The Foot: Review of Terriers--"Pimp Daddy"

The structure of Terriers is smart. Each episode begins in a light-hearted fashion before the story goes to deeper and darker places. For instance, in the latest episode "Pimp Daddy," Britt takes on a simple case. The nephew of Hank's physical therapist got robbed and the therapist wants to get his nephew's money back. After talking with the nephew, Britt learns the nephew lost the money when a hooker bailed on him. Britt tracks down the hooker, and the hooker is actually a tranny who bailed because she didn't want to scar the teenage boy for life. The hooker (named Mikala/Michael) hires Britt to investigate the murder of her friend, Crystal. Britt, with the help of Reynolds, learns the probable identity of the murderer; however, the guy hung himself six months ago. Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased continue to call the police department seeking updates in the case of their missing son, Trevor. Crystal is Trevor post-op. Mikala knows that Crystal left home because her parents couldn't accept the truth that their son was gay, and she also knows the post-op transsexual news would devastate the parents even more. Crystal's parents aren't bad people, Mikala tells Britt; rather, the parents just had a narrow perspective of what constituted normalcy and ordinary. The case began as Mikala's search for closure and truth in the case of her friend; however, the truth is simply a dead end. Nothing can be done to the murderer because he committed suicide. Mikala decides to give the parents closure and a happy story that they can accept with their son. Along with Britt, she shows up at the door dressed as Michael, and tells the mother and father that their son was a wonderful person who helped the homeless out at the shelter, that he was simply a lost soul.

"Pimp Daddy" dealt with a few themes throughout the 42 minutes. The effect of parents on their children was one of the more prominent themes of the episode alongside the ability to let go and the benefit of closure.

Hank Dolworth is a man in need of closure, and a man who needs to let go of his ex-wife, Gretchen. After being the hero last week, Hank does a tremendous amount of digging in the hopes that Gretchen and Jason's marriage will blow apart. A few episodes ago, Hank ran a backround check on Jason but nothing came up. Maggie calls Hank with news that Jason isn't who he says he is. Hank arrives at Maggie's office to learn the details. Maggie tells him that Jason used to have the last name "Voloway" before he changed it--a result of a child molestation case against his family. His parents ran a day care center and molested 23 children who attended the center. Hank decides to dig deeper and he learns from one of the victims that Jason, at least, knew about the crimes his parents committed and did nothing. Hank takes the information to Jason as a warning and allows Jason the right to decide who tells Gretchen. Jason suggests Hank behave in whatever way he thinks is right. Hank marches down to Gretchen's office, hands her the information and learns that Jason told her everything on the second date. The entire thing blows up in Hank's face and he winds up farther apart from his ex-wife than ever.

Gretchen and Jason have been more than friendly to Hank as the wedding approached. Perhaps, like the alcohol that Hank cut from his life, he needs to cut Gretchen from his life no matter how much the man continues to love her. The episode opened with a dream/memory in which Hank sang her a delightful song as they laid in bed together on a Saturday morning. He awoke, alone in his bed, very far away from that life he once loved. The injury he suffered from the gun shot is the obvious symbolism of the episode. The doctor told Hank that the injury would heal if he remained in bed and rested; however, Hank does the opposite of the doctor's advice. Hank is like the injury. He needs to stop in his quest to win back the love of his life because the quest is hurting him more and more, and he'll never heal if he doesn't stop.

The scene between he and Gretchen turns into a nightmare, as Gretchen tells Hank why she can no longer love him and why Jason is the right man for her. Gretchen reminds Hank that he is the live grenade in her life. She goes for the knockout when she tells him that he is worse sober than he is drunk. Hank returns to his dark house, looks at the wedding invitation that he can no longer accept and lays down on his couch. For a moment, I thought that he might seek solace in a drink but Terriers is too good a show. Instead, Hank is alone with no remedy and, maybe, it is what he needs.

Some other thoughts:

-Britt proposed to Katie after discovering a pregnancy test in the garbage. Katie is, indeed, pregnant; however, the identity of the father is unknown. Also, Katie did not look as happy as Britt thinks she is. As we know, Katie feels unworthy of marriage (especially now). A rocky road looms for these two.

-I loved the short scene between Hank and the former reporter who now freelances for an online blog (50 bucks per story). I'm a guy who wants to either write for television or write for a newspaper (preferably TV or sports beat writer). My number one ideal career exists in LA (i of course live in Philadelphia) so I can't even attempt to break in as an assistant while ideal career number two is dying rapidly. I worked for my college newspaper and even we experienced the realities and hardships of publishing a newspaper. I digress.

-Donal Logue and Michael Raymond James were terrific in "Pimp Daddy." The two are consistently great in this show.

-Shawn Ryan and Kelly Wheeler wrote the episode. Ryan is, of course, the second guy in command and once re-tweeted a link to this blog for which I'm extremely grateful. This is Kelly Wheeler's first television credit, which is awesome.

-Adam Arkin directed the episode.

-Once again, please watch Terriers if you've neglected to. Episodes are available on iTunes, Hulu, Amazon and OnDemand. It is the best show on television currently.

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