Last season,

The advantages of a third season pilot are that the actors, and audience, are already familiar with the characters. It’s much easier to lay out new ground rules when the cameraderies and rhythms are well established. So, while the episode is a little over-stuffed and awkward navigating all that, it also works as a reflection of the team’s tensions, as they adjust to their new circumstances.

Shaw’s integration into the team is proving problematic for both Reese and Finch. While she doubles their firepower, she doesn’t share Reese’s compunction about fatal shots. Their exchanges about targeting ‘center body mass’ versus the benefits of knee-capping reveal Sarah Shahi as a terrific foil to Jim Caveziel’s well-established dead-pan.

Meanwhile, Finch’s frustration with someone staying resolutely off the grid is palpable. While Shaw’s caution is understandable, her limited availability is sure to raise complications down the road. Still, as the hansom cab opening demonstates, the options opened up by a female version of Reese make those problems palatable (and not just for the aesthetics embodied by Ms. Shahi.)

What is familiar from past seasons is a stronger focus on Numbers-of-the-week early in the season. Here, the sailor caught up in his shore leave buddy’s misadventures is a straight-forward case, a good move given the more complicated rearrangements going on within the team. Introducing the Devil Dogs as adversaries immediately highlights the advantage of having two shooters, especially ones well versed in special ops however problematic the targeting.

On the NYPD front, Fusco is adjusting, not just to life with Shaw, but also a very different playing field back at the precinct. Carter’s demotion to beat cop, following HR’s frame, appears to be allowing her to operate more under the radar. Her new mission to avenge Cal’s murder shows a closer embrace of Reese and Finch’s vigililante methods, especially after learning how endemic HR’s corruption has become. It also allows Taraji Henson to don a more casual and provocative wardrobe, a fact that does not go unnoticed in the speakeasy. The sailor who hits on her having a close resemblance to Cal is a nice touch (and subtle reminder before the closet reveal at the end.)