Let’s Talk Television: Three Buckets

I watch terrible television so you don’t have to.

A Quick Note About Format

This week, I am returning to the format I used in 2014 when these posts were titled “Show of the Week.” Yes, I have been doing these posts off and on in various formats at various venues for TEN YEARS. Anyway, it only means I am collapsing the summaries into Good, Bad, and Ugly buckets instead of posting them by the date aired.

New This Week

This week’s contenders: 9-1-1: Lonestar (Hulu), Brilliant Minds (Peacock), FBI (Paramount+), FBI: Most Wanted (Paramount+), FBI: International (Paramount+), High Potential (Hulu), Chicago Med (Peacock), 9-1-1 (Hulu), Doctor Odyssey (Hulu), Elsbeth (Paramount+), Law & Order (Peacock), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Peacock).

The Good

These are the episodes I recommend watching.

On Brilliant Minds, “The Man From Grozny,” the recurring coma locked-in syndrome patient, formerly John Doe now Roman (Alex Ozerov-Meyer), receives a brain chip allowing him to speak through a computer. Our team finally learn how he was hurt, where he came from, and most importantly why: Roman and his boyfriend, Alex, fled Chechnya, where it is illegal to be gay. The team find Alex but despite the reunion and despite Alex’s willingness to become his caretaker, Roman wants to be taken off life support. This is very hard for Oliver (Zachary Quinto) to accept but Carol (Tamberla Perry) reminds him it’s Roman’s choice and after working so hard to give him the ability to use his voice, they have to listen. At Roman’s request not to die in a hospital, Oliver brings him, Alex, and the whole team into his home and after saying goodbye and thank you, Roman dies.

On High Potential, “One of Us,” Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) brings Ava (Amirah J) to the station on her day off, and they are promptly taken hostage. The perps want their friend’s conviction overturned, claiming the police messed up the investigation and he’s innocent. Morgan works with Karedec (Daniel Sunjata), who’s on the outside, to solve the case and find the real killer. This is the mid-season finale (show is back in January) and it proves that Morgan has gained the respect of the whole team. There are some great moments, one that complicates Morgan in a way I love, and the final scene is heartwarming.

On Doctor Odyssey, “Oh Daddy!,” it’s Gay Week, and we meet Captain Massey’s (Don Johnson) little brother, Craig (John Stamos!), and his two boyfriends. I was expecting someone in our throuple (see last week) to talk to someone in the guest throuple about how they navigate throupledom, but I guess that would be too convenient. Instead, both Max (Joshua Jackson) and Tristan (Sean Teale) say they don’t want to be in a throuple, they want to couple with Avery (Philippa Soo)—Max suggests this as the reason (but goes so far as to bring kids into the fantasy) while Tristan is explicit (and in his case, confesses to Avery alone, while Max pulled out, heh, to both of them). For her part, Avery seems super into being a throuple. There was not enough (read: any) talk about bi-or-pansexuality (I also thought the pregnant couple were introduced for this purpose, so my expectations were way off this week) but Craig’s sober storyline, Avery’s body language, and the word “twunk” keep this episode in the Good bucket.

On Law & Order, “Truth and Consequences,” a judge’s husband is killed after the judge withdrew an offer to clerk for her because the student protested the war on Gaza, and she supports Israel. Another student protester is able to put the suspect at the scene of the crime but testifying will out her as a protester. Being a part of the student encampment is against the code of conduct at the school, so she would be expelled, lose her student visa, and likely be deported. Sam (Odelya Halevi) tries, but fails to keep her off the stand and Nolan (Hugh Dancy) tries, but fails to protect her from the defense’s aggressive cross. After this young woman’s life is ruined to help the case against her husband’s murderer, the judge decides not to testify because doing so would out her as an opioid addict and risk her career. Nolan thinks the case will be lost without her testimony so Nick (Tony Goldwyn) decides to subpoena her—until the mayor (Bruce Altman) intercedes to tell him not to (I’m excited for the “ripped from Eric Adams headlines” story of his corruption that is certain to be coming). Nick tells Nolan to make a deal, which he does. It’s a story of power and privilege, and the only person who does the right thing is an immigrant young woman whose prize is getting kicked out of school and then the country. Much law, very order. But the show knows that and presents it as a (systemic) problem, which is why this episode gets to be Good.

The Bad

This bucket is more aptly named “The Meh” and is where most shows fall. Bad equates to “I don’t have anything to say about this.” For example, as I say too often, without looking up the summary I don’t remember what happened on the FBIs.

On 9-1-1, “Hotshots,” Athena (Angela Bassett) is assigned a rookie to mentor. He’s the top of his class and pulls a Jim Kirk like stunt to catch a bad guy, earning him attention and acclaim, but Athena thinks he’s a hothead in it for the wrong reason. She’s proven right when the kid loses his temper and shoots a woman during a traffic stop (Jim Kirk would never). Athena decides to ask for a new rookie to mentor because she’s now worried the kids are not all right. Buck (Oliver Stark) is baking to avoid texting his ex and the fake fire show returns. Star Brad (Callum Blue) loves the verbal beat down Bobby (Peter Krause) gives him so much that he gets his character put in a coma so he can shadow Bobby and the 118 for the foreseeable future.

On FBI, “Doubted”, Sydney (Lisette Olivera), a behavioral analyst, asks Isobel (Alana de la Garza) to look into the attempted kidnapping and sexual assault of her sister. That’s a job for SVU but Isobel agrees because the sisters are the daughters of a former agent who conveniently helped her out when she was in the field. Sydney provides a profile, they find other victims, track down the suspect, and despite being called a liability and admitting to “a hundred mistakes” made in the field, Isobel adds her to the team. Scola (John Boyd) hasn’t been able to keep a new partner since Tiff (Katherine Renee Kane) left— and that’s not going to change since Deadline reported that Sydney is also out.

On FBI: Most Wanted, “Pig Butchering”, Barnes (Roxy Sternberg) is back! But she locks horns with Remy (Dylan McDermott) immediately: she gets a scam call from a young woman who asks for help when Sheryl identifies herself as an agent. She brings it to Remy, Remy tells her to give it to Jubal (FBI‘s Jeremy Sisto), but instead she brings it to Hana (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and they investigate. Remy is angry about this for the rest of the episode and warns her that if she goes around his orders/back again she’s off the team. Again, I feel like something is up with Remy and wonder if his temper and burnout are signs that McDermott is leaving (lbr, I want this to be true so he can pop back up on Law & Order: Organized Crime as not yet dead Richard Wheatley and kidnap Olivia to finally kickstart EO). Nothing in the news suggests that, however, and Sternberg says we can look forward to lighthearted moments soon.

On Chicago Med, “Family Matters,” an accident uncovers an affair between coworkers and I kinda want to write an EO version of it. Meanwhile, Archer (Steven Weber) tries to get Lenox (Sarah Ramos) dropped as co-head of the ER, but instead, Sharon (S. Epatha Merkerson) makes her sole-head and drops him down to attending. This is on the recommendation of Naomi (Ashleigh Sharpe Chestnut), who is becoming a real presence (I remembered her name instead of just calling her Sidney LaForge) and I approve. I like this for Archer and Lenox and I kinda want them to smooch.

On Elsbeth, “Elsbeth Flips the Bird,” a mean chef kills a food prepper selling reservations to her restaurant to save up enough for his own and inadvertently messes up her golden ticket to the big time. Elsbeth solves the crime.

The Ugly

Don’t bother.

On 9-1-1, “Kiddos,” TK turns 30. His stepfather Enzo (Henry Ian Cusick, I love you) shows up with a shiny new car as a gift, making Owen (Rob Lowe) feel inferior and resentful, but then the FBI shows up to TK’s party, arrests Enzo, and seizes the car. Which was not only entirely predictable but also proves Owen right about Enzo, which is gross. I am biased against Rob Lowe and for Henry Ian Cusick so it’s probably me who is Ugly but it’s my column so, whatever. There were two other notable plots. One, Tommy (Gina Torres) has breast cancer, doesn’t take it seriously, and hides it from everyone except Nancy (Brianna Baker). A) This is also predictable, b) they already did the same storyline with Owen, and c) I’m scared they kill off Tommy. Two, Wyatt (Jackson Pace) talks down a suicidal woman going blind by admitting he felt the same way about his sudden disability, and it wasn’t the worst presentation but it flirted with ableism because this show does not understand how to do nuance even a little bit.

On FBI: International, “The Unwinnable War,” Amanda (Christina Wolfe) goes undercover to catch a dirty DEA agent. She’s told to flirt but not make any overtly romantic moves (i.e., kiss him) because that could be read as entrapment. So, guess what happens? That’s right, she kisses him. But it’s okay, says Wes (Jesse Lee Soffer), the rules are just guidelines. Or something. I liked the set up of this episode—Amanda steps outside her comfort zone and bonds with Wes, which we needed—but they didn’t reach its potential and I ended up bored.

On Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, “Tenfold,” Fin (Ice-T) and Bruno (Kevin Kane) help a prostitute get justice and then play with her baby. If that was all that happened in the episode, this would be in the Bad bucket or possibly even the Good bucket for everything Wallen (Ciara Monique, who shines). Unfortunately, there’s a subplot about Carisi (Peter Scanavino) bullying Benson (Mariska Hargitay) into helping him investigate the creep he saw checking out nine-year-old Jesse a few episodes ago. I hate this for a number of reasons.

1. Pre-crime is bad, full stop.
2. With algorithms being used to “anticipate threats” and “predict crime” in real world precincts, pre-crime is no longer merely a cautionary tale in science-fiction. This is bad!
3. Carisi is proven right when the creep shows up at his office and confesses to being attracted to girls as young as Jesse (though he claims to have never acted on them). This validates Carisi’s foray into pre-crime which is very bad!
4. The creep then asks Carisi and Benson for help. Which is good! And Benson gets hims help. Which is even better! But because this isn’t even the A plot, the whole thing is rushed and the messaging is muddled at best. More on this below.
5. Dear SVU, please stop trying to fit Sonny Carisi into an Elliot Stabler sized hole. I was distracted the entire episode because Carisi kept acting more like Elliot than himself. Every single plot point, from freaking out about someone creeping on his kid through abusing his authority and dragging Olivia into it only to argue with her to Olivia’s line about being better than his dad, makes more sense if Carisi is Elliot. The only reason this can’t be an Elliot episode is his kids are adults but guess what? He has grandkids close to Jesse’s age. Yes, they’re boys, so we’d have to drop some of the patriarchal sexism—oh, wait, that’s a bonus! Carisi did not go through the best character arc of the entire Laws and Orders universe to be forced to cosplay Stabler when they could have just as easily used the real thing (and lbr, it would FOR SURE be in the Good section if Christopher Meloni was in it, you and I both know me). I love Carisi and I love Stabler and they are very much not the same person.

Also Watching

At my friends’ suggestion, I started watching Resident Alien and it reliably makes me laugh out loud which I really needed!

Mental Illness Sidebar

Okay, buckle up because this is controversial. The show wants us to have sympathy for the man who confesses to pedophiliac urges, and we should. Just like we should have sympathy for addicts and for Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption. He literally asks for help. He says he’s never touched a child or even watched child pornography. Maybe he’s lying, but he’s not shown to be. Benson believes him enough to get him the help he asked for (rather than continue the investigation) and we are told every week to trust her judgment. We should want and we should believe that behavioral therapy can change criminal behaviors. We must. What’s the alternative?

“I went into that place, I hated those guys. I couldn’t even stand to be around them. But after a few days, they just turned into people.”

—Carisi to Rollins, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, “Sheltered Outcasts” (Season 17, Episode 19) In the episode, he argues that rapists can change their behavior, and the squad arrests a lawyer using the proximity of sex offenders, and public distrust, to cover up that he is a serial rapist. It is one of my favorite episodes.

This is why I am so angry about it. In 2016, Carisi believed that sex offenders could change, but by 2024, he has to be talked into it. And I know what happened between March 2016 and November 2024—I know that something something Donald Trump’s America is the reason and I hate that we live here now. I am scared that criminal justice reform is considered a losing issue. Again, what’s the alternative?

I wish they didn’t use Carisi and his daughters to tell this particular story. I wish they didn’t pair it with Wallen’s story because sex work and pedophilia shouldn’t be conflated. But I am grateful that the show has not given up on extending empathy to everyone the criminal justice system touches.

Ship of the Week

Before he dies, Roman tells Oliver he wishes he got to kiss his boyfriend in the middle of the street and later that he and Dr. Josh Nichols (Teddy Sears) make a good team. In the final moments of the episode, Oliver puts these two thoughts together and kisses Josh in the middle of the street. And I screeched.

Show of the Week

Brilliant Minds followed by High Potential. The rookies delivered.

What are YOU watching?