S02.E03: Bleed For It

[fellini]

Smurf takes J to the desert for an old friend's wake; Baz visits Lucy in Mexico; Pope bonds with Amy from the megachurch while babysitting Lena; Deran considers what he will risk to get a liquor license for the bar.

[Shriekingeel]

So many frissons of creepiness in the Smurf-J scenes. When she was poised over him in bed telling him it was time to go, the visual was like Nosferatu hovering over a victim. 

[Chaos Theory]

Blast from the past robbery.  That did look like fun,   And for the record Smurd I am pretty sure J will shoot you anyway.

 

Like Craig is going to break up with a hot chick who likes guns, drugs, crime and sex.  Never gonna happen.

 

it looks like Pope has a romance going with someone In the fucked up category.   I am finding his storyline with Lena interesting.  

 

Baz is still a douche but a smart one.

 

I liked that Deran tried the honest approach with the alcohol license guy.  It shows how much he actually has wants the bar to work.

[NorthstarATL]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

And for the record Smurd I am pretty sure J will shoot you anyway.

He pretty much said it by leaving out the qualifier of her senility/dementia whatever when he repeated back to her that he would put a bullet in her head. And then there were the boundary issues....

 I thought this was stronger than the first couple of episodes because we did get a look at what the guys are planning for their future, a bit of Smurf's past, and thankfully no abusive parenting on Baz's part.

  The guy who plays Javi is kind of hot. So, Smurf was taken in by Manny, and they were all Paper Moon, until the addition of Javi's dad, and some other guy (the one who greeted them when they arrived? I didn't catch his name.) It seems as if maybe she recreated that scenario with her own kids when she had the opportunity, but with her playing the Manny part?

  Is Pope punishing himself for the murder by burning himself or did he do that to get out of the plans with the woman with kid issues?

  The bird thing was creepy.

  Deran's plot is pretty normal...and dull. but I guess we needed to see at least one member of the family go straight (no pun intended), and if the guys aren't going to gather at the house anymore, every show needs a hangout.

[sugarbaker design]

10 hours ago, NorthstarATL said:

Deran's plot is pretty normal...and dull. but I guess we needed to see at least one member of the family go straight (no pun intended), and if the guys aren't going to gather at the house anymore, every show needs a hangout.

You'd never know Deran was gay if you started watching this season.  Craig and Baz have active sex lives, Pope has a budding love interest and J is still hung up on Nikki.  The only sexless man is Deran.

10 hours ago, NorthstarATL said:

The guy who plays Javi is kind of hot.

He's super hot.

12 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I am finding his storyline with Lena interesting.  

Same here.  It looks we're going to see how guilt manifests in Pope's actions, in a season long arc that could be quite interesting.

[Joimiaroxeu]

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The bird thing was creepy.

There was a similar scene in one of the Good Behavior episodes. I was glad this time the bird was able to fly away. Wonder if it's some kind of symbolism for killing things to put them out of their misery? Hope Smurf is current on her life insurance. (And odds are somebody's gonna kill Nicky too.)

[iMonrey]

The scene with J and Smurf rolling around on the bed was beyond creepy and I was even left half wondering if they'd had sex!?!

The scene with the bird was creepy too. Not sure what that was supposed to be symbolic of, if anything. But I also think the scene of Nikki finding the gun was maybe a little foreshadowing. 

The diner robbery seemed needlessly risky.

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So, Smurf was taken in by Manny, and they were all Paper Moon, until the addition of Javi's dad, and some other guy (the one who greeted them when they arrived? I didn't catch his name.) It seems as if maybe she recreated that scenario with her own kids when she had the opportunity, but with her playing the Manny part?

The other guy, the one she talked to when she first got there, was Jake. I wondered if that was the same guy she met on the beach last season - the one who asked if Craig looked like him and we all figured he must have been Craig's father. But IMDB doesn't list him as appearing in any S1 episodes so I guess not.

I don't get what Baz needs from a fence WRT credit cards. They steal a bunch of credit cards from the church carnival and the fence . . . sells them to people? I don't get it.

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You'd never know Deran was gay if you started watching this season.

Yes but that shouldn't have to be his defining character trait. I kind of like what they're doing with him this season - he's more fleshed out than last season and showing much more growth and maturity. Last season he was just reactive and hedonistic, like Craig.

Speaking of which, it cracks me up that Craig is telling people "we" bought a bar. 

[Raja]

15 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

it looks like Pope has a romance going with someone In the fucked up category.   I am finding his storyline with Lena interesting.  

 

I was wondering what Lena saw to instantly move towards him, I don't think Pope told her about being an ex convict, where he probably picked up his Bible knowledge. 

Speaking of ex con's was this the first time we heard about Deran serving time?

[Chaos Theory]

51 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The scene with J and Smurf rolling around on the bed was beyond creepy and I was even left half wondering if they'd had sex!?!

The scene with the bird was creepy too. Not sure what that was supposed to be symbolic of, if anything. But I also think the scene of Nikki finding the gun was maybe a little foreshadowing. 

The diner robbery seemed needlessly risky.

 

Oh good I am not the only one who thought Smurf and J were going to have Sex.  The diner robbery was risky but Smurf reliving old times plus she got to teach J stuff and have fun with her grandson.  So fun all around.

 

54 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

 

I don't get what Baz needs from a fence WRT credit cards. They steal a bunch of credit cards from the church carnival and the fence . . . sells them to people? I don't get it.

 

Credit Cards are like money you either need to unload them immediately or someone who can wash them.  They're not something you can hold on to very long.  Baz needs someone who knows how to take a credit card and get maximum usuage out of them in minimum time before they are reported stolen.   If they have a 10,000 limit I can see Baz maybe getting somewhere between 1 to 5 thousand dollars for them.

[iMonrey]

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Speaking of ex con's was this the first time we heard about Deran serving time?

Not specifically but apparently all four of them have criminal records, which is why they had to recruit J for the Pendleton job last season. He was the only one who'd never been arrested and they needed someone who could get through security to the bike path.

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The diner robbery was risky but Smurf reliving old times plus she got to teach J stuff and have fun with her grandson.  So fun all around.

LOL this family's idea of a grandmother having "fun" with her grandson is so messed up.

[sugarbaker design]

Smurf is definitely not Grandma Walton.

[SuzieQ]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The scene with J and Smurf rolling around on the bed was beyond creepy and I was even left half wondering if they'd had sex!?!

 

I was literally screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO at the TV.  I thought for sure they were going to kiss and there would have been projectile vomit all over my couch!

[Artsda]

4 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

The scene with J and Smurf rolling around on the bed was beyond creepy and I was even left half wondering if they'd had sex!?!

 

I was wondering that also, I just wanted that scene to end. 

Deran is doing a good job trying to build something on his own. 

Wonder if the stupid girlfriend of Craig's picking up the gun and putting her prints on it will come back to her. She needs to go.

[walnutqueen]

8 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Smurf is definitely not Grandma Walton.

Shit.  Now I'm wondering what the hell happened after "Goodnight, John-Boy".  I hate you.  ;-)

 

58 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Wonder if the stupid girlfriend of Craig's picking up the gun and putting her prints on it will come back to her. She needs to go.

Yes, please!

[MuuMuuChainsmoker]

I took the bird symbolism to be a way to trigger Pope's guilty conscience.   "If I had just waited a little longer, I wouldn't have had to kill Cath."
 

[Dowel Jones]

13 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Smurf is definitely not Grandma Walton.

More like Ma Barkin and her gang of desperados.

[iMonrey]

Well, there's an obvious parallel between Smurf and Ma Barker - in fact I'd be surprised if the the character wasn't a deliberate, modern-day recreation of that person. Ma and her boys. That's how I've always thought of the Codys. Never saw the movie (still hoping it will pop up on some cable channel some day) but the TV series definitely has a modern take on that same dynamic.

[lazylou]

Smurf has a repulsive, Oedipal-type relationship with each of her sons, and now her grandson, too.  Remember how in Season 1 she came on to Pope? Yuck!  She has been able to control all of them by withholding her love and/or money in the past, and now we see her trying to use the same methods on Jay.  Remember how she offered him money after kicking the others out of the house and cutting them off financially?  Pope has warned Jay to be careful.  Jay is smart, so we have to wonder who is manipulating whom here.  

At the end of season 1, Deran did tell Craig he wanted to invest some of the take of the big Pendleton job.  Seems Deran may be a little more hopeful of being independent of Smurf. 

Suddenly Pope has become a much more sympathetic character, as he clearly suffers from a guilty conscience, and Baz a much less sympathetic one as he neglects Lena totally.  Baz suspects Catherine  is dead...so...does he suspect Smurf and thus Pope?  Does he care? Maybe he only cares because he is now stuck with Lena.

I too wondered if Jake, the man she met at the funeral, might have been the same guy she met briefly in Season I, but, like iMonrey, I could not find out who played that role, 

It is clever that a new mystery has been introduced to the show.  Looks as though Javi is getting set to blackmail Smurf...I wonder what the blackmail will be based on?

And now Pope has a new girl, one who has a troubled past...how will this impact the job, I wonder?  She seems to have ignored his text not to come over?

I think Nikki is on shaky ground here.   Craig has already left a girlfriend to die...though she did not...so threatening Craig is not smart.  Unlike a previous poster, I do not think Jay is hung up on Nikki.  He now sees her for what she is.

[walnutqueen]

Smurf may well be doing what many bad Daddies & Step-Daddies have done before - I believe it is called "grooming"?  

The damages to any & all are clear; which leaves me to wonder how much more damage Smurf endured to make her this way,  We've only seen snippets - but Oh, do I love me a complicated story!

[iMonrey]

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I do not think Jay is hung up on Nikki. 

I don't either, although I think he still cares about her. He was pretty chill when she walked into the kitchen and told him Smurf said she could stay there. He's the one who screwed her over by getting involved with that teacher, Alexa. There doesn't seem to be any animosity between them but she seems to be more into Craig now.

BTW - I think the main reason Smurf let her stay at the house is because she's a link to whatever the boys are doing and a blabbermouth to boot. She told Smurf that Craig said he and Deran had to fix an air conditioner at some church - so now Smurf knows they're doing a job at a church. She probably figures she'll get more info out of Nikki on their jobs.

[Dowel Jones]

On 6/14/2017 at 10:38 AM, Chaos Theory said:

Credit Cards are like money you either need to unload them immediately or someone who can wash them.

Coincidentally, last week some crooks hit several places in my city with skimmers, which read the credit card numbers.  Unfortunately, one of them was mine.  Within minutes after the skim, the thief sent the number off to somewhere on the internet, and it was used to by someone else to buy $150 of fuel in a city 100 miles away.  Fortunately, the theft prevention software at the bank caught the act, because whoever used it kept the initial run to $1 to see if it would work, which is a dead giveaway to the software.  I got a phone call and immediately suspended the card.  The CC bank withdrew the charge, so I'm reasonably happy.  Goes to show you, though, just how fast this can happen.

[Anela]

Aw, I'm disappointed in J. I know he helped out on other jobs, but Baz still didn't trust him - he said something about how a fire could have attracted the police. I did think that he meant it when he said he'd put a bullet in Smurf, though. 

I like Deran (?) being serious about the bar, and a real job. Acting like an adult. I hope he doesn't lose the bar. 

I wonder what the church lady has in her past - of if she's up to something, too. I thought she was Vera Farmiga, at first. I've just looked her up. She's Michael Landon's daughter? 

I'm sleepy, and can't remember what else I wanted to say. That house in Mexico is something. Is the girlfriend's child his? If he is, I didn't like it when he indicated that a kid getting used to him being around, wouldn't be a good thing. Not that he's any better with Lena. I should have known he'd turn out to be the biggest douche of them all.