Men of a Certain Age: "Can't Let That Slide"

Season 2, Episode 10

Will the circle be unbroken?

I’m beginning to think that Men of a Certain Age is at the point where the writers need to really brainstorm some new avenues for the three guys to explore. Now don’t get me wrong – I still enjoy the show immensely, and it still manages to find the personal touch in most of the stories that it tells – but the show’s formula is starting to wear just a bit thin. Joe worries about either his family, his gambling issues, or his relationships, Owen worries about the dealership, and Terry worries about either his job or the current woman in his life. Now admittedly the show has gotten good mileage out of these stories lines, mostly by switching up which ones come to the forefront and by having the men experience various levels of success and failure in these areas. And while I also understand that there’s a good deal of realism to this approach – middle aged men frankly don’t have the time/energy to do or be concerned with a wide variety of things – at times it ends up feeling like a not that difficult guessing game for what an episode will cover.

The other more current problem – most likely due to the show trying to play within the limits of the bifurcated season schedule TNT has laid out – is that the backslide concept introduced just two weeks ago seems to already resolved itself, and that has stolen a lot of the potential drama I sensed back in “The Pickup”. I’m not writing off the backhalf of this season entirely – there have of course been some great moments along the way, and with two more episodes left and a possible (though not very likely) third season, the show could turn itself around – but it certainly is a problem that I won’t soon forget.

I think Terry’s little slide has been the most problematic for me, mostly because he broke up with Erin at the end of “The Great Escape”,  only to be reunited with her two episodes later, and I think it robs the initial breakup of some of its dramatic weight. My qualm still stands, but I believe that Terry’s plot tonight helps to explain why they rolled the plot out the way that they did. It turns out that Terry’s relationship wasn’t just about having him realize that it’s time to have an adult relationship, it’s about realizing that he has a lot of catching up to do on those relationships – and he wants to do it fast. While I had fun watching Terry completely throw himself into his relationship with Erin, and I also appreciated his epiphany towards the end, I can’t say that I’m too happy about the “let’s move in together” plot introduced here. It’s such an overdone conceit that I’m not even sure if MOACA can pull a win out of this one.

Joe’s plot, meanwhile, seems to be suffering from too much setup and not enough follow-through. The first half of the season, Joe (and us as well) was so concerned with those little “mind bets” and all the other ways that he found to get around his gambling problem that the show was really building up some steam while we waited for the other shoe to drop. But now that the shoe has dropped, with Joe filling is addiction by playing bookie, it hasn’t felt quite as big of a moment as we were led to expect. I know that this show focuses almost entirely on small moments, but it usually makes those small moments feel large for the characters, and I don’t think that’s the case here. And while I like that Joe has once again turned away from the gambling life, and did so by seeing himself in a younger person, it feels like this storyline has wrapped up just a bit too neatly, especially considering they threw his breakup with Michelle in their too. (But hey, apparently the Fantasy Woman’s coming back next week, so maybe that will change things up a bit.)

Owen’s plot was predictably at the dealership, though I appreciated that it took a dark turn toward the end. All the various clips of his employee sucking at their jobs was pretty funny, if a bit over-the-top for a show like this, and it led to the even funnier gag of those videos becoming Melissa’s new “show”. And like I said, I appreciated how this led to the darker twist of the camera’s catching Bruce taking kickbacks from a wholesaler for keeping the competition away from Thoreau Chevrolet, something that cost them tens of thousands of dollars. And while that scene where Owens Senior and Junior confronted Bruce was effectively taught, it was ruined a bit by a singular plot hole. For Bruce to suggest Owen use the cameras in the first place and then get caught by one of them requires for the character to be stupid, or for there to be some miscommunication in the type of camera used that the episode didn’t address.

But despite all of these flaws, this was still a solid episode of MOACA, as we had plenty of moments for the guys, scenes in the diner, and the episode ending with each of the men on a different level of personal success. By sticking to those key beats, the overall story was able to advance nicely, hopefully to a place where we can get a better episode, one of the quality to which we’ve become accustomed.

Quotes, Etc:

“Just call me.”

“Do you have an issue with your balls?” “I do. Nothing serious, but something I want to bounce off you guys.”

“Okay, then when she comes back I’m talking about my scrotum.”

“Oh man, it stinks down here.” “Yeah, that was me. I was trying it out.”

“In general, we need to see an uptick in professionalism, and a downtick in…How should I say it? Bullshit.”

“Bingo.”

Owen’s password for everything is funkman123.

“He can no longer digest his food unless he’s staring into her eyes.”

“Come on man, you keep this up, I won’t be able to do any more fat jokes. That’s like half my repertoire.”

“So, you feeling all right?” “Yeah, there’s a stripper coming over. Dancer. Shit.”

I don’t think Albert’s plan to call his band “Free Money” is going to work all that well. Just ask The Barenaked Ladies. Heck, according to legend, BNL made up their name after seeing a sign for a band named “Free Beer” (another one of Albert’s suggested band names.