CRITIQUE ON COBRA SQUAD BY ESTHER CHENGO (07-1113)

My complete critique on COBRA SQUAD: SEASON 2

EPISODE 1
The story begins with a briefing by the Head of security to the Squad about a renowned terrorist group that has now moved its dealings to East Africa. There is an establishing shot of the police headquarters where the briefing is taking place.
The camera then zooms in on the commanding officer as he issues out orders to the members of the squad on what to expect and on how to work as a team at all times-ensuring that they keep each other alive.
So, the team is carried by a helicopter to an area near Juba where they land with parachutes in the middle of a desert (this looked so fake!) ; they landed in plain view of everyone-even the villagers could see them! The whole point of them having the parachutes was for the villains not to spot them.
The team received reports that there is an international terrorist believed to be within the country, so they have been contracted to track the terrorist.
There is an over the shoulder shot of the Minister of Security as she addresses the National Security Council for a briefing
The attire of the squad is black with gold writings and does not merge in with the desert terrain, giving the illusion of unrealness.
When they approached an enemy camp, the camera dollied and tracked as they approached.

EPISODE 2
The scene begins with an extreme close up as one of the gang members straps in the gear: guns on the belt and gloves. The members of the wanted gang have a hold-up in Golden Bank, Machakos-where they order everyone to the ground.
There is an establishing shot of the Dar es Salaam coastal shores as the police approach the enemy ship. The camera tracks after one of the police men who sneaks into the ship and surveys the inside of it, careful not to wake up the two sleeping gang members who were within the ship.
In another scene is a wide shot of one of the thieves getting away on a tuk-tuk from the Bank after the police take charge of the hostage situation in the Bank, and capture all the other thieves. The thief has taken with him a pregnant hostage, then goes ahead to hijack a car, and instructs the driver to drive off as fast as he can-this leads them to an airstrip where he tries to hijack a helicopter.
There is an over the shoulder shot of the pilot being addressed by the thief, followed by a full shot of the pilot who is forced to start the engines of the helicopter. While the pilot does this, the camera zooms out to show the pilot pushing off the thief with force, until the thief falls down. The pilot, aiming to save his own life, jumps off the plane and runs for his dear life, leaving the pregnant lady inside the helicopter which was already well on its way down the runway.
The camera zooms in on the lady’s face as she screams and is panic stricken, and in frenzy pushes the yoke of the plane causing it to take off. The camera tilts up in a wide shot, showing the plane taking off from the runway.

EPISODE 3
This begins with a wide shot of the helicopter careening across a plain and a close up of the pregnant woman frightened and screaming within the helicopter.
There is then an extreme close up shot of the computer within the Nairobi Control Center as they locate the exact position of the helicopter and try to establish the exact location of the copter.
A close up of the pregnant woman, Rosebella, shows her receiving instructions from a pilot on how to pilot the plane in the control center.
Meanwhile, in another part of the same city, the camera focuses on an officer eating Brookside yoghurt-tilting up and down with each movement of the spoon. The officer then gets a call from the field, giving him an update on the situation there.
The whole episode focuses on the pregnant woman and how she lands the plane. She is directed into landing, which she handles well, despite her condition. The camera zooms in on an emergency landing truck pulling into the runway to assist her in disembarking.
There is a wide shot of the control room and the people celebrating her safe landing; and a close up shot of the pregnant woman holding her face in disbelief.

EPISODE 4
The episode begins with a close up shot of poachers shooting a tranquilizer to an elephant, then panning left to the elephant, and dollying as the poachers approach the elephant.
There is a wide shot of the police arriving at the reception of the National Park, being received by the Wildlife Service’s Officers. A close up 3-shot shows the poachers around the fire-two sleeping, and one sitting down.
There was an editing problem where the wrong video clip was matched to a sound clipping.
As the officers are being flown over the park, they spot the poachers; the camera shows an extreme wide shot, then zooms into a wide shot where they call for ground teams to go to the area immediately.
There is a wide shot of the ground team making their way towards the poachers. A close up shot shows a leopard on the alert mode-ready to pounce on them; the game rangers gave instructions for them not to look at the animal and to quickly retreat.
The 3 poachers were captured-two dead, one injured.

EPISODE 5
This begins with a wide shot then zooms into a full shot of a celebration lunch of the safe landing of the pregnant woman. After the celebration, they disperse and one of the officers is kidnapped by the gangsters, outside the hotel.
There is a close up of the kidnapper asking the lady officer for directions, then the camera has a wide shot of the kidnapper’s car driving near. This is followed by an extreme close up as the kidnapper clasps a hand over the officer’s mouth then zooms out as he pushes her into the get-away car.
Back at the headquarters, there is a bust shot of the officer as he briefs the others of the gang leader.
There are other editing problems where wrong clips have been put on in the middle of a scene.
The next seen, the camera is dollying towards the car as one of the gangsters’ drives off after delivering the ‘package’ which is the kidnapped lady-who was the air control officer who helped land the pregnant lady.
A wide shot of the minister and the Heads of Security followed by a close up shot of the minister airing her concerns that no threat is too small for her. Her slogan being, ‘We track them, find them, and stop them!’ She insists on being kept abreast on the proceedings, and emphasizes on stopping the gangsters before the gangsters stop them.

EPISODE 6
There is a close up shot of the kidnapped lady being unloaded from the boot of the car, in Kisumu and being led into a cottage within a hotel.
Wide shot shows the plain cloth officers arrive at the hotel and settle down in the restaurant’s open air sitting.
Pengo, a renowned gang member who was jailed and is now a reformed Christian has been contracted by the Squad to infiltrate the gang and discover what they are up to. This man is injected with a microchip to trace his location and is given a Zain mobile phone he can use to contact the police.
The police discover their hideout and the kidnappers run away with the girl; but the police are SLOW to react! The kidnappers steal a car and drive off. The camera dollyies in towards the hotel’s cottage, and tracks as the police walk around the hotel’s pathways.
Meanwhile, other gangsters make their way to the pregnant woman’s house to ‘do away with the evidence.’ Thankfully the woman, who was already due, had been taken to hospital. Two members of the Squad had gone to her home to check up on her and while there, they met the gangsters and started chasing them.
The camera movements were mainly dollying, tracking and panning as the action unfolded.

EPISODE 7
The car the kidnappers stole stalled, so they jumped out to look for a stone to jump-start the engine and left the lady officer unguarded; so she escaped on foot, but they eventually caught up with her.
As they backed away, they almost collided with the Squad car, who then turned their car around and started following them.
On another scene, Pengo, the police infiltrate is re-introduced into the gang. There is a medium two shot of Pengo and Gogo, one of the gang members, as they address the ‘boss’; and a close up of Pengo talking to the boss. There is a cross shot of the workers leading a pick-up with weaponry.
The camera then tracks as the police car chases after the kidnappers’ car.

EPISODE 8
A full shot shows the secretary leading the Kenyan Head of Security into the Ugandan Head of Security’s office. This is followed by a wide shot, then medium close up shots within the office as both leaders have a meeting.
There is a wide shot, as the camera pans from left to right, showing an intelligence briefing in Uganda, where both teams meet to synchronize their intelligence data.
Pengo calls in to inform them that the gang is planning to rescue one of their own, Kadesho, from the maximum prison.
The team goes to spy in on a gang’s headquarters.

EPISODE 9
The scene begins with one of the gang members who had escaped the Squad’s hands, and he is at a hospital where he enquires about the pregnant woman who had been shown initially. The camera closes in on him, showing a close up of his face as he fakes a recall of her name, when the receptionist asks him. He then asks to be shown the washrooms, and then he uses this as a means to escape the reception and make his way to the maternity ward.
A wide shot shows two Squad members arriving at the same hospital and enquiring for Rosebella and her room number. That is when the receptionist alerts them that there has been a man who had just asked for her room number. The camera zooms in to a medium two-shot of the Squad members in shock, trying to figure out the course of action, and then they decide to run towards the maternity ward.
They then chased the gangster round the hospital and out through the back, where the gangster managed to hijack a matatu that led him to Uhuru Park, where there was a public gig. The Squad members are shown in a knee shot, trying to make their way through the crowds within which the gangster was trying to camouflage. They are then shown in an overhead shot, followed by a full shot then a close up as they manage to capture the criminal and frog march him to the waiting patrol car.

EPISODE 10
The gangsters manage to rescue one of their own from prison, but once outside the gate, they are accosted by the police. There is a wide shot of the shootout between the police and the gangs followed by a close up on some who have been shot dead.
The ones who were captured were taken to the police station.
A specific member of the gang leader’s inner circle, ‘Die Hard’, is interrogated in one of the rooms, as the camera has a wide shot of the room; then a medium close up shot of the interrogating officer. The officer is replaced by two others who are captured in a two-shot medium shot.
As the interrogation commences, ‘Die Hard’ uses a paper clip to open his handcuffs. The male officer leaves the room and the female officer is left alone with the gangster. The camera zooms in on Die Hard’s wrist and shows him preparing the cuffs as a weapon to use on the lady…then the episode ends with great suspense!