Major Crimes Season 4 Episode 8 Review: Hostage of Fortune
Jack Ori
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For some reason, on TV the FBI is always in the way of the local police.
Major Crimes Season 4 Episode 8 was no exception. In fact, Special Agent Jerry Shay was one of the most obnoxious, arrogant and annoying characters I've ever seen on a television series. I felt bad for Provenza and the rest of the crew that had to deal with him.
"Hostage of Fortune" was an enjoyable hour of television despite Shay's presence. If there must be an FBI/local police conflict, I prefer it be a little bit more realistic, but this one was definitely entertaining.
From the beginning, the Major Crimes unit suspected Shay of being involved in the crime being investigated.
Provenza: Consult? Here's an idea: Why don't we just ask Special Agent Shay what he did with the money and go home?
I didn't think he was; I figured he was just guilty of extreme pompousness. I wish the show had gone the route of him actually knowing what he was talking about so that at least the arrogance would have been justified, even if Provenza would have been very unhappy about it.
What if Shay is right about the parents? Oh, I would hate it if he were right.
Provenza
I did enjoy Shay's conflict with Sharon, and thought she was winning the battle until the moment that Shay showed up at the station to arrest the parents. I bought into his belief that the parents might have something to do with it and found myself watching very carefully when they were informed of their son's death. I thought the father seemed genuinely upset and the mother not so much.
Of course, it wasn't the parents at all. It was Kevin's two friends, which is what I thought the first time I saw them. Shouldn't have listened to Shay. In retrospect, he seemed so wedded to his theory that it was blinding him to everything else.
This guy's name never came up once.
Shay
I guess he didn't want to have to rewrite his novel if he was wrong. Having that be his big secret instead of him actually being corrupt was a nice twist.
Rusty's storyline was a lot more serious than the actual case in "Hostage of Fortune." In one fell swoop, he learned not to take a friend for granted and that finding out the truth isn't always as fun or as noble as it seems. I really liked the way TJ stood up to Rusty, and it made me hope that Rusty will get a second chance with him somewhere down the line.
You said you wanted to stay in touch about this Gustavo guy, and then you didn't call me back for four days or even acknowledge that I exist.
TJ
I don't think it was nearly as simple as Rusty just wanting to use TJ. He's been struggling with his feelings towards him all season and been afraid to get too involved with him. I think the real cover-up is the one Rusty is doing on himself, convincing himself his interest in TJ is merely for what he can do to help him with the case. Rusty did seem to realize this, even if it was too late.
For the record, TJ is a nice guy. I'm the jerk.
Rusty
At least Rusty wasn't nearly as big a jerk as Agent Shay. I wish we had seen the press conference. I'm with Chief Taylor; that would have been highly entertaining.
What did you think? Did Shay cross the line from entertaining to merely obnoxious, or did his antics amuse you? How soon did you crack the case? And should Rusty get another chance with TJ? Weigh in below!
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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
