Last season was different. Last season, when Owen would bump heads with his father, I felt frustrated by his annoying predicament. But this season … this season I feel Owen’s frustration. In less than twenty episodes we’ve gotten to know our Men so well that I’m there with him every time Senior ambles into the room.
The infighting at the dealership continued, and seemed to go as far as physical bullying; is that really an adult problem? Clearly the service guys and the sales guys don’t see eye-to-eye. Then along comes the idea for a body shop — and a little jazz — and suddenly the love is flowing free.
I rarely have a negative thing to say about Men of a Certain Age, but that was a bit too simplistic for my tastes. The very idea that class and social issues could be wrapped up so easily was a stretch, to say the least. The only relief I was feeling was that we wouldn’t have to hear the sales guys crying about the mean men in the garage anymore. But I was also a little puzzled by the body shop — if the service guys can’t turn their work around fast enough now, how in the world are they going to add body shop work to their repertoire?
In the end it doesn’t matter, because before it could even get off the ground Senior whacked Owen — and us — out of nowhere with the Glendale property thing. It put a huge smile on my face to see Senior as something other than a great business mind. Even he didn’t avoid the lure of the real estate mirage. Serves him right.
I loved that I got a twinkle in my eye when Owen was out looking at the Glendale property. I don’t know what he’s going to do with it, but I can tell he’s not just going to wait around until he can unload it. That plot of land is going to be something.
I’m not sure how good Terry looks as a guy with some money. He clearly has no idea what it means to be financially savvy, but he also isn’t the type of guy you want to see tooling around in a flashy car. It’s just not him.
It’s also kind of sad that it wasn’t until he’d “made something of himself” that he felt he could reconnect with his bother and his brother’s family. Let’s hope that his brother’s disbelief in the new Terry won’t shake Terry from the stable place he’s gotten to in his life. At the same time, let’s hope that continued connection with someone who knew him as a kid with a dream will remind Terry that it’s okay to act too.
Week after week Ray Romano continues to impress me with how far he’s come as an actor. There was nothing grandiose about his story this week, but we saw the gambler in him doing battle with his conscience, the part of him who knew that it was wrong to ignore Manfro as he battles with cancer. And Joe was really funny when he was worried that Manfro’s mother had come in as the “muscle” of the bookie operation; I guess he remembers that first time he met Manfro in the pilot.
But Ray is just phenomenal. I have a feeling he won’t be recognized by any awards for what he’s doing just yet, but assuming the show has legs … the subtlety of his character is actually indicative of how real a person he’s made Joe. He’s awesome.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jan 04, 2011 @ 15:30 EST5EDT
As a “Quantum Leap” fan, I was really happy that they got the same actor to play Terry’s brother, David Newsom, that played Scott Bakula’s brother in 2 episodes of “Quantum Leap”. Very nice touch for the fans.
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t know enough about Quantum Leap to have known that (although I’ve seen a lot of episodes). That’s awesome! Thanks!
I’m in the car business and let me tell you something: the battle between Service and Sales is a constant problem for the general manager of a dealership. It gets bad — the Service guys I know would definitely throw a guy in the dumpster. I actually knew a salesman who was strapped to a creeper and given a push!
The fact that the Sales guys are complaining that Service is too slow doesn’t mean there’s an actual problem with turnover rates; more likely, they’re handling the bigger, more pressing jobs first(electronic problems, issues with engines, etc.), and only then moving on to the Sales’ department’s accessory installation requests. It’s not the best way to do business, but some Service managers prioritize that way.
Usually, Service feels like the general manager puts more of his time and energy into improving the Sales department(because the GM is most often from a Sales background himself). In buying that frame straightener, I thought Owen was making a gesture that would show the Service guys otherwise. He also thinks that his purchase(as a first step in starting a body shop) will bring the Sales guys more business — everybody wins! From a real life perspective, Owen’s thinking actually makes a lot of sense.
If you want to question the technical research in this show, you’re barking up the wrong tree. These guys have the car biz down pat, and I for one appreciate the effort.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks! I think my problem was with how easily it seemed to resolve itself (instead of slow progress it was instantaneous). But I hope it’s not really that bad, for your sake!