Dishpan Man - Episode 84

[amyk]

So I've started season five once again. I have so many mixed feelings about this season, but I'm ranking DISHPAN MAN as an 8 on the Sidney scale this time. If I knew nothing else about what happens in season 5, I think I would be filled with anticipation awaiting the next episode. I think I would be intrigued by what Stockwell is up to, and also about why Curtis changes his tune. And there was also some nice humor in this episode, with Hannibal's acting and the whole monster suit incident, as well as with Murdock having some funny lines. I particularly like his line about there being places in the world where fools are worshiped - like Hollywood, California! I still always think it is so dumb that Face and BA took Frankie's advice, especially for Face to take Frankie's advice about the car when we all know that BA would know exactly what to do. I think those parts did not add anything to the episode and just make Frankie look more of a goof-up.

One thing I realized as I was watching this episode.....future opening sequences for season 5 show the team being handcuffed in the barn in Spain. But we never actually saw them get handcuffed in this episode (unless I somehow missed it). I think we see Curtis saying that he saw the team kill Morrison and then we see them being led out in handcuffs, but we didn't see the handcuffs placed on their hands. Can anyone else corroborate this?

[Eclipse139]

Finally got round to continuing my complete rewatch by starting on Season 5. I was putting it off because I really don't enjoy the court martial trilogy. Once I get past it the rest of the season is a bit hit and miss, but generally watchable. It's not that these first three episodes aren't good quality, or that they don't have lots of character and story development, but I just don't like watching them.

Of the three eps, this one is by far the most watchable. I had to fast forward through the updated theme music though because it's awful. And what's with Face's hair?

I don't even hate Frankie - my memories from watching Season 5 years ago was that I couldn't stand him, but I think that's just because he represented such a huge change to everything that I loved about the show. He actually seems to fit into the team, but I do wish they'd given him a different skill - being good at creating special effects isn't really a knowledge gap they had in the team because we've seen them build things that explode/light up on cue etc. before on several occasions. And he's apparently not even very good at it! Also his reason for going along with Stockwell's plan falls a bit flat. I'm sure Frankie could have found another way to make the money his dad needed? I think they should have thought of a more dramatic reason for him to be forced into getting involved in something so serious and dangerous. I'm not sure why Hannibal likes him so much (especially after it's basically his fault that Hannibal gets injured) and - like you said, Amy - why do Face and BA go along with his ideas for fixing the car and cleaning gold without question? They're usually much smarter than that!

If we'd just had Frankie as a new character in Season 5 it would have been OK, but for me it was all completely ruined by adding Stockwell.  I don't like to see anyone getting the better of Hannibal with such serious consequences.

There were a few fun moments in this ep. I liked that they had to get BA on a plane (although I'm not sure why Murdock thought headbutting him was a good idea? In fact, Murdock seemed to be behaving far 'crazier' than usual throughout this ep which was odd) and I also loved the reference to Crystal Lake! That was a really nice touch.

I thought it was a bit contrived for Murdock to decide to leave the barn to get groceries just so he didn't get captured with the rest of the team. I know he was hungry, but a more believable reason for him not the be there would have been better, I think.  And Amy, I don't think we did see them getting put in handcuffs, that must have been lost in the edit.

The news reporter calls the team "the most infamous war criminals in military history", but up until now I don't feel we've ever been told anything other than that they were an annoyance, or an embarrasment to the government so this seems a little dramatic - perhaps it was just sensationalised journalism, but the military do seem to have upped their game this time. This, along with the way they seemed to change the bank robbery plot which was the whole set up for the premise of the show, makes it all feel too different and that's why I find it less enjoyable to watch.

Anyway, onto part 2 - I'm planning to get through these as quickly as I can!

[amyk]

Finally got round to continuing my complete rewatch by starting on Season 5. I was putting it off because I really don't enjoy the court martial trilogy. Once I get past it the rest of the season is a bit hit and miss, but generally watchable. It's not that these first three episodes aren't good quality, or that they don't have lots of character and story development, but I just don't like watching them.

I have mixed feelings about the court martial trilogy myself. On the one hand, especially when you don't really know how it is going to turn out, the episodes are pretty exciting and captivating. On the other hand, because of the way things turn out, that makes me sort of not like them so well.

If we'd just had Frankie as a new character in Season 5 it would have been OK, but for me it was all completely ruined by adding Stockwell. I don't like to see anyone getting the better of Hannibal with such serious consequences.

That's how I feel, too. I mainly hate to see Stockwell end up in charge of the team. Even though the team does sometimes sort of cross him and do their own thing, still they are under his thumb.

The news reporter calls the team "the most infamous war criminals in military history", but up until now I don't feel we've ever been told anything other than that they were an annoyance, or an embarrasment to the government so this seems a little dramatic - perhaps it was just sensationalised journalism, but the military do seem to have upped their game this time. This, along with the way they seemed to change the bank robbery plot which was the whole set up for the premise of the show, makes it all feel too different and that's why I find it less enjoyable to watch.

Somehow I don't think robbing a bank ranks up there with what real war criminals have done, like massacre of thousands of civilians.

[Eclipse139]

Dec 7, 2020 22:08:33 GMT -5 amyk said:

Somehow I don't think robbing a bank ranks up there with what real war criminals have done, like massacre of thousands of civilians.

Exactly!  I know they ended up being convicted of murdering Colonel Morrison, but even that doesn't really justify being called the "most infamous war criminals in military history".  I would argue that Decker - who apparently thought nothing of blowing up hospitals in Vietnam - is more of a war criminal.

[amyk]

I would agree with that assessment. If they killed Colonel Morrison because they believed or knew he was working for the enemy, some would potentially even see that as justified, i.e. them killing the enemy. And he was not a civilian.