The Brave Roundtable: Desperate Times

The Brave ended it’s mid-winter finale on a cliffhanger. After learning the identity of the man who orchestrated the bombing from the pilot out team headed to Iran to take him out. Things did not go as planned and one of the team was left in pretty serious danger and the episode came to a close. Our thoughts on the episode are below.

Hassan indicated that things can get pretty bad for a female that gets captured. How do you think the team and Jaz are going to respond to this cliffhanger ending? Do you think the team will respond differently because Jaz is a woman?
Cara: I hate to think that they’ll act differently because she’s a woman, especially given how well the show portrays women overall, but I do think Jaz being captured will provoke a different response than if it was someone else. I know Patricia said that they’re on their own if they get captured, but that’s not how this team works. Perhaps we’ll learn something about the direction the closeness between Dalton and Jaz is headed. Something like this could bring out hidden emotions, or remind them why those emotions could be dangerous.
Leah: I think Dalton will definitely respond differently and I’m okay with that. The team is close, as special forces teams are, they will not let her be captured for long. Or at least I don’t see them failing in recovering her.
Rueben: Agreed, they won’t waste much time working to recover her, and Jaz won’t go down easy. After all Dalton told Hassan something along the lines that he feels bad for anyone who tries to take Jaz because of what she’d do to them. That speaks volumes. This situation, though, will bring out the big brother (in a good way) mentality in the guys, working to get her back; and I any feelings that Dalton has for her will be intensified.

What are your thoughts on The Brave so far? How do you feel about what you’ve seen of the show and characters?
Cara: I really like this show, particularly because of the characters. I find them compelling, and each character is endearing and adds to the show. It’s a new show, so they’re still figuring out the relationships and comraderie and what works, but I’m optimistic that they’ll work out the kinks. At times I feel like we’re venturing a little too far towards hypernationalism, but given the nature of the show, that’s to be expected. I love the way the show takes us around the world into different cultures, and I want to see more than just an us vs. them scenario each week. But, like I said, that is the nature of a military drama.
Leah: I really like this show. The way they are portraying women in an equal light in a military show is refreshing. I like how the show has come together so far. I know special forces teams are used mostly for in and out missions but it would be nice to see some more interaction between them and foreign governments/people.
Rueben: I am really enjoying the show so much more than any of the other military dramas. I find myself glued to the set while watching, rather than only having it on as background noise – like the other new military dramas. I care about the characters, enjoy the intensity of their missions as well as the lighter moments. It is a well put-together show.

Did anyone see the beach bombing from the pilot being such a pivotal incident so many episodes later?
Leah: I am sure I complained about the writers making this bombing from the pilot something that was just left hanging. I take it back. The way they have brought it back around, received intel on the perpetrator from a previous episode/case, really made sense. It all tied together.
Rueben: I had a feeling that the beach bombing would have to play a bigger role in the overall arc, otherwise it was a waste to include it in the pilot, but I wasn’t sure how it would play out. I was glad to see the connections all being made as it shows that TPTB behind the show had a plan.
Cara: Like Leah, I felt like the beach bombing was just sort of dropped, but I get it now and like the way they tied it together with other missions. It also feels a little realistic. I imagine intelligence doesn’t come in a regularly as we’d like, so it makes sense that the team would be left waiting. It also makes me hopeful that some of the folkshow we liked in past episodes might reappear.

When that call came through from the Aida Hareb’s brother, the woman Jaz was impersonating, what were you expecting her to do to Jarif?
Rueben: As soon as that phone rang, I knew it was going south, but I sure didn’t expect her to take out Jarif like that. Granted, he deserved exactly what he got, but I wasn’t sure what to anticipate.
Cara: I knew that whatever happened, Jaz could handle it. That said, the whole plan seemed questionable to me. If she was a messenger for the brother, of course he’d have checked in. I think there will be a lot of regret about going in on such a sketchy plan.
Leah: I’m with Cara (and Rueben) I got the dreaded feeling things were going south as soon as that phone rang and I also questioned the plan. They usually do so much better, plan wise.

With Jaz being captured, what do you think the team member in D.C. will be able to do, if anything? Given how Patricia reacted, I can’t imagine she’s going to just sit on her hands and do nothing.
Rueben: I have a feeling that Patricia will pull any and all strings that are at her disposal to help the team recover Jaz by whatever means necessary.
Cara: I agree. We’ve seen that D.C. and the field team have such a trusting relationship, so I am sure they’ll do anything they can. I think a lot of the responsibility for this falls on Patricia for giving the go ahead, so she’s going to want to make it right. Patricia is a sharp leader. I have confidence that she won’t rest until Jaz is safe,and that she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Leah: Oh Patricia is the definition of ride or die for her team. I know she said they would basically be disavowed if they got caught but there is no way she is leaving a “man” behind.

THE BRAVE returns Monday January 1st 10/9c on NBC