What is it about the Monday 10:00PM time slot that makes shows that start very strong lose their way slowly and go down? This week’s episode of The Black Donnelys was nowhere as strong as the ones that preceded it and I truly hope that this was just a one time deal and not the beginning of a bad trend.
Tommy’s ascension to the top of the Irish mob still isn’t in high gear, but like last week, we see his interaction with Doakie as a foreshadowing sign for the ultimate fight between them over control. This week Doakie is still the boss and he makes Tommy realize he’s still just a kid compared to a veteran like Doakie. Not only that. Tommy actually went backwards for most of this episode, as he seemed like a frightened little boy when he faced Nicky and Doakie. Perhaps it’s a way for the writers to tell us Tommy still wants to live a quiet, crime free life despite everything that happened so far and that he’s still not the big mob boss, but it felt strange. After refusing to pay up two weeks ago, now he caves when Nicky threatens his family. After the events of the first three episodes, I expected Tommy to stand up to him again or come up with some plan to get around it. Instead he cowers and asks Doakie to bail him out. He was very naïve to think things will go smooth there, especially after last week’s events. And when Doakie asked him to steal from Kate, Tommy should have known Doakie isn’t just the kind of guy who’ll help him just like that without future obligations. When he realized Doakie only helped him for one week, he looked like he was about to cry. But then, when he paid Nicky and threatened his family, suddenly he was the Tommy we know. I just don’t get why he needed that wake up call from Doakie to be that guy again. It was interesting to see Nicky as the first person to realize there’s a power struggle brewing between Doakie and Tommy. And he seems to be betting on the right horse.
The rest of the brothers seemed to continue their road as incompetent little crooks that are getting waaaaaaay over their heads with every passing week. They couldn’t even handle a simple pick-up without getting into a fight. And now Joey’s riding with them full time? If that’s not a recipe for disaster I don’t know what is. I know the whole premise is that Tommy’s the responsible, sensible brother who cleans up his brothers’ mess, but it getting too much. And are we really supposed to believe that this was the first time someone tried to reach Louie and there were no calls on his cell phone since the day he was murdered? Not to mention his battery lasting that long someone get me one of those magic phones instead the one I use, that needs recharging every 48 hours.
And then there’s Jenny. The Samson thing was never going to last. We all knew that. But it was shorter than expected. She’s hung up on Tommy despite her better judgment and she knows it. It’s the ultimate cliché of women going after men they know are bad for them. But surprisingly, it works this time, because Jenny is meant to be with Tommy.
The episode ended with Kate’s son telling Tommy he saw him steal the money, but he won’t tell. They seemed to bond at the funeral and perhaps he’s reaching out to Tommy as a substitute father figure rather that Doakie. Who knows. Or perhaps he’s afraid of him (though he didn’t seem frightened). Tommy, on the other hand, is perplexed and speechless. He’s out of his element and doesn’t know how to respond.
I’m also a bit perplexed. I may have judged this episode too harshly, but the first three were so good that this one just felt like a let down. I also don’t like the lapses in continuity and storytelling, like the way they forgot that Jimmy was supposed to get clean in prison last week or the whole cell phone thing this week. I still think it’s a bad show, but they need to be less sloppy and go back to focusing on the strong characters with logical development for them. And I want the coming episodes to be more like the first three.
