Letter Jackets, Baseballs & Diamonds In Lethal Weapon 2.20

[PLEASE NOTE: This recap of Lethal Weapon: Season 2, Episode 20: Jesse’s Girl DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS. It is assumed you have already viewed the episode. If you have not, it is recommended you do so. Episode 20: Jesse’s Girl can be seen on Fox On-Demand or via your preferred streaming service.]

We’re getting a little bit closer, to the end of Lethal Weapon: Season 2, you guys! When you enjoy a TV series, nearing a season’s end is always a bittersweet prospect. However, sometimes a break can be a good thing. But, when rumors swirl that the show may be on the bubble, that’s just a bummer. Thus with a finite number of episodes left no matter what, here’s what 2.20: Jesse’s Girl gave us:
This episode begins in the past in Kerr County, Texas circa 1996. Young Molly (Sophia Woodward) dreams of getting out of their small Texas town. On the other hand, Young Riggs (Chase Mangum) wants a family and a kid he can take to little league, one day. Cut to the present and Riggs (Clayne Crawford)  is doing just that. The issue is however that Ben (Duncan Joiner) is nervous about playing. To try and alleviate the boy’s fears, our hero tucks in Ben’s uniform and rubs his new glove down to break it in. Such game prep seems to do the trick and gives the kid confidence.
Later that night, older kids are out and about to have problems of their own. Rianna (Chandler Kinney) and her wild-child, new friend, Phoebe (Priscilla Quintana) are having innocent fun at the bowling alley. As the girls wait for their turn at the pins, Phoebe compliments Rianna on her jacket, which happens to be Murtaugh’s old letter jacket. Phoebe tries the jacket on; alas the borrowed heirloom doesn’t keep her attention for long. Instead, Phoebe’s boyfriend, Tyler (James Morosini), catches her eye. Before Rianna realizes it, the two lovebirds have bailed on bowling, with Murtaugh’s old coat in tow. Soon, the couple finds themselves at Tyler’s neighbor’s house. One which happens to be unoccupied as the neighbor is out of town.
Taking the occasion as an opportunity, Tyler breaks into the house, and he and Phoebe proceed to indulge in the booze, pills, and diamonds in the house. Their teenage shenanigans are short-lived when another neighbor named Randy notices them out in the pool though. As Randy goes over to investigate, Phoebe runs for it, per Tyler’s instruction. Then, slowly, the young man pulls a pistol from his waistband. From there, the episode cuts to Rianna coming home…ten minutes past curfew. As you might imagine, Murtaugh (Damon Wayans) and Trish (Keesha Sharp) are none too pleased with their daughter’s tardiness; telling her if she’s late again, she’ll be grounded. After making such a proclamation, our hero notices his jacket is missing and isn’t happy about it either.
The following morning, the boys show up at the crime scene at Randy’s house. Not surprisingly, Randy’s dead, thanks to a gunshot to the head. Initially, the crime is assumed to be “A B&E gone wrong.” That is until Riggs takes a closer look at the nearby pool. Opening one of the pool’s filters, he and Murtaugh find the letter jacket stuffed inside it. Thankfully, Murtaugh’s quickly able to get to the bottom of why his jacket was stored in a semi-aquatic nature. However being forthcoming with such information doesn’t make matters much easier for Rianna as she, Murtaugh and Riggs head to the bowling alley to question Phoebe. The teenager gives Murtaugh the story, or at least, what she knows of it.
At the same time, Riggs spots Tyler and goes to talk to him. Alas, Riggs doesn’t get the chance as the gun-toting teen runs for it. The chase ends after Tyler manages to get himself stuck inside the pin-dispenser of a lane. Back in interrogation, the boys are able to bust Tyler for selling stolen prescriptions. However, the young thug still maintains, he didn’t kill Randy. Innocence doesn’t seem likely to Murtaugh or we the audience until moments later when Scorsese (Johnathan Fernandez) to reveal that ballistics did a lousy job and their report was incorrect. Phoebe is soon released into her angry mother, Martha’s (Bertila Damas) custody.  

As the teen walks to freedom, Bowman (Andrew Creer) suddenly appears with new evidence. After looking at the books that Randy kept for his father’s obstetrician shop, he quickly sees that the books were cooked. It’s clear from the ledger that the shop was being as used as a front. Thus, Riggs stops by to investigate the place. Of course, in doing so, he manages to walk in on a robbery. Theft escalates into violence as a gunfight breaks out. Alas, the bad guys manage to escape, with the exception of a few crew casualties. Thankfully, the owner of the optician shop, Stan (Joe Marinelli) can identify the man who robbed him, Nico (Jesus Ruiz). Nico and the late Randy used to work together. That is until the partnership went sour because Nico thought his partner was stealing from him. According to the optricion, Nico killed his step-son and was in his shop looking for a shipment of stolen diamonds.
Riggs’ conversation with the failed step dad, Stan, triggers a memory for our hero. Back in his baseball playing days, Young Riggs could do nothing but upset his father, Nathan (Rex Linn). One evening after a (presumably losing) game, Riggs’ dad decides to show him “The key to getting a base-hit.” He then drunkenly swings at beer bottles scattered around the room. Bottle after bottle breaks with brown glass flying in the air, with one piece nicking our young protagonist in the face. Thanks to the memory, back in the present, Riggs decides to play catch with Ben. Distracted for a moment by Molly (Kristen Gutoskie), Riggs absent-minded tosses a pop-fly at Ben, which hits the slugger smack-dab on the nose.
An afternoon of injury leads to a night of trouble. Once again, Rianna and Phoebe are hanging out. Such an occasion, of course, means that Phoebe shows Rianna the diamonds. The next morning, Rianna tells our heroes about the stolen ice. Meanwhile, Tyler’s been kidnapped by Nico and his gang, who are headed to Phoebe’s house to get the diamonds. As luck would have it though our boys beat the criminals to it. However, their timing doesn’t help avoid the firefight that ensues when the villains arrive. In a slight change of pace, Murtaugh puts bullets in criminals while Riggs keeps the teen from falling out a window, all while retrieving the diamonds.With another case, under their belts and badges; our heroes go their respective ways. Riggs apologizes to Ben, whole, in the end, decides to give the great American pastime another shot. Meanwhile, the see-bright hope in their daughter’s future as the did right thing in these case. Granted, Rianna gets punished for breaking several rules in the process.

If you’ve read my recaps, you know that I feel this season of Lethal Weapon has had its share of filler episodes. Again this week, we are treated to another one of those. Yes, Jesse’s Girl was perfectly watchable. Kind of like a bad car wash is still better a dirty car. To that point, I didn’t find this episode to be entertaining in general. Frankly, this episode was lacking humor; had repetitive action sequences and dull story. For me, this was just one of the series worst installments thus far; if not the worst.
In the opening of this recap, I referenced rumors of Lethal Weapon’s rumored possible cancellation. Such illogical whispers started spreading earlier in the season. The thing is though that the series’ ratings are quite good. I still enjoy the show and hope it doesn’t get canceled due to ratings or cast issues on set. Although, it’s clear to me that the series is due for a break. Perhaps 22 episodes for this show is just a little too much. Personally, I’m seeing a lot more filler with this season’s episodes. Whereas Season 1 only consisted of 18 episodes. Heck, maybe eighteen episode season is this show’s sweet-spot. I hope that Season 2 can close out strong with these remaining two, but we shall see.

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