S01.E01: Pilot / S01.E02: We Don't Hurt People

[formerlyfreedom]

Episode 1

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After his mother dies of a heroin overdose, Joshua ‘J' Cody (Finn Cole) moves in with his estranged grandmother, Janine ‘Smurf' Cody (Ellen Barkin) in Oceanside, California. He finds himself drawn into a dark world funded by criminal activities that he's been shielded from for years, as she and his uncles plan their upcoming heist. J must prove his loyalty to stay alive, all the while learning that Smurf is the intense, beguiling, and complicated matriarch, who rules over "her boys" with a borderline incestuous love.

Episode 2

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The Codys must deal with the aftermath of the heist, as they discover all did not go as planned. Smurf dispatches her boys to tie up loose ends, but her efforts are complicated by Baz (Scott Speedman) and Pope’s growing rivalry. As Pope (Shawn Hatosy) gets increasingly volatile, J finds himself in the middle.

 

[Primetimer]

TNT has adapted that Australian crime movie you might have seen, but can the concept stretch beyond two hours?

View the full article

[Lingo]

SMURF?!?

[ChlcGirl]

SMURF?!?

Yeah. I'm hoping they explain that one at some point.

[Chaos Theory]

I liked it.  It wasn't perfect but it has potential to be a fun series.   Each of the characters has enough personality to be interesting and there is enough tension between the characters to keep things from getting stale.  I think the least interesting character is ironically J.   

[numbnut]

The second ep is a choppy mess. I'm not rooting for anyone really. The kid is sympathetic but has the charisma of driftwood. Why was Pope standing naked in the yard? Was that the desired effect of his spiked dinner? (Hatosy was cute back in the day. What happened?) Since they won't kill off one of the brothers right after the pilot, the reveal of a Mexican girlfriend doesn't create much of a cliffhanger.

[zxy556575]

I gave this a shot against my better judgment, because there's a reason I never watched Sopranos or Sons of Anarchy or Breaking Bad -- too stressful and upsetting. The show is well made but in the end, these are horrible people with creepy incest-adjacent family dynamics and my heart was already pre-breaking for J.

The opening scene of J sitting blankly on the couch, unable to feel any emotion as the paramedics try to save his dying mother already made me cry, and that was 10 seconds in.

[Slider]

It's almost too creepy.  I'm interested in Smurf's manipulation of everything, like the shirt she stole from J's mom and made it a point to wear when he would see it, and the oldest vs. Poe talking about the job when he got busted.   The rest of it though, it's almost too much.

[Chaos Theory]

53 minutes ago, Slider said:

It's almost too creepy.  I'm interested in Smurf's manipulation of everything, like the shirt she stole from J's mom and made it a point to wear when he would see it, and the oldest vs. Poe talking about the job when he got busted.   The rest of it though, it's almost too much.

To each is own I guess.  These kinds of shows are in my wheelhouse.  I don't know the characters names yet (except Smurf and J) but when the one brother walked into the kitchen naked and angry and the mother calmed him down and kissed him on the lips; I knew I would love the show.  The the pool party was awesome.  The brother fresh out of prison looks to me like he is bipolar and a lot of meds do calm you but make you feel like you are walking through water..  He sure doesn't trust J and I think he is setting him up with not getting back the watch which connect him to the robbery.  This family reminds me f an amped up version of Gemma and Jax on SOA.  I loved their dynamic at least for most of the show.

[sugarbaker design]

I'm a big fan of the movie so I was pleased with this version, even though San Diego Smurf is way sexier than Australia Smurf.  Like a poster above, I'm a huge fan of dark drama so I'll be tuning in.  On a shallow note Scott Speedman looks great.

[sjohnson]

It seems to me that Pope's main problem with J is he wants Nicky.

J is the only character with a genuinely meaningful choice to make, whether to invest in the family or to escape (somehow.) I'm a little surprised there is no paperwork or official input involved at all with his living with Smurf. (Nicky's choice to accept Pope's bad boy courtship isn't meaningful to me because who could care about anyone silly enough to fall for Pope off his meds?) The others have problems, like Smurf getting Pope back under control, or Deran and Craig setting up on their own.(Baz' marital situation is completely opaque right now.)

J threatening the surfers was one thing. But threatening his mom's deal and stealing the gun, was something else. I doubt that J was fooled by Deran's cover story (any more than Smurf would be fooled by Deran hiding in a closet.) But he joined in the gaybashing anyway. Interesting, if appalling. Note for the record: We haven't seen Deran with a naked woman/women yet, but really, getting a blow job isn't intrinsically gay. It's intrinsically opportunistic. 

The show is very strong on scenes. The scene where Smurf, in the guise of serving J by doing his laundry, nevertheless asserts her dominance by stripping him, for instance, was very creepy and comic but still mundane, all at the same time. 

Worth checking out more. Don't know if all the meanness won't wear thin. It's not entertaining by itself.

Edited June 15, 2016 by sjohnson

[peacheslatour]

The whole ting made me feel like I needed a shower. I usually like the dark side (American Horror Story, Bates Motel) but this show just made me feel dirty, no thanks.

[Artsda]

I liked it, good dark outlaw drama. The family is messed up with no boundaries at all. I loved Sons of Anarchy, so I think I'll enjoy this. Smurf is very Gemma like.

J must know something about his family or he would have more of a shocked reactions when he walks in and they are talking in code, there's one with a gun shot, all the money. His reactions to how nuts they all are is like "oh well."

[LoveLeigh]

J did try to call his father..... probably to try to get the hell out of there. I cannot even concentrate on the plot because I feel so bad for J. I never saw the movie. Can somebody who did see the movie please DM me and tell me if J ever escapes this horrible family. 

[Artsda]

I wasn't sure if he even knew that guy was his father. He doesn't know the last name and it seemed like he was assuming that was his dad based on a photograph. 

Will be interesting to see if the dad does appear at some point and I'm guessing the rest of the family do know who the father is an his last name.

[John Ramos]

I'm biased by my longtime love for Speedy, but I think he's really good in the Baz role. He's aged into being able to play somewhat paternal pretty well.

 

Spoiler

I'm a little worried about the fate of the character, though, given that IIRC his analog in the movie died a horrible death. This show seems like it'd Go There in terms of killing a main character, but without Baz it gets less interesting to me.

[MaggieG]

I enjoyed it. I like dark, gritty drama and the characters are interesting so far. When Baz and Smurf were talking in the end, she mentioned taking him in and his parents. I wonder if all the rest of them are her kids and just Baz is adopted. I never saw the movie so not sure if it was mentioned in that. 

They are a screwed up family for sure, no boundaries at all

Ellen Barkin's boobs!

On a very shallow note, all the boys are pretty attractive. 

[AuntieL]

I caught that thing about Baz coming to live with Smurf as a child. I assume that was his bio dad that he went to visit. I wonder if any of them are Smurfs bio kids or if she was a modern female Fagin who took in strays and turned them into her gang. Would make the semi incestuous bone a bit more palatable. 

[tennisgurl]

I like dark stuff, especially with criminal underworlds, so I thought this was pretty good, especially for summer. I never saw the Australian movie, but I might give it a watch now. I really do feel awful for poor J. He has clearly had a rough time of it already, and is now in way over his head with his crazy criminal family, even though he seemingly has no where else to really go. Pope is already creepy as hell, and I think even his own family is not thrilled with his crazy ass being around. I will see where this goes. 

[I-Kare]

I liked it! I'm a fan of both Scott Speedman and Shawn Hotasy, and thought the storyline was engaging enough so far. 

I love Finn Cole on Peaky Blinders, so I'm interested to see what he'll do with J (and he hasn't had much to do yet....oddly few lines). If you're seen Peaky Blinders (and honestly, everyone should) there are some very strong similarities between J and Michael, which I won't highlight since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen PB. Actually, there are some similarities as well between the Smurf/Baz relationship and Polly/Tommy come to think of it, although it could be argued Smurf is more the Tommy and Baz is the Polly (at this point anyway).

[Joimiaroxeu]

Smurf is unbelievable with her ability to mindfuck her own family. I think she could make Tony Soprano, Walter White, and Don Draper all sit down and shut up in awe.

I'm not convinced that Pope isn't the "dirty" one. He may have worked a deal to rat out Smurf--if not all of them--in order to get paroled early. The way he keeps talking about how they shouldn't trust J seems like a huge attempt at deflection to me. I also think he's overplaying the craziness to cover up his nervousness.

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Ellen Barkin's boobs!

She looks great but I think the boobs seemed a little too perky for a woman her age. I hope it's just something she's done for the role.

[atomationage]

Barkin and Speedman!  I'm in.  I haven't seen Sons of Anarchy or similar shows, but this one got off to a good start.

[Chaos Theory]

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Smurf is unbelievable with her ability to mindfuck her own family. I think she could make Tony Soprano, Walter White, and Don Draper all sit down and shut up in awe.

I don't think it is that unrealistic.  Most of us have been guilt tripped by our mothers, "If you love me...."  "I got stretch marks for you and you won't even do this one thing...."   Yes this is taken to the extreme but television does that.  

[Joimiaroxeu]

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I don't think it is that unrealistic.

Oh, I didn't mean unbelievable as unrealistic. I mean unbelievable as scary amazing. She could teach seminars on it. Smurf is virtually soulless.

[atomationage]

I re-watched this yesterday, took a shower, and then watched it again.   It was a very good pilot episode.  We'll  see where it goes from here.  I thought Ben Robson, the tall actor playing Craig, was the weakest cast member.   I've never found Hatosy attractive, so I don't think he looks any worse, and he's a good actor.  It's funny that Speedman's character is named "Baz".   He looks as good as ever.  Jake Weary was also good as Uncle Daren.   Ellen Barkin is always great.   So, what can go wrong?  This reminds me of John from Cincinnati.  I don't recognize the writers, but David Milch would do this better.

 

Just watched the second episode.  Daren is definitely gay.  I thought at first Pope might be Jay's father, but not now.

Edited June 19, 2016 by atomationage

[Texasmom1970]

I put this om my DVR list because of Scott, yum. Not sure a out the show yet. I will stick around to give it a chance while I swim in the shallow end of the pool and enjoy the scenery ☺

[iMonrey]

I thought it was pretty good, and a ten-episode summer show isn't much of an investment so I'm in for the long haul. 

I really dislike Pope though and hate that he's the main conflict in the story, with everyone having to tiptoe around him. The other brothers seem OK with J so it seems at this point most of the story is going to revolve around Pope screwing things up for this family, which seemed to do just fine without him while he was in jail. That's the sort narrative arc I really dislike - I think the story would have been better without him.

I'll be interested to know if any of those brothers are really Smurf's biological sons. At this point I'm thinking Pope definitely is, since he said J's mother was his twin sister. I doubt Smurf would have even bothered with J if he wasn't be biological grandson.

e.t.a - Apparently, if they're following the movie, all the brothers are Smurf's sons, except for Baz.

Edited June 20, 2016 by iMonrey

[atomationage]

Now that I've seen the movie, I'm afraid to watch the TV series.

[zxy556575]

On 6/19/2016 at 5:28 PM, iMonrey said:

Apparently, if they're following the movie, all the brothers are Smurf's sons, except for Baz.

The showrunners have confirmed that this is the case.

Edited June 21, 2016 by lordonia

[iMonrey]

I doubt very much the TV show can follow the movie unless they only plan on running this thing for one season like a mini-series (which really doesn't happen anymore). So far there's very little connection aside from the characters and premise and I think that's probably as far as it will go - take the same premise and characters, but tell a different story. Otherwise, 

Spoiler

most of 'em are going to be dead by the end of the season.

[sjohnson]

The show has a time frame problem in that its dramatic lead, J, isn't going to be a juvenile much longer according to in world information. He's probably a senior now. Dialogue says he's taking chemistry but the class scene appears to be physics.  Stoichiometry is later chemistry, possibly second course in senior year. And physics is usually a senior class. The dynamics of the series changes completely when J isn't a minor. (Right now, J is the dramatic lead in the sense he's the only one with a meaningful choice to make. The others as of now just have problems to solve.)

Edited June 21, 2016 by sjohnson

[ElleMo]

I am not sure what to think of this show.  Obviously mama Smurf is either clueless or a psychopath (I bet psychopath) if she truly believes that the family doesn't hurt anyone. All they did for two hours was pretty much hurt a succession of people just in the daily course of their lives.  Her relationship with her sons is very creepy.  

I'm on the fence with this show, but  if Pope ends up raping the girlfriend I'll probably leave.  I've had my fill of rape as a plot device of late and it really seemed like it was going there with either Pope or Craig.

Or Smurf might offer her up to Baz?!?  Pretty strange family.

Baz seems like a Tom Hagen kind of character (Corleone's unofficially adopted son in the Godfather; he was their consigliere and a voice of reason)  but Baz doesn't quite have a handle on what is reasonable.

 

ETA: And the comparisons with the Godfather pretty much end there.  There are no Michaels or Don Vito Corleones on the show

Edited June 22, 2016 by ElleMo

[Noirprncess]

Mixed feelings on this one.  I just don't find Ellen Barkin scary (as in psychopathic) or much of a mastermind.  The show seems to be pretty heavy on mirrors light on a believable plot.

[Chaos Theory]

16 hours ago, ElleMo said:

I am not sure what to think of this show.  Obviously mama Smurf is either clueless or a psychopath (I bet psychopath) if she truly believes that the family doesn't hurt anyone. All they did for two hours was pretty much hurt a succession of people just in the daily course of their lives.  Her relationship with her sons is very creepy.  

I'm on the fence with this show, but  if Pope ends up raping the girlfriend I'll probably leave.  I've had my fill of rape as a plot device of late and it really seemed like it was going there with either Pope or Craig.

Or Smurf might offer her up to Baz?!?  Pretty strange family.

Baz seems like a Tom Hagen kind of character (Corleone's unofficially adopted son in the Godfather; he was their consigliere and a voice of reason)  but Baz doesn't quite have a handle on what is reasonable.

 

ETA: And the comparisons with the Godfather pretty much end there.  There are no Michaels or Don Vito Corleones on the show

I think less Godfather and more Sons of Anarchy.  White Trash family with Matriarch as leader with Oedipal vibes that makes a living in the world of crime but doesn't actually see out to hurt anyone but of course people get hurt....often times them.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[ethalfrida]

Sons of Anarchy was first thought.

Barkin is creepy  second thought.

Binge watched to try and get a grip on characters. Didn't work but enjoyed the show.

[Bruinsfan]

On 6/15/2016 at 11:25 AM, sjohnson said:

Note for the record: We haven't seen Deran with a naked woman/women yet, but really, getting a blow job isn't intrinsically gay. It's intrinsically opportunistic.

While true in the real world, it's extremely unlikely that a TV show would feature such an event if it weren't crucial to the character.

I love Speedman and Barkin, but I think the show may be a bit too bleak for me. I was never able to get into Sons of Anarchy or Breaking Bad for similar reasons. If I'm going to watch family dynamics and life choices this screwed up I need Renaissance finery or dragons paired with them.

[ethalfrida]

Barkin is playing the heck out of her role. So much so she totally skeeved me out. Just praying she doesn't get any closer to her sons. 

[Anela]

I'm watching this on Amazon. I also feel like I need a shower. Baz seems okay, and so does the kid.  I don't like the way Pope is looking at his girlfriend. I was kind of wondering if he was the boy's father. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

I'm watching this on Amazon. I also feel like I need a shower. Baz seems okay, and so does the kid.  I don't like the way Pope is looking at his girlfriend. I was kind of wondering if he was the boy's father. 

Fasten your seat belt.  It's going to be a bumpy ride.

[Readalot]

I watched 1.5 episodes and I had to take a shower. Only watched for Scott Speedman. Not a fan of Barkin but she is growing on me. I will give it one more episode. I strongly dislike Shameless and this reminds me of it. Did John Wells have a fucked up family?