S02.E02: The Precious Blood of Jesus

[paulvdb]

Quote

When a mobster jeopardizes the casino bill, Marty enlists Buddy's help. Wendy resorts to dirty tactics to get votes. Cade reminds Ruth of her roots.

[Mindthinkr]

When I was watching the preacher orating on the corner with his baby I became anxious. I was worried that Mrs Snell would snatch him up. Things didn’t go so well for her at the adoption agency and she’s on a mission to replace. 

[DoubleUTeeEff]

I liked when the adoption agency lady asked Mrs Snell if she thought what was missing was a child and Mrs Snell said "We already have a dog." Ha!

Oh, Rachel. She really messed up. There are a lot of balls in the air now. We've got the mob guy, the FBI agent after the cartel, Cade after Marty's money and Wilkes--because you know he's not doing all this just for Wendy, he's going to want something for his trouble.

[Armchair Critic]

Poor Rachel, everyone Marty touches turns to shit. Also poor Ruth, I saw that coming with her scumbag father.

[ganesh]

For some reason, Wendy cracking "get me a shot of tequila - Heelllooo Lulu" killed me. 

I'm liking this Wendy playing hardball though. 

Edited September 3, 2018 by ganesh

[ganesh]

On 9/1/2018 at 11:04 PM, Armchair Critic said:

Also poor Ruth, I saw that coming with her scumbag father.

And that's the problem. In an otherwise well crafted and plotted show, this particular plot is rather boring and derivative. I do hope the show has some twists in store for us. If anything, Ruth is far more calculating and intelligent than her father thinks she is and just not a little girl. 

[AuntiePam]

Way too many balls in the air this season.  It's unbelievable that anyone thinks Rachel could be helpful.  She stole and ran and the Byrds know she stole, so why would they let her get anywhere near their operation?  Makes much more sense to hire a local -- there are plenty.  But my husband was talking through that scene so maybe I missed something that would explain why they thought she'd be useful.

Marty really f***ed up, with his "And?"  Although they've never talked about limits, and since people are being killed and maimed all around them, is it too much to question whether sex is also on the table, if necessary?

The politician would have been fine if it had just been the woman, but the lingerie was a bit too much.  Nice twist, that the guy was a senator's husband, and not the senator. 

Loving Ruth's character and looking forward to her father's comeuppance, as well as Mrs. Snell's. 

[Armchair Critic]

2 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

The politician would have been fine if it had just been the woman, but the lingerie was a bit too much

He was also sucking the strap on

[Guest]

In the age of binge watching, I know it's difficult sometimes to keep straight what happened on which episode, especially when watching a bunch of them over a short course of time. With that in mind, please be careful to only discuss the current (and/or former, if it relates) episode in each episode thread so as not to spoil other posters who haven't seen future episodes. Thanks! Please PM me with any questions.

[used to read books]

Sorry, just cannot remember-did Mason's wife die or leave or what???? How? Looked back over forums and could not find out.

[AuntiePam]

27 minutes ago, used to read books said:

Sorry, just cannot remember-did Mason's wife die or leave or what???? How? Looked back over forums and could not find out.

Mason's wife was murdered by the Snells in season one.  I don't remember why. 

That's one problem with this show -- much of the action isn't logical, either because the characters are crazy (like the Snells) or the writers get lazy and write stuff that makes no sense.  With some shows, it'd be easy to remember why the Snells wanted Grace dead, because it would make sense.  Here, it doesn't.

Either that, or I just have a lousy memory.  /smile/

Edited September 10, 2018 by AuntiePam
got Mason's wife's name wrong

[ganesh]

I thought she got in the way of the Snell boat mass drug distribution. Marty wanted to build the church to clean the money, but that interfered with the boat operation, which he didn't know at the time. I think she got all in the Snell's face about wanting the church and Mason was going along with it so they offed her. 

[Quilt Fairy]

4 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

Mason's wife was murdered by the Snells in season one.  I don't remember why. 

That's one problem with this show -- much of the action isn't logical, either because the characters are crazy (like the Snells) or the writers get lazy and write stuff that makes no sense.  With some shows, it'd be easy to remember why the Snells wanted Grace dead, because it would make sense.  Here, it doesn't.

Either that, or I just have a lousy memory.  /smile/

 

Don't worry.  I didn't remember who Rachel was when she first showed up in a Chicago drug house.  (Which there really is no context for, because she was just a hard working stiff in Season 1.)

What I remember (without re-watching) is that when Mason found out that his church-on-the-water services were a drug distribution conduit, he told the Snells he could not in good conscience go along with it.  Sometime later, he came home and instead of finding a pregnant Grace, he found a bloody newborn with no sign of his wife.  It kind of unhinged him. 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Quilt Fairy

[Jersey Guy 87]

12 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

Mason's wife was murdered by the Snells in season one.  I don't remember why. 

 

 

7 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

What I remember (without re-watching) is that when Mason found out that his church-on-the-water services were a drug distribution conduit, he told the Snells he could not in good conscience go along with it.  Sometime later, he came home and instead of finding a pregnant Grace, he found a bloody newborn with no sign of his wife.  It kind of unhinged him. 

Right - Mason's wife was murdered as a message to Mason - don't mess with our drug distribution operation.  As to unhinging him, I'd say it further unhinged him.  I don't think he was the most stable to begin with.

[ganesh]

11 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I didn't remember who Rachel was when she first showed up in a Chicago drug house. 

I didn't either until the FBI guy talked to her about being a CI. 

Mason still blames Marty though because when Marty tried to build the church that's when the boat drug thing came out. 

[ChromaKelly]

Can the Snells just die already? I've had enough of them. 
I'm finding Wendy a lot more interesting than Marty so far this season.

Ruth looked like "Fuck. I gotta kill him too?" after Dad pulled that stunt.

[hiccup]

On 9/10/2018 at 7:43 PM, AuntiePam said:

Mason's wife was murdered by the Snells in season one.  I don't remember why.

 

On 9/10/2018 at 7:54 PM, ganesh said:

I thought she got in the way of the Snell boat mass drug distribution. Marty wanted to build the church to clean the money, but that interfered with the boat operation, which he didn't know at the time. I think she got all in the Snell's face about wanting the church and Mason was going along with it so they offed her. 

When Mason found out about the drug operation, and was told that he had to go back out on the water, he didn't want to. The Snells made it clear to Marty that if Mason didn't go back out on the water, they would cut the baby from Grace's (Mason's wife) stomach. So Mason & Grace knew about the danger they were in (I don't think they knew the exact details) and she was the actually the one who convinced Mason to go back out on the water, at least until the baby was born. Mason did and was trying to do his sermon, but wasn't able to go through with it. He talked to the Snells about it and thought he was out of trouble, but obviously that was not the case. 

[Rap541]

No, I was pretty certain that Grace tried to talk some sense into Mason by pointing out that God hadn't saved him previously from the gunshot, that the shooter just had lousy aim.  She wasn't thrilled to be in league with drug dealers but she didn't want Mason to die over saying no to preaching on the water. And he did go out onto the water and preached until his conscience got the better of him and he quit before the heroin distribution part of the services took place. 

Grace was the one who wanted Mason to continue preaching, the slap in the face to Mason is that his pride in being against crime is what got his lovely wife slaughtered. Hence Mason's guilt sending him around the bend.

[Paloma]

Last season I was able to suspend disbelief about the various perils that Marty faced and how he managed to talk his way out of them, but I'm having a harder time this season. In particular, when this episode presented the new danger of the "psycho" Teamsters mob boss who did not want the casino bill to pass and had a trucker's hand shot off to make sure the sponsor of the bill would withdraw it. Then, oh so conveniently, Marty and Wendy's tenant (former owner of their house) Buddy's mysterious past turns out to include being a trusted colleague/"buddy" of the mob boss (despite the boss suspecting that Buddy slept with his wife), which allows him to get Marty in to see him and to vouch for him when Marty makes his pitch. 

I also have a hard time believing that Wilkes would help get the casino bill passed just because he admires Wendy's political skills. In general, I'm not sure what his character is supposed to be, aside from a wealthy political influencer who has right-wing views (like the Koch brothers, I guess), and why we should be interested in him. Expanding the plot into the political sphere seems unnecessary and, for me, lessens the tension. 

[Rap541]

3 hours ago, Paloma said:

Then, oh so conveniently, Marty and Wendy's tenant (former owner of their house) Buddy's mysterious past turns out to include being a trusted colleague/"buddy" of the mob boss (despite the boss suspecting that Buddy slept with his wife), which allows him to get Marty in to see him and to vouch for him when Marty makes his pitch. 

To be fair, it was broadly hinted in season one that Buddy was deeply connected to a crime family.

I otherwise agree that season two upped the ridiculous but Buddy's mysterious past was pretty clear to me in season one.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Rap541

[ganesh]

I don't think you can avoid the politics of getting the casino license. A second season of a show typically broadens the show universe. 

3 hours ago, Paloma said:

I also have a hard time believing that Wilkes would help get the casino bill passed just because he admires Wendy's political skills.

Yeah, it's almost like in politics people usually expect something in return. 

[Paloma]

1 hour ago, Rap541 said:

5 hours ago, Paloma said:

Then, oh so conveniently, Marty and Wendy's tenant (former owner of their house) Buddy's mysterious past turns out to include being a trusted colleague/"buddy" of the mob boss (despite the boss suspecting that Buddy slept with his wife), which allows him to get Marty in to see him and to vouch for him when Marty makes his pitch. 

To be fair, it was broadly hinted in season one that Buddy was deeply connected to a crime family.

I otherwise agree that season two upped the ridiculous but Buddy's mysterious past was pretty clear to me in season one.

Yes, it was clear to me also in season one that Buddy's mysterious past probably was connected to crime, but what was hard to believe that this connection was to the very mob boss that Marty needed to get on his side. It wasn't enough for Buddy to help them by killing the cartel guy threatening the family in their home, he also had to be the one who helped solved Marty's problem of the psycho mobster who would have stopped the casino bill. And to think none of this help would have happened if Marty and Wendy hadn't bought Buddy's home with the proviso that he be allowed to continue to live there until he died.

[Rap541]

Oh this show is all about the coincidence. 

I mean, Ruth wouldn't even be involved if she hadn't been working as a maid at the sleazy motel the Byrds were staying at.

[ButterQueen]

On 9/15/2018 at 11:24 PM, ChromaKelly said:

Can the Snells just die already? I've had enough of them. 
I'm finding Wendy a lot more interesting than Marty so far this season.

Ruth looked like "Fuck. I gotta kill him too?" after Dad pulled that stunt.

I’d love to see her set her Dad up for probation violation.  I don’t like his character.

[Ottis]

On 9/10/2018 at 10:39 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

Don't worry.  I didn't remember who Rachel was when she first showed up in a Chicago drug house.  (Which there really is no context for, because she was just a hard working stiff in Season 1.)

I was bummed when she showed up this episode. I had hoped she was gone for good. Now it feels like backtracking.

On 9/3/2018 at 11:11 AM, ganesh said:

And that's the problem. In an otherwise well crafted and plotted show, this particular plot is rather boring and derivative. I do hope the show has some twists in store for us. If anything, Ruth is far more calculating and intelligent than her father thinks she is and just not a little girl. 

If the ONLY reason Cade exists to to enable Ruth to off him in a creative, Ruthian way, then OK. Let's get to it. Otherwise, he will drag down this show because, IMO, Ruth is the engine  (along with darkly skilled Wendy) that drives everything.

Edited October 15, 2018 by Ottis

[Old Man Neil]

On 9/15/2018 at 9:24 PM, ChromaKelly said:

Can the Snells just die already? I've had enough of them. 

Say what you will about Mrs Snell, but she makes hilarious scary faces for children too innocent to understand how scary she really is. 

[Raja]

On 9/11/2018 at 9:29 AM, ganesh said:

I didn't either until the FBI guy talked to her about being a CI. 

 

I didn't have to wait a season but only a couple of days since the first season finale.

Everything else had played as if it were mere days since Garcia was killed and Rachel took off. Not enough time for the Feds to start setting up on the Snell's, who seemed to be only known by the local Sheriff or the agent to clean himself up and get authorization to go after a new CI.

I was thinking she sure did devolve fast after stealing the money.

I don't get how the Mexican cartel ever got anywhere. For all their muscle and smooth lawyers lawyers and accountants they first bump right into the Ozarks poppy farmers  and now the Kansas City mob as if they were the only game in town and didn't know to look out for such  potential disruptions.

[Blue Plastic]

Cade can go anytime. He's horrible and I don't want to see Ruth being abused and held back by him.

I think the writers have never known what to do with Rachel as her characterization has been all over the place. It was totally out of character (as far as I could tell) for her to run off with the money, and now all of a sudden she's a drug addict. It's bugging me.

[SlovakPrincess]

I laughed out loud when, at the last minute and just before they went in to see the Kansas City mob boss, Buddy goes "oh, by the way, he's always thought I fucked his wife."  LOL.     (But it's a little too convenient that Buddy just happens to have the exact connection the Byrdes need at that particular moment). 

I also chuckled a little when Wendy told the senator she was extorting "you have my word" -- and the woman is like "I'm supposed to trust you?  You're disgusting."  Good point, Senator!

Rachel, you colossal moron.  She seriously stole all that money and decided to waste her new life by buying drugs and getting caught on a DUI?  Did we even know she had a drug problem?

I still really don't like Petty, though I was happy to see Evans again.  Another funny moment for me -- when Petty's supervisor told him "do better than you've been doing."  At least someone acknowledges he's a fuck-up.  

Are we stuck with the Snells for the rest of the show?  They annoy me so much.  I'm not really enjoying Ruth's daddy as a character, either. 

 

 

 

[paramitch]

On 5/2/2020 at 12:12 PM, Blue Plastic said:

Cade can go anytime. He's horrible and I don't want to see Ruth being abused and held back by him.

I think the writers have never known what to do with Rachel as her characterization has been all over the place. It was totally out of character (as far as I could tell) for her to run off with the money, and now all of a sudden she's a drug addict. It's bugging me.

I don't think it's out of character for Rachel to have taken that money at all.

She was toiling along with a failing business, a ton of debt, and a job and life she hated. She suddenly found six figures -- in cash. Right in front of her. Total freedom.

I think honestly that most people would have taken something. Maybe I'm cynical, and I hope I'm wrong. But I'd bet that a solid large percentage of the world would have taken some of that money and done exactly what she did.

I can't say for sure that I wouldn't have either. I've been poor and/or struggling on the edge of the lower middle class for my entire life. Money is a powerful thing.

I like Rachel's place in this season, because she echoes Marty and Wendy when the show began.

[Turquoise]

Just started watching this series, and I realize this is a minor quibble. But I went to college in Cape Girardeau. When Ruth went to pick up the boat, they didn't even make any attempt to try and make it look like Cape. Perhaps the writers figured most people wouldn't know it's a real place?