The Black Donnellys 50/50

The premiere episode of this new ABC drama established The Black Donnellys as a show worth tuning in for. However, after locking itself in as a viable show, this week’s second installment lacked the quality of writing and all things good that the first show had gotten so right. Which of these episodes is the indicator for what we can expect from the coming season? Well, it’s hard to say, but what can be said is that a show that had me hooked with one (commercial free) hour of great drama has left me skeptical and primed for disappointment.

One of the best shows on television that I’ve seen this year was ABC’s premiere episode of the The Black Donnellys. By the close of the first aired hour it seemed implausible that any one watching this show could have been left disappointed. Myself, I was hooked. The story opens with a bang, establishing Tommy Donnelly as the only Donnelly brother capable of “getting out” and in turn qualifying him as the only Donnelly brother capable of protecting his family, and his neighborhood. It’s been said that Tommy’s rise to fame is unrealistic and thusly unbelievable, but if we look at The Black Donnellys as a show reminiscent of a rise to glory movie, or, the template for all things mob, mafia and seedy New York City dealings, The Godfather we see that Tommy is just following in the footsteps of Pacino’s Michael Corleone or DiNiro’s, Vito Corleone. If we look at this show like a novel than it’s just a great story.

The first episode struck the perfect balance between story line, character development and entertainment. As the episode crescendoed Goodfellas montage style, to it’s conclusion I was literally on the edge of my seat, momentarily afraid that Tommy wouldn’t make it into the rest of the season. The episode wound down neatly weaving all of the story lines and sub plots together. I was impressed with the quick witted thinking of the writers and of Tommy who, in a classic use of irony, has his brother Jimmy arrested as a means to protect him from mob retaliation. It is a satisfactory and appropriate conclusion of the show that leaves the viewers poised perfectly for a second episode.

Then came the second episode…

If you’re trying to decide weather or not this is the show for you than this week’s episode of The Black Donnellys was not the one to watch. The episode was unimpactful and disjointed. Some scenes even seemed unedited, running for minutes longer that they should have. How long do we need to watch Tommy standing in his tighty whities brutally smashing the legs of Joey Downtown? How long do we need to watch him, still in his tighties stand under the ice cold hose water, as he washes the blood from his skin? These scenes are gruesome, awkward, uncomfortable and boring. Tommy, the anti hero vacillating between going straight and “getting sucked back in” takes on a maniacal quality that is random and unrealistic of the loyal and sympathetic character that we have seen thus far. These, are not the only scenes that are misplaced in the episode. The scenes between Mrs. Donnelly and Jenny in the hospital and the between Jenny and Tommy in the restaurant/bedroom can also be added to the list of things that should have been edited or just never written at all. Both seemed harried and hurried. The conversation between the two women in the hospital adds nothing to the story and does little if anything to give us any insight into either of their characters and while a get together of Tommy and Jenny was predictable, it was unexpected that it would happen this early on in the show. These are two characters that have waited an entire lifetime to confess their love for one another, but wait only moments to go all the way. Again, Tommy going to Jenny after taking care of Joey Downtown, seems uncharacteristic of the Tommy defined in the premiere. Perhaps, the writers wanted to do something a typical of a storyline norm that drags out an inevitable romance between two characters, but then, the writers debunk that theory by breaking the lovers apart just as quickly as they threw them together. Perhaps, the character of Tommy Donnelly was never meant to be sympathetic, warm hearted and remorseful. Or, perhaps for Tommy the transformation may not have been a slippery slope into the underbelly of New York City’s Irish American environs it may have been a flying leap off the edge of a cliff.

Ultimately, the second episode of The Black Donnellys lacked the panache and ability to compel that it needed to successfully proceed the premiere. Hopefully, going forward the show will redeem itself and be as unwavering in its quality and entertainment value as the brothers Donnelly are in their loyalty to one another.