S01.E10: Quality of Life

[formerlyfreedom]

Axe and Wendy do some soul searching. Chuck suffers a devastating setback.

 

[Bama]

Holy shit.

 

Bobby Axelrod is a complete and utter garbage "human".

 

That's all.

[dwmarch]

I loved this episode. The highlight was definitely Dollar Bill's "argument" with Axe but I loved all of it. Another great moment was Axe finally realizing just how ruthless he is when he heard that all Donnie wanted was to live until Christmas so he could play Santa again... and Axe denied him the drug trial that might have made that happen.

 

Seeing Wendy at the funeral in those big sexy boots made me wonder if those are the same ones she wears when she's dominating Chuck. Since she did dominate him at the funeral, perhaps.

 

I laughed at Wags mourning that Donnie was "their gay" because I'm pretty sure David Costabile's character Gale in Breaking Bad was gay.

 

Chuck's takedown of the judge was great but you would suppose that a judge would notice the particular phrasing of "the Southern District won't prosecute you..." One would also suppose that a judge with such an investment would throw a white-collar criminal in jail once in a while just for the sake of appearances.

 

I like the Eastern District guy with the crazy hair. I'm glad he's on Chuck's side. I don't miss that SEC prick.

Edited March 28, 2016 by dwmarch

[scrb]

This episode should have been titled something like "Reaching for the stars" because there's a lot of reaching in this episode:

 

Two guys reach out of their league and the guys and gal of Ionosphere try to do to Bobby what he ends up doing to them with the fake insider info.

 

So the scores are a single, HR and a strikeout swinging.

[Margherita Erdman]

Ahaha still laughing at that fake argument dollar bill and axe had. now that was funny!

That *was* awesome. They sold the shit out of it but also looked like they were having a great time. Also I didn't know that a glass fishbowl office could be so completely soundproofed.

and what is what that black dudes fro? how is it possible its gray on top and black underneath? i pondered that way too long during that walk- through - the -park scene, so much so i missed the dialogue :P Is he going gray in reverse?!!

I don't know how that works either, but I think that guy and his hair are also awesome. Of all the characters on the show, he and his musician wife are the only people I think I'd actually want to spend any time with.

I used to enjoy Wendy but she's become less and less interesting as she's become less and less relevant. Sure, she's beginning to put some pieces together, but what difference will it make? Don't care any more.

[speaking of hair though, Wendy's looked totally amazing at the funeral. Like shampoo commercial/Quantico amazing, so long and shiny with perfect highlights and just the right amount of curl and bounce.]

great episode though, except for malin. never a fan of malin and her connecticut bohemian sophomore "chic".

Yeah, I know this has been mentioned here before but aside from the miscasting, the way she's styled is all kinds of wrong. I like boho chic myself but not all the time, I live in Southern California, and even I wouldn't wear whatever the hell that was she had on at the funeral. Seriously, what *was* that?

Edited March 28, 2016 by Margherita Erdman

[roomtorome]

No surprise that a monster that would do what he did on 9/11 would also do what he did to Donnie.  

 

I was laughing during the opening with PG whispering throughout whatever the hell it was he was yammering about at the beginning; I imagined being in that room and just yelling out "will you please just fu*king speak up!" - That whispering has made him even more creepy than I find the character already.

[dmc]

 

agreed! most rich folk in upstate NY dress like they are rich folk from upstate NY, not california hippy style, like malin wears. I think that is one of the reasons - besides her young baby face - that i cannot taker her or her conniving ways seriously. Yes that funeral dress...! what!!??

 

seriously though, that office fake fight...hahaha!

Omg I am glad you mentioned this.  Every time I see Lara in those loose, patterned blouses...I am like WTF. 

[Bcharmer]

Every time I see Lara in those blouses, I'm like "Hmmm.....  is that a Johnny Was? I wonder where she got that?"  But, I'm an old California hippie. I like her clothes. I'd wear them myself (except that funeral outfit, uh...no). But that doesn't mean I like her. Weakest link in the acting lineup.

[scrb]

They're in Connecticut, aren't they?

 

The office is, but then he did buy the Hamptons mansion.

[dmc]

Every time I see Lara in those blouses, I'm like "Hmmm.....  is that a Johnny Was? I wonder where she got that?"  But, I'm an old California hippie. I like her clothes. I'd wear them myself (except that funeral outfit, uh...no). But that doesn't mean I like her. Weakest link in the acting lineup.

It's not that her clothes are bad, it's just that they don't fit the show. 

[Bcharmer]

It's not that her clothes are bad, it's just that they don't fit the show. 

 

But Billionaire Bobby wears jeans, t-shirts and hoodies to work, in fancy restaurants, to meetings, etc. Not sure why Lara's clothes are unsuitable for the show, but his aren't. They're both assholes, but I have no issue with their wardrobes. Those boho chic blouses are fairly expensive (for example, Johnny Was peasant shirts are at least $200). If I were filthy rich, I'd still dress in a hip way, and wouldn't care one whit what anyone else thought. 

[dmc]

But Billionaire Bobby wears jeans, t-shirts and hoodies to work, in fancy restaurants, to meetings, etc. Not sure why Lara's clothes are unsuitable for the show, but his aren't. They're both assholes, but I have no issue with their wardrobes. Those boho chic blouses are fairly expensive (for example, Johnny Was peasant shirts are at least $200). If I were filthy rich, I'd still dress in a hip way, and wouldn't care one whit what anyone else thought. 

Bobby's clothes are on par for work and his casual stuff is Diesel.  Lara looks like she lives in another city.  Her boho chic blouses are not the look you would expect from someone that grew up in NY.  It was actually one of the first things I noticed about the show.  I was like why does she keep wearing multi-color blouses.  She comes to a meeting for 9/11 victims where everyone is dressed wearing something that looks straight Anthropologie.  Her entire wardrobe is casual separates. 

 

In addition, I don't think she looks hip.  She looks like someone wearing multi-color blouses and jeans.  I would call that particularly fashion forward.  It's fine but hip is not the way I would describe it. 

[amarante]

I didn't understand the jurisdiction of the judge.

 

Presumably he was a Federal judge so why would he be hearing petty criminal cases that are obviously state offenses. And why would Federal criminals be sent to a prison outside the Federal system.

 

Made no sense to me - If he was a state judge, he wouldn't be hearing federal securities fraud cases so far as I know.

[damalanop]

I didn't understand the jurisdiction of the judge.

 

Presumably he was a Federal judge so why would he be hearing petty criminal cases that are obviously state offenses. And why would Federal criminals be sent to a prison outside the Federal system.

 

Made no sense to me - If he was a state judge, he wouldn't be hearing federal securities fraud cases so far as I know.

Regarding that scene, I got the impression that the issue was that black or brown defendants got more time for certain crimes than white defendants charged with a "white collar" crime. So the issue wasn't really whether they were petty criminal offenses, but more so there was a racial inequity in that certain crimes committed by certain people were punished more harshly. I'd have to go back and watch to be sure. In any event, some offenses, particularly drug or weapons related ones could be considered federal crimes, especially if they involve trafficking across state lines, so a federal judge like the one on this show would hear them.

I hate Lara, and I hate the way Malin Ackerman plays her. It's been said, I know but I had to jump on the bandwagon.

And despite the fact that the focal point was a funeral, I thought this was one of the best episodes.

[caligirl50]

I love, love, love Wendy Sipps and she plays her character so well.  Her lack of knowledge of the Donnie situation makes Lara look like even more of complete bitch than she already is.  I can’t wait to see what happens tonight.