Lethal Weapon: Season 2, Episode 16
“Roamers gotta’ roam…” “Ruthless” starts off in a rather tense place when a gun buy-back program goes terribly awry. Gun control and firearm safety are obviously a very important topic right now, but Lethal Weapon fearlessly marches on with all of this. Lines like “it’s raining guns out there,” are said as the camera scrolls past hundreds of guns changing hands. Some individuals decide to be opportunists here, but the idea to steal guns with the use of more guns is absolutely ridiculous, but there’s a certain poetic justice to it. This gun heist leads to a dead body when one of the robbers, Booker, decides to take out his partner and leaves the LAPD to figure out the “why” of it all. The case gets a whole lot more complicated when it turns out that Booker, the man who killed his partner and stole the guns, is actually an undercover ATF agent. Murtaugh doesn’t buy Booker’s routine, but Avery confirms the suspect’s claims. The problem then shifts over to how Booker refuses to hand over any of the guns until he’s done with his case. On the topic of people that are in danger and in pain, Riggs goes through a very different sort of emotional gauntlet in this episode. This has not been an easy year for Riggs, psychologically speaking, but “Ruthless” highlights a different vulnerability within Riggs. Swoosie Kurtz returns as Ruth Krumholtz and she’s back in full force in this episode. It’s a little surprising to see just how much the show embraces her in this entry and how keen they are to have her and Riggs become this curmudgeon-y duo (this is also the second episode in a row that’s named after her!). All of this material connects to great effect and these two find a sweet rhythm between one another. Riggs even figures out how to cheat at a game like Mahjong (or Mojango, as Riggs may call it). What’s also great here is that in spite of the awesome chemistry between Riggs and Ruth, there are clearly no romantic prospects between them. This is just a nice new bond for Riggs to get attached to here. It’s someone else that he gets to protect. It’s also interesting that it only takes two episodes for Ruthie and Riggs to get their own unofficial theme song, The Band’s “The Weight.” It’s also interesting that they even have a theme song at all! Riggs is busy spiraling out over losing his new friend, but Murtaugh finds himself still butting heads with Trish over his impulsive decisions. Their marital tiff from last episode spills over into this week and now their children are involved, too. It’s satisfying to see Lethal Weapon take this fight seriously and have it grow into a bigger storyline for the two of them. Roger even compares Trish to Sun Tzu here, so clearly things are serious. The two don’t get that many plots that have a real arc across episodes and while this isn’t anything groundbreaking content-wise, it’s still encouraging territory. It’s also nice to see that Riana is the one who attempts to fix this mess while RJ kicks back. Clearly his time off from college isn’t improving his moral compass any. Murtaugh feels powerless at home (especially when his Harley takes a mighty dive), but he thinks that he can at least offer some expertise in the gun theft case since he briefly did a stint undercover. Murtaugh’s talents may be grossly exaggerated, but someone that Avery can rely on here is the ATF. Booker’s unique situation and his tenure with the ATF acts as enough reason for them to team up with the LAPD here. Unfortunately for Avery, this also means that Charlie Blum hits the scene, who apparently is an old frenemy from Avery’s earlier years. It doesn’t take long to see how similar Avery and Blum are. The two even have matching ulcers and coma fantasies. The best thing about this is that Charlie Blum is played by Wallace Langham (most famously known as David Hodges from CSI, but should be known for his work as Phil on The Larry Sanders Show and Andy from Mission Hill). Langham fits in great here and he’d be a welcome addition if the show decides to bring him back in a recurring capacity. The episode’s final act generates some real suspense when Booker and Murtaugh are forced to trust each other and work through a less than ideal situation together. This added level of deception makes “Ruthless” hit all the harder and it features one of the better final set pieces in recent memory. Much of this final act also plays out where at least one of the good guys has a gun pointed at them, so there’s a lot going on in this one. The end of the episode where a chaotic shootout forces one Randy Drexler to execute the other is a real highlight, but the entire entry is full of great action set pieces. There’s a suburban chase sequence that gives the episode a boost of energy early on. Then later on, Riggs doesn’t even flinch as he jumps up an elevator shaft and begins to climb after Murtaugh and Booker. The action in “Ruthless” hits big, but the comedy in this one also really works and the episode knows how to play it to its advantage. The information that Riggs often takes naps in the lockers at the morgue says volumes for his character. The whole Randy Drexler mix-up is also perhaps the funniest gag that the show has ever done and it plays out in a totally natural way. Even simple moments like the scene where Avery and Blum trade war stories over who has the worst lunatic in their department has a lot of meta humor behind it. “Ruthless” amounts to one of the better Lethal Weapon episodes to come along lately. It benefits from taking a step back from Riggs’ daddy issues and the other well-worn hats of the series as it begins to chisel out new history for the show. The episode’s case is intelligently complex and acts as a refreshing angle for the show. At the same time, the episode isn’t afraid to move the series forward with its broader strokes. If every episode could be this good, the show would be a dream.
