Grid Effect

Well, the trailers for The Black Donnelly’s are beginning to mislead, probably in an attempt to boost ratings. But when they promote an episode that insists the Mother’s life is in jeopardy, I want to see some sort of confrontation. Call me shallow, call me crazy, but I am not watching The Black Donnelly’s for its realism or artistic merit, I am watching for pure entertainment value. Not to mention that after work, running, eating and studying for LSAT’s, there isn’t much left to do at 10pm.

Last night was by far the least engaging episode to date. Two of the brothers, Sean and Kevin were pent up in their mothers house. Kevin, who’s aware of the threat from the Italians, is playing the role of protector (probably not the best option), and Sean is in hibernation because of the remaining facial scars from the beating he took. I know if I almost die in a hospital, my utmost concern would be some temporary scars. The writers emphasized the point that he was the “ladies man” of the four, but if one has a near death experience in a hospital, it just doesn’t seem realistic that his immediate regret is a dminished sexual prowess… but maybe that’s just me.

Again, I do not watch this show for its realism, but if your going to incorporate Dostoevsky and Aristotle quotes as thematic interpretations for every episode, something other than a few facial wounds has to be at stake.

One thing I did find humorous, if not typical, is that as a result of Joey “Ice Cream’s” pining to have some sort of sibling solidarity, he attaches himself to Tommy, unequivocally the most dysfunctional of the four. Desperation reaps condemnation, I suppose. If nothing else, at least there is a reason why Mr. “Ice Cream” is a suitable narrator.
Anyhow, clearly stealing gambling debts from the mob is going to come back to haunt the Donnelly’s, but the gimmick of Jimmy getting them in trouble and everyone else suffering the consequences, then Tommy being forced to handle the situation is already tiresome. I would assume the series extends beyond that, but who knows? As of now it is pretty uneven.

I did like how this episode ended, after Nicky threatened Tommy’s family (more specifically his mother), Tommy showed up in front of Nicky’s mother’s apartment to pay of this supposed debt and subtley threaten his mother. It was an original eye for an eye retaliation. Sort of like saying, “we might not be able to kill each other so easily, but those close to us who are most vulnerable are easy targets. So if you hurt my family, I will not hesitate to hurt yours”. then Nicky’s subsequent confirmation that Tommy isn’t someone to take underestimate was enlightening.

I guess this was something of a transition episode. Now that all the heat has blown over from murdering Huey and the Italian mob boss (his name escapes me at the moment), they need some new moral and substantial quandary’s for the sake of the series. I imagine this all ends with Tommy “running the neighborhood” at some point, that is becoming even clearer now that his tuition money from art school is being withheld by Dokey.

Speaking of which, it makes Tommy’s confliction over murdering Huey all that more resonate. Not only was this guy a mentor, a confidante and a friend, he was also paying for his school. In hindsight, it seems like he should have let the two of them kill Jimmy, the malfeasant drug addict with a temper; and let his mentor and father figure live.

And the mistreatment of Jenny was appropriate after last weeks conclusion. She strung two guys along while cheating on her husband (he’s allegedly dead, but she doesn’t know that) and deserved to suffer some sort of consequences. Well, she did. between Jimmy’s attempt at subtley dismissing her and Tommy’s indifference, she looked devastated. Of course, Tommy is still smitten with her and judging by Jimmy’s reaction after she left the bar, something tells me he is as well. This might help explain why Jimmy is so contemptuous of Tommy.

Oh well, next week looks eventful, but then again, the previews look eventful for every episode. One can only hope these are not as egregiously misleading as last weeks previews.