S1 E11; Redwood

What do you think, Tycho, puzzle worthy?

Review - Spoilers

I really enjoyed this episode! The Vice President is coming to town and everyone is recalled to duty to ensure his safety. While most are assigned to clear streets and windows overlooking the route, Bishop and Nolan are assigned to check out a threat. They find him and quickly disarm him of his flare gun. Nolan is excited that they prevented an assassination, but Bishop isn't as impressed saying he's just a nut job with a flare gun, not Jason Bourne.

Even the most mundane jobs can be problematic. West and Lopez try to break up a protest group when one guy starts choking. Lopez gives him the Heimlich and West gets sprayed with food. Bradford and Chen try to clear out some homeless people. Chen gets in the middle of a fight and get jabbed with a dirty hypodermic needle. They immediately have to go to the hospital to get her checked out. She is really freaked out but Bradford has her explain to him the procedure they are required to perform to get her mind off of it. He later talks her down when she is freaking out about HIV and Hep C. He's actually kind of nice to her.

Bishop is suddenly making pleasant, positive remarks about everything. It starts freaking Nolan out it is so unlike her. After they watch a woman die from an accidental gunshot, she finally admits she is in therapy and being more positive was one of the recommendations. She didn't want it to get out because there is such a stigma about getting therapy. She was even afraid John might think less of her, but he was more understanding. He went to couples counseling thinking it was a waste, but he said it actually helped just not enough.

Lopez and West are assigned to clear banners out of apartment windows along the route. In one apartment, they find an elderly woman tied to her wheelchair. Her son comes home and says she is in early stages of dementia but he had to go to a job interview so he tied her to the wheelchair to keep her safe. Lopez tells him he needs to get a caretaker, but he said he can't afford that. Lopez puts him under arrest for elder abuse. Who is that going to help? His mom will probably be institutionalized. He may go to jail. People without money have few options. Maybe they could have referred him to some elder services. I just didn't like how that ended.

When Jackson and Lopez bring a gunshot victim to the hospital, Jackson sees Lucy in the waiting room still waiting for the results of her bloodwork and still visibly upset. He stays with her until she gets the results. Everything is negative except she needs an antibiotic. She's very relieved and hugs Jackson for staying with her.

I thought this was a great episode but I feel like I made it sound dry and boring. There certainly wasn't a dull moment. I was glad that the episode didn't concentrate on the VP, but instead on how disruptive his visit was. What I enjoyed most was that everyone seemed to be sharing more about their lives with their partners. Bishop opened up about therapy. Nolan was rather upset his wife was selling their house. He built it himself and wanted to keep it in the family for Henry. Bishop told him it was the memories that were important, not the house. Nolan was trying to figure out how to buy it from his wife, but decided Bishop was right. Jackson was distracted all day because he was supposed to meet his mom for breakfast but couldn't because he was called into work. Turns out his mom hadn't spoken to him since he declined to be a kidney donor for his brother because he was anxious to go to the police academy. Fortunately they found another donor and his brother survived, but Jackson's mom had been unable to forgive him or even talk to him until this breakfast and then he couldn't make it. I'm sure we'll be meeting his mom some day. Then having Bradford actually be supportive of Lucy was nice. Even Sergeant Grey backed up Lopez and West for leaving their secret service assigned post to help when Nolan and Bishop were under fire. The group is turning more into a family. In the end, the 3 rookies were hanging out at Nolan's talking about their day. I love their relationship and glad they are all back to being friends.

Thanks for trying, Tycho, but it still requires that you have one of the services they have agreements with. I'm out of luck until next week.