The Working File

This was depressing, and maybe a bit disappointing.  After a hiatus of three weeks since the last episode, I think most fans were hoping for more, especially because the prior episode ended on a bit of a open-ended note. Reading some forum posts, many people seemed to have believed that the crisis that diverted the airplane at the end of the last episode was fabricated by Jonas in order to frighten the Department of Defense character played by Michael McKean.  But when they landed early in this episode and shots started firing, that supposition was quickly disproved. The episode has three storylines: (1) rescuing the Afican dictator/president with the DoD guy in tow; (2) Grey falling in love; and (3) Kim reuniting for a surprise visit with her children.

None of the three were uplifting. Even the Kim story, which ended with her getting to see her kids who she misses so much, was hardly positive. It conveyed very well the costs that war and military service impose on families.

The main story about the Unit in action was also disconcerting. Partly becaue of the delay between episodes, I had to keep reminding myself that the DoD character was such a jerk in the previous episode, because in this episode he actually handled himself pretty well, and just kept getting abused by the Unit. I even found myself annoyed with Bob, who might be my favorite character, for constantly criticizing the guy. For a civilian, he barely complained at all, followed directions, and volunteered for tasks he could have shirked. Even after his perfunctory minor complaint about being required to stay on location when they did not at first find the president, he almost immediately switched and then questioned the decision to leave when they still hadn’t found him.

Then he was the first team member to actually recognize the guy. That he shot those civilians at the end, and either didn’t realize his error, or simply couldn’t face the truth, hardly seemed his fault. The guy who reached inside his jacket signaled to Bob that he was going to light a cigarette, and Bob wordlessly acknowledged it. But nobody made sure that everyone else was aware, so when McKean’s character saw him reach, he shot them. At the end, back on the cargo plane traveling home, McKean kept saying “I shot two men. I killed two men.” Bob and the other team members look at him with contempt, thinking he was bragging. Personally, I thought he was just trying to come to grips with what he did. He had to say it to make it real. Even if he did not understand that the men he killed were friendly, I imagine that must be a horrific feeling. Then when he say that they were rebels, Bob asks if he is sure. I mean, come on. I am not one to criticize soldiers for accidentally killing innocent civilians, especially in the urban-type warfare that is sadly pervasive these days, and given that some enemies purposefully hide among civilians as a tactic. But, i recognize that under such circumstances soldiers will make, and have made mistakes. Has no one in the Unit ever killed someone by mistake? I thought they were awfully hard on that guy. He was a late-middle aged guy who faced death and danger fairly well. And in the end, when the enormity of what he had done finally dawned on him it was clear that he did not take it lightly, nor was he proud.

Then there was Betty Blue’s story. This one was just weird. This odd woman comes in to the fake airplane company’s offices looking for someone to fix a piston, and seems shocked when nobody can. But the company, based on past episodes, is not a general aircraft repair or building company. It basically adds extra luxury to private jets. It does interiors, not engines. But Grey talks her up, explains the problem with her piston, she pulls out a switchblade, and he falls in love. Oh, and she wins a pool game to pay for drinks at a local dive bar and stares down someone looking to pick a fight.

Then her sort-of-uncle picks him up, drives Grey to a ranch, interrogates him, and finally reveals that she is an heiress to yet another aircraft company, that he investigated Grey, and determined tha the company is fake and has other reason to consider Grey either a crook or a gold digger. Grey cannot reveal who he is for security reasons, and the story ends on the note that yet again, Grey cannot find love because of his duties to the Unit. OK, but it only ever seems to happen to him (well Hector had some similar problems before he died, too). It just didn’t hold together, and the character of the woman never made sense. Still, I sort of half-expect Grey to follow up, and not let this go, even though the old guy made clear that any attempt to contact the young lady would be dangerous. I don’t think Grey scares that easily.