(S01E06) Let me start by saying, Whitey's uncle is not someone I'd like to know let alone do business with in real life. In fact, I don't think I'd really want to know or do business with any of the shady characters on this show; well, with the exception of Jenny Reilly for obvious reasons.
I live in relatively sheltered Oklahoma. While sketchy people no doubt exist, I rarely found myself encountering them in day to day life. It makes me realize that I'd have a pretty difficult time trying to make it in a city where this stuff actually occurs on a regular basis.
I can't even say I know anyone with a gambling problem. However, if I did, I definitely wouldn't let that person be a partner in my bookie business and I damn sure wouldn't let him be responsible for collecting the gambling debts from losing customers.
A logical person wouldn't even consider doing either of these thing, but we've already established that Jimmy Donnelly isn't a logical person, or even that intelligent for that matter.
With Whitey's uncle coming off as such a hard-ass in the early parts of the episode I figured Jimmy and Kevin would be smart enough to know not to mess with him. In the end, it didn't end up mattering since Bob the Mouth took a 17-story nose dive into a parked car from several floors up. I wish they would have gone into more detail as to how this actually occurred.
Anyhow, you can really see the Donnellys' status in the community skyrocketing as each of the little crimes they commit makes them a little richer. I found myself questioning the boys ability to perform most of these heinous acts in the first few episodes, but with repetition it is becoming more and more believable.
While I found this to be a fairly entertaining episode as usual, I found two things a bit predictable. 10 minutes into the show it was pretty easy to tell that Kevin was "Newton". As stated before, Kevin has a gambling problem. With $10,000 missing and the guy not showing up anywhere to pay the debt it was easy to tell Kevin was the culprit.
Secondly, when Kevin and Tommy were at the track trying to win the money, it was pretty easy to tell that Tommy was going to end up betting his gut instead of going with Kevin's wishy washy decisions. I found that entire train of thought pretty funny. If you lost $10,000 gambling, what are the chances you can win the money back gambling? I guess only a chronic gambler can fully understand this train of thought.
It reminded me a bit of when Kevin called Tommy unethical for intending to steal money from Jimmy. It made sense to Kevin to call Tommy unethical although he conveniently forgot that going around beating people up while collecting debts is equally as unethical. Funny how perspectives can vary so greatly from one person to the next.
In any event, it worked out for them in the end and Tommy was able to be the knight in shining armor to Jenny Reilly yet again.
It was nice to see Sean Donnelly getting a little face time. I wonder if the actor playing him is upset because he's had to wait six episodes into the show to make a significant appearance.
Like Jimmy said, he's completely not cut out to participate in the family business. Kevin has neither the stomach nor the heart. That being said, it was nice to see Jimmy at least attempt to Kevin in a different direction, and ultimately, nice to see Jimmy commend his brother for the work he performed on an actual job.
Above all, I'm curious to see how the relationship between Tommy and Huey's widow will progress. It's obvious that she is completely into him, and although Tommy may have some type of feelings for her, it was interesting to note that he pretty much manipulated her for Jenny.
Unfortunately, with some changes NBC is going to make to their lineup, this curiosity may never be satisfied. As reported this morning, The Black Donnellys will be on hiatus starting April 23rd. I find this to be pretty distressing since I've become rather fond of the series in a short period of time.
A source tells me there's a good chance this show will be moved to a Friday evening time slot at some point in the future although nothing has been formally announced as of yet. I'll take some crappy time slot on Friday evenings over losing the show completely any day of the week. Here's to hoping the Friday rumor turns out to be true.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-03-2007 @ 11:15AM
Wanda said...
What is it with you people in the Midwest,that you think everybody in NY or any "big city" is constanly dealing with some criminal element? The Black Donnellys is,like The Sopranos, about a certain segment of society. Unless you are a gambler or dealing in some other illegal enterprise there is no reason you would have to deal with people like the Donnellys in NY anymore than you have to deal with their counterparts in Oklahoma.
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4-03-2007 @ 12:40PM
Sam H. said...
Since when did Oklahoma become part of the Midwest?
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4-03-2007 @ 1:03PM
Jamie said...
#2.-- About the same time living in New York automatically involved one in criminal activities or with those that committed such. I agree with #1. This is fiction,we aren't all walking around quaking in our boots for fear of having to deal with people like the Donnellys.
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4-03-2007 @ 1:12PM
ladytv said...
Thanks JJ for the recap. I didn't get to start watching the show last night until there was only 20 minutes left. I was totally lost. Thanks for clearing things up. I also hope that they are not going to pull the plug on this show so soon.
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4-03-2007 @ 1:46PM
Hugeliver said...
Well, this is goodbye to the Black Donnellys. I tried as best I could, but I cannot watch this any more.
Jimmy is just DONE with heroin apparently?? Now everyone is coming to him for advice, money and employment? I bet there's some people that wish they could just quit that easily. no DT's or anything!
There is no cops looking into anything that's going on?
Tommy can just move in on Hugh's widow like that and SHE has no issue? How old is she anyway!? They said everyone fantasized about her growing up.
EVERY SINGLE WEEK Tommy has to get money somehow? It's the same crap every week. No wonder it sucks in the ratings.
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4-03-2007 @ 3:24PM
Cole said...
Here's why I'm still watching , because the second i saw Huey's widow i knew she liked Tommy, and i just knew that it was going to get really good if NBC let's it run it's course.
And i can't decide which i want to see more , Tommy basically pimp himself out to Huey's widow, to keep saving Jenny and his brothers.
Or Tommy actually devopling feelings for the widow, and having to deal with guilt of having not only killed her husband, but also having stolen money from her.
i must confess i was asking myself how could so many people seemed to die or get beaten up in this neighborhood, and yet i haven't seen a cop do any questionings to anyone other then Joey since the first espisode.
And i do find it ironic, how often Kevin always to tell on Tommy to Jimmy. Did i miss something, i thought Tommy was the oldest and most resposible one, so what's with Kevin always willing to trust Jimmy more. Isn't he aaware of the crap that Jimmy getting them into, i mean all the stuff is going to explode, and leave Tommy with a huge mess to clean up.
Can't wait to see more.
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4-03-2007 @ 9:38PM
Kayy said...
Okay obviously, you're missing a few key points. Tommy is not the oldest, Jimmy is. Also, I'm guessing you dont have any siblings because your completely clueless about one thing. Tommy, Jimmy, Kevin and Sean are all brothers, and the bond between most brothers, is a strong one. As noted several times in several episodes, they are all very protective over each other (see the episode where Jimmy smashed Whitey over the head for making fun of Tommy), and would help each other till death. This being said, this is why Kevin rats on Tommy, but at the same time, tries to make his motives seem more appealing to Jimmy. It's because he can't lie to his brother, yet he can't completely blame the other.
By the way, this comes totally from the perspective of a middle child, who has an older brother, and a younger one, as well as a cousin who is just as much of a part of the family as any of us. =]
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4-04-2007 @ 10:19AM
Ritte House said...
I really hope this show stays on the air. Friday after Raines would be a good time. I like it because it is really different. I have never watched Sopranos so I don't know if it's a knock off and if it is, so what.
Lots of worse shows stay on the air.
I live in a big city and it is unfortunately, too true that gang members and low life criminals get killed and not much notice is taken and very little investigation. In spite of what you see on tv, a lot of murders go unsolved and unmourned.
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4-05-2007 @ 11:53AM
RACT said...
Okay... does no one understand that the cops are in the pockets of the Irish and the Italians? That is why no one is looking for these dead guys. Also this isn't about good v. evil this is all about families and power struggles. So we aren't looking to see that the cops get the bad guys in the end of every show, we're looking to see that the brothers come out on top. Though last night (Wednesday is the night we watch our dvred shows, because nothing else is on) I did tell my husband that this was like a video game, every week Tommy has to clean up something that Jimmy did or save Jenny. I likened it to Vice City.
I really didn't want to get into this show because I loved Studio 60 but thanks to my hubby I have gotten hooked. The problem with dramas is that it takes a good season to set up the story lines, not just 6 or 7 shows with one totally online. I didn't like Grey's at first either but after the first season it got good. I wish NBC would try moving these shows to different timeslots before they just up and cancel them.
Why must NBC think that ever show in that 10 PM slot isn't being watched, we just Tivo that slot to watch later.
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4-12-2007 @ 2:29AM
Jaime said...
Well Jimmy's shooting again in the next episode. I think we will find out more about how Bob the mouth fell from the window in the later episodes. The thing about this show is, it's a story things will unravel, mysteries will be revealed but not always in the same episode. Unfortunately some people have no patience. There's good reasons for not revealing things right away. It has more impact if revealed at the right time instead of right away.
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