Turner & Hooch Review: Road to Smell Dorado (Season 1 Episode 5)

We spend a lot of time on Laura and Scott’s father’s old case on Turner & Hooch Season 1 Episode 5, “Road to Smell Dorado,” and sadly, it still isn’t engaging or all that exciting.

Scott isn’t invested in the case, so it’s difficult for us to get invested. Laura is the one making all the big breakthroughs off-camera, and then we get dragged into it when she updates Scott. It’s almost impossible to care when we aren’t there to witness the investigation.

But, as “Road to Smell Dorado” proves, watching Laura investigate isn’t all that entertaining. Sure, she has some good moments — the stakeout and her practicing for what she’ll say at the fish restaurant — but it’s not enough to sustain us throughout her entire storyline. Because it goes on…for a while.

We don’t need to hear about how she wasn’t the best person in high school or Natalie’s life update. The best part of the storyline is seeing her cat, Boodles, again, but that’s probably due to me being obsessed with that cat.

After sitting through all of that, the only thing we get from it is that Joe claims their father had “bigger fish to fry,” which is vague and not at all helpful, and the trailer park guy has disappeared, which I’m sure will come into play later. All in all, nothing really of import happens. We do get some cute brother/sister moments out of it though.

Scott’s case of the week is okay. It’s nothing special, but it’s not awful either.

He and Xavier make a good pair, and it’s fun watching them attempt to balance each other out like when Scott is stressed about missing his date with Brooke and Xavier is trying to get him to accept what the universe is telling him.

Introducing Xavier’s fiancé is unexpected, but it is fantastic to meet her and see what kind of woman Xavier fell in love with. They are a cute couple, and weirdly, I want to know more about their wedding planning.

It looks like Scott and Xavier are going to be partners now, which is a bit expected but still delightful.

One thing that could be entertaining to witness is Xavier having to be in charge of Hooch for a bit. I’m curious if Hooch would act any differently with Xavier than he does with Scott, or it could also be great to witness Xavier try to calm down Hooch. Hooch and Xavier have very different energies.

The love triangle is amping up during this episode, especially with Jessica and Darius encouraging Erica to make the first move. I don’t want Erica to get her heart broken, and I’m afraid it is going to happen.

As I mentioned in my review of Turner & Hooch Season 1 Episode 4, “In the Line of Fur,” Scott doesn’t really have chemistry with either woman at the moment, so it is hard to have a preference as to who he should date.

With Erica, the issue is that he is oblivious to the fact she likes him, and he’s not what I would call a charming person normally.

It’s clear he trusts and values her opinion, but we need to see more of the two of them interacting without a case or something pulling Scott’s focus away. This way he could give her a bit more of his undivided attention without an ulterior motive of trying to solve a case or handle Hooch running in the background.

With Brooke, it’s clear Scott is hung up on her, but there haven’t been any sparks either. The two of them bathing Hooch is a cute moment, and it helps that Scott is more focused on Hooch than impressing Brooke. But that’s basically all we’ve got. Do you have a preference, ship-wise?

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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