My Review of Boots: "The Buddy System"

 

Written by Jonathan Caren

Directed by Phil Abraham

Cody (to John): "I wish I didn't have a brother."

Well, you almost your wish there, Cody. Twins being so diametrically apart from one another. It did make for a good plot as I think the episode managed to draw sympathy and frustration in equal measures for both siblings.

We got flashbacks in the episode with the brothers being pitted against one another. John's failures became Cody's failures under their abusive father. Cody grew to resent John and wanted to join the Marine Corps to get away from. John signing up too really threw a spanner in the works for Cody.

In this episode, John and Cody literally became tethered to each other because Sergeant Cary Wayne Howitt (Nicholas Logan) was a massive dick. Logan even forced the two to share a bed together, adding to the tension between the twins. Then he made sure to further set them apart during the training.

I was hoping the episode would have John beat the odds and his brother and complete the training. It even looked like he was about to and then he got seriously injured. At least Cody showed some genuine concern for John. Then there's Sergeant Sullivan using John's injury for his own nefarious reasons.

The episode was sowing a conflict between Cameron and Ray. The latter was desperate to be a Squad Leader and Sullivan did everything to sever Cameron and Ray's bond. I think he succeeded by having Cameron become the new Squad Leader just to piss off Ray. Sullivan's also a bit of a dick.

Keeping with antagonistic characters, Slovacek was the embodiment of all of Cameron's high school bullies folded into one. He upped the homophobia with Cameron, refused to take Flight duty and of course, nearly killed Cameron. Then again, Cameron did douse Slovacek with a bucket of John's piss, so there was that. Slovacek's default does seem to be homophobic bully thus far. I hope he develops beyond that as the show progresses.

- Cameron tried to gauge if Nash was gay with no results. Eduardo talked about his wife and kid and Hick didn't waste time in calling in a favour.

- While Howett seemed to dislike Fajardo, both Sullivan and McKinnon were respectful of her. Sullivan was in Guam but most of his files have been redacted. He also made Cameron into the scribe.

- Standout music: New Order's Blue Monday. The show might be set in the 1990s but the soundtrack so far certainly isn't.

- Chronology: Not long after the events of the first episode.

The Buddy System critiqued that system for signing up recruits. The flashbacks with John and Cody were brief but effective, along with Sullivan dismantling Cameron and Ray's friendship. It's a strong second outing.

Rating: 8 out of 10