Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Review: Republic of Doyle, Season 3, episode 2

Well, the gang's all here for this one. Aside from the regular cast, Tinny make a reappearance, Doyle's ex-wife briefly shows up and Walter makes a much needed return.

Oh, and a brief Doyle ass shot. Man, the CBC censor must really be out of it. Although there was less swearing this week.

Cathy gave me some grief after reading last week's review, saying I laughed a lot at the episode and then seemed to give it a negative review. I thought it was mostly positive, just pointing out that as fun as it was, there was some pretty glaring plot problems.

Keeping that in mind, I went into this week's episode. And I'll say off the top, it was fun. There was probably plot problems, but the sign of a good episode is if you're too busy actually enjoying what's on the screen to not really have the time to go "hey, wait a minute, that makes no sense." And for one hour, Republic of Doyle managed to entertain me enough that I didn't really notice any.

So, in plot one, we have Jake and Mal back to being PIs (hence, the massive reset from the end of last week) doing repo work while Des watches out for them. Except while they're busy bickering, Des manages to get turned into street pizza by a car. Des is ok (well as ok as Des gets), but Jake and Mal, especially Mal, swear revenge. The problem being, after swearing revenge they managed to get sucked into a con man scheme involving what may or may not be a large sum of money.

In Plot 2, Martin Poole returns, looking for Rose's help. Well, more specifically, dragging Rose into the heap of trouble from his latest screw up while guest star Shannon Tweed shows up looking for money he's lost.

In Plot 3, Des manages to figure out that Tinny is back in town, and what's up with that?

I was joking last week that there's a bit of a comedown from special guest star Oscar winner Russell Crowe to Shannon Tweed, known for such movies as Body Chemistry 4 and Indecent Exposure 1, 2 and 3 (although, and this freaked me out, she's also starred in an episode of Murder She Wrote and, wrap your mind around this, voiced a character in SpongeBob Squarepants). But hey, she was fine enough as the gangster chick with the shotgun and a tendency to get whacked in the head. Certainly better than the doofus who was playing the world's stupidest con man...

One of my gripes about Doyle is about how badly handled the women characters are in the show. Not so in this episode. Rose was a lot of fun, showing quite the entertaining temper. Lesley is a lot more interesting this year as a bitter, pissed off and caustic harbinger of Doom. What, you think her predictions that Jake's actions are going to get someone hurt or killed are just idle ramblings? Although considering the cast around Jake have had heart attacks, been shot, regularly kidnapped, hit by cars, nearly blown up from exploding cars (car dealerships in St. John's must love ROD given that one blows up nearly every week) framed for murder raps and god knows what else, I'm not sure how more damage can happen from hanging out with him.

Anyway, Leslie is much more interesting and entertaining being pissed off at Jake than mooning over him.

And Tinny, well, Tinny obviously has a mysterious secret of some sort. And hell, I'm curious. Plus there's the romantic triangle between Des, Tinny and the hot med student...both of whom are completely out of his league. Then again, women on Twitter seem to adore Des, so perhaps rambly doofuses are the new sexy. What do I know.

So yes, a solid and entertaining episode. I would go so far to say Doyle is two for two this season. There was some talk from the cast that it's taken them a season or more to finally relax into the characters and the show. Perhaps the same can be said for the writers. The show is feeling more relaxed and comfortable this season. Not lazy, just like they finally might have broken in the shoes. Here's hoping...

Other Notes:
- Jake and Mal really do work together. The back and forth between them remain the highlight of the show. It must be hard to write in the other characters sometimes, given how well they work together.
- I beg you, more Walter, for the love of God.
- I will give Allan Hawco credit, that must be quite the workout he goes through. The glimpse of ass probably caused blood pressure rates for women (and 10% of men) around Newfoundland to go through the roof.
- Having said that, the scene with naked Jake handcuffed while the cops stood around and laughed at him was pretty funny.

Quotes of the Week:
"It's not my fault you've got your grandmother's arms." - Mal to Jake

"For the record, although I wasn't there, I'm guessing it was Jake's fault." - Jake's ex-wife

"Untie me right now so I can frickin' kill you!" - Rose

"Please utilize any part of my body you find useful." - Smooth talking Des to the hot med student

"I'm a private detective. Danger and intrigue follow me everywhere." - Des

"What's wrong with you?"
"I got hit by a car and I'm on drugs." - Mal and Des

"There's something a lot bigger than that going on."
(Glancing down at a naked and hadcuffed Jake) "Not from where I'm standing." - Jake and Lesley

"Malachy, I know he's your son and all, but seriously, get out while you can." - Lesley

"No wonder you haven't got any friends, you've killed them all." - Lesley

Last Five
1. Real love - David Gray
2. Cloudbursting - Kate Bush*
3. Thousand telephones - Ian Foster Band
4. Family man - Hall & Oates
5. Locked out (live) - Crowded House

2 comments:

Harry Statesider said...

I wouldn't be surprised if the med student disappears next week, the same way it appears Jake's lawyer lover from last season, and his brother have this year. They did mention Christian having "moved out of the house" last week, which could be code for "he will no longer be on the show." Or maybe we'll see him return later this season.

It was odd to see Jake's ex make such a brief appearance last night. She's taken some lumps from fans but I've always liked her. My guess is she may have been in more scenes that wound up on the cutting room floor. Anyway, I must say I look forward to your review each week. I feel like I'm the only in The States who's heard of this show, even though the CBC is widely available here in the Detroit area.

One more thing, I must say I love Tinny's new dark hair this season.

Adam Snider said...

I'm finding Lesley's new "I hate Jake Doyle with every ounce of my being" attitude kind of annoying. We get it; she's hates him. But, really, she has no reason to be going on and on about how he's going to get someone killed. And let's remember that Des getting hit by a car was 0% Jake's fault (except, I suppose, for the fact that he works for Jake), though I suppose Lesley wouldn't be aware of that.

I personally think her character has become a much more one-dimensional character than ever before -- especially in terms of her relationship with Jake. In season one, there was the witty banter and the "you're a total idiot, Jake Doyle, but I kind of like you." In season two, well, she was awfully written, but she still had multiple dimensions.

In this season, she seems to be a giant ball of rage and nothing more.

Despite my little rant, it was a good episode and I pretty much agree with your assessment.