On-Season Week 18

WEEK 18

Week 18 sees a few changes to our line-up. MacGyver drops out and won't be back until February, and Bull returns along with Scorpion, but the big talking point will surely be the return of Lucifer. Its seven-week winter hiatus is finally over, and the next 3 episodes will air with some big storylines to address: notably the revelation that God had Amenadiel intervene so that Chloe could be conceived (leading to the realisation that her and Lucifer's meeting was predestined), and how that will affect "Charlotte's" plan to convince Lucifer to return to Hell.

Bull - 1x11 "Teacher's Pet"

"A regular consultant of TAC, attorney Liberty Davis, brings TAC the case of a civil suit against a teacher who had sex with a student."

Fun fact that I didn't know: the age of consent in New York is actually 17, not 18. Where, then, is the wiggle room in "Teacher's Pet" to paint the teacher, Susan Bryant, as a sexual predator when the student was 17? It's a line TAC try to venture down but never quite find anything solid, but they're happy enough to have the jury hear the word paedophile on repeat and associate Susan with it because it will do the damage anyway.
   Of course, I understand all of the psychology explained and the emotional effects that Bull laid out from this kind of relationship, and I don't dismiss any of them. But I don't agree with the viewpoint TAC took; I think it's a combination of my own views on the matter and the lack of clarity in US law (clearly it differs state to state like other laws) that made TAC so hard to back. (Which, were I one of the potential jurors, I realise would be why Bull and TAC would strike me, since I wouldn't serve their narrative.)
   Worse, the case all came down to the psychology of the teacher/student relationship, which, once Bull had explained it to Susan, opened her eyes to the reality of their situation and led her to end the relationship. That conclusion made the entire court case irrelevant, much like back in 1x05's "Callisto" where Bull faked a hurricane warning in order to get the plaintiff and defendant to duke it out between themselves, effectively rendering the preceding 35 minutes pointless. Of course, these kind of outcomes occur in real life and the Bull writers are smart to include them - but I find that it wastes an episode and it should be used more sparingly.
   At least the psychological aspect of a relationship with large age differences had an effect on one of our TAC team: Danny, whose British photographer boyfriend was only 21 (and she is something like 29/30 I believe). So she was rocked by what she felt was a relatable case, but it was implied that she continued with her relationship regardless. I hope it makes her happy.
   Nice to see Liberty again, too.

   VIEWERS: 11.11m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.5
   (An almost unswerving stability for Bull with the all-important demo share)

VERDICT: I've never come an episode I didn't ethically disagree with until now. I like TV to make me think, but is it hypocritical if I didn't like it this time? Either way, settling the case outside of court wasted the episode and there was very little Benny too. 6.5/10

Conviction - 1x12 "Enemy Combatant"

"Hayes's father brings CIU the case of Omar Abbas, a cabbie held as an enemy combatant after being caught with liquid sarin."

I like when TV can evoke emotions from its audience or make its audience think. Person of Interest was great at the latter; Conviction is stupendous at the former. (As I was gathering examples to list I realised I was about to list the majority of the previous 11 episodes. That's incredible.) And much like the bigot Rodney Landon in episode 3, "Enemy Combatant" made me angry.

Omar Abbas being held as an enemy combatant

   There was clear justification for arresting Omar Abbas six years ago when he walked into a train station with a bag full of liquid sarin, but much like with most Conviction episodes once one thread of the case (or non-case here) is pulled, it usually unravels. Not only was Omar Abbas innocent, but it didn't take much to prove it: Omar said a passenger in his cab had left the bag and he was trying to return it when he was caught; his cousin, affiliated with terrorists, recanted his confession that Omar was guilty - which he had given under extreme torture; and Homeland Security had a voice recording of the man who called in the tip about the sarin being in the station. All they would have had to do was join the dots and search for the man (Sedgewick) who called in the tip, and squeeze him to find out how he knew the bag had liquid sarin in it. They would have discovered he was the terrorist, attempting to get revenge on a bank for ruining his family.
   And if that wasn't bad enough, Daddy Morrison's hidden agenda - that he brought the case to CIU because he wanted to look good for the upcoming Secretary-General position in the UN - along with his blatant undermining of Hayes and Wallace's relationship was just maddening.
   "Enemy Combatant" overall was a frustrating glimpse into a miscarriage of justice that probably occurs just as naturally in real life as it did on the TV.
   And dare I mention anything about America and terrorism propaganda towards Muslims?

   VIEWERS: 2.41m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.5

VERDICT: "Enemy Combatant" wasn't as intense as previous offerings with such high stakes (look at episodes 6 and 9 for that) but it was another excellent, thought-provoking episode of TV. 9/10

Elementary - 5x12 "Crowned Clown, Downtown Brown"

"The death of a clown leads to the discovery of a superbug that has been added to New York's water supply."

Elementary's fifth season, now at its halfway point, is a head spinner. There is a general lack of episode-to-episode consistency: one week the episode will be very good and then the next it will be dizzyingly poor. Fortunately, "Crowned Clown, Downtown Brown" (say that drunk; mind you, say that sober) was one of the better episodes. I had worried that the concept of a creepy clown as the victim would get washed away by the premise of a super virus, but in actuality it added a little bit of flavour to a plot that was informative (if you ever wanted to know about New York's water systems) and shocking.
   And by shocking I don't mean out of this world murder spree level shocking. I mean the twists were exceptional, the key example being that the superbug engineered and added to the New York water supply wasn't some murderous anthrax synthesis, but a diarrhoea bug. Sounds harmless, but perhaps it's even more effective: as stated in the episode, if everyone is made ill by the water at once, becomes dehydrated and drinks more water, hospitals will go into overdrive and people WILL die. But also, whoever wins the bid to build a water filtration system in NY will make lots and lots of monies. But it would take years to build in which the water wouldn't be clean, so in the meantime (since NY homes apparently don't have filtration systems) whoever held the patent for the best type of home water filter would make even more money. Step in Wendell Hecht, a pretty bad dude who tried poisoning New York's water whilst working as a public servant, since he has the patent.
   The subplot surprised me. I called earlier that Bell's love interest wouldn't reappear, so I was pleasantly surprised that she did. Unfortunately, the whole plot of Bell's bar fight causing damage to her reputation being resolved by him producing evidence that her ex (who started the fight) had left the force on disability - which was a fabrication - was so forced and left a bad taste in my mouth.
   No pun intended.

   VIEWERS: 4.44m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.6

VERDICT: Bell-centric, but his subplot was subpar. The murder however, was fantastic. 8/10

Hawaii Five-0 - 7x14 "Ka laina ma ke one / Line in the Sand"

"A murder suspect escapes to sovereign land, so Five-0 must contend with old foes and a vehement federal agency to keep things peaceful."

Pu'uhonua o Waimanalo is a Hawaiian cultural village in which lives the Nation of Hawai'i group; according to Wikipedia "The Nation of Hawai'i group, which administers the village, regards itself as a sovereign government under international law [...] and therefore [is] not subject to United States rule". It was founded and is run by a man nicknamed "Bumpy" - and this is all real-life stuff. I didn't know this before the episode aired, so it's actually nice to look back on the episode and think two things: one, that I have learnt a bit more about some of the Hawaiian history; and two, that Bumpy has some serious acting chops.

Steve's test examiner is concerned by Danny's horror stories

   The episode itself followed a simple trope: guy escapes to non-US soil, police have to negotiate whilst trying to solve the crime, and some federal agency or other turn up to assume control and throw a spanner in the works. The murder case followed the typical strict pattern of for about thirty minutes everything says the suspect is guilty and then they eventually figure out he's innocent and everyone gets to go home after the real bad guy is arrested. As 50 Cent might say "different day, same shit". It was a storyline I felt I'd seen before, just with different actors and different crimes.
   The writers tried to include a good subplot involving Steve's manic driving by having the cold open serve as him having to get his license renewed and inevitably the driving instructor is terrified and nearly throws up. I loved Danny turning up beforehand to wind up Steve and the instructor. But there was no resolution to this subplot after the murder was solved, so it felt like a loose thread in an episode that really only needed to say McGarrett would redo the test.
   VIEWERS: 8.36m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.0
   (Season lows in both)

VERDICT: The cold open was the highlight of an episode bogged down by poor resolutions and tired tropes. A lovely window into Hawaiian culture and history, however. 7.5/10

Incorporated - 1x08 "Operational Realignment"

"With his real Aaron personality removed, Ben passes the Everclear test but Julian remains suspicious and turns to an old friend for help. Laura continues her work with her clinic. Theo continues to fight to get into the Green Zone."

As things heat up in Incorporated, it's becoming every man for themselves. I've referred to Aaron as his alias Ben for most of these write-ups, but today it really was Ben and Ben alone. With Hendrick's help, the Aaron personality, the one set on rescuing Elena from the company he infiltrated, was removed, leaving the fake Ben. And without the purpose, without the at least understandable goal of rescuing his loved one at any cost, the shell that is Ben becomes another boring character on the outside of this main storyline, although it was fun seeing him discover that he was the one to have killed Roger. The alias becomes the reality, and the alias is not actually that nice of a person.
   But neither is Aaron. He's already killed Roger, and now, in order to ensure Hendrick returns his original Aaron personality, he blackmails him, giving him just days to return him to Aaron before Hendrick's real identity is leaked to Spiga.
   And in another shocking twist, following Laura's continued work at her clinic and Julian's lingering suspicions about Ben, we learn that Julian and Goran know each other when Julian turns to him for help. Suddenly Laura is in a very vulnerable position - just as Aaron's endgame is approaching, Spiga are about to go to war with Inazagi and Theo is heading into the Green Zone after impressing with his fighting skills.
   Colour me very, very excited.
   VIEWERS: 0.409m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 0.15
   (A significant loss in viewers is offset by an improved demo share.)

VERDICT: After a game-changing episode, the pieces are moved into place ready for all-out war. Some surprises add to the suspense. 8/10

Lucifer - 2x11 "Stewardess Interruptus"

"Lucifer and Chloe's moment is interrupted by a horny stewardess, but when she and another man is found murdered the next morning the only link is that they both were Lucifer's lovers. "Charlotte" and Amenadiel try to convince Chloe that Lucifer is good for her."

Lucifer left some clangers for seven weeks before it returned with "Stewardess Interruptus" and answered at least one of those questions: Chloifer. (There is really no good way to combine Lucifer and Chloe's names to make a catchy ship title.) Their moment was broken when one of Lucifer's previous conquests, flight attendant Jana Lawrence, barged in, stripped a little and expected sex. Chloe, quite naturally, took off, leaving Lucifer, for once in his life, turning down an attractive woman.
   Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it, as the next day Jana was found dead. And then so was Raj, both of whom were ex-lovers of Lucifer's. Cue all of Lucifer's innumerable conquests over the past two months being paraded through the precinct and questioned by Chloe (in a hilarious scene where she was freaked out by the odd descriptions of sex acts Lucifer had performed), on the presumption that Lucifer was the link between victims. In the end, the murders took place because Jana was a mule for a drug lord, one who, in silhouette, mysteriously escapes with a mysterious case of vials containing a mysterious liquid, as Lucifer sets up an interesting arc over the next two episodes.
   In between this we had Maze's inability to understand that Dan, as a serving police officer, didn't want anyone to know he had shopped Warden Smith (the man who killed Chloe's father) to the Russian mob after he wasn't charged, because, you know, cops aren't supposed to arrange for people to get murdered. Will this come out now or later, who knows? But it will come out.
   A word to the cuteness of Chloe's daughter Trixie, who becomes more brilliant with every episode, before I have to mention the episode's conclusion: after much manipulation from "Charlotte" and Amenadiel to convince Lucifer to get with Chloe, Lucifer tried to push her away, only for Chloe to kiss him - successfully this time! An engineered romance between the Devil and a human whose entire existence is an act of God? Season 2 just gets tastier and tastier.

   VIEWERS: 5.99m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1
   (On a level. Solid return)

VERDICT: Recent episodes have been high-tempo but "Stewardess Interruptus" wasn't. However, it still hit every note it wanted to, was funny and set up a thrilling mid-conclusion. 8.5/10

NCIS: Los Angeles - 8x13 "Hot Water"

"The mole targets OSP."

The mole storyline has been very hit and miss. It began around season 6, where it supposedly concluded with the arrest of Carl Brown. Then it was threaded throughout season 7 and now, in season 8, it is coming to a head. Finally. Because not only has it been a very inconsistent storyline (there really was no reason to make it an arc after Carl Brown's arrest anyway), but it has drawn out another arc of the show: every time something goes bad, Hetty will inevitably threaten to retire. It feels like every year Hetty does this now.
   Thankfully, this first of a two-part (hopefully) conclusion was a phenomenal entry, and in some ways worth the wait. The woman OSP had identified as linked to the mole, who met Granger in the bar earlier in the season, was introduced right at the start, beaten, and Granger arrested. Then when Deeks went to try and speak to him, Detective Whiting (who in season 7 ran an Internal Affairs investigation into the death of his partner years ago) returned with "new evidence" and arrested Deeks. (Interestingly, for those who don't know, Deeks is genuinely guilty of this crime, but obviously as the audience we don't want Whiting to know that and Deeks had a good reason.) Then Sam was detained by the Drug Enforcement Agency after a corpse and cocaine was found in his car. Callen made an escape, but later ATF caught him, having found a body at his home.
   The whole episode was about setting up the framing of four OSP heavy hitters, while Hetty dealt with politics from Washington and Kensi, Eric and Nell tried fruitlessly to fight back, but it didn't matter that there was little other substance: the intrigue of seeing all our characters brought into the custody of multiple federal agencies was fantastic, high-intensity stuff. It was also a good way to bring Kensi back into the fold as the only available agent - and what about that cliffhanger that the mole is working for the CIA?
   The premise did have its flaws. For example, isn't Anna - Callen's girlfriend - supposed to be ATF? Where was she when her boyfriend was getting arrested on trumped-up charges? Failing Anna, where was Talia del Campo, another ATF ally? One of them needs to show up in the next episode or it would be a huge oversight. But regardless, for now, this was a stupendous, mind-blowing episode.
   Oh, and did I mention the last time we saw Granger he had been stabbed and was bleeding out in a prison hallway?

   VIEWERS: 8.57m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.0
   (NFL stole the show, leading to severe downticks for some of the earlier primetime shows)

VERDICT: I'll breathe once this arc is over because this was just breathtaking. 9/10

Scorpion - 3x13 "Faux Money Maux Problems"

"The Scorpion team are kidnapped and coerced into creating counterfeit dollars."

"Faux Money Maux Problems" made up an entirely new country to pass off a storyline that involved a President's sister kidnapping Scorpion and forcing them to create counterfeit bills that would flood the American market and obliterate the value of the dollar. Pretty good storyline, especially when the twist involves diplomatic immunity and the fact that Scorpion hadn't actually left American soil as believed.
   But the execution was dicey.
   Toby and Happy, who headed to a winery without their two-faced kidnapping escort, were positioned well to launch a rescue mission, but instead took a back seat and simply decoded a key fob. A crucial key fob in the end, but they did nothing of any practical value to save their friends. That was all Veronica, Paige's mother, whose defining traits are that she is a bad mother but a good spin doctor and can name drop way too many ridiculous titles of con schemes.
   There was a shining light of character development, however. Toby and Happy's trip to the winery helped them decide on a wedding venue and reveal secrets that they had been hiding (Toby still owed gambling debts to an unseen Bruno and Happy hoarded rare car parts). And Walter was taught the value of appreciating other people's opinions by introducing a conch that would allow people to voice them, but in the end he understood that sometimes to solve the problem not everyone can be involved in the decision-making. And from that, Paige took the decision to step back (after her years of nurturing Walter's emotional understanding) and allow him time to sink or swim alone. (Some residual anger for Tim's departure also playing into this decision, methinks?)
   Plus, I'm pretty sure Veronica is making up most of these con names (the hell is a Kentucky Two-Step?)
   VIEWERS: 7.69m

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.2
   (Level)

VERDICT: Poor execution of a plot with fairly good twists. Scorpion's up-and-down third season again blows cold. 7/10

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On January 19th, Miguel Ferrer, who played Assistant Director Owen Granger in NCIS LA, died after a long battle with throat cancer.
   I find it amazing that in spite of his illness, Ferrer was so dedicated to the show that he continued to work as long as he did, and seasons to come will miss him greatly. My thoughts go out to all his friends and family. RIP Miguel Ferrer.





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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Lucifer - Maze: "Self-worth comes from within, bitches. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to slut up."

LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP: On-Season Week 17

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

Final thoughts

Lucifer spent seven weeks off air and struggled to reach the intensity levels it had displayed before the hiatus, but nonetheless presented a glowing representation of what the show is all about whilst furthering the current arc and introducing others. Its ratings were still below average but its stability is a great marker of the show's decent performance.
   Elementary and Conviction's ratings remained typically low; the former now heads into the second half of its fifth season with a current demo share average of 0.68, while the latter's likely series finale will air the week after next.
   Incorporated's demo share rose again with the Christmas dip wearing off, though it certainly has affected the overall average. Scorpion's current 1.25 average has it just below the networks' average 1.3, but struggled again to produce a top quality episode. Hawaii Five-0 now leads the pack with 14 episodes aired, but hit a season low. And NCIS LA also recorded a season low 1.0 on a Sunday night that saw a giant baseball match rule the ratings across the board, ironically for the best episode of the season so far.

Thanks for reading everyone and see you next week!

Sam