[7.5/10] So I have to admit, between watching BlacKkKlansman and recently hearing a This American Life story about a cop who went undercover at a high school to entrap kids dealing drugs, I had Connie pegged as a cop from the moment she convinced Mo to smoke weed. That took some of the dramatic tension out of the episode’s structure for me, since I didn’t buy the feint that the flashback would show that this was where Mo had learned to be an inveterate kidnapper.
Still, I appreciate the tragedy and backstory element of it. It’s a little too neat for my tastes, to be honest, but it at least lays some groundwork for why Mo would be reluctant to trust someone and why he would be particularly receptive to Jammer’s life lessons. At the same time, I still just love the dialogue and period setting, so the texture of the flashback works for me.
The story in the present works for me too. There’s far more Archer style comedy with Blair’s part of the story. Him fretting over being implicated in Tiff’s disappearance, only to uncover that the whole thing was arranged by her mom to help the business is a nicely dark twist. There’s good comic exchanges between Blair and Dawn and Blair and the charades-playing officer to boot.
I also like Dawn’s bit in this. Again, I’m not a big fan of the love pentagon, but her confiding in Mo only to get that reaction makes for a strong scene and some particularly poignant imagery. And while I saw it coming, her mistaking Mo dumping Jammer’s ashes for Mo having chopped up Tiff is still a dark but amusing red herring.
Overall, not much moves the needle in this one, it’s more a chance to just learn a little bit about our character. Some of that is a little tidy, but it’s good enough and fits with this show’s oodles of style.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-03-22T01:18:47Z
[7.5/10] So I have to admit, between watching BlacKkKlansman and recently hearing a This American Life story about a cop who went undercover at a high school to entrap kids dealing drugs, I had Connie pegged as a cop from the moment she convinced Mo to smoke weed. That took some of the dramatic tension out of the episode’s structure for me, since I didn’t buy the feint that the flashback would show that this was where Mo had learned to be an inveterate kidnapper.
Still, I appreciate the tragedy and backstory element of it. It’s a little too neat for my tastes, to be honest, but it at least lays some groundwork for why Mo would be reluctant to trust someone and why he would be particularly receptive to Jammer’s life lessons. At the same time, I still just love the dialogue and period setting, so the texture of the flashback works for me.
The story in the present works for me too. There’s far more Archer style comedy with Blair’s part of the story. Him fretting over being implicated in Tiff’s disappearance, only to uncover that the whole thing was arranged by her mom to help the business is a nicely dark twist. There’s good comic exchanges between Blair and Dawn and Blair and the charades-playing officer to boot.
I also like Dawn’s bit in this. Again, I’m not a big fan of the love pentagon, but her confiding in Mo only to get that reaction makes for a strong scene and some particularly poignant imagery. And while I saw it coming, her mistaking Mo dumping Jammer’s ashes for Mo having chopped up Tiff is still a dark but amusing red herring.
Overall, not much moves the needle in this one, it’s more a chance to just learn a little bit about our character. Some of that is a little tidy, but it’s good enough and fits with this show’s oodles of style.