Wow...didn't think they could tie paintball, black cocaine, dirty cops, aliens, a stalker, a new unknown family member and an autopsy on a Macy's Parade balloon into one episode and have it all actually make sense, but they did it - and it did make sense, actually!
Great opening scenes of the paintball in the dark room/alley, very otherworldly (which of course ties in later quite nicely). Loved seeing Stella/Mac meeting in the bar, their "...old stomping grounds" Mac called it - a nice nod to their long-standing friendship. Also nice to see that Mac was the first person Stella called when she worried she was being stalked, even though he's in a relationship with Peyton (glad to know some old friendships don't fade away when new romance comes in).
Loved the reference to his birthday that just passed, and that she dropped a present off at his house.
Hawkes' brilliant smile when he found out he was performing an "autopsy" on the Macy's balloon - priceless. Love that man! Flack's interviews with all the apartment building tenants - unusual but fun camera work and editing IMO, and also of course great humor. Also a nice scene with Sid/Mac chatting while processing the paintball victim, again letting the science shine.
Liked how Mac handled Flack a bit more gently than how he manhandled Hawkes last week, asking for the notes as a "request by a friend", but Flack's sassy attitude was understandable, too. As someone else pointed out, both men had valid points. Felt horrible for Flack when he discovered that there was 53 kilos in the raid, not the 50 that the other cop told him. I wasn't surprised to see Mac end up busting the guy, and Flack knew he had to, but it was a painful scene nevertheless, for both of them. Loved that they did the flashbacks as they arrested the cop, showing just what he had done during the paintball game. Yeah, he deserved to be jailed, that's for sure.
Wondered how they'd tie in the moonrock and bear trap, and the weird girl waiting for the aliens. Pretty clever (although also pretty cheesy), and it added some humor to an otherwise fairly serious toned episode. Felt bad for the poor "otherworldly looking" paintball player, she totally believed she finally caught herself a real live alien.
Very poignant and emotionally revealing scene between Reed and Mac. And poor Mac reaches out to the kid, obviously wanting to make him part of his life - and he gets dumped. "I'm not even related to you, and what I came looking for is already gone"... ouch.
Random thoughts: Loved the humor between Danny & Adam, they have great, fun chemistry. Adam's comment as he summed up all the nasty stuff at the paintball game was great: "Moral of the story? Stick to bowling!" Really, really liked the emotional balance in this one. Glad they didn't focus entirely on the dirty cop by bringing him in from the start, because he wasn't nearly as important as Flack & Mac's reactions to the thought of a dirty cop. Beautifully written and acted by both guys. And the scene between Mac/Reed the stepson was very touching, without being maudlin. Once again, well done, I thought.
Good ep with some nice emotional bits by several characters. I gave it an A.