Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Review - Republic of Doyle, Season 2, ep 8

This week on Doyle - Jake ends up quite possible much stupider at the end of the episode than he was at the beginning, which is impressive when you consider he viewed helping Martin Poole a good idea, Dez tries to get Tinny's helping in manning up and gets tazed for his troubles and Sgt. Bennet goes on to show why she's not really a great police officer.

This was seriously not a good episode of Doyle to be a male. The only person who didn't managed to get the shit kicked out of him was Mal. For those of you keep track, Martin got tazed and the shit kicked out of him. Jake got hit in the head with a crowbar, the back of the head with a bottle of wine and the shit kicked out of him. And Dez got the shit kicked out of him by Tinny and tazed twice. This doesn't count the number of times guns were pointed at them

If you operate under the theory that men aren't all that bright to begin with, I assure you none of those characters went to bed smarter than they started the day.

So why all the abuse? Well, Martin is trying to get the Doyle's to help him land an accountant who is on the run for mysterious reasons for the bounty. This is Martin, of course. So Mal and Rose both know he's lying, but he's also dangling $300,000 in front of Jake, who is dumb enough to go for it. Thank god Christian wasn't in this week's episode or things might have gotten really stupid. Then again, maybe they would have tazed him in the head and jolted some sense into him.

So yes, there are shenanigans afoot, with a bounty hunter looking for our accountant, some dude with a machine gun, the police and a very pissed off crown attorney.

Over all, not a bad episode. Actually, just like last year, the second half of the season is shaping up to be much better than the first half. I have no idea why. Last year I just assumed they were finally figuring things out. But things like the real reason why Martin was trying to get the Doyles involved in the case and where they were going with it, a lot of the physical comedy and even the hint of a future plot with Jake and the mayor all work.

Hell, even Dez didn't annoy me this evening. The multiple tazering was funny. The only way Tinny and Dez are not staggeringly annoying is when they work together.

If I had to pick a weakness, the Jake/Bennet/Crown triangle is getting old already. Thank god for small miracles in that Bennet at least found out (although Jake had to explain it to her) about why he said all that crap to her when she came to see him. She's taken a serious step backwards as a character this year. It's becoming a moral imperative that they do something with her.

Seriously, there's a scene where Martin tells Jake that if anyone can get a particular character to turn, it'll be Bennet. The problem is, we haven't seen much this season to indicate that she's an effective cop, let alone a particularly scary one.

Bennet aside, a fun episode and another step in the right direction for the show.

Best Lines. For once, Jake doesn't get them all:
"True. I suffering from discordination. And, well, fear." - Dez

"Do you miss the dental?" - the Mayor
"Well, luckily all my teeth have been knocked out and replaced." - Jake, who may or may not be joking.

"Mal...Mal...Is cake a food group?" - Dez, after one too many shots of electricity

"Don't be such a sook." - Tinny

"Dez, don't! You can't afford to lose any more brain cells today!" - Tinny

Last Five
1.  Baker, baker - Tori Amos*
2. The fix is in - OK Go
3. Run (live) - Kathleen Edwards
4. Johnny Feelgood - Liz Phair
5. The bridge - Mark Bragg

2 comments:

Megan said...

OMG WTF HOW DARE YOU CRITICISE THIS PERFECT CANADIAN TV SHOE THAT IS THE MOST PERFECT THING THAT HAS EVER BEEN ON TV. THIS BLOG IS LIKE A BORING BORING WEBSITE. YOU HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE WRITERS ADN WHAT THEY GO THROUGH ON A DAILY BASES JUST FOR YOU THE UNGRATEFUL SOB WHO JUST WATCHES AND FROM THE SAFETY OF YOUR LIVING ROOM YOU JUST COME UP WITH MORE AND ORE BAD THINGS TO SAY AND HOW DARE YOU.

Adam Snider said...

I liked the episode, but it felt a bit weak that Jake had to literally explain why he said what he said to Bennett. It seems like she should have been able to deduce the reason by the time the case was all wrapped up (well, that, and the fact that there was probably something in the police report about: "And then the dude showed up at my office with a machine gun...").

You're right, though. The writers aren't treating Bennett too kindly this season. Half the time she's being written as a clueless bit of ladyflesh who happens to be a cop, instead of the smart and sarcastic woman that she was last season.