Not gonna lie, this week’s episode of Whiskey Cavalier kind of annoyed the hell out of me. Twitter chatter has led me to believe that this episode was originally scheduled to air earlier in the season. Have no idea why they decided to wait on “Hearts and Mind” but they really shouldn’t have because it just pulled everybody back a couple steps from the magic land of character and team development.
You know how some shows are now doing Christmas episodes/specials? And it doesn’t really matter if you’ve ever watched one episode of this show, you’ll understand because the storylines are basic and the characters are their most basic versions of themselves. That’s what I felt while watching this episode and how every single character that we know and love has been turned back to their factory setting.
The spark we’ve seen growing between Will and Frankie was dulled down and almost smothered in a plot that rightfully should’ve and has been done earlier on in the season. Standish has proved himself, growing by leaps and bounds because of the people on this team. Jai has opened up and started looking at this group of people as his family. Hell, even Ray had character development that made me like him and poof, all gone in “Hearts & Minds.”
One of the only shining lights in this episode was Will. He was the same bright, bubbly, and courageous man he’s been from day one. He believes in his team, big time. And he wants to connect with them in a meaningful way. Yes, I do think they’ve already reached this point with each other as a team, but in the grand scheme of things Will was the only one that was still the same man. I don’t know what it says about Will that an episode that was aired out of order could still leave him in a position where he still remains the agent we know and love. Maybe, the core of him, no matter what episode, is that of a good man who believes in his team.
Frankie, our other head of this team, has been a driving force of this team. Making it seem like the team didn’t see her as a leader after everything they’ve been through felt ignorant and like they didn’t even care for the quality and integrity of Frankie’s continuing character development. She had to learn lessons and had “moments” in “Hearts & Minds” that she’s already had.
I understand that things take time to stick. Sometimes old behaviors pop up and no matter what you’ve learned about yourself, the people around you, or the lessons you’ve been put through, past versions of yourself rear their ugly heads to throw you off your game. But I don’t think this applies to Whiskey Cavalier. They’ve already worked through issues of trust, being a team, and slowly starting to feel like a family.
That’s why “Hearts & Minds” felt like a step back. Hell, multiple steps back. And here’s hoping we don’t get an episode that is so out of order ever again. Please and thank you!
Check out the trailer for next week’s Whiskey Cavalier titled “Good Will Hunting”:
Whiskey Cavalier airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.