Lethal Weapon season 3 episode 6 review: Was Cole captured? + The Gute is loose

Lethal Weapon season 3

Given that we’re six episodes in to Lethal Weapon season 3, isn’t now the right time for a progress report?

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Let’s kick things off for a moment by going back in time to the start of the season — really a scary concept when it comes to this show. Remember all of the headlines, the commentary online, and the drama. All of this signaled that the show was on a sinking ship towards cancellation. It could still be.

Yet, creatively at least, this is a series that has found a way to pick itself up (at least slightly) by some of its bootstraps. It’s found a way to push forward with Seann William Scott as a co-lead, but to go along with that has to be a recognition that this is not the same Lethal Weapon anymore. It’s a little bit lighter and Scott carries with him a different vibe than Riggs. There are still clear similarities though, and that comes in the form of action, shootouts, and explosions.

For Scott’s Wesley Cole, tonight he found himself starting to feel a little uneasy thanks in part to the arrival of his former mentor Tom Barnes (Mykelti Williamson). This is a guy who harbors some secrets, and also apparently has no problem pulling the hand-someone-a-gun-in-a-restaurant move. He gave Cole instructions in order to take somebody down and with that, you gotta wonder the inevitable question as to whether or not Barnes is bringing Cole back into a life that he doesn’t want to be a part of anymore. The producers tried to remind you of that, repeatedly, in some of the scenes featuring himself and his daughter Maya.

By the end of the episode’s end, Tom roped Cole into a heated, guns-a-blazing sort of shootout with (who else?) very bad people. He survived, but in the end, he still had to kill. Here’s the question that you gotta wonder about Cole in the aftermath of tonight: Is Cole working with Tom a good thing? Even if they are taking out some pretty-terrible people, it still comes with a cost. That cost is him doing something he doesn’t want to, where he has to carry that weight home to Maya. The consequences came in the form of cartel people coming to Cole’s home and capturing him before he could get inside to see her. (Side note: What’s with all the cartel drama on crime shows lately?)

Meet “The Gute”

Tonight, Lethal Weapon decided that they also needed a new, freewheeling undercover cop — someone who Trish just so happens to be representing. Murtaugh, at least for part of the episode, decided to be the stubborn, paranoid, and over-protective husband. He didn’t want this woman in his home … at least before realizing that she had a badge and actually wasn’t a criminal. Hey, it ain’t the first time that Murtaugh has looked kinda foolish on this show.

As it turns out, Murtaugh actually ended up warming up to The Gute … at least enough for her to introduce her to Bailey, a new potential partner. They didn’t get off on the best of terms, to say the least. Still, pretty fun introduction between the two!

CarterMatt Verdict

It’s on the right track and, for the time being, that’s all you can hope for. More so than anything that actually happened on the show tonight, the larger thing to wonder is what in the world Fox was thinking for putting this episode on the night of the midterms and in the thick of the race? How many people are really even able to concentrate on anything other than the polls? There was some important stuff tonight like Cole working with Tom, Cole still keeping secrets from Murtaugh about his past and Cole eventually getting captured! Let’s not forget about the Gute being crazy! Yet, how many people are really there to see it?

Did you dig Lethal Weapon season 3 episode 6, and are you digging the entire series to date? Sound off now in the comments. (Photo: Fox.)

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