Turner & Hooch Review: Forever and a Dog (Season 1 Episode 1)
Turner & Hooch Season 1 Episode 1, “Forever and a Dog,” is a fun take on a cop procedural. There’s a good bit of action and a lot of humor, both involving Hooch and the various people in Scott’s life. However, there’s a lot of room for improvement.
As with most pilots, “Forever and a Dog” tries to do a lot of things — set up Scott’s family life, showcase his work, introduce and solve a case, develop a relationship between Scott and Hooch, and touch on Scott’s relationship with his recently passed father.
There’s a lot to juggle here, and so we only get snippets of each thing, meaning we don’t fully explore anything. As the season progresses, hopefully, the episodes will devote more time to different aspects that “Forever a Dog” introduces.
The case of the episode isn’t much of a case at all.
It would have been nice to have something other than Hooch to go off of for the theory that the FBI agent is responsible for the kidnapping. Hooch could have still pointed Scott in the FBI agent’s direction, but it would have been better if Scott did some research to back up Hooch’s claim.
Finding a mask in the alley isn’t enough. And if Scott had put in some work, it would have allowed us to see that he’s good at what he does. Instead, we get him blindly trusting Hooch and doing something reckless, which appears to be out of character for Scott.
But, it’s clear that Hooch needed to be an amazing dog detective in order to win Scott’s affection, so the police work is sacrificed. Since this is a pilot, I’ll give the show a pass here. But Turner & Hooch needs to do better next time.
Perhaps it will based on what “Forever and a Dog” sets up for the rest of the season. Scott and Hooch could work some cool cases as a K-9 unit. And then there’s this mystery case that Scott’s father was working on.
The old police files could turn into a season-long case, which would be great. One episode and done cases are fine, but more intrigue and suspense can be built if a case develops over the course of multiple episodes. Plus, it will actually allow Scott to do a bit of police work.
The bottom line is that “Forever and a Dog” is a success at making us interested in Scott’s life. It also earns some laughs along the way. All of this is enough to warrant checking out Turner & Hooch Season 1 Episode 2, “A Good Day to Dog Hard.”
Stray Thoughts
- The fact that he calls his Roomba his roomie is depressing. Scott was in dire need of a dog.
- Erica is giving off Cat from Victorious vibes, and I can’t tell how I feel about that yet.
- I’m already obsessed with Laura’s cat, Boodles.
What did you think of this episode of Turner & Hooch? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New episodes of Turner & Hooch premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.
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Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).