“Kill the body and the head will fall.” -Pops
It is with a heavy heart that I write this final Lights Out review as this was the final episode of the series. As was announced before last week’s penultimate episode, Lights Out would not be picked up for another season. I had mixed feelings about the season as a whole, but after tonight, I really liked the direction it was heading. It was a show that needed to find its groove and I feel like it found it too late. I know what Lights Out was trying to do with the family, the pugilistic dementia, and the being broke and that’s all well and good, but ultimately boxing was the real dramatic element. Think back on all the episodes and pick out your favorite moments. Obviously the final fight is at the top, but other favorites are the scenes with Ed Romeo training Lights, and David Morse doing a wonderfully heartbreaking guest appearance. Who brought the most electricity to the screen? Barry K Word, every time. I think as the show grew the writers realized where the strengths were and started to lean heavily in the direction of boxing. After seeing the League of Extraordinary Boxers meeting, I could see where season 2 was heading. It makes me miss the show already. A season designed around the boxing world pitting Hal Brennan against Barry K Word with Patrick taking point, playing both sides, sign me up! It’s tough to let any series go, but the finale did provide very good closure and the season does stand alone.
The whole season has been leading up to the fight between Patrick Leary and Death Row Reynolds and it didn’t disappoint. I was relieved to see that they let fight play out essentially in its entirety. I never had any doubts since the show first began that Patrick was going to win the fight, so although I was curious, I still wasn’t quite hooked until the fight actually happened. The show did three smart things to make the fight more interesting. First was making Death Row claim all he needed was one round to take out Lights. This allowed for a flurry of action right from the beginning and allowed Patrick to instantly get beat up a bit. The second thing was having Barry tell Patrick that Morales took a dive. I had suspected this all along, but seeing doubt creep into Patrick’s eyes allowed for just the slimmest amount of doubt to creep into my own, thus making the fight that much more interesting. The third was the most obvious element: having the ref in Death Row’s corner. I was glad it wasn’t completely ridiculous and could all be justified within the fight. Slow counts for Reynolds and the implementation of the three knockdown rule. My only problem with the fight is just how easy it was for Patrick to come back in the second round. Now, I have never fought before and don’t watch boxing, so these comebacks might be normal. I do know that one punch can change the course of the fight dramatically. So when Pops told Patrick he needed to surprise him and get back on top, I think that moment should have been more obvious. I think the punch that swung the match was the quick right jab to the face when Death Row was winding up, but I can’t be sure. Either way, I though the fight was very well done considering we all knew how it was going to end.
Aside from the fight itself, I thought Patrick going to confession was a good moment. We needed our hero to be redeemed a bit so we can celebrate his victory with him. Death Row made too good of a point that Patrick was no role model. His absolution was necessary for us to be fully on his side. I’m glad he finally admits and takes responsibility for just how unfair it was to put the burden of secrecy on his daughter. That to me was his biggest crime given all we know about how Patrick carries himself. I do think the religious aspect of the Leary family could have been used more effectively. We saw hints of it at times, but it almost just seemed like a convention to get Lights to move on. It was after he talked to his priest that he let Ed Romeo go. I guess the intention was to soften the blow to the viewer about Lights letting go a very popular character, but I can’t be too sure.
Lights Out had some very great supporting characters along the way. I vacillated back and forth about Teresa and Johnny, but Pops, Barry K Word and Hal Brennan were always interesting. I also think, given the chance, we could have seen some great things from Hal’s right hand man, Gus. He just had that slimy look and darkness about him. Even when he was delivering neutral news, it always looked like he was playing an angle. I’ve always thought that casting leads was easy, but that casting great supporting roles is what makes or breaks shows. I think that if the show focused more on the great characters I mentioned above, the show would have had a lot more drive. The daughters never even registered with me emotionally and I never felt like Margaret was a part of the family. I’m not saying the reason for the shows failing was because it focused on the family. The show failed because no one really had an interest in boxing. And it’s really a shame, because I would have loved to see just where this show was heading.
Lights Out was always good, but never great. I never think the show quite pushed hard enough. The stakes never seemed like they were as high as they actually were. Holt McCallany delivered a great understated performance, but I would have liked to see him let loose from time to time. It almost felt like the show was timid for much of the season, but by the end they were ready to open up and let a flurry of punches fly. Hearing Patrick ask his wife, “Who won?” showed us that the show was ready to take his injury to the next level which would have provided a lot more intensity in every fight he fought. Lights Out will be missed, but not really for what it was, but for what it could have been. But as it stands, Patrick “Lights Out” Leary is your undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and no one, not even FX or viewers with Nielsen boxes, can take that away from him.
Showing posts with label barry k word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barry k word. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Lights Out - "Sucker Punch" Review
“It’s my belt. No one’s going to stop me from getting it back.” -Patrick
With now only one episode left in the entire series of Lights Out, it’s hard to judge the episodes as ones that are leading to a season or series finale. If this season was meant to be a 13 episode arc that was going to have complete closure, I’d say it’s a bit uneven and isn’t really hitting on all cylinders as it approaches its finale. But that’s unfair to the show. Lights Out was meant to be more than just one season, so it makes sense that everything isn’t being fully expounded on. This is not to say this episode would have been a great penultimate episode if I knew there’d be a season two. Far from it. But it is difficult to truly asses the effect of the episode on me. When it comes to Lights Out, what do we actually find compelling about this show? The boxing drama is the keystone of the series and sometimes I feel it loses sight of that. That’s why the Ed Romeo episodes and the Morales fight were some of the best. It was able to combine the other elements of Patrick’s life while building toward a fight. This may also be why the Brennan and Word stories are so strong as well. It revolves around the boxing world.
So based upon what I feel is the strong point of the show, you can see where I didn’t really enjoy this past episode where we finally get to meet Patrick’s mother. We’ve been needing that story line all along. However I feel it may be too little too late. Just what can we get from this relationship at this point? The mother arriving is most effecting papa lights. Robert has been such a strong individual throughout the series, that it’s a little heartbreaking seeing him sacrifice his fortitude to bend to the whims of the capricious sycophant. The mother seems forced. It’s just another obstacle that delays the fight between Lights and Death Row. She’s detestable, but not because of what she’s doing, but because of just how out of place she is. This story line in particular is one I feel like could have had more of an impact if there was more time for the series to develop. But given the brevity of the series, anything short of the boxing world and its politics, seems out of place.
Barry K Word is still the most compelling part of the show. He has an electricity on screen that is unmatched by anyone on the series. The politics of the boxing world is what I like. I would have very much enjoyed learning more about the gambling side of the sport and the danger of fixing a fight. The drive by on Margaret raised the stakes for a second, but it will be swept under the rug on the finale because we need to focus on the fight. I know by just focusing on the boxing element makes Lights Out a typical boxing drama, but maybe not. FX has made it clear they didn’t want to do just another Rocky knock off. They needed something else to separate it. I think the Barry K Word/Hal Brennan angle was enough. Throw in just enough family to show how they’re broke and here we have the show. But now it just seems like the show is cycling in one guest star after another. There’s just a lack of cohesion. It’s still high quality drama, but it just needed time to figure itself out. The stakes never really felt high enough. I don’t see the need for Patrick to win. He was originally in the fight for the money, but now money doesn’t seem to be the issue so his drive and desire to win needs to be the overwhelming force in the show, and it just isn’t quite there. Lights Out is a good show, not a great show. I’m sad it doesn’t get a second season because I feel like it could really find itself. But alas, we have but one more episode and hopefully the finale really delivers some closure.
With now only one episode left in the entire series of Lights Out, it’s hard to judge the episodes as ones that are leading to a season or series finale. If this season was meant to be a 13 episode arc that was going to have complete closure, I’d say it’s a bit uneven and isn’t really hitting on all cylinders as it approaches its finale. But that’s unfair to the show. Lights Out was meant to be more than just one season, so it makes sense that everything isn’t being fully expounded on. This is not to say this episode would have been a great penultimate episode if I knew there’d be a season two. Far from it. But it is difficult to truly asses the effect of the episode on me. When it comes to Lights Out, what do we actually find compelling about this show? The boxing drama is the keystone of the series and sometimes I feel it loses sight of that. That’s why the Ed Romeo episodes and the Morales fight were some of the best. It was able to combine the other elements of Patrick’s life while building toward a fight. This may also be why the Brennan and Word stories are so strong as well. It revolves around the boxing world.
So based upon what I feel is the strong point of the show, you can see where I didn’t really enjoy this past episode where we finally get to meet Patrick’s mother. We’ve been needing that story line all along. However I feel it may be too little too late. Just what can we get from this relationship at this point? The mother arriving is most effecting papa lights. Robert has been such a strong individual throughout the series, that it’s a little heartbreaking seeing him sacrifice his fortitude to bend to the whims of the capricious sycophant. The mother seems forced. It’s just another obstacle that delays the fight between Lights and Death Row. She’s detestable, but not because of what she’s doing, but because of just how out of place she is. This story line in particular is one I feel like could have had more of an impact if there was more time for the series to develop. But given the brevity of the series, anything short of the boxing world and its politics, seems out of place.
Barry K Word is still the most compelling part of the show. He has an electricity on screen that is unmatched by anyone on the series. The politics of the boxing world is what I like. I would have very much enjoyed learning more about the gambling side of the sport and the danger of fixing a fight. The drive by on Margaret raised the stakes for a second, but it will be swept under the rug on the finale because we need to focus on the fight. I know by just focusing on the boxing element makes Lights Out a typical boxing drama, but maybe not. FX has made it clear they didn’t want to do just another Rocky knock off. They needed something else to separate it. I think the Barry K Word/Hal Brennan angle was enough. Throw in just enough family to show how they’re broke and here we have the show. But now it just seems like the show is cycling in one guest star after another. There’s just a lack of cohesion. It’s still high quality drama, but it just needed time to figure itself out. The stakes never really felt high enough. I don’t see the need for Patrick to win. He was originally in the fight for the money, but now money doesn’t seem to be the issue so his drive and desire to win needs to be the overwhelming force in the show, and it just isn’t quite there. Lights Out is a good show, not a great show. I’m sad it doesn’t get a second season because I feel like it could really find itself. But alas, we have but one more episode and hopefully the finale really delivers some closure.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
LIghts Out - "Rainmaker: Review
“Haven’t met a problem yet that money couldn’t solve.” -Johnny
This episode of Lights Out needs to be looked at under two different microscopes. If we examine the episode independent of all other episodes it seems like a really solid episode. There was a brilliant guest performance by David Morse, an exciting arrest, and some good ol’ fashioned scheming. However, when looked at as one of the final episodes before the end of the season, and possibly, but hopefully not, the series, it just seems a little disjointed.
A large Soprano’s style family dinner was present that was very bright and uplifting. It was a fine scene, but I’m not sure we’ve seen the whole family together eating and having a good time. There’s a lot of inner turmoil that’s been present, but it seemed to have disappeared. One of the reasons it seemed so odd is that we finally had all three daughters back in the house. The tension of the episode was put on hold just so we could watch the family strengthen. While I appreciate what they were trying to do there, I’m not sure it was perfectly executed. There was some real drama built up last week with Patrick getting back in to bed with Brennan and brawling with Death Row, but they decided they couldn’t get to all that too quickly, so here we are at this episode.
The Councilman Hess story line I found very interesting, but I think it should have played out over a longer time. That was some real danger Lights faced. He was faced with bribery of a public official, had the feds on his back, and was being viewed as a loose end in Brennan’s operation. It all seemed to wrap up to easily and quickly. First he gets some inkling that Hess is wearing a wire, then he convinces a crime lord that he’s trustworthy essentially by only saying, “trust me.” It was all a bit unbelievable and I think we would have been better served by getting to see a bit more of all that danger start to percolate and boil over. Lights Out is not a political procedural show and nor do I want it to be, but I thought it was just a bit underdeveloped.
What was excellent about this episode was David Morse’s performance of Jimmy “The Rainmaker.” He brought a real honesty to the role and allowed for us to understand his life in just a few short minutes. His presence served two different purposes on the show. The first is he was used as an instrument to get Lights out of some trouble by convincing Councilman Hess to stop talking by using extreme force. This is the first time we see LIghts make a decision that bettered his position by not further putting his family or himself at further risk. If we can see more of Patrick using his other resources, and not just his fists, to get things done, the show will become that much deeper. The second purpose of Jimmy was to serve as a warning to Lights about the dangers of taking too many punches to the head. Though I think we were a little hit over the head (pun intended) with this idea, Morse did do a great job of showing that he still had joy for the game, but the consequences may not outweigh all the costs. We’ll see if this effects Patrick in any way, but he has a history of disregarding former boxing legends who impacted him earlier. Ed Romeo was such a strong force in his two episodes, but now it seems like he’s an afterthought.
Lights Out is till building to the fight with Death Row Reynolds. We know this. So it was no surprise to see the show steer away from the training for a bit. It was logical for Patrick to find himself fixing problems that didn’t get in the way of the healing process. However, I’m not so sure that the independent story of this episode was executed as best as it could have been to keep last week’s momentum going. I look for these next two episodes to really turn up the heat. So while I was particularly thrilled with this episode, I certainly am still looking forward to see how it ends. I’m definitely looking forward to more Barry K Word and definitely looking forward to an epic boxing match.
This episode of Lights Out needs to be looked at under two different microscopes. If we examine the episode independent of all other episodes it seems like a really solid episode. There was a brilliant guest performance by David Morse, an exciting arrest, and some good ol’ fashioned scheming. However, when looked at as one of the final episodes before the end of the season, and possibly, but hopefully not, the series, it just seems a little disjointed.
A large Soprano’s style family dinner was present that was very bright and uplifting. It was a fine scene, but I’m not sure we’ve seen the whole family together eating and having a good time. There’s a lot of inner turmoil that’s been present, but it seemed to have disappeared. One of the reasons it seemed so odd is that we finally had all three daughters back in the house. The tension of the episode was put on hold just so we could watch the family strengthen. While I appreciate what they were trying to do there, I’m not sure it was perfectly executed. There was some real drama built up last week with Patrick getting back in to bed with Brennan and brawling with Death Row, but they decided they couldn’t get to all that too quickly, so here we are at this episode.
The Councilman Hess story line I found very interesting, but I think it should have played out over a longer time. That was some real danger Lights faced. He was faced with bribery of a public official, had the feds on his back, and was being viewed as a loose end in Brennan’s operation. It all seemed to wrap up to easily and quickly. First he gets some inkling that Hess is wearing a wire, then he convinces a crime lord that he’s trustworthy essentially by only saying, “trust me.” It was all a bit unbelievable and I think we would have been better served by getting to see a bit more of all that danger start to percolate and boil over. Lights Out is not a political procedural show and nor do I want it to be, but I thought it was just a bit underdeveloped.
What was excellent about this episode was David Morse’s performance of Jimmy “The Rainmaker.” He brought a real honesty to the role and allowed for us to understand his life in just a few short minutes. His presence served two different purposes on the show. The first is he was used as an instrument to get Lights out of some trouble by convincing Councilman Hess to stop talking by using extreme force. This is the first time we see LIghts make a decision that bettered his position by not further putting his family or himself at further risk. If we can see more of Patrick using his other resources, and not just his fists, to get things done, the show will become that much deeper. The second purpose of Jimmy was to serve as a warning to Lights about the dangers of taking too many punches to the head. Though I think we were a little hit over the head (pun intended) with this idea, Morse did do a great job of showing that he still had joy for the game, but the consequences may not outweigh all the costs. We’ll see if this effects Patrick in any way, but he has a history of disregarding former boxing legends who impacted him earlier. Ed Romeo was such a strong force in his two episodes, but now it seems like he’s an afterthought.
Lights Out is till building to the fight with Death Row Reynolds. We know this. So it was no surprise to see the show steer away from the training for a bit. It was logical for Patrick to find himself fixing problems that didn’t get in the way of the healing process. However, I’m not so sure that the independent story of this episode was executed as best as it could have been to keep last week’s momentum going. I look for these next two episodes to really turn up the heat. So while I was particularly thrilled with this episode, I certainly am still looking forward to see how it ends. I’m definitely looking forward to more Barry K Word and definitely looking forward to an epic boxing match.
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