S01.E02: What They Saw in Southie High

[preeya]

S01E02 What They Saw in Southie High

Summary:  After an eventful Sunday at church, Decourcy finds out he has a new powerful enemy in town - one that puts his wife Siobhan in an awkward position. Jackie is stirring up trouble in his own home, and his distrustful mother-in-law Rosa is onto him. Investigators Hank Signa and Rachel Behnam look into an unsolved missing persons case connected to the robbery in Revere. That could mean trouble for Frankie Ryan, who's busy laundering his most recent loot and, with the help of his brother Jimmy, getting carried away in the process.

[scrb]

That confrontation between Jackie and the MIL was something.  Come on the free clinic just gives out his business to anyone?  In any event, even if he went to the family doctor, he or she wouldn’t be able to tell his wife or anyone else.

And then the MIL gets it into the wife’s head to demand sex from Jackie that day, after she lied to Jackie that he had some STD.

So she asks him to have sex with her and he makes up an excuse that he can’t because he thinks he’d infect her.

What a piece of work, that mother in law!  But apparently both parents were intensely opposed to their daughter marrying Jackie, who doesn’t like them either.

Wow Jill Hennessy playing an insecure, kind of frumpy wife, who’s a doormat to the bitchy daughter too.

With that family dynamic, not surprising Jackie cokes up and turns to Asian massage parlor mistresses.  Where the mother of the mistress also doesn’t like him!

Meanwhile Ward goes to a messed up church and has to deal with a sassy Sarah Shahi at work.

[preeya]

Does Rohr ever do any FBI work? He acts more like a shady politician than an FBI agent.

Edited June 24, 2019 by preeya

[atlantaloves]

Okay, I actually got into this episode, I shall make it an automatic record now. God, these people really cuss a lot, not that I mind, but is that the way people in Boston actually talk, because the people I know from that city don't act like that, but they are not southies. I tell you that evil mother in law has a mouth on her. And yes, you guys are right, a free clinic would never tell anyone but the actual person who came in for testing what the results were. WHAT WERE THESE WRITERS THINKING? 

[LoveLeigh]

On 6/23/2019 at 4:55 AM, scrb said:

 Come on the free clinic just gives out his business to anyone?

That was totally absurd. Privacy laws in medical offices prohibit the disclosure of information to anybody except the patient. That was a major writers' mistake... obviously done for the agenda of getting the MIL to know. 

[UNOSEZ]

Strong episode... Enjoyed the addition of Sarah shahi... Lol at Jackie saying now they had one of every color... I am confused as to what the reverend's beef was with decourcy... Yes he's a prosecutor.. But part of his sermon before it got shot up was about how  it was ppl inside the community hurting each other... And he called him  house *boy* but also pointed out that he was the one trying to hold reckless racist cops responsible... So that weirded me out... Good to see Seth gilliam tho... I've never been around when someone was actually called a house *boy* to their face... But just seeing it play out stung.... 

[preeya]

7 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

I've never been around when someone was actually called a house *boy* to their face... But just seeing it play out stung.... 

Yes, that was quite ballsy. And what's up with the Rev? His meeting demeanor was quite different from his pulpit demeanor.

[tennisgurl]

When the Rev pulled that House...not nice word out, I might actually actually let out a "oh my god!" out loud. So he tried to put cops away, but because it didnt work out, thats his fault? Wasn't his sermon just about how people in the black community need to stop shooting each other? Also, shooting a guy in the middle of a damn funeral? That shit was cold. 

I thought this episode was better than the pilot, it felt more complete. Jackie's wife's mother AND his mistresses mother hate him, damn! She seems like a real piece of work, that whole family dynamic is a hot mess. I felt bad for his wife trying so hard to be sexy, while Jackie can hardly be bothered to look at her. I guess he thinks that he has some infection so he didnt want to infect her, but that was still hard to watch.

Sarah Shahi is a great addition to the show already. I loved that ending with the truck falling back into the water.

Adding my name to the list of people baffled by the free clinic giving out private info to any random person. What the fuck?

[preeya]

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Adding my name to the list of people baffled by the free clinic giving out private info to any random person. What the fuck? 

I'm just wondering and my memory can't recall, but since this is portraying the 90's, were the privacy rules as stringent as they are today? Just asking?

Actually, I just found this tidbit of information:
 

Quote

The HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules Take Shape

Once HIPAA had been signed into law, the US Department of Health and Human Services set about creating the first HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The Privacy Rule had an effective compliance date of April 14, 2003, and it defined Protected Health Information (PHI) as “any information held by a covered entity which concerns health status, the provision of healthcare, or payment for healthcare that can be linked to an individual”.

 

[NoReally]

I knew that HIPAA hadn't taken effect at the time this show takes place, but I still don't think clinics or doctor's offices would give out that kind of information to the first person who answers a phone.

[LibertarianSlut]

I absolutely love this show.  I think the acting is so good.  I love the way they capture the early 90s.  I love how rude everyone is to each other.  I love the way the characters interact.  Yes, I am having trouble discerning who is whom, such as those two robber brothers, and the plot seems a little convoluted, but I love the characters and I am so here for the ride.

Everyone seems multi-dimensional.  Nothing is black and white.  Everything is a shade of grey.  This is some really good TV.  I am not as good at praising a TV show as I am when I dissect it for flaws, so forgive me if it seems as if I'm gushing.  If anyone has seen that movie, Winter's Bone, that's what this reminds me of--like it is so authentic to its setting that I care less about the story than I normally would.

For instance, I am not exactly sure why Kevin Bacon (still learning all the character names) seems to be an FBI agent who works alone, but I don't really care yet.  I guess its was a pretty badass move to snort a line of coke off the bar in Revere, where he clearly wasn't wanted, because it sent so many messages at once:  I don't give a fuck about rules and regs, I don't respect your bar, I am not afraid of authority, I work outside the law, etc.  It was just so good on so many levels.

The first scene in the second episode at the duck pond was so good.  Kevin  Bacon is not pretending or trying to be the good guy.  He just wants info.  When he busted into that bookie's office to "collect" on a Super Bowl bet he made, I was dead.  Now, that is how you conduct business!  He collected $25k and gave the CI only $18k of the $20k the CI demanded, because "taxes are a bitch" or whatever Kevin Bacon said.  SO good.

Is it too early for a Sopranos comparison?  I just know that I believe it is leaps and bounds better than that cringe show that came before that was The Chi.  The Chi was writing about how people might act; City on a Hill is a show about how people actually act (and interact).

I love the bitchy teenage daughter, the awful mother-in-law, the blonde wife who is in on it, the brunette wife who pretends nothing is wrong in her marriage (OMG, the way she rolled up her stockings in preparation to seduce her husband was everything), the Latina inspector who doesn't give a fuck about anyone's feelings, the fact that the DA will use his prosthetic eye to get ahead, the political incorrectness...it's just fascinating to me.

I LOVED the restaurant conversation by the window between Bacon and the DA about JFK as a proxy for how they each respectively viewed life.  So delicately approaching the topic, so respectful, but both men saying things of great importance with regard to the way they view their careers and the tasks at hand.  Who is writing this shit, and have they won an Emmy yet?  

Also, the convo between Bacon and the DA's wife in the DA's condo when KB was telling the woman that her husband is already trusted by black people, and if he wants to be governor, he needs to gain the trust of white people by going against the robbers in Revere, even though they were white, rang so authentic to me, especially when he was like, "you're a law-yah, don't pretend you don't know what I'm tawking about."  Even the tea-drinking was genius in that scene!  Yaaas!

I know this is a good show when the clinic calls up Kevin Bacon's home and tells a random woman, "[Mr Kevin Bacon] is negative for all diseases.  You know, all sexually transmitted diseases."  I mean, HIPAA wasn't signed yet, if this took place in 1992 (I also loved the dialogue over the phone, with a Bill Clinton speech on TV in the background, about Bill Clinton and whether Kev Bac was a Republican, and how he was so embarrassed that he voted for Carter once that he never voted again).  I am willing to fan-wave the ridiculous medical disclosure because I love the show.  

I just love that Kevin Bacon is who he is.  He is basically a bad guy, just like Tony Soprano.  I like that the show doesn't seem to apologize for this, the way they often do for the characters on Billions.  Yes, there are bad dudes in law enforcement, yet their personalities can be so compelling that we root for them over the "good" guys.  It's very human.

I know that Boardwalk Empire never received wide popular and critical acclaim, but I thought that show was excellent.  So nuanced.  So many layers.  This is high praise from me--this show may be up there with Boardwalk Empire  (I am not sure The Sopranos was better than Boardwalk).

I don't think I've ever been this effusively ebullient about a new drama.  However--If this show falls off at all between the first two episodes, I will be the first to point it out. Until then, I am on pins and needles for midnight on Sunday!

[UnknownK]

I can see the free clinic telling whoever is at that number all is fine back then, but they would probably have you come in for bad news (and to treat it if possible).

[lazylou]

On 6/25/2019 at 6:58 AM, NoReally said:

I knew that HIPAA hadn't taken effect at the time this show takes place, but I still don't think clinics or doctor's offices would give out that kind of information to the first person who answers a phone.

This is just a screw up, a typical bureaucratic screw up.  There would have been no HIPAA then, as you observed.  Today the typical medical office problem is the opposite.  

[lazylou]

So far, I am really enjoying this show.  Kevin Bacon is clearly a not so good cop still enjoying a past success, in need of a new one.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

The Town: The Series

Kevin loves playing Boston Cops, does unapologetic fuckboi quite well.

The cop shot in the No Knock Warrant scene also appeared in The Town.

From my POV, there are three leads, Kevin, Aldis and the underrated Jonathan Tucker.

Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but is holding my interest  so far.

Nice to see Seth Gilliam as the Rev who clashed with Decourcy.

[LoveLeigh]

I usually like Kevin Bacon, but I think in this series he has made some poor choices, unless they were a director's asinine choices. He is playing "Jackie" like Jackie is a total asshole. I can believe some FBI people were incompetent, but I find it hard to believe this jackass could even keep his job he is such a fool. Does Jackie have a history of cracking difficult cases? This Jackie could not get a job in Ikea selling Swedish meatballs. He is such an obnoxious jerk. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by DakotaLavender

[scrb]

I think he's suppose to be a Boston cop, not FBI?

But they alluded to him cracking a big case earlier in his career and having coasted on it for years since.

Obviously the Boston PD is highly corrupt.  Besides Jackie coking up all the time, you have to vice cop promoted to Homicide, which would be the most prestigious department for detectives, realizing he's going to lose a lot of income because he was shaking down drug dealers.

So if a cop at that time wasn't corrupt, he wasn't doing it right.

In this latest episode, the female characters show some mettle.

First Jenny wants to go back to school and become a teacher, start to gain independence from Jackie.

Siobhan shows some spine against Rev. Shields.

Rachel goes undercover to fish out another potential witness.

And finally, Kathy Ryan, Jimmy Ryan's wife, shows she's been as big of a part of the bank heist crew as anyone else, worried about Jimmy stealing from them or making them vulnerable.

How about Kathy getting into a jawing match with momma Ryan, who's a tough one herself?

Seems like Jimmy gave up where the armored car was but not where the bodies were dumped.  But if he gives that information up, it's not ratting out his brother directly but it just gets the cops closer.

[Lemons]

16 minutes ago, scrb said:

I think he's suppose to be a Boston cop, not FBI?

But they alluded to him cracking a big case earlier in his career and having coasted on it for years since.

Obviously the Boston PD is highly corrupt.  Besides Jackie coking up all the time, you have to vice cop promoted to Homicide, which would be the most prestigious department for detectives, realizing he's going to lose a lot of income because he was shaking down drug dealers.

So if a cop at that time wasn't corrupt, he wasn't doing it right.

No, he’s FBI.  He also went to law,school in DC he said.   He talked about watching Robert Kennedy on TV and wanting to be an agent. 

[ganesh]

On 6/24/2019 at 6:53 PM, preeya said:

Yes, that was quite ballsy. And what's up with the Rev?

His argument made no sense. DeCourcey wasn't a prosecutor when he was on the Commission and didn't make the call to not prosecute the cops. I think what it boiled down to was that DeC took charge and the Rev feels like he was powerless so he lashed out. 

I'll tell you what though - I was like 'heeellllll noooo' when he called him a house n-word. He should have been hauled out on his ass. 

On 6/24/2019 at 3:09 PM, atlantaloves said:

God, these people really cuss a lot, not that I mind, but is that the way people in Boston actually talk, because the people I know from that city don't act like that, but they are not southies.

I'm from New England, and I have a mouth on me. The northeast and east has a lot of fast talkers and trash talkers. I get in trouble at work, not for swearing, but because I speak strongly and they're a bunch of fucking babies. But I run my mouth with colleagues. I'm rather colorful. 

Honestly, I could watch the show just Bacon and Hodge sitting there talking. 

[MamaMax]

On 6/30/2019 at 11:23 AM, DakotaLavender said:

I usually like Kevin Bacon, but I think in this series he has made some poor choices, unless they were a director's asinine choices. He is playing "Jackie" like Jackie is a total asshole. I can believe some FBI people were incompetent, but I find it hard to believe this jackass could even keep his job he is such a fool. Does Jackie have a history of cracking difficult cases? This Jackie could not get a job in Ikea selling Swedish meatballs. He is such an obnoxious jerk. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Connolly_(FBI)

I am betting this was their inspiration for Jackie

On 6/30/2019 at 12:47 PM, scrb said:

I think he's suppose to be a Boston cop, not FBI?

No, he says himself, he wanted to be a RFK G-man.

[TV Diva Queen]

On 6/30/2019 at 12:06 PM, Lemons said:

No, he’s FBI.  He also went to law,school in DC he said.   He talked about watching Robert Kennedy on TV and wanting to be an agent. 

I think the close captioning messed up and he really went to law school at Boston College (BC).  

[Pepper Mostly]

Yes, Boston College Law School. Which is well regarded, Jackie's right to be proud of it.

On 7/6/2019 at 2:42 PM, MamaMax said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Connolly_(FBI)

I am betting this was their inspiration for Jackie

Oh for sure. Jackie's role in bringing down a Mafia family was referenced in the first episode.

[Lemons]

1 hour ago, TV Diva Queen said:

I think the close captioning messed up and he really went to law school at Boston College (BC).  

Yeah, that makes more sense. 

[Chas411]

Did they recast Jackies mother in law from the pilot? She looks different..