Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Lights Out: "Bolo Punch"

A review of tonight's aptly named fourth episode, after the jump....


I believe that the scene the ended last week's episode – with Omar losing due to his hubris – is going to be more important that originally telegraphed. It informed much of this episode, and think it will inform furture ones as well.

It was everywhere tonight. It of course started the episode, as Omar storms the gym, demanding money owed him for the fight. This sets off a chain of events, as Johnny/Lights scramble for the money to pay him back.

It is here that I must address the title, “Bolo Punch.” The move that Omar's opponent used to win the fight, a bolo punch is a move wherein a boxer waves one hand in a circle, as a distraction, and if the opponent falls for it, the other hand comes up with a surprise punch. The punch isn't powerful, but it is a mean surprise, and usually throws its victim for a loop.

Many people had their own metaphorical bolo punch tonight. Johnny's betting habits come to bite him in the ass, even as he's busy trying to deal with the legal side of fights. Pops is blinded by his trust in his sons, and doesn't see the punch of Johnny abusing his savings.

But the biggest punch – and the best scenes of the night – was when Teresa received her bolo punch, when she finally learned that all of Light's money is gone. She yells, she punches, she cries. And things get uglier, as Teresa and Lights begin to throw accusations at each other, blaming each other for their current financial crisis. It was real and emotional. And yet, it was undercut a little bit by a later scene, as Teresa apologizes and takes the blame for the high standard of living that the family is accustomed to. While I like that the show has made Teresa a less of a nag, this feels just as misogynistic, since the show itself seems to be saying that financial troubles are the woman's fault.

But back to Omar's fight, which ended the episode as well, with Lights battling in an underground UFC fight, in order to erase Johnny's gambling. Lights is cocky, like Omar was, and is a bit out of his element. He is ultimately triumphant, but it was not a certainty, and the scene was tense on a level we have yet to see from the show.

We see Omar again at the end of the episode, relating to Lights (and to us) his experience with the bolo punch, and he could have gotten up, but he didn't, because he's not a boxer. But what about Lights? Is he still a boxer? And if so, what kind of punch will it take for him not to get back up again?

What did everybody else think?


Additional Thoughts: 

“I don't expect respect, but a little Vaseline, ya know?”

That shot with Pops fishing? Just beautiful.

The fund raiser is for Haiti – a sign of how long ago all of this was filmed

Alienated Catholics Anonymous? Is that a real thing?

No comments:

Post a Comment