If you would like to read my review of last week’s episode, click here.
Synopsis: Murtaugh and Riggs search for an unreliable father who committed a robbery 20,000 feet in the air with his daughter as the main witness. (IMDB)
Writer: Seamus Kevin Fahey
Director: Omar Madha
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 44mins
One of the best parts of the series so far has been getting to learn more about these characters and we got a little bit of it here. Before that, the episode started with a man named Dan Cooper (Adrian Pasdar) committing a robbery on a private jet. He took expensive watches and jewelery rather easily but faced a some opposition when he tried to take a man’s briefcase. He eventually submitted to Cooper’s gun, however, when he was trying to jump out of the jet, the man jumped out with him.
This was followed by Riggs getting rid of some of his past at a pawn shop. The most notable thing he gave away was a rifle that was given to him by his father (Rex Linn). We learned this in a flashback of when they went hunting. Riggs missed the first time. Meanwhile, with Trish gone, Murtaugh tried to connect with Riana but she mostly tuned him out. He wanted to spend time with her, however, she had other plans.
At the crime scene, Riggs thought it was awesome. The flight attendant was not much help as the lack of security on these types of flights made it easy for Cooper to board with his gun. Riggs thought whoever rode with all their expensive things had it coming to them. Riggs thought of himself as a simple man but Murtaugh rightfully acknowledged all of his other baggage.
Cahill confronted Riggs about letting go of his past. The pressing issue was why he gave up something from his childhood, prompting a conversation about his parents. Santos confronted Avery about his conference. He had a much different interpretation of what happened. He thought he was being rewarded but it was a step before suspension. Santos believed that Murtaugh and Riggs should respect his authority. He made a display in front of her and asked them to tone it down so she didn’t fire him.
While on the search for Cooper, Murtaugh and Riggs learned that the flight attendant was Cooper’s daughter Nora. She claimed to not have anything to do with the robbery due to their estranged relationship. She led him to one of his fences who worked at an arcade. Murtaugh felt the need to win something for Riana so he got a giant panda. They also learned that Cooper was dying. Nora then led them to Chinatown where Cooper was set to have a meeting. They sat and watched from their car until he arrived, only to be greeted by gunfire. Murtaugh and Riggs saved him but the panda got caught in the crossfire.
They figured that someone that Cooper stole from wanted him dead. The man who jumped out of the plane with him was shot but he claimed that the gun he had wasn’t loaded which he was eventually cleared from. He wasn’t going to say more until he got to speak to his daughter. Riana then visited them at the station because she got arrested for protesting at a zoo. While Murtaugh interrogated her to also learn what she was keeping from him earlier, Riggs tried to convince Nora to talk to her father.
Cooper told them about the briefcase and that it was in the lake where he landed before fainting. In the hospital, they learned that he was indeed dying and he and Nora embraced. At the station, Riggs got in trouble for how he disposed of the rifle that the LAPD didn’t know he had but that was quickly set aside once they learned that the briefcase was full of diamonds. Bowman clumsily attempted to dive for the briefcase but it was all for naught since Cooper lied about it being in the lake.
Once they went back to confront Cooper at the hospital, he was gone, stealing Nora’s earring during their earlier embrace to pick his handcuffs, and the people after him took Nora. The fence led them back to Cooper’s phone number so they called him about Nora but he seemed to not care. At the exchange, Avery and Santos were there and Cooper showed up. Santos wanted a plan despite Avery giving them free reign. Cooper brought them the briefcase but he wanted to see his daughter. Once things got dicey, Riggs shot at the exchange, just missing Santos, to break it up while Murtaugh handled Nora’s captors.
At the hospital, Nora was upset when Cooper tried to slip her a stolen diamond. Avery and Santos drank after the mission while Santos believed that what happened earlier was insane. As a result, she offered to transfer him to a post of his choosing but he wanted to stay. Murtaugh and Riggs were lunatics but they were his lunatics. Riana decided to stay home with her friends instead of going out, however, he still tried to embarrass her as he left them alone.
The episode ended with Riggs seeing the rifle once again and then we got the remainder of the earlier flashback where his father told them that they were out because his mother was sick and she didn’t want him to see her like that while his father finished off the deer. Riggs admitted to Cahill that his father taught him how to shoot with it and he shot his father with it.
Overall, this was a good episode with some more compelling backstory on Riggs. The father/daughter story contrasted well with Murtaugh trying to connect to his own daughter and to a lesser extent, Avery with Murtaugh and Riggs. It was great to see him stand up for them and hopefully the team will stay together.
Score: 8/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.