S02.E06: Never Avenge Yourselves, But Leave It to the Wrath of God

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

After surviving a harrowing attack, Jesse takes matters into his own hands. Eli attempts to make amends, while Kelvin struggles to control his flock.

Original air date 2022.02.06

[patty1h]

So many funny scenes tonight.  I think I scared the neighbors laughing at the Kelvin/Keefe scene, then holding my breath watching Keefe try to lift that cross for his man.  Damn Jesse is too insecure - can't take it that his wife may be a better shot.  It was kinda sweet to see Judy actually try to comfort Tiffany, in her own unique way, about Billy going MIA.

Noooooooo!  I can't imagine the show without Eli!

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

There’s parts of the show that are so insane - Judy drawing a phallus on her fan club photos.  That kind of thing would be on SM in a heartbeat and the scandal would reverberate. 
 

I’m sure Eli’s not dead nor “away,” but it seems like they’re really prolonging the varieties and depths of troubles the family can get themselves into. Maybe I’m just not wired to follow a plot line week after week after week. 
 

All that said, 2 questions.  Was that Keef in the tiger cage?

And why did Aimee-Leigh condone and even enable her kids’ foul behaviors? Betting we find out that she wasn’t one-dimensionally perfect.  

[MrWhyt]

if Eli dies i'm not watching anymore. Well I mean I'll still watch but with a little less joy.

[thuganomics85]

Whelp, I definitely did not see that ending coming!  Realistically, I have to imagine Eli would have did after all of those gunshots to the chest and so forth, but this show is outlandish enough that I can see him "miraculously" pulling through.  But at bare minimum, I have to think he will be taken out of commission for a bit and I can see that leading to the Gemstone kids fighting each other again to be the one in charge.

Certainly not a surprise that Jesse would be someone who would take Amber successfully shooting one of the assassins instead of him as a threat to his masculinity and try to counter that in the most extreme and ill-advised way possible.  Despite all of the stone throwing, Junior clearly isn't that threatened by him and I can see this continuing to escalate (although I still wonder if Junior is actually behind this?  Motorcycle assassins that look like they came straight out of a TRON simulation doesn't seem to be his style...)  Did like seeing more of Jesse's lackeys again, because those dumbasses never fail to crack me up.

So, Kelvin didn't technically lose the God Squad after his thumbs were broken at first, but he's now been overthrown for good and even has been kicked out of his room and forced to do the chores.  I do think it's strangely honorable that he didn't just pull the Gemstone card or the fact he (or his family technically) own all the property and just boot them all out, but is going through with the demotion/punishment.  I guess Kelvin has some kind of code: as twisted as it might be.

Judy might not like having to deal with someone like Tiffany, but she's actually better at it than one might expect.

B.J. is obviously the big winner here: he finally got a handshake from Eli!

[aghst]

Weird turn for a comedy show.

Jesse may feel a need to prove his manliness but in reality just having that bus shot up would involve law enforcement.  It happened in a public place and Jesse and Amber shot back.

But wasn’t Eli suppose to be on that bus yet Jesse took it?  So he was the target the first time as well.

Would be too obvious if it was Junior behind these attacks.

Maybe they will tie it back to the Jason Schwarztman character who got killed.

Otherwise they’re leaving a lot of loose strings while trying to create some laughs most of the time with violence interspersed here and there.

[patty1h]

I'm in the camp that doesn't want to lose Eli.  So, thinking on that ending and it being fuzzy from several hours passing from watching, I don't remember seeing any/much blood on Eli, and he should have been drenched after all those shots, so I'm going to put my hopes on maybe he was smart enough to start wearing a bulletproof vest after the incident with Jesse and those assassins on motorcycles.  Let's all hope that is true and Eli only took non-lethal hits.

[revbfc]

Eli is the Band-Aid that needs to be ripped off eventually.  I love the character, but the kids need to work this shit out.

What’s worrying to me is why Gideon’s not getting a lot screen time? It seems like a no-brainer to have the best biker in the family handle some Tron-looking motherfuckers.

[xaxat]

In addition to Eli's fate, I thought this episode was interesting in that two of the Gemstone kids showed a modicum of emotional maturity. Kelvin acknowledge that his struggles stem from his efforts to stop being seen as the baby of the family and Judi showing empathy to Tiffany. Even BJ in his talk with Eli. Jesse? Not so much.

Tron cosplayers are definitely not Junior's style.

I want a strawberry shortcake smoothie. (With the guilt.)

Titus is free!

 

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

11 hours ago, patty1h said:

I'm in the camp that doesn't want to lose Eli.  So, thinking on that ending and it being fuzzy from several hours passing from watching, I don't remember seeing any/much blood on Eli, and he should have been drenched after all those shots, so I'm going to put my hopes on maybe he was smart enough to start wearing a bulletproof vest after the incident with Jesse and those assassins on motorcycles.  Let's all hope that is true and Eli only took non-lethal hits.

The teaser for the next episode show an ambulance with security detail arriving on the family compound so I’m sure he survives. Thing is, i don’t recall ANY blood on Eli (I consider John Goodman a national living treasure and sometimes my lizard brain kicks in irrationally if his character is in danger! LOL) so I’m thinking the windshield was bulletproof and if he did take bullets, they were to his legs.  Though I would guess the entire engine compartment would be bullet-protected, but I have no idea.  Anyhoo I’m thinking maybe he was having cardiac events or a seizure from the shock and mere impact of all the ammo. Still life-threatening, but tidier. /graveyard humor/ ;-)

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, BckpckFullaNinjas said:

The teaser for the next episode show an ambulance with security detail arriving on the family compound so I’m sure he survives. Thing is, i don’t recall ANY blood on Eli (I consider John Goodman a national living treasure and sometimes my lizard brain kicks in irrationally if his character is in danger! LOL) so I’m thinking the windshield was bulletproof and if he did take bullets, they were to his legs.  Though I would guess the entire engine compartment would be bullet-protected, but I have no idea.  Anyhoo I’m thinking maybe he was having cardiac events or a seizure from the shock and mere impact of all the ammo. Still life-threatening, but tidier. /graveyard humor/ ;-)

Eli getting shot made me realize how much I love John Goodman. I have loved the actor since I was a kid.

I really do not want to see his character die. I have no idea where the Tron Bikers came from.

8 hours ago, revbfc said:

Eli is the Band-Aid that needs to be ripped off eventually.  I love the character, but the kids need to work this shit out.

What’s worrying to me is why Gideon’s not getting a lot screen time? It seems like a no-brainer to have the best biker in the family handle some Tron-looking motherfuckers.

I wonder if the twist is going to be that Gideon is the one behind the assassination attempt because he thought his grandpa was the big problem in the family? He is the only one who would know people with such sleek bike riding skills.

Probably unlikely.

 

[SailorGirl]

I'm thinking the Lissons are behind the murder attempts on Eli, not Junior. 

Junior is all about it being personal -- if he's the one taking Eli down, its going to be mano a mano. He'll send a thug to send a message but he's looking to settle a score -- someone like Junior would never outsource that. 

The Lissons know that Eli is the barrier to their getting the $10M. They are all about showmanship -- the tron bikers are very much in line with what we've already seen. 

I need me some Uncle Baby Billy back on my screen! I was trying to explain this show to a friend of mine and let me just say, actually speaking the name "Uncle Baby Billy" in conversation is cringey. As it meant to be. 

Justified put Walton Goggins on my radar -- come for the Olyphant, stay for the Goggins! 

Side note: Walton Goggins actually does clog/grew up clogging -- I remember reading a recap of a Justified episode where he clogged and the author talked about it. He might be exaggerating it a bit for Baby Billy but that is 100% a real Goggins life skill.

And through the beauty of the Googles . . . apparently he and his mother were champion cloggers and opened for B.B. King!

"Walton described his upbringing as unstructured, stating that after his father left the family, his mother did little parenting, preferring to have fun with friends. He noted that she did immerse him in clogging, a traditional folk dance style popular in the American South. Goggins and his mother were champion cloggers and once opened for blues legend B. B. King in Georgia at the Fulton County Prison."

http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3728

Edited February 7, 2022 by SailorGirl

[tennisgurl]

I will be majorly pissed if Eli is actually dead, but I don't think they would kill him off, at least not like this. Without Eli, who is something of a grounding influence on the show, the wackiness of the Gemstone kids might become too much. It looks like a lot of the bullets hit the car instead of him, but even if he's still alive, I can imagine he could be out of commission for awhile. Which means the kids are going to be jockeying for power in just about five seconds, fighting over who gets the keys to the kingdom. 

I don't think that the Tron Bikers are Junior, they don't seem like his style. Could they be connected to Gideon's sketchy friend from last season? 

Of course Jessie gets all upset that everyone thinks that Amber is the badass and not him, which is too bad considering they have actually been in a decent place this season. I did like see the return of his ridiculous goon squad. "We're not going to ancient Egypt!" 

Shockingly, both Kelvin and Judy showed a few tiny bits of emotional intelligence, Kelvin admitting that he knows he's a screw up because he has always been the underestimated baby of the family, and Judy was actually a bit nice to poor dumb Tiffany. Nice for Judy at least. Of course, the real winner is BJ, who got an actual honest to God handshake from Eli! He'll never wash that hand again!

[aghst]

Eli may survive but it wouldn't be because the truck is bullet proof or that he really wasn't hit.

I saw bullet wounds on the right side of his torso.

Plus, he obviously lost consciousness and control of the truck as it went into the road barriers.

 

If Eli dies or is incapacitated permanently or for a long time, of course the siblings are going to fight for control and money.

I still don't see how the cops and FBI aren't all over this.  Eli is a relatively well-known figure, maybe not nationally but in SC and the South.  An execution on the road?

It would be national or international news.

 

Yeah those bikers do seem like a call back to Gideon and the people he was associated with in season 1.

How many motorcycles have that distinct look?  FBI could trace them easily.

 

 

[revbfc]

10 hours ago, qtpye said:

 

I wonder if the twist is going to be that Gideon is the one behind the assassination attempt because he thought his grandpa was the big problem in the family? He is the only one who would know people with such sleek bike riding skills.

Probably unlikely.

 

I’ll be very disappointed if Gideon’s behind it, and not because I like the character.  I’ll be disappointed because it’ll render all of last season’s growth moot.

Edited February 8, 2022 by revbfc

[cdnalor]

2 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

I'm thinking the Lissons are behind the murder attempts on Eli, not Junior.

I agree, they want Eli gone so Jesse can inherit and invest in their project.

Pretty sure I saw bloodstains on Eli's right arm before he passed out but nothing on his chest.  He'll be fine, relatively.

[qtpye]

3 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

I'm thinking the Lissons are behind the murder attempts on Eli, not Junior. 

Good point.

I can't believe in all this craziness that I totally forgot about the Lissons.

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Shockingly, both Kelvin and Judy showed a few tiny bits of emotional intelligence, Kelvin admitting that he knows he's a screw up because he has always been the underestimated baby of the family, and Judy was actually a bit nice to poor dumb Tiffany. Nice for Judy at least. Of course, the real winner is BJ, who got an actual honest to God handshake from Eli! He'll never wash that hand again!

I think Kelvin and Uncle Baby Billy suffer a little from the "child star syndrome." People stopped paying attention to them after they lost their cuteness and do not take them seriously as adults.

That is why it is so important for Kelvin to prove that he is a "strong man" that can control other strong men.

[MerBearStare]

I like the idea of the Lissons being behind the cycle ninjas, but I think whoever it is is also behind the murder of the reporter and the other people who were on his rental property. It seems like it would be a pretty big coincidence to have two unrelated murders in the same small-ish town. (Unless the Lissons were behind that too, but, I don't know, to me that seems too convenient.) IIRC, the reporter said he was looking into Aimee-Leigh, so I hope we find out what that story was going to be about. 

For a character who broke his own son's thumbs, Eli is still the best (living) Gemstone in my opinion. Judy and Kelvin occasionally show redeeming qualities, like Judy comforting Tiffany in her own way, but I see none in Jesse. The best thing he's done is help the liberals and Catholics get clean water to the Haitians, but that's only because he was trying to win back his wife after cheating on her. But watching Jesse and his David vs Goliath posse slowly back away after threatening Junior cracked my shit up.

BJ being so happy that Eli shook his hand was just the sweetest scene. If it weren't for him and Keefe, I don't know if I could watch this show every week. They're the characters with the most humanity.

Edited February 8, 2022 by MerBearStare

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

22 hours ago, MerBearStare said:

BJ being so happy that Eli shook his hand was just the sweetest scene. If it weren't for him and Keefe, I don't know if I could watch this show every week. They're the characters with the most humanity.

I’m hecking annoyed with them for going in too many directions (more info on Block’s murder, guys!).  However:  when Judy tells Tiffany that all the men in the family are effin’ losers, and BJ walks in as if on a cloud, I saw Judy’s face relaxed and hopeful for the first time.  She’s listening to BJ describe his meeting with Eli, down to the handshake. 
Yes - Billy, Eli, Jesse & Kelvin have been losers.  But BJ is now in the family. 

And he’s lessened Eli’s loser-ness (Eli goes to make amends with Kelvin).

Wow! Which brings a question: is BJ’s given name Benjamin Jordan? I should just look before I post but what the heck: Benjamin was the last son of … Jacob, right? BJ is Eli’s last son(-in-law). (I’d love to see Keefe & Kelvin make it legal but let’s be real.) And Jordan … the river that features prominently in the Bible? 
 

Of course if I’m misremembering just ignore me. 

[Simon Boccanegra]

On 2/7/2022 at 7:05 AM, revbfc said:

What’s worrying to me is why Gideon’s not getting a lot screen time? 

I've wondered about that too. He was major in the first season, and this season he's barely made a bigger impression than the two younger brothers. I feel as though they wouldn't be underutilizing him by choice. All I could guess was that Skyler Gisondo was acting in so many other things during season 2's production period that they only had him for a short time.