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Post by -|E|- on Jan 10, 2006 21:32:55 GMT -5
"As the Strike Team tries to end a race war between Blacks and Mexicans, Dutch and Claudette investigate a riot at a high school that also stems from racial tensions. Meanwhile, Vic is encouraged to accept an early retirement package as the Department attempts to improve its image, and Lem gets an unexpected visit from IAD. Julien tries out his new role as training officer for Tina, and Danny refuses to disclose the father of her baby." =========================================================== Was this a good season opener? What rating did you give this episode and why? What's the most memorable moment? Why do you think this episode is titled "Extraction?"
Please share your thoughts/comments on Episode 5:01!
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Post by lynch345 on Jan 10, 2006 23:32:17 GMT -5
Before I say anything, I'd just like express my pleasure in Ronnie finally getting into the opening credits. One thing that confused me however was that Whitaker wasn't put in the opening credits. The way he was being advertised I thought he'd be like Glen Close last year (star billing). Is he just going to be a season-long guest star like Anthony Anderson last year. My favorite part of the show was the montage near the end. Call me a sucker, but there are few things I like more on TV then a well-done musical montage. Homicide was great at them, and so is Rescue Me. I also liked the way they handled Aceveda. At first when he was asking what was in for him if he went after Vic, I thought they were overplaying the political sleazeball angle. However, the end where you saw him looking at the picture of Terry served as a good reminder, that despite all the political bullshit that may be motivating him, Terry was still his friend, and that might be motivation as much as any.
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TeKnOw
BANNED For Pissing Off E
Posts: 31
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Post by TeKnOw on Jan 10, 2006 23:45:08 GMT -5
B
Extraction - Lem! - no longer 'with' the 'team' (they aren't really a team), the black people taken by the kill clock, the scissored shooter, possibly the kids father... I hope someone has better ideas than mine... otherwise weakly titled sort of
Nice montage by Coldplay - Till Kingdome Come, from X&Y
intensity needed to be more even for me, but as a first episode I'm enjoying it more the second viewing... think my expectations were a bit too high.
Not liking Whitaker yet... we'll see.
holey holey - the gum test - i take a stick instictively... I auto assume I may have bad breath and they are trying to be polite (nice symbology though I suppose)
and
rookie retard Tina. Tina couldn't have possibly made it out of the Academy, well passing anyway
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Post by Blanket Party on Jan 11, 2006 0:02:57 GMT -5
Well, we got a bit of an explanation about the Strike Team...it seems that they're unofficial if the conversation between Aceveda and Kavanaugh is any indication ("The Strike Team Mackey RAN under your command"). I thought it was awesome that Cathy Cahlin Ryan and David Rees Snell are finally bumped into the opening credits. Tina may be retarded, but man is she purty. I wonder who's gonna bag her? If this episode is any indication, SOMEONE is going to, be it Vic, Shane, or Dutch. Am I the only one who caught references to early episodes? We haven't seen the Strike Team calling card since early Season 2, and Claudette's line - "That's how murderers go free" - was something she said to Julien waaay back in Our Gang. It seems to me that Mackey is perhaps slipping up - twice this episode, I saw Vic do things that seemed sloppy. First in the convenience store, when he shoved the gun in the guy's face - we were clearly shown that the place had security cameras. Also, Vic left the Strike Team calling card on the blonde-afro black guy, which seems odd to me, because they BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM, which implies to me that they were definitely NOT on the clock. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about Whitaker's Kavanaugh. Something seemed...off about him. I dunno what it is - but I'll give it a couple more episodes before I decide whether or not I like him. By the way - am I the only one who thought the Mexican kid trying to escape on a mini-scooter was HILARIOUS?
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Post by jimmycracker on Jan 11, 2006 0:06:39 GMT -5
I just have to ask... as I don't have much patience. Is this episode better than 401, for everyone who saw this episode?
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Post by twistedjustice on Jan 11, 2006 0:15:22 GMT -5
Not liking Whitaker yet... we'll see.
Teknow-no one should like whitaker he's the villain of this season.
on the other hand i thought it was a great opener because the strike team was back together kickin ass. theres nothin better than that.
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Post by Blanket Party on Jan 11, 2006 0:16:21 GMT -5
Hey, another thing - did everyone else notice that they went back to the old music for the recap montage?
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Post by jimmycracker on Jan 11, 2006 0:16:34 GMT -5
Well... I liked Armadillo. I think he meant he didn't like him as a character.
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TeKnOw
BANNED For Pissing Off E
Posts: 31
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Post by TeKnOw on Jan 11, 2006 0:18:34 GMT -5
Not liking Whitaker yet... we'll see. Teknow-no one should like whitaker he's the villain of this season. on the other hand i thought it was a great opener because the strike team was back together kickin ass. theres nothin better than that. MMMM... patience. Whitaker, I mean like him for the role. and The Strike Team has never been back together since they split at the end of Season 3
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Post by Inside Man on Jan 11, 2006 0:19:35 GMT -5
Mayhem!
If some of the dozens of people I've urged to watch this show watched tonight's episode, I wonder what they thought of it. I wonder if they made it through the scenes before the opening titles. That was some brutal fighting...I'm sure the crucifix beaning was a bit jarring for a first time viewer, including the way Vic threw it down.
But I'm not a first time viewer, of course. I always expect a lot from this show and I think this Premiere delivered the goods. There wasn't a weak 'Law & Order' sidestory, but a good old-fashioned melee followed by some decent interrogation scenes. I so love to see Dutch & Claudette in that room together.
The first thing I wanted to comment on was the acting. After 4 seasons, Walton Goggins still impresses me. He did something with his eyes during his first scene with Vic that I haven't seen from him before. There was a closeup and his eyes widened, but his lower lids dropped. Easy to do if you're squinting, but he wasn't. It was like this sad look of resignation and understanding.
The girl who plays the H-cutter is good, too. I know I'm not supposed to like the character, but the actress has to be right on and she's doing it. She's playing it like she is noticing how Vic is honestly concerned about her, like she's entertaining second thoughts about working with IAD. It's as if some time had passed since her conversation with IAD (6 months from the dialogue with Vic) and she's come to appreciate Vic for his kindness. But she's capable of being a sneaky lil bitch.
My jury is still out on Forest Whittaker, though. I was a little uneasy during some of the previews when he's doing his giggling schtick, but I know that's part of his style. There's something unhinged about him. I wonder if it should have come out so early, but I have total faith in the creative team that this is for the best.
Nice to see Kurt Sutter's name in the writer's credit! Will there be a couple of decent Writer's Weblogs this season before it degenerates?
Edited To Add: Some people were typing while I was:
blanket party, yes I thought the kid trying to escape on the mini-scooter was hilarious. It was a similar scene to--almost a sendup of--the one from 'Riceburner.'
I think the last time I saw a Strike Team card was stuck to a pig the day Tio's comic book store burned down. Vic's got balls of steel for leaving it on top of a guy who was pounded to hamburger.
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Post by lynch345 on Jan 11, 2006 0:32:02 GMT -5
I really got a kick out of Whitaker. At first, I thought he was kind of wierd. But when I saw him begin his interrogation of Lem, I realized that was all just part of his schtick. After that, I became completely satisfied by his portrayal. However, I'm bummed that Whitaker wasn't in the opening credits, he was be billed in the ads as a costar.
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Post by BenYankee on Jan 11, 2006 0:32:55 GMT -5
Ah I love this show. It was great to see things pop up from previous seasons.
First, overall, the inmates are running the asylum! It's great. Danny's practically in charge. Claudette and Dutch are cleaning up and getting along well with Vic. What's up with that? They all must hate Billings. And the Strike Team, for one episode, was back. How the Barn operates these days is beyond me. It really seems though that Vic is getting respect. He woulda been a great captain if IAD wasn't after his ass.
As for Kavanaugh, I don't think we're supposed to like him, and that's what makes this show so good. I'm rooting for Vic, despite the fact that he killed a cop in the first hour of the show and then stole a few million dollars. It was sad to see the department kicking Vic out because for all of his problems, he gets results in Farmington.
I liked the calling card by Vic. It shows that he's letting loose again. I think he can thank Captain Billings for that.
As for Extraction, it's all over the place. Extracting information: Dutch couldn't get it out of his murder suspect (that might bite him hard); no one can get it out of Danny; can Kavanaugh get it out of the people he's after? Can the force extract Vic from their ranks? And how about that 12 year old extracting the scissors from his neck?
Finally, quick question as the forum fills up as the show moves west and everyone sees it: What song was the montage? It sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. Teknow mentioned Wilco. Anyone agree?
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Post by monack on Jan 11, 2006 0:49:36 GMT -5
I'm trying to figure out why the mother was able to be in that interrogation room with the kid who was carrying out the clock order - maybe to show that her angel isn't so much of an angel? It just seemed odd to me...
Billings as captain is cracking me up... he is so inept at the job it's seriously comical. I'm liking the who's the baby's father bit with Danny - it'll be interesting to see what's revealed there.
And as for the IAD guy -- wow he is a sneaky one. Do you think he really has an autistic kid, or does he intend on getting close to Corrine only for purposes of getting dirt on Vic? I don't like him - and that's a good thing. It means that Wittaker is doing his job well.
This season has promise of being just as edge of your seat as the previous seasons have been -- and this is coming from a pretty new fan (like, only found the show in the middle of December...).
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Post by BenYankee on Jan 11, 2006 1:05:47 GMT -5
And as for the IAD guy -- wow he is a sneaky one. Do you think he really has an autistic kid, or does he intend on getting close to Corrine only for purposes of getting dirt on Vic? I don't like him - and that's a good thing. It means that Wittaker is doing his job well. I'm fairly certian Kavanaugh's just pretending to have a kid so that he can get to Corrine. Did you notice that she took the gum? That means she caves under pressure. Kavanaugh knows that. I'm sure he'll use that to his advantage. Also, Extraction, I just realized, could refer to the piece of gum. You have to extract one.
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Post by -|E|- on Jan 11, 2006 1:53:34 GMT -5
Finally, quick question as the forum fills up as the show moves west and everyone sees it: What song was the montage? It sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. Teknow mentioned Wilco. Anyone agree? Coldplay, 'Til Kingdom Come from their 2005 album "X&Y" Great observations on the ep title, VLM!!
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Post by eddiekaay on Jan 11, 2006 2:09:39 GMT -5
Hollllleeeeey shit
When I saw the "Written by Kurt Sutter" credit, my toes curled up.
THIS is the Shield I wanted to see all last season! Contents under pressure!
Not wasting time, throwing it all out right away-- Cheers for the staff chucking in some honest to God school violence, too. No Veronica Mars over here...!
Ronnie and Lem fans had to have wet their pants.
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Post by Jan El Señor on Jan 11, 2006 2:36:16 GMT -5
Extraction- What a setup! This episode is pure torture like the old days (Season 2 and 3) where you just can't wait for next week's episode. Season 4 was a little more like Season 1 (in my opinion) with each episode being a little more self-contained. This Season looks like it will be intense.
I'm dying to see this whole thing play out with Lem. It was also cool to see Ronnie so vindictive, and it was cool to finally see the poor bastard in the opening credits. Something seems to have changed with Vic in the time since Season 4 though. He's seemed to have lost his perspective since Rawling is gone, and things between him and Corrine seem a little rockier than when we last saw them.
It's bullshit that this season is only 11 episodes long though. Another ten episodes starting in January is a shaft Season 6, not the rest of Season 5....
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Post by Dead Armenian on Jan 11, 2006 7:10:51 GMT -5
Ah I love this show. It was great to see things pop up from previous seasons. I really enjoyed the Barn for the first time in awhile...all the banter between characters and all the little cubby holes and work spots. Once Rawling fixed the men's room in S4, the Barn just didn't have much going on outside the interrogation room.Wow, good catches on the literal extractions that went on throughout the ep. I kept looking for some application of the military term - an extraction is when you get a unit (usually a small team) out from a location (usually behind enemy lines). But that didn't seem to apply in this ep.Ronnie fans must be up partying still this morning...sure, he's a "star" in the credits...AND he got to put a genuine beating on that guy who hit him at the funeral home. (BTW did you L.A. fans love that "Culver City" guy or what?) Ronnie got to lay down a beating so nasty that VIC had to stop it. (Hmmmm...Vic also had to get Dutch to leggo of that "kill clock" teen at the Barn...he's gonna be the Richard Simmons of violence, teaching people to measure their portions or something!
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Post by murt1987 on Jan 11, 2006 8:09:10 GMT -5
So guys, you've seen the first ep. How does it rate to other season openers?
I hope the season rolls out like 1 and 2, just like the good old days. Heres hoping.
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Post by Blanket Party on Jan 11, 2006 9:07:46 GMT -5
blanket party, yes I thought the kid trying to escape on the mini-scooter was hilarious. It was a similar scene to--almost a sendup of--the one from 'Riceburner.' Yeah it was. I wish I could make an animated avitar of that kid escaping on his mini-moped. I also thought Vic turning the hose on the kids was kind of funny, even if though it reminded me very much of the Civil Rights movement.
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