Quick spoilers for tonight's "Hung" coming up just as soon as I enter through your subconscious... On the Ray front, we got to learn that a man who'd be his own pimp has a fool for a hooker, and we got a payoff to the joke from a few episodes ago where Ray gave Mrs. Koontz some of Tanya's Lyric Bread, apparently not realizing what messages were in it. But overall, his half of the episode felt like the show is spinning its wheels a bit on the Jemma storyline. We all know that he's kidding himself, that she's stringing him along, and that it's going to end badly, and at this point it's only a question of waiting to see how bad the end will be.
Tanya's story was more interesting, and I'm not just saying that because I was once state forensics champ in Humorous Interpretation(*). Rhea Perlman as Tanya's intellectual mom is casting against type, but she nailed every judgmental note, and it was nice to see that Pierce's "project" was a success in the end. I thought it was a particularly good touch to have Jane Adams play that final scene as if Tanya were regressing back to the 14-year-old who wrote the ant poem, lying on the bed, feet up, as she pondered what to write about the way the light was hitting the dust.
(*) Hi, my name is Alan, and I'm a geek.
We deliberately didn't get a lot of Ray and Tanya together in this one, but I hope that's only a short-term situation. To me, "Hung" is at its strongest when the two Janes are bouncing off each other.
What did everybody else think?
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ReplyDeleteI quite liked the episode and enjoyed Rhea Pearlman's different role than what we're used to. However, am I the only one that thinks these double title names to each episode are stupid (small quibble I know)?
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Thomas Jane on getting killer abs on this episode. I need to go to the gym tomorrow, ugh.
Oops, I didn't know deleting the comment would leave the time stap. Whoops!
Isn't this "wheel-spinning" sort of a neccessity, though? Don't we need an episode that shows trouble in paradise? If they jumped right away to her having the meltdown/freakout/explosion that seems destined to come, wouldn't that be a sort of an unearned moment? A cheat?
ReplyDeleteRhea Perlman was a delight. I forgot how good she could be.
Best moment: Ray asking the woman "How do you tell when they are nice and firm?" while groping two melons. It is definitely a comedy.
It definitely had more comedic moments, for sure. Or maybe it's had them all along and I'm just getting more accustomed to the show's weird rhythms and quirky sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteRhea Perlman is such a treasure. Great to see her working.
I actually thought Ray being left alone at the dock was the end of the Jemma story. A sad end, but still an end.
I can't imagine that the local farmers market is a good place to go trolling for "clients" whether you are male or female.
ReplyDelete"Shit Ray, that is one beautiful penis"
ReplyDeleteEven though this was a wheel-spinning episode, I liked it. Loved seeing Ray striking out constantly with his self pimping, and that no matter how bad Tanya is, she's still a half-decent pimp.
Perlman feels like a perfect fit, not only look wise (nobody is gonna be arguing whether Tanya is really her kid), but in that she's equally crazy, albeit in a more controlled way.
Finally, it was interesting seeing Tanya's scratchings in her poem journal. The style of the writing seemed almost like that of a psychopaths.
My favorite part of the ep was Tanya telling Floyd off. Hope the other lady paid attention and runs far away.
ReplyDeleteThe other part I really enjoyed was Ray's attempt at self-pimping and trying to hit on Jessica before he realized it was her. Good thing she is clueless or he'd be in trouble (well, a little bit of trouble).
Humorous Interpretation...I love it! I got a perfect score at my high school's state forensics meet in radio speaking, so you're not the only one.
ReplyDeleteHaven't watched yet due to Mad Men, but in looking at the photo, WOW, Carla and Jane Adams actually could be related. Great casting, for sure. Will be back later tonight with comments.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the biggest OMG cringe moment of the night?
ReplyDeleteWhen Ray brought Jemma to see his tent? Or when Tanya read her poem before her mother's snobby friends? Or perhaps when Ray, undaunted, was about to proposition another woman at the Farmer's Market and it turns out to be Jessica? Yikes!
- Snagglepuss
Went to Nationals twice in Humorous, Alan, so you're among geeks.
ReplyDeleteI will miss Jemma if we've actually seen the last of her. Floyd, however, I hope we're done with.
Seems like Ray thought bringing Jemma to his tent would be charming and down-to-earth. If he had a better understanding of her job and her life, though, he'd have realized what a horrible mistake he was making. Cringe-worthy, yes, but also quite funny. In that uncomfortable way. Heh, ouch!
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