about Kitty Winter's (Ophelia Lovibond) return to Elementary, enjoy a little snicker at the comments I wrote before I found out. I haven't cut them out.

Hawaii Five-0 - 7x08 "Hana Komo Pae / Rite of Passage"

"Danny chaperones Grace at her winter formal dance, but while he tries to uncover the identity of her new boyfriend, terrorists take the students hostage."

Hostage situations are hard for TV creators to write these days without them feeling stale and done; Hawaii Five-0's takeover of a school dance was a good example of how to freshen things up. Part of that was perhaps pace and structure: the episode moved in three 14-minute increments: there was build-up for the first 14, Danny and Lou's son Will trying to make contact with police for the second 14-minute segment, and then the final 14 minutes where HPD showed up and figured out how to apprehend the terrorists.

Terrorists take students hostage

   It's difficult to come up with a good reason for terrorists to be taking over a school dance, and a typical example is for leverage: take hostage the child of a diplomat or wealthy enemy and you have a legitimate explanation. Like "Rite of Passage", which even managed to hide the identity of the child for a long time. When the terrorists couldn't find the kid they had come for, I presumed it was Will Grover, who was snaking through the school with Danny trying to contact police. But I had forgotten about Will's friend, Jeremy Ramos, who had snuck off to smoke some weed, and who transpired to be the son of a Filipino diplomat. It would be nice (or not) to see an even fresher take (like a school shooting, which I have to admit would be controversial but very relevant), since sometimes the juxtaposition of worldwide terrorists and fifteen-year-olds can be jarring.
   The whole Grace-Will boyfriend plot was humorous (Scott Caan as Danny excels as the overly-protective dad), as was the poker night sideplot that had the rest of our Five-0 cast gathered together. There were also some good cameo appearances from Dog the Bounty Hunter and Al Harrington as Mamo, both friends of Five-0 who took part in the poker night.
   VIEWERS: 9.81m (Stable)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.4 (Equals the season high so far)

VERDICT: Done-before premise infused with plenty of Five-0 mannerisms that worked to separate it from previous TV entries. Great cameos. 8.5/10

Lucifer - 2x07 "My Little Monkey"

"The man who killed Chloe's father is released on day leave to go to his granddaughter's christening, but along the way is himself killed. Meanwhile, Lucifer tries to learn more about human nature by shadowing Dan, and Maze tries to reconnect with a terrified Dr. Martin."

In a clever juxtaposition of plot points, the fallout from Lucifer revealing his true self to Dr. Linda Martin sees Linda struggle to come to terms with the truth of divinity while Maze struggles to come to terms with the truth of life on Earth. In the end, they reconcile after Maze gets a job as a bounty hunter (and what could be more suitable?) and Linda agrees to go out and celebrate with her. Maze's relationships, especially with Linda and little Trixie, are an important part of the show, and as they both grow Maze becomes ever more central a character.
   But most of the episode centred around the discovery that Chloe's father's murderer, Jon Fields, killed during his day leave, didn't actually kill her father but was hired to be a patsy. It was a raw, emotional episode, and while I generally hate reveals that uproot a main character's family mythology (see Castle's father on Castle transpiring to be a CIA agent, or McGarrett's mum on Hawaii Five-0 being alive and a CIA agent, or Chuck's mum on Chuck being alive and a CIA agent) - this just worked for the show. Not because changing the mythology of John Decker's death was necessary, but because Chloe's reaction in pushing Lucifer away gave Lucifer a chance to understand more about humanity and brought Dan and Lucifer closer, which will provide an important (almost) reset on their antagonistic relationship. And that was necessary.
   This frank focus on Chloe and Dan left Amenadiel and Lucifer's mum in the cold, and while that is still the better and more intense plotline of the series, there's much more happening now that will fill the rest of the first half of this season - and Lucifer's back nine order set to air next year after A.P.B.
   VIEWERS: 3.52m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.0
   (Both slightly up from last week)

VERDICT: A generic plot idea was executed better than I expected, and addressed different character relationships. Very, very good. 8.5/10

MacGyver - 1x08 "Corkscrew"

"A renowned assassin is sent after MacGyver."

MacGyver pulled one out of the bag today by answering a lot of the lingering questions and creating many more. An assassin known only by his file number, "Suspect 218", is hired by an unknown organisation to target Mac. Thornton locks him in a secure room (which takes all of 30 seconds for Mac to escape from), before he and Jack rush back to his house, where S218's arrival has alerted Bozer to Mac's lies. Using wine bottle rockets, S218 is held at arm's length and Bozer has a number of heart-to-hearts with Mac and Riley over their lies.

Nikki corners Mac in a café

   Later on in the episode, S218 corners Thornton, Jack and Riley in a junkyard using remote control sniper rifles, but Mac shows up to flip the script by overriding S218's radio frequency and apprehending him. S218 then chooses a name for himself: Murdoc. This whole storyline was intriguing (Murdoc was a fabulously sociopathic villain) and the creative escape methods Mac used were terrific.
   Much like in the opening cut-scene (they still remain, only this time it featured Mac on a date, ironically in an escape room). He showcases his creative thinking to find the clues and the cut-scene concludes with a kiss. An ending cut-scene of sorts is also given, where Mac's evil ex Nikki (unseen since episode 1x01), returns to warn him that things aren't black and white, she's not necessarily evil and Thornton isn't necessarily good. Food for thought.
   VIEWERS: 7.70m (Stable between 7-8m is good)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1 (Fifth 1.1 in the last 6 episodes: stable)

VERDICT: The show did well by enlightening Bozer so early on, and Nikki's return was well-timed. Fascinating, innovative episode. 9/10

NCIS: Los Angeles - 8x07 "Crazy Train"

"The latest victim is found in the stomach of a shark: the surviving NSA agents explain that ISIS are after them because they are tracking a cell that intends to cross the border from Mexico. However, everything is not as it first seems when a prominent cartel get involved, and Callen has to go undercover in a mental hospital."

The script was flipped pretty early on in this episode that the NSA agents weren't being tracked by ISIS because they had intel on a terror cell trying to enter the US from Mexico, but one of the NSA agents in the group had stolen $17m from the bank of a cartel boss, and while Sam dealt with them Callen went undercover to gain the trust of the fourth member of the group, who could confirm which of them was the traitor.
   It was all pretty normal stuff, although the fun of the Benuelos cartel's interrogation technique - throwing people into the ocean and luring sharks to make them talk - added a bit of spice. I haven't seen shark torture since that early Hawaii Five-0 reboot episode, and it always makes for something different.
   Props to casting for hiring the creepy CIA chemical torturer from Castle's finale as the man in the mental hospital, and props to writing for Granger's upcoming Agent Orange infection storyline and their continually amazing characterisation of Deeks. This week he reveals to Kensi the engagement ring, but she refuses until she is better. Which might not be too long, perhaps halfway through the season. There was no Anna today and I do hope she's not gone to ATF yet; Bar Paly is still a great addition to the show in lieu of Daniela Ruah's downtime.
   VIEWERS: 10.26m (Over 10m despite nearly an hour's delay!)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.4 (Up two tenths from last week)

VERDICT: The quality of episode is stabilising after a shoddy open to the season. NCIS LA is now proving it can return to some good stuff without the flair of Anna Kolcheck. 8/10

Pure Genius - 1x03 "You Must Remember This"

"A patient struggles to comprehend losing weight before a surgery on the tumour that is causing her increased weight; meanwhile, an ex-police officer regresses to the mental age of a seven-year-old after a car accident. Brocket tries to delete CCTV of her kissing Malik."

My concern is there's little to compliment this episode about. The two patients' storylines were adequately mysterious to hold and develop organically, but not one of the actors who portrayed them could do anything to make them interesting. That isn't a huge issue - I'm happy to keep parroting that every show will do a dull episode here and there - but that wasn't what stained this episode.

Bunker Hill staff performing brain surgery to help a
policeman recover his memories

   Before I get to that, though, perhaps some compliments. I mentioned last week I wanted to see more of Dr. Strauss and Dr. Channarayapatra, and now the show has settled into its premise it is expanding its characters. Angie remained pining after Dr. Strauss, who (unfortunately for her) still maintains the vow of celibacy he took when he was ordained, and he got more airtime here; likewise, Talaikha Channarayapatra got a good focus, too.
   The problem was James's pining after Brocket. Or, more specifically, the problem was Malik. I have nothing against TV shows doing the usual will-they-won't-they between two lead characters and having one of them pit stop with another character in the build-up, but as an audience member I don't like being lied to. The entirety of the episode was spent on Brocket regretting her kiss with Malik and getting close to James - even going so far as to invite him out for a drink - until Angie annoyingly intervened and turned it into a staff do. But the punchline was Brocket had kissed Malik, not the other way round, and at the end of the episode she went to the bar and smiled past James at Malik. I had thought Pure Genius was shaping James and Brocket's relationship up in a slightly more refreshing way, but no, and although I suppose I'm more angry since I really don't like Malik, from a writing perspective it was a rude bait and switch.
   Fuck Malik.
   VIEWERS: 5.33m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.9
   (Both practically identical to last week)

VERDICT: Somewhat ironically, "You Must Remember This" is an episode we could quite easily forget. 6/10

Quantico - 2x06 "Aquiline"

"At The Farm, the recruits are taught to assess whether a drone strike is called for in certain scenarios, while in the future Alex and Lydia hunt for hard drives that the terrorists are searching for."

Could anything more have been stuffed into this episode? "Aquiline" was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, and so full that I'm going to have to summarise rather than analyse the majority. In The Farm timeline on the anniversary of Simon Asher's season 1 death, Shelby continues her secret sexual relationship with Léon, Lydia tries to intimidate her father into backing off his investigation into why he was dropped from field work to The Farm, Harry continues to press Alex and Ryan on their mission and they have even more trouble identifying the AIC terrorist recruiter.
   In the future, we are barraged with twists and turns. There's no Miranda complicating matters, but following on from last week, Lydia convinces Alex she is a victim and the terrorists are after hard drives containing decades of CIA surveillance intel, only to reveal she is on a secret CIA op to retrieve the hard drives and leave Alex handcuffed to a pole with terrorists on their way to her location. There was some interesting titbits here that relate to the conclusion of their time at The Farm, and we learn Alex was kicked out and Owen Hall has been imprisoned. Those outcomes look tasty.
   But again in the future, Raina and recruits Harry, Sebastien, Leigh, Dayana and Léon fight and accuse each other of being part of the terrorists based on their connected travels since they left The Farm. Terrorists take Leigh out for interrogation and when they bring her back they activate her remote necklace, the weapon with which the terrorists have subdued their hostages, and it slits her throat, killing Leigh on the spot. Dayana and Raina are then brought out of the room for interrogation only for it to be revealed it was not Raina at all - she had been switched out and her twin, Nimah, working as part of the terrorists, had been trying to gather the intel. What a stunning move - although I chastise myself for not seeing it coming.
   VIEWERS: 2.20m (Series low)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.6 (Equals its series low)

VERDICT: The biggest episode so far in both timelines and it was wonderfully executed. There is so much to expect from the rest of the season and it doesn't look set to disappoint. 9/10

Scorpion - 3x07 "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Vote"

"For the first time, only one system will collate all the US's Presidential election voting data, but when the system is hacked and 90% of votes are removed, Scorpion are called on to fix the election."

Toby causing a distraction on TV

Could there have been a more relevant topic this week than a Presidential election? In an episode which sidelined Walter due to suspicions of citizenship fraud, saw Tim return and took the Scorpion team around LA under the noses of their FBI handlers, the team identified the hackers as men from the Chinese consulate. Their motive? "The World Court is about to make a decision about a new Arctic shipping route. Due to rising temperatures, ice-breaking vessels will soon be able to traverse directly over the North Pole." That's 20% shorter than the current route, and the World Court won't give that route to China without a stable leader. The consulate's plan is foiled - barely - when Cabe gets the hackers' laptop out of the consulate and onto American soil just in time. It's a huge episode focusing on a huge and, on this week of all weeks, immensely relevant topic, and it was done perfectly.
   But the rest of the plots were good too. Although the return of Tim advanced his and Paige's relationship and saw Walter receive a cutting remark from Ralph (seriously, that kid tore him to shreds with a single sentence and it was terrific), Happy's pregnancy was debunked as a false positive due to cadmium poisoning from the solar panels she worked on recently (an unforeseen twist that saddens me but works as a plot device), Walter's citizenship was granted by the President and Toby then proposed to Happy - who without hesitation said yes. Bar Paige's relationship with Tim, this hilarious episode had everything fans wanted.

   VIEWERS: 6.92m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1
   (No issues with either rating)

VERDICT: Supremely well-timed. Terrific plot twists set to change the team dynamics throughout, most damningly between Walter and Ralph. 9/10

Westworld - 1x06 "The Adversary"

"Maeve, now conscious of her false reality, tests its limits, and in her next meeting with the technicians demands alterations to her attribute coding - which only reveals a disturbing secret. The Man in Black and Teddy try to pass a garrison but Teddy is recognised and a fight breaks out. Elsie discovers the tracker's origins, while Bernard finds Ford in a disused sector of the park with Hosts with original programming."

Maeve convinces Felix to give her a tour of
the Westworld facility

The focus of the show keeps flitting between the storylines inside the park - such as Dolores, William and Logan - and those outside of it, such as Bernard and the technicians. In "The Adversary", the latter focus was adopted and the story was much better for it. Bernard continued his investigations into the Host anomalies (I'm still convinced he's going to turn out a robot), while Elsie's discovery that Theresa Cullen, the Head of Operations, was the one smuggling data out of the park seems to have been revealed much too easily. I'm certain it's a frame-up, and that the real culprit (who assaulted Elsie at the end of the episode - shocker) will be someone clever enough to avoid detection. Perhaps Lee, the Head of Narrative, whose disillusionment with Westworld following Ford's rejection of his narrative leads to him getting drunk and pissing on the control centre - in full view of a visitor he had previously attempted to seduce, who transpired to be Charlotte Hale, one of the Westworld board members.
   Ford's secret Host family in the disused Sector 17 keeps things plodding along interestingly, but the Man in Black and Teddy passing through the Union Army outpost was a rather dull sideplot. The Man in Black's arc has stagnated recently and I don't find it intriguing anymore - not when all of the technological problems, such as Maeve's self-awareness and the voices the Hosts keep hearing, all link back to Ford's mysterious, presumed-dead partner Arnold. I wouldn't be shocked if Arnold was later revealed to be alive, but I'd be hugely disappointed.

   VIEWERS: 1.637m (A small uptick back to a decent middle ground)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.7 (Up a tenth)

VERDICT: Seeing the outside of the park is always more fun than the inside, and now that I actually care for some of these characters I'm more inclined to enjoy the dangerous situations they continually find themselves in. 7.5/10

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Elementary - Sherlock: "He is an expert manipulator of perverts. Baits them with ease. I'd go so far as to call him a master baiter."

LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP: On-Season Week 7

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

WEEK 8 Rating: 8.2

Final thoughts

Much like Americans scoff at British actors doing American accents, we scoff at Americans doing the typical posh British accent, but this week the number of varied and exceptional British accents by actors from Scorpion and Lucifer (and Jonny Lee Miller's superb American accent) were notable because they were actually very good.
   In terms of ratings and episode quality, Code ER, Westworld and NCIS LA rose significantly in the ratings and all produced decent episodes, though a significant rise counts for little for the foremost show of those three; Hawaii Five-0 equalled its season high; Scorpion, MacGyver and Lucifer remained stable in their timeslots, while Pure Genius matching the previous week matters not when its ratings were still so horribly low. Finishing with troubling outcomes, Quantico, Elementary and Conviction all hit series lows despite stunning episodes, the latter in complete ratings freefall.

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

Sam