Lethal Weapon Season 2 Episode 15: An Inconvenient Ruth Review

If you would like to read my review of last week’s episode, click here.

Synopsis: Murtaugh and Riggs search for the culprit of a local jewelry heist; Murtaugh gets called “grandpa” by another parent while at the playground with Harper sending him into a tizzy; Riggs deals with withdrawal from drinking. (IMDB)

Writer: Kyle Warren

Director: Larry Teng

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 44mins

Murtaugh and Riggs are definitely characters with personality. This is what has made them fun to watch through almost two seasons. Sometimes the case of the week takes a backseat to their personality and that can sometimes be good or bad. This episode falls in the middle as it was neither the best, nor the worst as it treaded familiar ground when it came to subplots involving Murtaugh and Riggs.

The case this week saw Murtaugh and Riggs search for a jewelry thief. His partner was shot by a witness in the jewelry store, an eccentric woman named Ruth (Swoosie Kurtz), before he was struck and killed by a passing truck. Ruth lived in an RV whose door broke off because of Riggs’ illegal search. She held him responsible so she attempted to extort him for the repairs to her RV and a night at a hotel while it was being repaired. She was kicked out of the hotel not too long after for skinny dipping.

Both Murtaugh and Riggs had identity crises in the episode as Murtaugh wanted to prove to himself and others that he wasn’t old after being called “grandpa” by another parent in a park. This meant that he pretty much tried to act like he was younger and perform death defying acts like Riggs throughout the episode. Meanwhile, Riggs believed he had lost an edge after quieting drinking.

The jewelry heist was connected to a tech mogul whose company went bankrupt who hired the thieves through the dark web. Having a hefty life insurance policy on his wife, they believed that he would try and kill her for the insurance money. Instead, someone hired people to kidnap both of them.

When they got to the cabin where they were being held, it was doused on the inside with gasoline. The wife acted like she had been kidnapped by her husband but they knew the truth. After having taken a drink from the hotel minibar, Riggs seemed to have regained his edge. Murtaugh performed one more dangerous act by rescuing a cat from the cabin doused with gasoline and propane. Trish was not thrilled.

Murtaugh felt alive but Trish didn’t like that he was making dangerous decisions for himself. She wanted him to promise that this would end, however, his answer was unsatisfactory for her so she made him sleep on the couch.

Ruth parked her RV on the beach next to Riggs just in time to interrupt him attempting to go skinny dipping. He was no longer interested after she offered to join him.

Overall, this was a decent episode that treaded too much familiar ground when it came to Murtaugh and Riggs but was still somewhat fun to watch with Murtaugh act younger than he was. The addition of Ruth is what slightly sets this episode apart from the others as she was a fun addition. Her banter with Riggs was fun to watch as well as she just annoyed the bejeesus out of him. Though she may have parked next to him at the end of the episode, it will be interesting if she stays.

Score: 7.5/10

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Keith Noakes

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.