S04.E01: Janine

[formerlyfreedom]

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Season 4 starts as the Codys pull off a risky robbery. Smurf and Pope remain at odds even as Pope finds a new outlet for his anger. Deran involves Adrian in the family business, and J tests the waters of his new identity outside the family.

Airing Tuesday, May 28, 2019

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

I was lucky to stumble upon it this morning as I was surfing through channels  - I did not see any trailers for the upcoming season or any "hype" so hopefully that does not mean anything other than maybe I was watching channels that did not promote it ?  

[patty1h]

Yikes, Pope.  I had no idea that the blond female with the four-man crew was Smurf until the end.  Still loving Deran and Adrian and hope nothing bad happens to them/Adrian doesn't turn on the Cody's.

[mxc90]

The poor college kids don't realize J is already planning to rob their homes or use them as pawns for a crime.

Deran and Craig having a discussion if Pope is a little off or extra weird was comical.

Nice knowing you Adrian!

The bank manager held on to that condom for dear life (probably his last one). He could have dropped it in the car. The boys didn't anticipate that in their preparation! If the teller was already in the bank, they should have known by the alarm was already off or did she walk in afterwards and Deran didn't see her?

Sherrif! You are allowed to call for air support or stop the truck to inspect.

When the guy said to young Smurf: "Oh Shit! What did you do?" Why did she assume he was asking about her hair ( I don't think he was looking up)?

Edited May 29, 2019 by mxc90

[Shriekingeel]

They might as well hang a sign on Pope that reads “ticking time bomb”. We get it. 

I’m a sucker for a heist episode, and this was a good one. 

Even back in the day Smurf tries to win people over with food and drink. 

[nekilarose]

Welcome back to our bunch of dumbasses. 

Craig cheering on Pope was cute, but it was so obvious that Pope is just barely hanging on. The fact that both he and Deran were even discussing whether or not Pope should be allowed on the job is proof enough. He is a ticking time bomb. And Smurf is just standing there waiting for him to blow, so she can swoop in and play Mother Teresa.

Was happy to see that Adrian wasn't informing on the Cody's, but I'm pretty sure that's gonna happen soon. But he and Deran were so cute laying in bed, planning out an alibi/paper trail.

J is in college and it looks like he's found a new batch of Nikki's, them kids aren't gonna know what hit them.

Funniest bit? Craig venting about being a landlord. Seeing him trying to be an adult is equal parts funny and horrifying .

[LoveLeigh]

1 hour ago, Shriekingeel said:

I’m a sucker for a heist episode, and this was a good one. 

This show is all about the heists. Last season, they pulled off a major one. It's great to have this show back even though after a year I forget most of what happened in the past season. 

[Dowel Jones]

4 hours ago, patty1h said:

I had no idea that the blond female with the four-man crew was Smurf until the end.

I missed that completely.  I thought it was another crew that was going to butt heads with the Codys.  Heh.

[Chaos Theory]

I thought I heard one of the guys calling the girl “Smurf” but then I kind of forgot about it and didn’t expect it to actually be her but it makes sense.  The show in a lot of ways has been about her.   How did Smurf get to be who she is.    

What I found interesting was how food plays into her manipulation.  She is a narcissist but she makes ribs like a dream.

This show has always done quick heists fairly well.  The motorcycle chase was great.  And yeah the cop could have searched the truck but with adrenaline pumping it’s not hard to think that the cops wouldn’t think to do it until way after the fact.   That was the whole point. 

Poor Adrian.  It’s always non Cody’s that get burned first and burned deepest.

There was some weird visceral thing about Pope in a towel in that pink room.   But yeah he is losing it fast.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Laurie4H]

The sad thing about Pope is deep down he has a conscious.  He has done horrible things but isn’t a horrible person.  He is mentally ill though and made more crazy by Smurfs manipulation.

[walnutqueen]

I'm so glad this show is back!

I really enjoyed the (too brief) surfing scene, as well as the heist and chase scenes.  Even better was seeing a young Smurf honing her craft.  I'd like to see more of how she became so masterful at what she does.

Poor Pope is teetering on the precipice.

[iMonrey]

I didn't get that was a flashback at first either. And they weren't even being coy about it: when they were getting into the van, one of the guys said "get in Smurf" but he was wearing a mask and it was hard to hear the name. It might have helped if they found someone who looked remotely like Ellen Barkin.

I love/hate/laugh at the trope of a woman taking a pair of scissors to her hair over a bathroom sink and then walking out looking like she just got out of a high-end salon.

I love a good heist but this one was a bit over the top. That contraption they had with the drill looked like it would take hours to put together. It stretches credibility they could walk into a vault with just a pile of steel rods and throw that thing together in minutes.

And who keeps piles of cash like that in safe deposit boxes? It was like every box they opened was filled with cash. I would expect more jewelry and bonds and things.

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The bank manager held on to that condom for dear life 

Thanks, I couldn't make out what that was supposed to be. That whole part went right over my head. 

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What I found interesting was how food plays into her manipulation.  She is a narcissist but she makes ribs like a dream.

There is something deeply subliminal and psychological about the way she continually feeds these boys of hers. 

I'm afraid we're going to lose Pope this season, he is just so far gone at this point I honestly don't see a way back for him.

[Dowel Jones]

7 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

And who keeps piles of cash like that in safe deposit boxes?

I have a feeling they knew exactly which boxes to open up, because they knew there was large amounts of cash in there.  Probably from some illegal enterprises, but they would have had to do a lot of research off camera to get that information.

[SuzieQ]

The flashback with Smurf as  younger should have been identified with a year to make it clearer.  OK episode.  I love their heists, but there wasn't much of a follow up to things that happened last season, such as J telling Smurf he was going to ruin her, Craigs girlfriends pregnancy, etc.  Was kind of a let down IMO.

[tennisgurl]

I feel like such an idiot, because it took me ages to realize that the blond in the crew with a bunch of random guys was a young Smurf. It should be interesting seeing flashbacks seeing more of how she got to be who she is, and how she honed her craft as a criminal and a manipulator. Its funny how even back then she was using food and drinks to get people on her side. A way to a mans heart is through his stomach after all!

Good start to the season. We had a solid heist, some surfing, a cool motorcycle chase, the continuing family drama, Smurf and her patio dinners of manipulation, all that good stuff. There is a lot going on, especially with Pope on the verge of a meltdown, and it will be interesting to see what the inevitable fallout will be. 

I feel bad for Pope, as scary as he is. I dont think he is a bad person at heart, I think he is deeply mentally ill and his mother has taken advantage of that for his whole life. He has done some awful things, but he still feels more tragic than a full on villain. 

Craig and Deran questioning if Pope should be on the crew was both kind of hilarious and seemed to be setting up some intense stuff. Speaking of, Craig actually trying to have a real job and managing his building and bitching about his tenants is hysterical. Craig the actual attempted grown up! 

Glad that Adrian isnt informing on the Cody's, but things look bad for him. He and Deran were so cute in the bed planning their alibi's and such though, so I am not looking forward to that all going sideways.  

I thought right away that the waitress whos phone got stolen looked a bit like Nikki. And now Jay has a whole posse of Nikki's!

[iMonrey]

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 I love their heists, but there wasn't much of a follow up to things that happened last season, such as J telling Smurf he was going to ruin her, Craigs girlfriends pregnancy, etc. 

I think J whispering to a sleeping Smurf he was going to take everything from her at the end of last season's finale was just a way of letting the audience know where he's coming from. I'm sure everything in this and any future seasons will bear that out - we know what his goal is, Smurf doesn't.

For the life of me I can't remember the name of Craig's on-again, off-again girlfriend. Rae? I wouldn't care if they dropped her.

I still don't like Mia either. I'm waiting for J to find out she killed Baz. I'm thinking he'll do the same thing to her he did to Morgan.

Frankie is the one I hoped we had seen the last of. TV has been trying to make Dichen Lachman happen for years. She turns up like a bad penny everywhere I look.

[SuzieQ]

50 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

For the life of me I can't remember the name of Craig's on-again, off-again girlfriend. Rae? I wouldn't care if they dropped her.

I couldn't remember her name either!  I have no feelings on whether or not she's back, but Craig growing up and being responsible for a kid would be an interesting arc for him.  Maybe being a legit landlord is the first step? Although they basically have those property holdings to launder money.

[nekilarose]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

For the life of me I can't remember the name of Craig's on-again, off-again girlfriend. Rae? I wouldn't care if they dropped her. 

Frankie is the one I hoped we had seen the last of. TV has been trying to make Dichen Lachman happen for years. She turns up like a bad penny everywhere I look.

3 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

I couldn't remember her name either!  I have no feelings on whether or not she's back, but Craig growing up and being responsible for a kid would be an interesting arc for him.  Maybe being a legit landlord is the first step? Although they basically have those property holdings to launder money.

Her name is/was Renn.

And ditto on Dichen, she must have a great agent, but I'm not feeling the "sultry, wildcard seductress" that the show is aiming for.

[SuzieQ]

2 hours ago, nekilarose said:

Her name is/was Renn.

And ditto on Dichen, she must have a great agent, but I'm not feeling the "sultry, wildcard seductress" that the show is aiming for.

Thanks!  I knew it began with R.  As far as Frankie, I don't even think she's attractive.  She's really in shape, but that's about it.

[MaggieG]

On 5/28/2019 at 11:21 PM, nekilarose said:

Funniest bit? Craig venting about being a landlord. Seeing him trying to be an adult is equal parts funny and horrifying .

This was my favorite part.

I realized the beginning was a flashback when I noticed the clothing of the people in the bank. I figured since the episode was titled Janine, it had to be a young Smurf.

[Novel8]

I think Adrian is going to get at least Darin in trouble. Its either him in jail or Darin...to me he doesn't look the type that could withstand a long term jail sentence...anyway, most gay themes never seem to end on a positive note as far as tv drama shows or movies depict. I was thinking that maybe the writers were going to show the one stability among this group, turns out to be the gay lovers.

I can't believe that the young sexy chick was Smurf when she was young. I just thought that there was going to be another group to give the Cody's  competition.

[iMonrey]

Craig playing landlord will probably remain a running gag for comic relief, but the reality is that he could simply hire someone to maintain and fix these buildings. I understand he can't hire an apartment manager because he's got an arrangement with the tenants who pay next to nothing in rent so Craig/the Codys can launder money through the building. But he could bring someone on full-time to take care of carpet stains, leaking roofs, etc. and pay them a salary. An inflated one on the books, in fact, to launder more money.  

It would be sort of nice if Craig taking responsibility for these buildings represented a character growth arc since Craig doesn't get the kind of meaty material Pope, Daren and J do. But I think the writers are more likely to continue using him as comic relief.

BTW, did anyone else know that Ben Robson is British? I saw a clip of him on a talk show and had no idea he had a British accent. I have renewed respect for his acting abilities. 

Edited May 30, 2019 by iMonrey

[Chaos Theory]

I must be the only one who actually likes Dichen Lachmen.   She is my favorite “bit character on every show I watch” actress.  

[SuzieQ]

18 hours ago, iMonrey said:

BTW, did anyone else know that Ben Robson is British? I saw a clip of him on a talk show and had no idea he had a British accent. I have renewed respect for his acting abilities. 

I read that somewhere last year and I was surprised as well! He seems like the epitome of California surfer dude!  I just saw him in A Violent Separation and he was excellent but seems kind of type cast.  I would love to see him in a totally different type of role.

[iMonrey]

Yeah - Robson was also in that terrible horror movie "The Boy" where he played a very similar part. Type-cast indeed. Also? Those tattoos he has on this show aren't real. I wonder how long it takes to apply them every day.

[SuzieQ]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 Also? Those tattoos he has on this show aren't real. I wonder how long it takes to apply them every day.

I was a big Sons of Anarchy fan and used to wonder about that too.  I would think hours!

[formerlyfreedom]

13 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I must be the only one who actually likes Dichen Lachmen.   She is my favorite “bit character on every show I watch” actress.  

I like her too,  so we can sit together!

12 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

I read that somewhere last year and I was surprised as well! He seems like the epitome of California surfer dude!  I just saw him in A Violent Separation and he was excellent but seems kind of type cast.  I would love to see him in a totally different type of role.

He did play Kalf  in Vikings in seasons 2 & 3- although his role there might just be an early Viking version of Craig, I started watching in Season 4.

ETA: Putting a short video of him from Vikings under spoiler tags, just for those who are interested in seeing him play something else.

Spoiler

Edited June 1, 2019 by saoirse

[SuzieQ]

12 hours ago, saoirse said:

He did play Kalf  in Vikings in seasons 2 & 3- although his role there might just be an early Viking version of Craig, I started watching in Season 4.

ETA: Putting a short video of him from Vikings under spoiler tags, just for those who are interested in seeing him play something else.

  Hide contents

Thanks!! That's on my binge list but I haven't gotten to it yet.  It does seem to portray him as more intelligent than his usual "big dumb hunk" roles.

[MrWhyt]

On 5/29/2019 at 10:32 AM, iMonrey said:

And who keeps piles of cash like that in safe deposit boxes? It was like every box they opened was filled with cash. I would expect more jewelry and bonds and things.

I don't know how they chose the boxes but earlier in the episode there was a line about multiple companies using the bank to pay their illegal workers. So the cash in the boxes was essentially payroll for people off the books.

[Lone Wolf]

The problem with the actress in the flashback is that she doesn't have Barkin's plastic-surgery-induced duck lip thing going on, and her face actually moves when she talks.  Hard to tell it's supposed to be Smurf.  

At her age and with all that Perelman money, I'm not sure why Barkin's even working.  

Okay, enough with the snark.  I actually like her as an actress.  Was just mildly shocked when I first saw her after I discovered this show.