Harry and Helen realized how difficult dealing with teenagers is.
Since the series began, Harry and Harry have been in denial regarding their own children, and True Lies Season 1 Episode 5 gave them a dose of reality.
Dealing with their daughter Dana and later a teen hacker showed them they had lots to learn about parenting teenagers.
Many parents get engrossed in their careers and don’t realize how quickly their teenager has matured. Both Dana and Harry had valid points.
How often have children called their parents at work, thinking it’s the end of the world because their priorities aren’t the same as real-world concerns?
While Dana was old enough to decipher the difference, she didn’t know her dad was in the middle of a government mission.
She assumed he was working on a boring sales pitch that teens typically make fun of. She may respect Harry more if and when she and Jake learn the truth.
I’m just trying to follow my dreams, and you’re crushing them. You know what you are, Dad? You’re a dream crusher.
Dana
Harry has to learn to control his temper. Keeping top-secret missions a secret is stressful, but he can’t be so hard on everyone.
Helen was right in trying to play the good cop. While it may not have worked initially at home, it gave them lots to think about while they dealt with their teenage hacker.
Havok: Dude, what the hell?
Maria: I think our extremely dangerous terrorist is a kid.
No one expected such a talented hacker to be a kid, and Harry worsened matters by getting in his face and threatening to send him to prison for 70 years.
I like Steve Howey, but we’re almost halfway through True Lies Season 1, and Harry has a bad habit of overreacting. I’m unsure if that’s the burden of keeping so many secrets and being a spy.
Harry wouldn’t get answers by physically threatening the boy, though. His reaction made it apparent to me that the teen had issues with authority.
I wasn’t even shocked Max had been in the foster care system and ran away. Many teens have bad experiences and learn not to trust anyone. It was apparent Max wanted to trust Helen since she offered to help him, but he wouldn’t let himself trust anyone again.
This was Omar Miller’s episode to shine. He’s the actor that makes this series the most fun, especially with his enthusiasm about the cases. He was so excited to find this hacker.
Well, it ain’t them because the Gibinator strikes again.
Gib
I always appreciate that Gib is impressed by these criminals. He’s just as impressed by Havok and his skills as he was by the Wolf in True Lies Season 1 Episode 4.
He also seemed in awe that Havok outsmarted all of them and stayed one step ahead of them by disabling all the power and escaping them.
Even if he was impressed by this hacker genius, Gib still demanded respect. He’s the only one that really knew how to reach the teen.
Max had been alone for so long that he wasn’t used to anyone caring about him. Helen tried to reach him, but he didn’t trust government issues because of his experiences in foster care.
Gib didn’t sugarcoat the truth and told the teen that his online friends sold him out for a bunch of missiles. I felt for the teen. He’s not as tough as he looks.
He really wanted to belong, and eventually, he hit it off with Gib as Gib encouraged the teen to help them and make amends for his mistakes.
Watching those two gain control of the drones and see the vehicles explode were some of the best effects. It felt like old-school action scenes, and even I was in awe of them.
While the action scenes were fantastic, the series seems to be reusing plots. In True Lies Season 1 Episode 4, Serbia and Albania accused each other of starting a war.
On True Lies Season 1 Episode 5, Syria and Israel thought the other country was throwing missiles at each other because of a hacker. They were way too similar.
It amuses me that so many criminals work for Omega Sector, but in Max’s case, it taught him responsibility and made him feel useful.
Harry and Helen needed to learn from Gib and apply some of those techniques to their entitled daughter.
Luther and Maria also brought comic relief as they continued flirting and joked about how difficult children were.
They even discussed their imaginary children, which Gib overheard on that pesky radio.
These two were so cute as they banter about being the cute aunt or aunt when it’s obvious they’re describing each other when they gaze at each other or laugh aloud.
I was thinking the exact same thing. There’s too much to handle alone My imaginary kid will need an awesome mom, someone who’s smart, someone pretty, who can basically do everything.
Luther
Please put these two romantically and soon since their carefree and spontaneous moments are some of the best parts of the series. Right now, the three supporting actors are more likable than the two leads.
Over to you, True Lies Fanatics. Did you find Harry and Helen dealing with teenagers relatable?
Do you find Gib, the most likable team member? Are you rooting for Luther and Maria to officially become a couple? Comment below.
To catch up on any of the Omega Sector’s missions, you can watch True Lies online via TV Fanatic.
True Lies airs at 10/9c on Wednesdays on CBS and on Paramount +.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
