Grid Effect

Sorry for teh extremely late post, today has been like one of those days were if I was to get in a fender bender, someone might end up dead in the ensuing confrontation. On top of not having any internet access at work or my house (they’re a mile apart) and being backloaded with detail as a result, I never got around to rewatching this episode, so I’ll just give some brief, vague interpretations.

The episode simply meandered through the first fifty minutes until Tommy’s heartfelt lamenting on the rooftop with Mike. I’m afraid this was another episode in which all the scenes are completely interchangable. Look, I get the drama and the built tension they put into accentuating Mike’s loneliness, but can’t someone on this show have a personal problem and not resort to extreme resolutions? What’s funny about this is Mike’s plight seemed more genuine and founded in reality than 90% of the other character arcs we’ve seen on this show. But enough is enough, we need to see some coping skills out of someone at some point.

In a completely unrelated note, the opening scene with Leary and Gina Gershon certainly isn’t going to quell the “Leary is in love with himself” crowd. And it did seem kind of contrived, but my beef with the show isn’t Leary’s cock getting the soft core treatment, its that this episode lacked any kind of structure. And that is becoming way too common with this series.

For instance, a scenario with as much potential as Maggie going to an intervention for alcoholism, it just missed on essentially every note (sans Steve Pasquale as Garrity, who was in rare form). I’m note sure what it was either, it seemed like they might have been trying too hard with virtually every Gavin there. But more likely, its that they never followed up on it. I wasn’t expecting another intervention, but at least a mention of it outside the group. Hopefully this will be a regular setting, because like stated before, its rife with potential.

It really seems like I’m waffling with this series, but there is so much asymmetry to it that I’m not really sure there is a consistent perspective to have. The final scene epitomizes that. It was reflective and enlightening as Tommy began to drink while regaling the loss of his kid, but out of nowhere he jumps off the roof and lands on a stairwell that isn’t up to code and begins cracking. Why did they do this? Well, I’m not sure. It wasn’t meant to be a cliffhanger, since they immediately showed Tommy in the previews for tonights episode. I guess it was supposed to symbolize the detriment of his alcoholism, but either way I didn’t get it.

Anyway, I’ll finish out this season, and decide whether I cut this or Entourage from my weekly recaps, because I can’t handle them both.