Breakout! - Episode 49

[amyk]

I know there's another BREAKOUT! thread but I made a new one to make it part of the "fan forum viewing" threads. Sidney or HD, if you prefer that this thread be combined with the other BREAKOUT! thread, please go ahead and combine them. Anyway, I watched this episode tonight. Despite numerous gaping plot holes and it being a phone-it-in episode for Face, I really do love this one. I give it a 9 on the Sidney scale. I would probably be able to give it a 10 if it weren't for the fact that it is so Faceless. I still laugh out loud when the scene in the ambulance cuts to Murdock hanging on outside the window. This episode also has some pretty dark overtones, if you really think about it. These bad guys are not just the usual cookie-cutter bad guys, but they are really evil....especially considering what they seem to imply they might do to Callie to get her to talk.

As for those numerous plot holes, here's a list of some of them that I can think of:

1) Why were Face, BA, and Murdock down in Mexico without Hannibal? If they were on a mission, why wasn't Hannibal with them?

2) How do they ever plan to get the van back, considering that they seem to be driving out of state at the end of the episode without even talking about the van?

3) Why are Murdock and BA pretty immediately (within an hour?) sent to a work farm - no trial?

4) Why aren't Decker and his men able to reach the work farm just behind Hannibal, since it seems that they walked into the sheriff's office just after Hannibal left? They don't even seem to try to get there to stop Hannibal from breaking out BA.

5) Why would it have to be Murdock and BA taking the wounded deputy to the hospital? Weren't there several prison guards around who dropped their weapons, and why couldn't they take the deputy to the hospital?

6) Where is that money from the bank robbery if it isn't on the farm? Earlier, I thought Deke said that he hid the money on the farm or that he and Malcolm (whoever Malcolm is - is that Callie's husband??) had hidden the money on the farm....did Callie's husband just tell Deke it was hidden on the farm but actually did something else with the money? This always kind of bugs me that we never find out what happened to that money.

There may be other plot holes or flaws, but all in all, I do still really enjoy this one!

[sidney]

BREAKOUT is one of those episodes that really makes the BA/Murdock relationship something really special. It makes them seem really, close, to be honest. I do think Murdock had a very special relationship with all of the guys. Face and BA didn't have much of one, and one could argue that Hannibal and BA weren't even that close. But it's easy to see a special relationship between Murdock and each of the others.

You hit the nail on the head with the problems in the story. Being sent to the work farm is weird, and then them being the ones to bring the officer to the hospital. That was pretty dumb. But they were counting on people not really paying attention or caring to that.

Hannibal is the real, handsome, macho hero in this one. It kind of reminds me of DEADLY MANEUVERS in the way he kicked butt on his own. He really saved the day. Did you think he was going to have a romance with that single mom?

[amyk]

I didn't really get any indication of a romance between him and her...but they really didn't get a chance to be alone together except under pretty dire circumstances.

She seemed like a pretty strong lady, didn't she?

[sidney]

Well...
I'm unsure about that. I guess she was strong if you compare her with the usual ATeam bimbo. If she was strong, I wonder why Hannibal didn't make a play for her. He always went for the strong females. I think he liked to 'break' them. Like a wild horse he wanted to tame. (Or maybe he really did just admire women who could stand up for themselves and were competent; preferred them to airheads with great bodies. Hahahaha hahaha.)

The single mom is an ATeam archetype I'd like to explore further. I'm going to make a thread in the main section about that one.

How much was Hannibal a necessity for this episode? Could BA and Murdock have handled it without him? Was the single mom a goner without Hannibal?

[amyk]

I guess I felt that she was pretty strong in that she did face up to Hannibal with a gun, although she didn't actually use it on him even when he essentially ignored it. But I think maybe she was considering what he was saying and realized that he was not there to harm her, but still having her doubts wanted to confirm things with the sheriff. She did seem to have some relationship with the sheriff (not romantic, but I mean that they seemed to be somewhat friends).

I think if Hannibal had not been there, Callie would have been in real trouble with those thugs....remember that Deke was willing to "feed her to the hogs" and then the way that they all acted? Scary stuff. Hannibal bought her time until Murdock and BA could get there. Not sure what would have happened if Murdock and BA had not arrived in the nick of time, though.

[sidney]

I think Hannibal took a risk because he could read that she wouldn't shoot, even if she had a gun trained on him. He was pretty good at assessing situations. Would he have done the same thing with the mobsters in ATE LAS VEGAS, for example? I don't think so.

The concern for Hannibal initially was that BA's fingerprints would be sent away and then they'd know who they had.

I really think that most law enforcement officers would be familiar with his appearance. Face and Hannibal could probably smoothly get out of a situation like that, but BA isn't easily anonymous: the mohawk, the jewelry, the clothing, the size.

[sidney]

Think Hannibal was serious about holding his breath for four minutes?

[amyk]

Maybe....wasn't there an issue in the pilot where Hannibal was in trouble for "popping up like a rubber duckie" so I think then also he may not have been staying under as long as the director wanted?

[sidney]

I don't remember. You're so much better at remembering exact lines.
When BA and Murdock are driving, Murdock seems to have his feet up on the dash. I'm surprised BA lets him do that. I'm also surprised BA would drive the van with a hole in the radiator and laugh about it. That van is his everything. Feet on dash. Driving with a busted rad. Tsk tsk, BA. Tsk tsk.

I hate Face with those two girls. Why wouldn't one be enough? What is wrong (socially/emotionally) with those girls that they'll share him like that? Perhaps he's not chosen yet. Like the Bachelor, and they are competing. But even then I want to scream at them to get some self-esteem.

[amyk]

Yes, I would rather that Face just didn't appear at all in this episode than that he be goofing off in Mexico with those two girls. I hate it that he isn't there for BA and Murdock because he's just trying to score with those girls.

[HoudiniDerek]

Mar 31, 2018 22:28:18 GMT -5 amyk said:

Maybe....wasn't there an issue in the pilot where Hannibal was in trouble for "popping up like a rubber duckie" so I think then also he may not have been staying under as long as the director wanted?

Yes. The director outlines that he needs to stay down longer because he was popping up like a rubber duck in his kid's bathtub. Hannibal did the math for him and it came out to around 4 minutes and he told the director he was crazy.

[sidney]

So maybe Hannibal was just being facetious when he asked if he'd ever tried holding his breath for four minutes. Hannibal probably still thinks it's ridiculous.

Or maybe he can do it now - after practicing.

[cartoonlover]

I remember Breakout from years ago and recall really digging it. Up till a few weeks ago that has changed. I think this episode imo is a tad overrated but still a pretty good one for The A-Team. There's quite a bit that happens in Breakout and it's packed with direction. Dekke Logan is one of the nastier badguys in the series and the actor did a good job with the role. An issue I had is a plothole but that would be a spoiler. I actually wasn't too bothered that face wasn't really in this one, however, I would've been curious how much it would changed the episode if were in this more?  

Rating: 8.5/10

[sprout1883]

Watching straight after HOT STYLES and find that BREAKOUT doesnt suffer as much without Faceman like Styles does without B.A.

This feels more like the sort of thing the team would fall into being fugitives and all compared to Styles being a very Face centric thing.


this feels a more organic thing for the team to all into and they have to come together and avoid Decker at the same time without being hired by someone

[Eclipse139]

Rewatched this one today - it's a great episode. The only thing that really lets it down is Face's absence.

Whilst we all miss him, BA's absence from HOT STYLES at least makes some sense because he's completely absent and presumably unaware that the rest of the team have got involved in the situation with Rina. Also in that episode it's not one of the team who are in trouble - at least not initially. In BREAKOUT! however, Face is fully aware that BA and Murdock are in real trouble, but chooses to stay behind anyway and that seems out of character. Even though he is enjoying the company of scantily clad females (again!) Face would care enough about his friends to go back as soon as possible so he can help.

Apart from that (and the few silly plot flaws already mentioned in this thread) the rest of the ep is great. I love that it shows another side of BA and Murdock's friendship - we only ever get to see BA getting annoyed with Murdock's antics, but you know under all that they really do care about each other. It's fun to see them working well together.

And it's always fun to see Hannibal go solo when he's in full-on heroic commando mode.