'Tommy' Episode 4: Is Chief Thomas playing by the rulebook to keep up her bureaucratic approach?
When the show opened and introduced us to the first ever female chief of police of LAPD, we were all hopeful. Not only because she is the first woman to be in her position but also because she promised that her story would be about making changes to how things currently are. This might be a fictional take on the current social situations but it is still a representation of reality. When we see Tommy in her elements, we see someone who can turn things around and not someone who tries to be politically correct at all times.
Abigail Thomas opened the show with fireworks. When she introduced herself, she seemed defiant, fierce and a rule-bending, convention-breaking woman at the top. But then things seemed to have changed since. As we move forward into the story, her character graph seems to have gone askew. No, we don’t mean it negatively but Tommy is trying to conform to the "rules". We find this contradictory to her nature or at least how she initially portrayed herself.
Take the episode '19-hour Day' for instance. When a bomb threat hits the city, posing risk to hundreds of people at a convention center, her team is only trying to find the best practical solution. This is when Tommy chooses to take a rather bureaucratic approach and suddenly follows "protocol". Officer Decker might seem to be "breaking the law", as many are pointing out, but he is only being realistic towards the situation. But of course Tommy thinks otherwise.
In the pursuit of following "protocols", she might have saved the day but she loses one of her efficient and dedicated men on the force, as Decker resigns.
If one has to change the norms for the right reasons, then it cannot always be smooth and aligned to "rules and regulations". Changing conventions needs a fight. Not that we are saying that Tommy should go out there all guns blazing every time, but she cannot always try to be politically correct. This would diminish the hopes of all the people who looked up to her when she became the chief.
Watch 'Tommy' every Thursday night at 10pm/9c, only on CBS.
