On-Season Week 13

WEEK 13

And then there were 7. The Christmas period is upon us, which means festive episodes will be coming up soon for a number of holiday-inclined shows. But this week seems to be business as usual. Brooklyn Nine-Nine will air its first episode following the closure of the night shift arc, Bull returns to his hometown on Bull, while Hawaii Five-0 and MacGyver regain their joint lead as the shows furthest along in their seasons' runs so far this roundup; all four make their final appearances until Week 16. Scorpion, Elementary and Incorporated make up the rest of this week's shortened roundup.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 4x10 "Captain Latvia"

"Charles worries when the rare toy he purchased for adopted son Nikolaj over a month ago hasn't arrived yet. The rest of the Nine-Nine battle the MTAs in a Christmas carol competition."

"Captain Latvia" suffered from the aftershock of the quality downshift that severely damaged "The Overmining" last week, but some of that was dispelled by the writers choosing to dispense with the C-plot and focus on two tighter, longer storylines. The A-plot was arguably Boyle's hunt for the Captain Latvia figurine that was being held up by the import company, which transpired to be a front for Latvian gun-runners. A police twist was necessary here since otherwise neither plot would have had anything case-related involved, but it felt like a similar trick to the Boyle plot last week in the massage parlour, and only bested it by virtue of being funny. The Jake-Boyle dynamic doesn't produce the strongest laughs, but it does produce laughs; add in feisty-dad Boyle and you have a fresh twist on a relationship which hasn't lose what was previously built. Also, props to the writers for actually giving Boyle's recently faceless partner Genevieve some screen time to remind us she is a real person.
   But the struggle to shake off "The Overmining"'s issues weighed down the B-plot, which was the rest of the Nine-Nine (bar Gina) battling it out in a carol competition with a rival police group, the Metropolitan Transit Authority. After delegating roles within the group (such as Amy to do basically nothing because she's talentless), and after realising that only Scully could sing well, the Nine-Nine hired one of their drunk prisoners to be their lead singer, only for it to go predictably wrong when he got stagefright when sober, and then insulted New York when drunk.
   In the end, both plots concluded heart-warmingly at Boyle's house when Scully, singing carols alone, was joined by the rest of the Nine-Nine, who promptly began to belt out a tuneless version of a carol I do not remember because my ears hurt. It wasn't very funny and didn't really play to many strengths of the characters, but it served the show's cause by digging out a fairly decent Christmas episode, and brought everyone together right at the end.
   VIEWERS: 2.19m (Hovering between 2m and the 2.3m it usually gets is stable and the best it's gonna get)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.9 (Fractional, but not for the first time and has good stability)

VERDICT: Somewhere between the top episodes of season 4 and "The Overmining" in terms of quality. Isolating Jake and Amy in completely separate storylines just felt way too problematic here, where Christmas should have brought them together. 7.5/10

Bull - 1x09 "Light My Fire"

"Bull returns to his hometown after a fire at a restaurant diner kills the owner."

The last time Bull left New York for a case it took TAC to Callisto, the site of Bull's only defeat, and it was a largely average episode, so to say I was apprehensive going into "Light My Fire" is accurate if a little understated. Here, another arson in a recent spate causes the death of a restaurant diner owner in Kavanaugh, and the potential for the wrongful conviction of a loner blues musician draws TAC away from their weekend plans to help. That's not to say that some of the team don't try to enjoy themselves: indeed one rather huge mishap occurs when Benny and Chunk go fishing and get lost, leading them to miss court where Bull is forced to stand in (and does a remarkable if a little heavy-handed job).

A kaleidoscope of Internet responses to the arson

   The episode was weighted neatly: it had enough of Bull's backstory about his troubled family life in Kavanaugh with his con man father interspersed with resistance from the Kavanaugh locals because they were prejudiced against the defendant, and the court case was thin enough to give that space to character development whilst also retaining enough edge to keep us watching. It also felt like the episode was over in a flash, which is a greatly positive thing.
   Amid clever ruses such as TAC starting rumours to prove the point of unfounded prejudice against the defendant, the usual fun closing-speech analogies from Benny and some cheeky one-liners, the double was done: the defendant cleared and the real arsonist and his benefactor identified and arrested.
   *Bull rubs his hands happily and goes home*

   VIEWERS: 11.56m (Up there and solid)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.4 (Makes its first downtick since episode 4)

VERDICT: A nice balance of everything: character, plot, resistance, fun, humour, technology, psychology and scenic settings. I might also have to start referring to a very influential person as a "sneezer" myself. 9/10

Elementary - 5x09 "It Serves You Right to Suffer"

"A member of Shinwell's old gang is murdered, and with Shinwell firmly in the crosshairs he comes to Sherlock and Watson for help."

After watching the 20-second promo for this episode, I went into it thinking I'd come out and write two words here: generic muck. The recurring character of a recently released ex-con who falls back into his life of crime but rushes to his friends to help prove he didn't commit a fresh crime is a trope so tired it's practically doing night shifts with me. Luckily, Elementary added enough verve to the episode that it surpassed my (admittedly very low) expectations. And that was, in the end, enough to satisfy me.
   Shinwell obviously didn't commit the murder, but a gun with his prints found at the scene was just waiting to be scanned for prints and unfortunately he did help cover up the murder by moving the body. He did this to try and deflect suspicion that the gang murdered one of their own, but his deeper motive was that he was a confidential informat for the FBI working to bring down his old gang, the South Bronx Killers. Plot twist: so was the victim. That's around about where the episode's surprise turns stopped being surprising and went back to the usual, predictable humdrum: of course the FBI agent, Whitlock, had a shady secret (he was banned from recruiting CIs) and therefore of course he killed his first CI to prevent that from getting out and ruining his career.
   In the end, Sherlock made everything all right by wiping Shinwell's gun of prints, effectively getting rid of the one thing that could tie Shinwell to the crime. Happy days! Where does Shinwell go from here? Does he continue being a CI or does his arc change? I'd like to see it change (that would be unpredictable and interesting) but I don't think it will.
   Quick word to the lack of Gregson and Bell. Aidan Quinn (Gregson) may have been directing the episode and thus was absent from the acting side of things, but adding Bell as a 40th minute afterthought to help Sherlock justify the need to act on Shinwell's behalf? Horse poo. Nice guest star from Debi Mazar though, who I'd seen just 5 minutes prior to this episode in her regular role on cable sitcom Younger.

   VIEWERS: 4.91m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.6

VERDICT: Surpassed my low expectations, but regardless of how low they were they were still surpassed. Credit to Elementary, even if the episode wasn't one of their better ones. 6.5/10

Hawaii Five-0 - 7x11 "Ka'ili Aku / Snatchback"

"On Chin's birthday, his niece Sarah, living in Juarez with her adoptive parents, is kidnapped, so Five-0 fly to Mexico to help rescue her."

To analyse this I'm going to have to start at the end: "Snatchback" was not stylised as the first of a two-parter but by the time it was over it was clear, with the cliffhanger of Chin now in the hands of the Mexican kidnappers, that this is how it's going to roll. And it was a pretty solid first part with a solid bait-and-switch: when the writers weren't penning hilarious scenes with Lou and Danny trying to identify a burned body by burning it more to reveal a tattoo on the second layer of skin, they were pushing the idea that Sarah was just another victim of kids who fell prey to cartels looking to make easy cash through ransoms; in the end that burned body was key.

Lou Grover when helping to ID a burnt body by heating it up
to reveal a tattoo: "Awww, it's sizzling!"

   Remember that episode recently, with the promo of "what's in the bag" that transpired to be Kono? In that episode, Five-0 killed the cartel members at the meet; in turn it transpired that the cartel leader, brother of one of those killed in said meet, was behind Sarah's kidnap, making it a targeted act rather than random violence.
   I fell for the bait and was impressed by the switch, but something I wasn't impressed with as much was the cameos. The CBS press release stated Will Yun Lee (Five-0's sneaky informant Sang Min) and George Takei would guest star, but instead they both just had 10 second cameos wishing Chin a happy birthday. I'm not sure it was worth the effort and the tease was annoying more than interesting. Which is a shame, because overall this was a very funny, but very emotion-fuelled episode.

   VIEWERS: 9.33m (Identical to the previous week)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1 (Ticked down a tenth)

VERDICT: Issues with the guest starring don't bog down the episode too much. Some cracking one-liners amid serious emotion. 8/10

Incorporated - 1x03 "Human Resources"

"An Executive Vice-President at Spiga's rival, Inazagi, uses a negotiation between the two companies as cover to secretly defect; seeing this as an opportunity to impress, Ben steps up to help. After finding Ben's illegal tech, Roger visits a Red Zone coder to get help bypassing the self-destruct protocols."

The mistake made in "Human Resources" was Ben deciding to curry favour with the Spiga bigwigs rather than cover himself and try to find where his research tech ended up. So while Ben made waves by helping the Inazagi EVP defect to Spiga without being killed by an isotopic killswitch in her bloodstream, his promotion rival Roger Caplan won the upper hand by having a Red Zone coder help him bypass Ben's tech's self-destruct protocols.

Roger discovers Ben's secret

   That privilege was not won easily, however. The Red Zoner, an older woman whose influence appeared to stretch across the Red Zones, had no interest in monetary payment, preferring to put Roger to the test by instructing him to capture a rat - and then eat it. Raw. I don't particularly feel bad for him - he is a jumped-up arse who deserved to be brought down a peg - but despite being the show's antagonist he's only doing his job. And it was a fun secondary plot, seeing him devolve from smart-suited businessman to dirt-covered, bloodied slum-dweller in pursuit of his goals.
   While it was wrong for Ben to divert his attentions after losing key information that could expose his entire gameplan, he was naturally drawn to reports that one of the Arkadia sex slaves had been killed trying to escape. He needed to know if it was Elena, and a risky bait-and-switch with the Inazagi defector was the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone. In the end, the ring that he found amongst the dead sex slave's personal effects suggested it was Elena, but a secret holographic message in the ring played when Theo touched it (through a DNA link) and confirmed Elena was indeed still alive.
   Game on.

   VIEWERS: 0.572m (The second tick up in viewers in two episodes; fantastic)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.17 (Slight downtick; hovering early on in a strong area)

VERDICT: As Ben targets the 40th floor, Roger targets Ben. The A-plot to distract Ben seemed a little forced to buy Roger time to learn his secret, but I'm not sure that's too bad a thing. 8.5/10

MacGyver - 1x11 "Scissors"

"Riley hacks the NSA and trades the codes with the Chinese, leading to questions over her loyalty."

MacGyver went for depth with "Scissors", focusing a Riley-centric episode on her broken family. In doing so, we not only learnt more about her abusive father and how her issues with ex-stepfather Jack Dalton stemmed from her looking up to him as a child before he fled, but Michael Michele (ER) guest-starred as Diane, Riley's mother (should have seen that one coming). In the end, all was forgiven and it was a heartwarming conclusion, the payoff a tribute to the incredible acting by George Eads and Trista Mays (Jack and Riley respectively).
   The plot wasn't as strong, however. Riley sold weapons codes to a Chinese group known as "The Collective" to trade for her mother's life; they then used Chinese submarines to try and launch missiles at the West Coast. The only way to stop it was to fly Phoenix to China and break into the building where The Collective were working - a building that transpired to be Chinese Central Command. And everything was just too easy: guards that didn't speak Chinese but fell for the flattery of a wandering American, elevator rides unbelievably long to make space for deep emotional storylines, and the requisite time for Phoenix to save the day before anyone came up to apprehend them. It was just lazy writing.
   At least Bozer finally got Riley's digits though. That was a cute storyline (and a really inventive one in TV these days), but I'm looking forward to seeing their relationship play out now Bozer does have her entire phone number.

   VIEWERS: 7.77m (Slight tick up)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.0 (Level)

VERDICT: Payoffs for Bozer and the Riley-Jack family issues were strong as they could be, but even that couldn't drown out the giant, glaring flaws in the plot writing. 7.5/10 because of the payoffs, but it isn't wholly deserved.

Scorpion - 3x10 "This is the Pits"

"A woman crashes her car into the La Brea Tar Pits and Walter risks his life to save her."

Scorpion played to its strengths with "This is the Pits", which was hugely reminiscent of season 1's "Dominoes", where a young child is trapped in a sinkhole at a beach and Walter has to go in alone to rescue him. And "Dominoes" (season 1 episode 12) is one of the show's best to date; the same simple format two seasons on led to "This is the Pits", which is arguably the best episode of a third season mired in quality-draining relationship angst.

Walter making his way through the murky tar pits

   I might usually argue that the trope of someone needing to be rescued from a crashed car underwater is a tired trope, but having that crashed car submerged in a tar pit was a wonderful way to subvert it. (I'm now aware after this episode that) tar pits are even more dangerous than simply water, and it showed in the episode's bittersweet resolution: even though the woman was saved, burns from the tar will have done some permanent damage. Scorpion, usually so upbeat with its saved-the-day conclusions, benefited from this type of resolution (even if it tried to lie to us about it).
   But to get there required numerous obstacles to be beaten: first a burn-resistant suit was needed for Walter, then the stuck car couldn't be lifted out, oxygen kept depleting in the car, both Walter and the woman received burns to exposed body parts, Walter's oxygen tank got accidentally ripped away ... and so on. But all of that was stuff that couldn't have been done in just water, so the improvisation on navigating a dangerous tar pit was actually very interesting.
   The tease of Tim leaving, after being honourably discharged from the Navy following a severe back injury, remained only a tease after he decided to stay and do good with Scorpion. I'm not happy with this and plenty of others won't be either - but I've heard a little rumour we might be much happier after next week!

   VIEWERS: 6.98m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1
   (Both tick down slightly)

VERDICT: A superb parallel to one of Scorpion's best episodes at a point in the show when it was needed. 9/10

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Scorpion - Toby (partway through the rescue): "So tar, so good!"

LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP: On-Season Week 12

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

Final thoughts

With it being this close to Christmas, a lot of ratings were down. That counts for almost all of our shows this week. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bull, Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver and Scorpion all improved their episode quality compared to last week - the latter massively; Incorporated may have done the best in terms of ratings but was consistent with its writing, too, while the less said about Elementary's ratings or episode quality the better.

That's it for this week; with Christmas fast approaching we've only got 4 shows next week (Elementary, Incorporated, NCIS LA and Scorpion) so I'll see you all then for the roundup of those!

Sam