Season 3 has definitely had more episodes which don't focus on the actual plot as much but the storylines for the episodes are have been very interesting and engaging. I love the concept of a cop's family being killed and the other cops trying to clear him of being a suspect because of their loyalty.
I think what season 3 handles particularly well is creating heightened drama and tension through the use of multiple intertwined plot elements, character dynamics, and the establishments. Season 2 similarly did this through bigger plot and character elements making Vic's life seem like it's unraveling, but Season 3 has done this in a smaller more subtle way, creating a wonderful ever shifting web.
We have the main story of the cops trying to clear Tommy's name, while another police force questions him. There's extra tension because Vic is going against Claudette's wishes to do this, hiding information from the other police force, while he's also dealing with the marked bills from the money train (loved how they handled the ending), Vic seeing how comfortable his wife is getting with Matthew's tutor, on top of Danielle potentially snitching on Vic and Julien. It keeps adding on when you look at the other characters too, like Vic trying to get the suspect killed, pushing Julien to kill him, knowing he's been getting rougher, and could actually happen. Vic trying to get the the guy to kill himself was crazy. Every time I think I've seen Vic do something more messed up he does something different each episode.
Some other things I'd like to mention are that I really like how they deal with the repercussions of last episode, which was the best of the season by so far. It was deviating to see what Aceveda had to go through, and they dealt with that in this episode quite well. I loved the scene when his family comes to see what's going on since he's swamping himself at work. Benito Martinez really sells the he's hiding pain beneath the surface. The "Long day, that's all." line really resonated with me. The main subplot of these episodes with the guy who rapes old women has been surprisingly tough too, and Dutch getting stood up by him at the end was so poetic in a sinister way. Also this episode was quite funny too, with Shane posing as a gay guy.
I think maybe this is why some of these episodes aren't as highly rated. As a whole they're not that important to the overall storyline, and Tommy's subplot could be viewed as filler, but everything surrounding them has been so well developed and intertwined in such a way that the events and actions of characters ripple and test these dynamics. That might also be the reason why these episodes feel longer to me as it's dealing with so many things at once behind the scenes. I thought this season started slow but the last 3 episodes have been consistently excellent. Moral of the story is to try to enjoy and appreciate even the seemingly weaker episodes of a show because maybe the other people didn't appreciate it enough.
I think what season 3 handles particularly well is creating heightened drama and tension through the use of multiple intertwined plot elements, character dynamics, and the establishments. Season 2 similarly did this through bigger plot and character elements making Vic's life seem like it's unraveling, but Season 3 has done this in a smaller more subtle way, creating a wonderful ever shifting web.
We have the main story of the cops trying to clear Tommy's name, while another police force questions him. There's extra tension because Vic is going against Claudette's wishes to do this, hiding information from the other police force, while he's also dealing with the marked bills from the money train (loved how they handled the ending), Vic seeing how comfortable his wife is getting with Matthew's tutor, on top of Danielle potentially snitching on Vic and Julien. It keeps adding on when you look at the other characters too, like Vic trying to get the suspect killed, pushing Julien to kill him, knowing he's been getting rougher, and could actually happen. Vic trying to get the the guy to kill himself was crazy. Every time I think I've seen Vic do something more messed up he does something different each episode.
Some other things I'd like to mention are that I really like how they deal with the repercussions of last episode, which was the best of the season by so far. It was deviating to see what Aceveda had to go through, and they dealt with that in this episode quite well. I loved the scene when his family comes to see what's going on since he's swamping himself at work. Benito Martinez really sells the he's hiding pain beneath the surface. The "Long day, that's all." line really resonated with me. The main subplot of these episodes with the guy who rapes old women has been surprisingly tough too, and Dutch getting stood up by him at the end was so poetic in a sinister way. Also this episode was quite funny too, with Shane posing as a gay guy.
I think maybe this is why some of these episodes aren't as highly rated. As a whole they're not that important to the overall storyline, and Tommy's subplot could be viewed as filler, but everything surrounding them has been so well developed and intertwined in such a way that the events and actions of characters ripple and test these dynamics. That might also be the reason why these episodes feel longer to me as it's dealing with so many things at once behind the scenes. I thought this season started slow but the last 3 episodes have been consistently excellent. Moral of the story is to try to enjoy and appreciate even the seemingly weaker episodes of a show because maybe the other people didn't appreciate it enough.
