The Mission: Figure Out Why the Hostage Was Killed During the Rescue
In the final moments of last episode Jason, who didn't go into the building to back up Brock and Full Metal, couldn't rejoin Ray and the rest of Bravo Team before an explosion killed the man they went to rescue.
Because Dr. Craig was a British citizen the failed rescue has Washington in a tizzy. Bravo Team has to get their T's crossed before their plane lands.
One of the main reasons this episode worked so well, for me, is that the writers know those characters so well.
But because the writers know the characters so well and have presented them to us in such a concrete, consistent way, over the last couple of seasons, they were able to ratchet up the tension.
Once all good (and bad) guys were accounted for and no other information was available, we knew Ray was going to find a way to blame himself for Dr. Craig's death. The question of whether Ray would get his promotion to warrant officer became a real question.
Long before Ray checked his bag I knew he was going to assume responsibility. I started paying attention everything, looking for Ray's way out. And, as expected, Lisa was there looking for a way to cover Bravo Team's back, because that's what she does.
In fact everyone did what they do: Sonny was ready to lie to protect Ray, Jason was guilty because he wasn't in the building to protect Ray, Sonny, and Clay, Ray was stubbornly determined to tell the truth.
Basically this episode underlined the subtitles of what these men mean when they talk about "The Team".
It's the fight to protect one another at all costs. Or the willingness to put everything you are on the line to protect the rest of the team.
It's having that guy's back even when you're totally opposed to his decision.
And that's the piece Vic missed.
I expected that ISR footage to save the day but, I was expecting some third party (reinforcements for the bad guys) to arrive on scene and do something that caused the explosion. I did NOT expect the footage to reveal a member of Bravo Team was at fault.
It's not the mistake that gets you. It's the cover up. That was Ray's point actually. These secrets and lies always come out and the price usually higher.
Vic made a mistake. It wasn't the mistake that lost him his trident. It was the choice to keep his mouth shut and let Ray convince himself that he threw the wrong explosive.
As difficult as it was to watch Ray remove the patch from his uniform...actions have consequences. Adulthood involves facing them.
Again, everyone in that room was true to their character. Sonny went for Vic's throat, Jason left the decision to Ray and Ray forgave Vic. Not sure I could have done that.
Miscellaneous:
It's been a while since we've seen Mandy and Lisa connect like they did here.
It also occurred to me that the writers touched on something we don't usually see in shows and movies that feature strong women, especially women functioning in a traditionally male field.
When Lisa got hurt, her major concern was appearing weak to the people around her. The bulk of that pressure came from herself. Bravo Team hovered, but not because she's a woman. They hovered because she's part of the team. (We've seen Clay and Ray driven bonkers because the whole team asked how they were doing.) A lot of women deal with this. It was very cool seeing it touched on here.
It was awesome to see the Sonny and Lisa talking like they used to.
Also loved the suggestion to document her concussion.
What did you guys think of the episode?
