The one thing that came to mind to me in this episode is that the show is edited for 2 parts: the actual cop procedural and cop personal lives. The latter being a bit of a rub
The predominant personal story is of Hondo's dating, baby, father, mother, anger monologues.... And much if it is interesting in the first season but after season after season of the same identical issues...it's stale.
Then I asked myself what about the other characters? The first primary female lead, Chris was probably the best until they decided to get ratings by sexualizing her character with a thruple. Then torpedoed her character after a fellow female officer died. The current female lead is always shown with drama issues. The show even opens up an avenue of "let's explore her life" to explain why she doesn't fit into swat....only to not really explore it for more than a minute in one episode. And the most interesting was the female medical member that tried to become swat. She was strong, intelligent and somewhere disappeared in last season.
Luca gets an occasional line about his swat family lineage, a food truck, how lonely he is,..etc. But n ver really any continuity. Deacon and his family got a highlight of some depth a few seasons ago. Or he is used as a prop for Hondo's agenda and plots on racial indifference.
Street probably has the best character arch. Especially given that they didn't dig that deep into his past. A lot if repeat script in his mom being a loser. The side brother plot was cool. The actor did a lot with what little he was given.
Tan had a bit in early seasons. But went nowhere. And now only gets occasional marriage tag lines. Nothing deep.
For an ensemble cast, the depth for the personal plots is very disproportionate. I wish that was explored evenly for all the diverse cast. Not just Hondo. But I do have to say I liked his response to his girlfriends parents at the table.
And it seems that all the male characters are introduced as too strong and wild bucks that need to calm down to find Hondo's or the chiefs approval. But most all the women are portrayed as drama and weak....or over compensating to build up to be with the team. Why can't they be normally functioning people with differing backgrounds that the show can discuss. I know the show is trying hard to push diversification which is a good thing. But over correcting, and over emphasizing one and being trite in others leaves the show just as cringy as many others.
To date, I think The Rookie hits the balance of good representation without being politically in your face while at the same time leading the public for alternative views to look at social problems. And still being a great show.
The predominant personal story is of Hondo's dating, baby, father, mother, anger monologues.... And much if it is interesting in the first season but after season after season of the same identical issues...it's stale.
Then I asked myself what about the other characters? The first primary female lead, Chris was probably the best until they decided to get ratings by sexualizing her character with a thruple. Then torpedoed her character after a fellow female officer died. The current female lead is always shown with drama issues. The show even opens up an avenue of "let's explore her life" to explain why she doesn't fit into swat....only to not really explore it for more than a minute in one episode. And the most interesting was the female medical member that tried to become swat. She was strong, intelligent and somewhere disappeared in last season.
Luca gets an occasional line about his swat family lineage, a food truck, how lonely he is,..etc. But n ver really any continuity. Deacon and his family got a highlight of some depth a few seasons ago. Or he is used as a prop for Hondo's agenda and plots on racial indifference.
Street probably has the best character arch. Especially given that they didn't dig that deep into his past. A lot if repeat script in his mom being a loser. The side brother plot was cool. The actor did a lot with what little he was given.
Tan had a bit in early seasons. But went nowhere. And now only gets occasional marriage tag lines. Nothing deep.
For an ensemble cast, the depth for the personal plots is very disproportionate. I wish that was explored evenly for all the diverse cast. Not just Hondo. But I do have to say I liked his response to his girlfriends parents at the table.
And it seems that all the male characters are introduced as too strong and wild bucks that need to calm down to find Hondo's or the chiefs approval. But most all the women are portrayed as drama and weak....or over compensating to build up to be with the team. Why can't they be normally functioning people with differing backgrounds that the show can discuss. I know the show is trying hard to push diversification which is a good thing. But over correcting, and over emphasizing one and being trite in others leaves the show just as cringy as many others.
To date, I think The Rookie hits the balance of good representation without being politically in your face while at the same time leading the public for alternative views to look at social problems. And still being a great show.
