Youtube started throwing clips from this show at me. And I watched some of them.. A lot of them actually. So I ended up getting Peacock primarily to just watch the whole damn thing.
A few episodes in. Its a solid start. My only real complaint of these early episodes is Jake's a little too childish. Like I don't expect him not to be childish throughout, but whining about Holt "caring about rules" and such is kind of an annoying character arc for these early episodes. But a first season of a show, has to find its footing, and there are still a lot of laughs, so its just a minor gripe.
Yeah, the first season has its faults. Jake is pretty childish early on, but his character arc is very clearly about him maturing, so it's not that annoying. There are a few more annoying things that aren't as obvious that they're going to fix:
- Boyle nice-guying at Diaz (definitely gets fixed)
- Gina ogling Terry (it goes away, but it isn't given as much spotlight)
- Diaz being a borderline corrupt cop (another subtle fix)
There are probably more I forgot.
Finished season one. You could feel it find its balance over time. I think most the writing managed to level out most of the characters, by the end of the season I think the only part that still feels rough is it felt like the writers were still moving in the direction of "Rosa starts to reciprocate Charlie's feelings" which I'm glad to hear they move further away from going forward, it often felt weird. Ending with Charles sleeping with Gina was not something I thought was coming.
I think they do a decent job setting up the Jake/Amy romance. They don't push it too heavily this season, just planting the seeds. I hope the love triangle doesn't take up too much of the series' time though, I'm not usually a fan of them.
And I like the cliffhanger ending. Shows the respect Jake and Holt have built for each other, that Jake would trust Holt enough to not just blow a case he had the evidence for but get fired, and Holt trusts Jake to take on a bigger task.
Overall really enjoyed it. Binged the whole season in just a few days.
Started season 2. I'd only ever seen the insults parts of the Holt and Wuntch feud, so I was kind of surprised to see that she overstepped and actually tried to sabotage Holt and the precinct. I don't know if I like it, its a little too dastardly villain.
Amy's a lot easier going (well, for Amy) and is getting a lot more overt comedy bits this season, so that's a lot of fun. And Holt's still the comically serious stoic in most cases, but plays along with shenanigans more. Jake still backslides into childish a lot, but its a semi-episodic weekly series, character arcs are never completely consistent in these - He is learning more responsibility. I can't say I'm super stoked by Boyle - its nice to see his love sickness gone, but really its more like its just been traded for being even more of a suck up for Jake. Rosa continues to be great, no notes. And Terry and Gina I really had no strong feelings of season one and that mostly continues now. They're funny when they have their time, but they aren't characters I get very invested in.
Overall, mostly what worked is dialed up and a lot of what didn't is dialed back. So, still enjoying the show a lot.
So I just finished the series last night. I like the wrap up for nearly everyone...
But Jake. Ok, I feel like they're going for the "progressive" thing, the dad gives up his job to be there for his son and allow his wife to pursue her career. Ok.
But a plot point in the final season was the bad cops vs. good thing. A good cop, who is one of the best at his job, leaving the force undercuts that. Plus, this has been Jake's dream. There have been other times (suspensions, etc.) where Jake has been temporarily off the force throughout the series and he goes crazy without something to solve.
Finally, the NYPD has retirement with full pension after 20 years. Jake says he's 38 in one of the later episodes. Assuming he joined right out of college, he probably only has 4-5 years left to reach that. Stick it out, then retire and get paid to stay home with your son (and any future kids they may have). I have a brother in-law in the NYPD and this is his plan. He's nearly there and will be retired in his mid-40s. That's the dream right there. (I'm assuming the writers don't know or don't care about this fact, otherwise Scully and Hitchcock would have been retired LONG ago...)
I just think it was handled poorly and not thought out. If they really wanted to go that route, drop hints earlier so it feels like less of a swerve.
Edited by BeerBaron on Aug 31st 2022 at 8:44:21 AM