ABC’s new Shonda Rhimes series The Catch is predictably following all the other Shondaland shows in pushing liberal agendas on primetime TV. This time, the episode “The Benefactor” propagandizes women in combat and the evil men who want to stop them.
Captain Nia Brooks (Samira Wiley) is the first female Army Ranger and she has come to Anderson Vaughan Investigations for help in figuring out who is sending her death threats, like a bullet hole through her dog tags and a letter saying she was killed in action. Female lead Alice Vaughan (Mirelle Enos) makes no secret of where her feminist sympathies lie. She tells Nia, “We will figure out who's behind this, and we'll make it stop. What you're doing is too important.”
But in trying to push women in combat, The Catch shows exactly why women SHOULDN'T be in combat - because men feel the need to protect them. Watch as Nia’s Ranger brother Brian (Tory Kittles) tries to defend her from the ignorant, cocky soldier who has a problem with her. And then Detective Danny punches him in the face, supposedly not for her, and we know it’s for the liberal audience who are all “Rah, rah girl power!”
Danny: Nia, Nia, Stop!
Nia: Was this you?
Evan: [ Sighs ] Nope. But whoever it was, I'm a fan.
Brian: What the hell's going on here?
Danny: Nia, can we go?
Nia: I carried the same weight as you, ran the same miles as you. I just didn't wash out like you.
Evan: [ Chuckles ] You failed twice, same as me. But Sergeant Moore was told he had to graduate at least one woman. So if you're wondering why we all hate you, including Sergeant Moore --
Brian: You want to talk that way to my sister in front of me, Lieutenant? You sure you want to do that?
Nia: I can fight my own battles, Brian. You want to find out what kind of soldier I am? Come on. You and me, right now.
Evan: See? That's the thing about girls -- so emotional.
Nia: You’re not worth it.
Brian: Nia. Nia!
Evan: Why would I bother with death threats? You're not even a real soldier. The minute you land overseas, you're gonna die.
Nia: Hey. What did you do that for?
Danny: That wasn't for you. That was for me. I hate that guy.
Nia says she can fight her own battles, but the chivalry that is ingrained in men still comes out - no wonder the military is going to send troops to re-education classes to retrain their brains NOT to protect women. Plus look at her, she’s tiny compared to all the men around her.
It turns out it is Nia’s brother Brian who has been sending her threats. He says, “You are the strongest, bravest woman I know. But you're a woman. And there are Rangers out there who hate you because of that, who do not have your back. And if they don't have your back in combat, you're dead. And I don't want you to die. There are other ways you can serve.” Alice steps into the brother-sister fight to make it all about herself by saying, “I’m so tired of hearing men say they are trying to protect us when what that does is take away our choices.”
Of course, it is the Neanderthal men who are at fault! But The Catch can’t quite figure out if men are heartless and willing to let women die in combat, or are overly protective. Either way, men are to blame for keeping women down. Never mind the obvious physical and biological differences or that women are more likely to become injured and are less accurate with weapons than men or that women serving in combat roles in other countries is quite rare.
Putting women in combat roles isn’t something the military came up with on their own, it’s civilian social justice warriors pushing their own agenda and carrying out social engineering on our troops, consequences be damned.
It makes for a nice liberal Hollywood story, but has no place in the real world where, unfortunately, fantasy has become reality.
