As more series wrap up their newest seasons, some are attempting to fire on all cylinders. That includes shows that seemed to be on the bubble for renewal or cancellation.
Fox still has to make a decision on whether or not a few shows will continue past their current season. This includes Going Dutch, the network's military comedy, which has yet to be renewed for a third season.
The show's latest episode shows what the show can bring to an audience and may have been its best yet. It proves that the show can provide both humor and drama in the same 23-minute slot.
Going Dutch season 2, episode 10, "The Heart Locker," featured an injured Colonel Quinn who threw out his back getting a piece of bacon. It leads to the rest of the team taking care of everything else on the base. This includes Major Shah working on clearing landmines from a field used during World War II.
Shah decides to do things by the book, which puts him in a dangerous situation as he steps on a landmine. Meanwhile, the colonel's daughter, Captain Maggie, is forced to confront her own decision-making as a commander on the base.
When confronted, both speak about their unresolved feelings, and it gives the fans of the audience a payoff seeing them kiss for the first time. This despite the fact that Shah still has his foot on the landmine.
The characters overcome the odds in the episode. What brings together the episode is the use of what might happen from the landmine and the humor associated with it and how each character confronts that.
The writing is top-notch, from the romance of Shah and Maggie to certain smaller moments. When Major Shah realizes that the town worker Jan has brought on a former Nazi to the airbase, it is a laugh-out-loud moment.
One of the better lines comes from Elias Papadakis, the lazy but well-meaning corporal. When at first they decide to use a robot as a tool to clear the landmines, it soon gets stuck. Papadakis pronounces, "Never leave a man behind; it is the only thing I know about the military."
It is one of those lines that hits for both humor and understanding. Especially from someone such as myself who served in the Air Force.
As the show enters the home stretch for its second season, it will continue to produce strong and fun episodes to finish out. Thursday night was a great step in that direction.