Daniel was there. And he didn't.

There was a prolonged period where Travis and Daniel had the upper hand, and they did nothing. Daniel had a gun. He didn't make them get down on their knees, he didn't shoot them, he didn't make them get back in their boat. No one checked them for weapons. They just chatted, asking them questions. They didn't do anything more than Chris did.

But I agree with the rest of your post. Chris wasn't the one who really dropped the ball here. They all dropped the ball. Ofelia and Madison probably the most because they both fell hook, line and sinker for the ploy. Daniel and Travis for not subduing Jack and Reed while they had the chance. When Alicia came upstairs and said "Jack?", and it dawned on Daniel these were the men who were after them all this time, what does Daniel do? Immediately shoot them? Even keep his eyes on them? Nope. He turns his attention away from them, looks at Alicia, and says "What did you do?" lol. That's how he got overpowered.

This was a ball dropping festival, and it doesn't really make sense to single Chris out.

 

Brok, and I'll pile on further... What's more perplexing is that Strand likes to brag - to himself most of all - that he's a great student of people, that he has this blessed understanding of them. I'm sure he's used lines like "It's a gift."

He does set up Chris with the 'honor' of the MidWatch, praising and stroking Chris further by giving him The Gun. Oooh, something hard and black to hold in his widdle hands...

Yet Strand knows their boat is bait for any and every other boat/ship at sea. He has repeatedly badgered people about being targeted. ("Want to wait to see if that ship has 50-calibres onboard?")

He doesn't get Chris to sit a radar watch, though. Chris has no instructions to sound a warning horn and get Strand up at the first sign of a radar bleep? (That radar unit will also show when they've been 'pinged' by another boat's radar. That's a BIG hint of being tracked. In fact, your outgoing radar sweeps are detected further out than you can detect the returned images. The first step to not being detected is to shut down your own continuous radar sweeps - use them intermittently. Didn't he ever read or watch Clancy's RED OCTOBER?!! "Just one ping!")

Chris had to be told about Nick's adventure ashore, too, but was probably also instructed to not tell anyone else. Like Ophelia. Strand made so many bad choices. He really needs to sit those writers down and have a serious chat. "I know an overpass in N'awlins with yer names on it, just waiting for you."

 

Brok, I'd vote "too much conspiracy theory" for that eventuality. However... 'thinning the herd' obviously was in Luis' ability being a hotshot from a bouncing zodiac on a slowing rolling yacht. Those were a couple of fantastic shot!

If someone wanted to pose the question, "Uh, so why was Strand positioning himself below deck? Was Luis' orders to kill everyone topside?" Well, no, he had to ask Nick, "Who were the people with the guns?" So Luis wasn't on an obvious "kill everyone you see immediately" mission.

And then comes the Raft question. "Where did Strand stash that raft, and how did he get it over the side, inflated and drifting away? If Strand had give "kill everyone aboard" instructions to Luis, then Strand was removing himself by plan.

But no, I don't buy that at all. Strand is not a swimmer. Can't swim, in fact. That's why he didn't duck his head to retrieve the satellite phone - he certainly was vigorous in reaching for it - but wouldn't/couldn't dunk his head under to see it. That's not the act of someone who's ever swam before.

Strand volunteering himself over the side - a non-swimmer in a dinky raft - is only a Life Or Death decision.

Luis' original purpose onboard was strictly to get the boat and Strand past one patrol boat that had been paid off to be in one certain position at-sea at one certain time. That's why the Deadline was so critical - that boat had been paid off to allow the ABIGAIL's passage. Once another boat took over that patrol shift, all bribes were lost.

Go ahead... ask who knows patrol boat captains and crews well enough to bribe just one? What occupation has the need to locate, befriend and benefit one patrol boat? And Bribery needs to be as economical as possible. You can't be bribing entire navies or work-shifts, can you? Not unless all of Thomas Abigail's vista of agave plants are paying far more handsomely than anyone else's.

 

I didn't see Strand ever position himself below deck. When they first board the ship it shows Strand on the bridge looking down on them. When he realizes that his only weapon has had the magazine removed he sneaks down and steals the raft that the people boarded the ship from. Its not a boat from the ship, its the pirates' boat.

I'm guessing that Strand sent Nick to shore to get Luis since he can't swim, plus he likes to let other people do his dirty work. When the ship was overtaken he figured he'd go and try to meet up with Luis and Nick and let badass Luis retake the boat. He figured there'd be no way they could go anywhere since he took the keys to the ship.

 

Sorry - "position himself below deck" is a reference to him sleeping inside, down below, as opposed to getting blankets and sleeping on the bridge (thus, near to any radar alarms) or on the fantail, which would always be the only boarding location for 'civilians'. (I'll let the Special Forces guys climb the bow or parachute onto the weather decks.)

I think Strand's abandoning ship was entirely reasonable from a Life & Death standpoint, and your logic that perhaps he'd intercept Luis & Nick for a renewed assault since he 'had the keys' is well-argued.

It would have been interesting if the ammo clip had been in the rifle, and Strand could have attacked. I have this feeling that the use of human-shields wouldn't have produced many living survivors.

 

Yah he fits in better with the dead, some people are like that, some are better with the living.

 

Sure it would've been better. for our group. But it's a show. People need to do things to keep the show moving. If our group was perfect and slaughtered everyone and everything the show would be pointless.

For us the viewer, it wouldn't have been better if the invaders were killed on sight Sometimes our group does things which puts them in peril. That's needed to make the shop exciting.

 

When the boat first arrived Daniel wasn't there. Chris was asking if he should shoot. If Daniel was on watch he wouldn't have hesitated if he truly thought they were a threat. Unfortunately for our group the invaders seemed rather pathetic when they boarded. It was a clever deception. A pregnant lady in distress could fool a lot of people.

 

Daniel was there, with the upper hand, for a long period. He didn't do shit. He dropped the ball more than Chris did.

 

He did show up, that is true, Daniel and the rest failed, that is also true. But he wasn't there when the boat first arrived.

 

You're missing the point. He was there, with the upper hand, with guns trained on the pirates, for a prolonged period. He didn't do shit. He didn't shoot them, he didn't order them down to their knees, didn't check for weapons....and he turned his attention away from them after he realized who they were.

 

I'm not missing the point, I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying. What I'm saying in the Daniel was not there when the boat arrived. What happened latter is irrelevant to what I'm saying.

 

"should I shoot them"? "should I shoot them"?

 

Hard to learn a lesson until you learn it.

Some living learn quicker than others,like the writers on this show?

 

The writers learned how to stall and drag episodes out long, long ago. I swear - Gilligan's Island has more forward progress than TWD seasons. That's what we need - an island where a mad scientist can do brain transfers...

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started when ol' Sheriff Rick was blasted by a hick.

 

Why didn't they show up on Strand's radar?

 

There was no one watching the Radar.

 

No, its still relevant. Whether Daniel was there when the boat first arrived, or whether he showed up seconds later and had the pirates at gunpoint under his control, the outcome is the same. He didn't do what he should have.

 

Somehow I bet he will try his best to make up for that too with Reed who appears to threaten to torture Ophelia in the preview of the next episode.
Not the right guy to say this too me thinks.