SEAL Team - Takedown/Enemy of My Enemy - Double Review

The big action story in Takedown was the quest to catch the person who hired Abu Ali to kill Salim Hakan. It felt a little perfunctory to me. It moved the overall arc story ahead, but, to me, it felt like Tuesday.

The basic plan was to use Abu Ali’s payment as the bait to drag his client out into the open. First step, convince him that Abu Ali is still alive. They do this by sending Bravo Team out on fake raids pretending to hunt for Abu Ali and giving a false tip to Paul Mulwray for an article about the hunt for Abu Ali.

Second step is to get the guy out in the open. Pretending to be Ali, they try to convince him to pay in person and in cash. The client refuses a face to face, but they figure they can use the messenger to lead them to the client.

They’re not dealing with an idiot. He’s got spotters to verify that the trap is not a trap. But since it is a trap, things don’t go well. The client is aware of the American’s involvement.

It’s not a total loss though, because Davis is awesome. She gets a shot of the watchers and discovers that one of them is Hamid Gul Baladur, the number two man in a major crime/terrorism network run by Nouri Halani.

Baladur is a big enough fish that they get the go ahead to go after him, but they need the guy alive so they can question him. It could be tricky given that Baladur wears a suicide belt.

We got a clear hint at Jason’s possible post-SEAL career when he helped Ellis craft text messages to manipulate Baladur into meeting Ali in person.

This trap works. Jason takes off after Baladur solo. Backup is there pretty quickly and they safely take the man into custody.

The interrogation has only just begun when Baladur informs Ellis that she is mistaken about what she’s fighting.

That statement combined with Jason being informed that soil contained traces of lanthanum, one of the rare earth metals Mulwray told him about a few episodes ago points to Mulwray being right...this may be about more than a burned poppy field.

Ray was informed that his bad grenade throw killed a 10 year-old kid. Speculation was high among viewers that something like this was going to happen when he avoided seeing the doctor. Now that it’s happened, Ray is devastated, but still willing to face the situation head on. This man is not a coward.

Ray’s situation carries on into Enemy of My Enemy. It’s time for his interview with the CID investigator. Davies spots the shoulder injury affecting Ray’s throw when she reviews the recordings before turning it over to CID.

Davis has Ray’s number and is fully willing, without a second thought, to cover for him. But he won’t let her. Naima tells him not to mention the fact that his shoulder is a pre-existing problem.

When he gets in front of the CID investigator, he gets what I grew up referring to as diarrhea of the mouth. Ray even points out that he deployed without seeing a doctor.

The investigator’s only response is to suggest strongly that Ray get the shoulder looked at by a doctor to avoid surgery. Ray is dumfounded. Now Ray just has to confess to Jason.

We got a bit more on the personal stories of Davis and Spenser. Davis hasn’t heard from Danny. Spenser’s still not connecting with Stella and believes she’s actively avoiding him. If all of their conversations have been going like the last one we watched then I don’t blame her.

Ray and Naima need to hold a class.

Both question this type of long distance relationship. Spenser sticks his foot in his mouth, and my first thought was to wonder if the show is testing these two out as a couple.

I’m beginning to wonder if the numbers of people in the featured cast is too large. The personal stories are feeling a little hit and miss. Story points get mentioned then dropped for weeks. Sometimes it feels natural, but sometimes the stories feel like an after thought.

Jason continued his “investigation” into the rare metal sample and his growing gut feeling that Amy's boss, Alan Cutter may have had something to do with the hit on Echo Team.

He doesn’t have enough for Ellis to sink her teeth into, but he may have enough for someone from the company to come after him…if he lives long enough for that to happen. I kind of like investigator Jason, but I do wish he'd found another solid clue by now. He wouldn't have to know what it means right away but I wanted there to be something concrete.

Abad Halani, Nouri’s little brother, wants to replace his older brother. He’s more than willing to give the Americans whatever they need to get his brother out of the picture.

I mentioned that I thought Takedown's action story felt like Tuesday. I didn't have that problem with Enemy of My Enemy In a really tense sequence, Abad has people grab Ellis off the street so they could have a private conversation.

The information Abad Halani gives them is accurate. The mission is approved, but with a drone. The presence of a bus full of students results in a mission abort, but Bravo Team decides it’s worth the risk of a daytime op.

The op goes pretty smoothly. After catching a decoy, they get their hands on Nouri Halani. The man Abad Halani confirmed ordered the hit on Echo Team.

Except that, when Jason asked Nouri about Echo Team, his response is, “What is Echo Team?” But he recognizes Cutter’s name. When Jason brought up Cutter, I thought he was beginning to put the pieces together, but I couldn’t tell whether Nouri’s realization that his brother set him up also distracted Jason.

I got distracted as well when the missile sent Jason’s chopper crashing to the ground. Yup. It’s definitely May Sweeps!

Aside: Thank you Mandy for throwing Sonny a bone when he started quoting The Godfather in Takedown. Although I’m not sure I believe how few of the men around that table recognized the quote.

The helicopter crash is a pretty darned good way to start the May Sweeps period. I'm still finding the action stories to be tighter than the human stories. I did like the way Ray handled the grenade situation.

However, I find it difficult to care about Spenser and Davis' love lives, which is a shame because I liked the way Davis and Danny's story was starting out. I get that there's probably a lot of reality to how relationships at their stages work but, this is television.

What did you guys think of the episodes? Share in the comments section.