S3 E3; La Fiera

* * *   SPOILERS AHEAD   * * *

We start this week with firearm requalification day. Chen's pretty proud of herself for being the champ and kind of rubs it in on Bradford who can't believe she was better than him. Nolan fails the test because he is distracted when he glimpses a guy in a scuba outfit shooting several yards away. No one else sees him. It bugged me that that guy was there anyway. 

Jackson continues to have trouble with his new TO. Stanton sees a dead gang member and figures it's a victimless crime. He sees a black guy walking on the street and even though he doesn't match the description of the guy they're looking for, Stanton tackles him in his own yard with gun drawn, threatens the guy's mother and threatens to arrest the whole family. Jackson calls for backup since the situation is quickly getting out of control. Bradford shows up and manages to diffuse the situation even though Stanton is still convinced the whole family needs to be locked up. Jackson goes to Grey about him and Bradford backs him up. Grey doesn't like a rookie calling out a TO but he completely understands the situation and decides to assign Stanton to desk duty. Jackson says that is not good enough and although Grey and Bradford both think he is out of line, they also both think he has a point.

Nolan's mom is a real piece of work apparently getting engaged so she can break up with him and hock the ring. Nolan is totally annoyed with her because she is a real drama queen. I don't blame him. I'm not enjoying this relationship but she will be back next week causing more problems. Nolan tries to make up with his mother but I can't imagine her changing.

Lopez is settling into her role as a detective. The murder she is investigating was committed by scuba guy. He is Mexican police in the States to exact revenge against the cartel for killing his children. His target is La Fiera, the woman who ordered the killings. She's in the states for a college tour with her son so now they have to protect her since she is not wanted here. Just as Lopez arrives to take La Fiera to a safe location, a sniper opens fire. Lopez protects the targets and Nolan, Chen, & Harper get the sniper. La Fiera seems to like and admire Lopez and realizes she is pregnant. She sends her a gift to protect her baby.

Grey and his wife are talking about retirement. I think Grey is going to stick around to try to make a difference in the dept.

I was so nervous for Lopez. She got involved in a shootout at the college. I kept thinking she would get shot and lose the baby. After all, having a baby in a show like this really complicates things. She made it through fine. Phew! Then she goes home and sees a package on the table, doesn't know who it's from and opens it. I was sure it was going to blow up but of course it didn't. I guess I'll be a nervous wreck until she has the baby. I don't know what their policy is, but are pregnant women put on desk duty? Could she get in trouble for not reporting her pregnancy?

I know you can't think too much about these shows, but the whole 'guy in a scuba suit' idea made zero sense to me. The scuba suit itself made no sense although Lopez said it made sense to her that he was training wearing heavy equipment. His whole purpose was to murder people. Why would he be at gun range drawing attention to himself by wearing a scuba suit?

My eyes were really opened up in 2020 about discrimination. I knew the blacks had to be especially careful when pulled over by cops but I didn't realize how often they were murdered by police just for being black. I didn't realize how discriminated against they were when seeking medical care. The show touched on that when Nolan and Harper helped the pregnant lady. I'm glad they are shedding some light on these issues.