“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 ed romeo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ed romeo. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Lights Out - "In Flight" Review
“Remember this, everything, even the scariest thing on Earth has got a weakness. The more you study your enemy, the less scary he is.” -Ed Romeo
The second half of Lights Out has been dramatically been the first half and it’s due to one factor: focus. At first, Lights Out didn’t know what story to tell. Was it Patrick and Theresa’s marital struggles? Was it Lights trying to get his family out of debt? Was it training a new superstar in Omar? No. It was always about Patrick fighting for the championship. Along the way there is sure to be some things that make us stop and examine other angles. Ava’s coming of age and going to prom was a nice departure from Lights’ training and made us realize just what Patrick is fighting for. Tonight’s episode really drove home the focus. We got a deep look at Ed Romeo and Patrick trying to make Lights into champion. The problem for Patrick is that he can’t just be a fighter any more. He’s fighting against Reynolds, but fighting for his family.
From the opening opening scene I felt uneasy about Ed Romeo. There’s something else working behind his eyes. There’s an obsession, a need. That need is for boxing. For training. Romeo would have been the perfect trainer for a fighter like Omar. Someone he could really get inside their head and mold them into a super fighter fueled by that same obsession and drive he has. With Lights, it’s not that simple. He has other needs and wants. We know how serious Romeo is about his craft. He slit his wrists after Death Row Reynolds fired him as trainer, so when I started to sense the disconnect between Patrick and Ed I was always tense when he had those quiet moments with the Leary girls. Not that I thought Ed was some sort of adulterer or pervert, but that there was a sense that he could make things get very uncomfortable very quick. Ed’s obsession turned out to be too much for Patrick. He needs his family there. He’s never fought without their support and he doesn’t intend to start now. In Greek tragedy, all the heroes have a tragic flaw that prevent them from immortalizing themselves. Patrick has one that lives and breathes, his brother.
Johnny is an extremely pivotal character. For some reason or another Lights continues to always go back to his brother when it’s clear they live in two close but very different worlds. I understand Patrick’s desire to please his father. He was his trainer, the man who raised him. But Johnny I don’t get. I applauded when Patrick fired Johnny and was curious how Johnny was going to win him back. To me, Johnny’s ban didn’t last long enough. I don’t think he redeemed himself enough to be brought back in the circle of trust so soon. I don’t think he’s constantly devising plans and ways to screw Patrick out his money, I just think by nature he’s a sycophant who’s not very good at his job. There’s a clear difference when Patrick is talking to his brother and when he’s talking to his manager. Johnny is a great brother. One that empathizes with his family situation and knows where Patrick comes from, but as a manager he’s a panderer who can’t ever get the upper hand. So it should come as no shock that Johnny is responsible for yet another major setback in Lights’ training. In fighting Ed Romeo, Johnny accidentally stabs Lights in the side. The final scene shows Ed Romeo holding on to Lights telling him it will be ok. I wonder if this means we’ll get more of Ed? Perhaps this brings Patrick’s father back. Either way, I’m very happy with the direction of the show right now and think it will only get better as the season goes on.
The second half of Lights Out has been dramatically been the first half and it’s due to one factor: focus. At first, Lights Out didn’t know what story to tell. Was it Patrick and Theresa’s marital struggles? Was it Lights trying to get his family out of debt? Was it training a new superstar in Omar? No. It was always about Patrick fighting for the championship. Along the way there is sure to be some things that make us stop and examine other angles. Ava’s coming of age and going to prom was a nice departure from Lights’ training and made us realize just what Patrick is fighting for. Tonight’s episode really drove home the focus. We got a deep look at Ed Romeo and Patrick trying to make Lights into champion. The problem for Patrick is that he can’t just be a fighter any more. He’s fighting against Reynolds, but fighting for his family.
From the opening opening scene I felt uneasy about Ed Romeo. There’s something else working behind his eyes. There’s an obsession, a need. That need is for boxing. For training. Romeo would have been the perfect trainer for a fighter like Omar. Someone he could really get inside their head and mold them into a super fighter fueled by that same obsession and drive he has. With Lights, it’s not that simple. He has other needs and wants. We know how serious Romeo is about his craft. He slit his wrists after Death Row Reynolds fired him as trainer, so when I started to sense the disconnect between Patrick and Ed I was always tense when he had those quiet moments with the Leary girls. Not that I thought Ed was some sort of adulterer or pervert, but that there was a sense that he could make things get very uncomfortable very quick. Ed’s obsession turned out to be too much for Patrick. He needs his family there. He’s never fought without their support and he doesn’t intend to start now. In Greek tragedy, all the heroes have a tragic flaw that prevent them from immortalizing themselves. Patrick has one that lives and breathes, his brother.
Johnny is an extremely pivotal character. For some reason or another Lights continues to always go back to his brother when it’s clear they live in two close but very different worlds. I understand Patrick’s desire to please his father. He was his trainer, the man who raised him. But Johnny I don’t get. I applauded when Patrick fired Johnny and was curious how Johnny was going to win him back. To me, Johnny’s ban didn’t last long enough. I don’t think he redeemed himself enough to be brought back in the circle of trust so soon. I don’t think he’s constantly devising plans and ways to screw Patrick out his money, I just think by nature he’s a sycophant who’s not very good at his job. There’s a clear difference when Patrick is talking to his brother and when he’s talking to his manager. Johnny is a great brother. One that empathizes with his family situation and knows where Patrick comes from, but as a manager he’s a panderer who can’t ever get the upper hand. So it should come as no shock that Johnny is responsible for yet another major setback in Lights’ training. In fighting Ed Romeo, Johnny accidentally stabs Lights in the side. The final scene shows Ed Romeo holding on to Lights telling him it will be ok. I wonder if this means we’ll get more of Ed? Perhaps this brings Patrick’s father back. Either way, I’m very happy with the direction of the show right now and think it will only get better as the season goes on.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Lights Out - "Head Games" Review
“This is life and death for me. You not down with that, you shouldn’t even start.” -Ed Romeo
The gift of Ed Romeo was given to us this episode. Ed adds a much needed outside influence to the training of Patrick Leary. The relationships within his family are pretty much set where they are until the fight, so what sense would it have made just to watch things play out predictably. With the addition of Romeo, the stakes are raised as now Patrick is having to make a choice, again, between fighting and family. Only this time, it’s not Teresa, it’s Johnny, Margaret and his father.
I’m not a fan of ultimatums at all, especially in relationships. It seems like Lights has to dance around an awful lot of them with his family. First with Teresa, it was her or the fighting, and Patrick chose her. Then it was his father. It was either he trains his way and takes other fights or he walks as his trainer. Patrick chose fighting. Now with Romeo, he asks him to shut out Johnny, Margaret and his father as their negative influences in his life and he needs to have zero distractions on the way to becoming a champion again. This time, Lights is choosing both. This could be Lights’s most difficult battle yet. We continually see the separation be Lights the fighter and Patrick of the Leary family, but it’s always stayed in the family. Now what happens when Lights the fighter leaves the family?
I’m not going to put Johnny and Margaret on sycophants yet, but they are getting close. It’s clear that they love their brother Patrick very much and that they’re proud of him. It’s also clear that they really love being related to a former heavyweight champion. They feel like it’s partly their championship and that they get to reap the rewards as well. So when Romeo comes in and upsets that balance, it’s not a wonder why they clamor and try and get Lights to keep it in house. Their golden goose is escaping from the farm. They need to realize that Lights isn’t like other people. He is going to stick with his family, out of love and not out of obligation, as Romeo said.
Patrick dealt with every member of his family in this episode. Except for the youngest daughter, who is inexplicably absent from many episodes. It wouldn’t be so obvious if they didn’t draw attention to it every episode. This week, the shaky reasoning is that she’s at a girl scout function. In his dealings with his family members, one word comes to mind to describe Patrick: commitment. In dealing with his father, he has a commitment to fighting Reynolds and so he was forced to recruit Ed. Then when pops tried to rehire himself, he stuck with his commitment to Ed. He’s always been committed to Teresa, and it’s because of this commitment we are where we are. But Patrick owns his mistakes. When his family warns him of his potential for making a big mistake, he’s “well then I’ll make it then.” He has his own idea and he sticks with it. He has a commitment to see his daughters happy. As much as I don’t care about the daughters story line, it was a very nice moment to see Patrick react to Ava coming down the stairs. You could see the pride in his eyes. He wishes Ava well in her future decisions, but it’s clear he’s happy for her in that moment. His sister, Margaret, who’s been his biggest fan since day one, has been living off the commitment he made to her. He gave her he diner and eats there what seems like every meal. He brought Johnny back in the loop. Even with everything Johnny did to him, he still welcomes him back. All this to say that the potential schism between Patrick and his family caused by Ed Romeo has some serious ramifications. I’m not so sure Lights can have his cake and eat it too. Something has to give, but what?
The gift of Ed Romeo was given to us this episode. Ed adds a much needed outside influence to the training of Patrick Leary. The relationships within his family are pretty much set where they are until the fight, so what sense would it have made just to watch things play out predictably. With the addition of Romeo, the stakes are raised as now Patrick is having to make a choice, again, between fighting and family. Only this time, it’s not Teresa, it’s Johnny, Margaret and his father.
I’m not a fan of ultimatums at all, especially in relationships. It seems like Lights has to dance around an awful lot of them with his family. First with Teresa, it was her or the fighting, and Patrick chose her. Then it was his father. It was either he trains his way and takes other fights or he walks as his trainer. Patrick chose fighting. Now with Romeo, he asks him to shut out Johnny, Margaret and his father as their negative influences in his life and he needs to have zero distractions on the way to becoming a champion again. This time, Lights is choosing both. This could be Lights’s most difficult battle yet. We continually see the separation be Lights the fighter and Patrick of the Leary family, but it’s always stayed in the family. Now what happens when Lights the fighter leaves the family?
I’m not going to put Johnny and Margaret on sycophants yet, but they are getting close. It’s clear that they love their brother Patrick very much and that they’re proud of him. It’s also clear that they really love being related to a former heavyweight champion. They feel like it’s partly their championship and that they get to reap the rewards as well. So when Romeo comes in and upsets that balance, it’s not a wonder why they clamor and try and get Lights to keep it in house. Their golden goose is escaping from the farm. They need to realize that Lights isn’t like other people. He is going to stick with his family, out of love and not out of obligation, as Romeo said.
Patrick dealt with every member of his family in this episode. Except for the youngest daughter, who is inexplicably absent from many episodes. It wouldn’t be so obvious if they didn’t draw attention to it every episode. This week, the shaky reasoning is that she’s at a girl scout function. In his dealings with his family members, one word comes to mind to describe Patrick: commitment. In dealing with his father, he has a commitment to fighting Reynolds and so he was forced to recruit Ed. Then when pops tried to rehire himself, he stuck with his commitment to Ed. He’s always been committed to Teresa, and it’s because of this commitment we are where we are. But Patrick owns his mistakes. When his family warns him of his potential for making a big mistake, he’s “well then I’ll make it then.” He has his own idea and he sticks with it. He has a commitment to see his daughters happy. As much as I don’t care about the daughters story line, it was a very nice moment to see Patrick react to Ava coming down the stairs. You could see the pride in his eyes. He wishes Ava well in her future decisions, but it’s clear he’s happy for her in that moment. His sister, Margaret, who’s been his biggest fan since day one, has been living off the commitment he made to her. He gave her he diner and eats there what seems like every meal. He brought Johnny back in the loop. Even with everything Johnny did to him, he still welcomes him back. All this to say that the potential schism between Patrick and his family caused by Ed Romeo has some serious ramifications. I’m not so sure Lights can have his cake and eat it too. Something has to give, but what?
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