Boom! I called the coach from the beginning. I swear I did. I was actually typing as I was watching and called it in writing, but then I fat fingered and lost everything I had typed.
OK. So I called the coach as being the murderer, which he wasn't, but I knew it was about Hank being a distraction for Riley so I was partially right.
I loved the opening with showing the two brothers and I also loved the ending with the two brothers. It would've been better if Riley had been open to forgiving Hank for the cocaine without Saint Mac having to prod him into it, but I'll take what I can get.
I love Sam and Flack together. I understand Flack wanting to be the protective brother and wanting her to keep her life on track, I really do. But after he was rescued from muggers by an ex-con/informant on a subway drunker than a skunk with a bottle in a bag like a homeless wino and after he used his badge to murder someone in cold blood out of revenge I also hate the way he still comes off as the perfect older brother to Sam's screw up little sister. I'm sorry. I still love Flack, but I can no longer buy him as the Poster Child for the perfect NYPD cop. He almost reminded me of a less anoying version of Mac when he hands down his Mactimony and I hate that TPTB has done that to him. That said I really want them to bring Sam back more often. They have such a great brother/sister dynamic, and now that she has a job with the NYPD there should be openings to bring her back if the actress' schedule allows.
I love Hawkes/Hill when he's explaining something. He always seems like he loves what he does and makes things interesting by seeming interested himself. And using a dead pig again is always good.
AJ was funny as usual, but at least now he seems less awkward around Jo and Mac. That's a plus. He can be weird and funny without being the man/child that he was in earlier seasons.
Although Danny and Lindsay weren't in this one much I have to say Danny being attached at the hip to Lindsay in his first episode back in the lab after they shoehorned in DL scenes in every damn episode while he was out of the lab was really disappointing. No, they weren't personal DL scenes, but it was still annoying.
This is the kind of episode they should have been bringing since the premiere. The case was interesting, the team was all involved in some respect and they had a good side storyline for one of the team. This was a good episode. I give it a solid B.
ETA: I just read the other responses to the episode and I totally forgot about Lindsay and Flack's scene with the murderer. Seeing the whole scene instead of just the clip made me like it better than I did before. Anna will never be a good actress in my book, but she was decent in this scene. What bugged me, though, is the BHC (Black Hole of Continuity for those who don't know) struck again. Yes, it's been quite a while since she shot Shane Casey, but after the struggles she had after the shooting about being labeled a "hero" and a "warrior" it just didn't set right that she'd be all badass about "I can shoot you in the head before you make a move." I didn't expect her to hesitate, but at the same time it just felt kind of ridiculous for her to say that. Maybe if they had shown her struggling a bit more after Shane Casey it would've been more believable. I don't know. Something was just off about it and this time it wasn't Anna's acting.
