The Black Donnellys 3/12/07

Well, I can't say that I'm hooked on this show yet, but I'm getting closer. I thought last night's episode was quite well-done.

First of all, I was thrilled to see Ilene Kristen (Roxy, OLTL) in the beginning of the episode. At least I'm fairly certain it was her. The lighting wasn't great, but the hair was right, and the voice sounded familiar. I just looked it up on imdb, and it's not listed. I also looked in the credits at the beginning and didn't see it or got distracted by the action on screen and missed it. In any case, I'm nearly positive it was her, and it was a nice little cameo, I must say.

I also thought Kate Mulgrew was fantastic again, although I wish she'd have a bigger role in the show. Next week looks like I might get my wish.

The person getting hit by a bus plot point is getting a little tiresome to me. Sure, I've only seen it on one other show this season, but still. At least in this case it wasn't telegraphed, like it was on Lost. And we did get a nice reaction shot of Kevin when that happened, so it wasn't entirely bad.

I think what I really liked about this episode was that it centered on how easily that Tommy is adapting to this new life of his. It's kind of scary, and very compelling. I am glad, though, that the show is still showing that he has a heart, especially in his scenes with Huey's widow and her son. I'm also glad he was conflicted about holding Huey's wake, and that Jenny called him on it.

I couldn't help but feel bad for Tommy when he saw Jenny leave with Samson. You could just see his heart breaking when she left.

How incredibly lucky for Tommy and Jimmy that Jenny didn't clean up well enough, so that there was still blood in the drain in the basement. I know for the good of the story that something like that had to happen, but that felt really contrived to me. (And trust me, I know how contrived writing can get. I watch soaps, after all.)

As much as I wanted to slap Jimmy silly throughout most of the episode, I was really quite thrilled to see a new side to him show up when Dokey threatened Jenny. It was a nice touch, and I'm hoping we see more of that in coming episodes.

If there's one thing that I don't like about this show, it's that I have a hard time hearing a lot of the dialogue. It seems like people mumble more often than not. I realize that that's what people normally talk like, but it's hard on me to strain to hear a good chunk of the dialogue. I know I could turn up the volume on my TV, so I really don't have much of an excuse, but I just had to complain a little bit.

Overall, a good episode, and it'll keep me tuning in. I also have to say one more thing. Does it make me shallow that I wanted to see another glimpse of Tommy without a shirt? It does? Yeah, I thought so...