Grid Effect

We’re not going to lie, we watched this episode in a drunken stupor on Friday night, failed to watch it again, and for reasons need not specified, we are now unable too. Still, we have a pretty strong memory in these regards, so we’ll just wing this and not worry about the finer points. Which isn’t too big a deal, this series isn’t terribly nuanced anymore.

What we found most shocking, is that they depicted racism in Texas. Seriously, this is borderline slander against the lone star state. All I ever met in Texas during my time there were happy go lucky line dancing cowboys with nary a desire for city life, despite living in one of the ten biggest markets in the country. Still, to think a Drayton-Prentice scenario still exists in, of all places, Texas? Really boggles the mind.

Honestly, the entire Smash storyline might as well have been two kids holding up a sign that said, “We’re trying to say that racism exists in many forms, you stupid fucking sheep!” for five minutes. I guess my biggest problem with it wasn’t the themes, or the repetition of themes, but rather the indifference to Noelle. We know virtually nothing about her, and every time she’s been on screen, all she is doing is rambling off football statistics or doing every thing she can to embody, “just one of the guys”. Her character depth is virtually non-existent, and pretty much the most one-not portrayal we’ve seen. So when her parents suggested them breaking up, our initial reaction wasn’t, “In this day in age…well I never” (as is my reaction to so many things). It was more along the lines of, “does that mean she won’t be on camera any more? Great.”

That said, even though that movie theater scene was transparent and predictable as hell, it opened up the window for some potential Dillon and TMU issues. Unfortunately, for most of the western world, you can’t punch people in the face for speaking out of turn.

Santiago has friends trying to hold him back. And, wouldn’t you know it, Buddy is trying to relate to them. He does everything but the macarena, including toying with the idea of hiding his prized sports memorabilia at Taylors house for a “movie night” Buddy initiated, which I’m pretty sure even Buddy knew would turn into a soft core version of the Titty Twister in From Dusk Till Dawn. Eventually Buddy realizes that, sometimes, human decency is worth more than a watch you never wear.

You know what, I’m going to cut this short, because while it was an overall entertaining episode, nothing really changed, and nor do I necessarily want it to. But every single storyline in this episode began and ended within the hour, sans the Tim-Lyla storyline. My question is, how does a kid pull as much tail as Riggins presumably does, but when he actually wants a date, he resorts to essentially pulling her pigtails? Wouldn’t his game be a tad more refined than this? I know he’s supposed to be emotionally stunted and all that jargon, but seriously, a prank phone call to a Christian radio talk show? That’s cutting edge. At least they gave Herc a solid ten seconds of stifled laughter.

Who likes prank calls? This guy, right here!

Let’s see, anything else? Oh, Carlotta’s gone. She came, she deflowered, and now she’s gone. Quite the character arc. I could see the description of the role, “Look, we want you to come in playing a college student working as a caretaker, then sleep with your patient’s high school aged grandson, the get the fuck out”. Maybe this will pave the way for more scenes of Landry and Matt in various local establishments engaging in Seinfeld-ian bantering. Because from this site’s perspective, that is the high point of the show.

Still, a decent forty-two minutes from what we can recall at this early hour. There’s little to complain about when your options are so limited. Like, you know, beggers can’t be choosers, or some such rhetoric. Hopefully Mo Ryan is right and the upcoming stint of episodes bring us back to glory before they’re plum out due to the strike.