Boss ‘Reflex’: Dirty Apple Slices

There were a lot of political games being played in Friday’s episode of Boss, but it was everything happening around the politics that made for a strong second episode. Boss is quickly evolving, and although there are some scenes that just don’t feel right, Boss‘s subtle visual style and penchant for strong dialogue makes it quite easy to enjoy.

Underneath all of last night’s posturing, odd nudity, and cryptic conversations was the internal struggle with Tom Kane – a role which Kelsey Grammar is shining in, I might add. Kane is a man with a lot of secrets, most importantly his mental condition and the already forming cracks in both his personal and professional facades. I found it a bit odd nobody thought twice about the mayor’s strange moment during his speech, but Kane can’t take his eyes away from the image – even after narrowly winning the vote he needed to drum up some momentum for his policies. He hasn’t made any explicit statements of this nature yet, but it’s clear Kane, now faced with his impending death, has been knocked out of a power-drunk, decades long sleep, and he’s starting to watch the dream world around him collapse. Worst part of it all? For once in his life, there are things out of his control… and it seems the number of things he is losing control of continues to multiply.

He has the political aide who is banging his new choice for governor (under his nose), who faces an ugly PR situation with a grace and confidence that surprised Kane (the man who opened the door of power to him). He has the drug-addicted daughter who (along with some pushing from the Mrs.) he’s pushed out of his life. He has this reporter Cullen sneaking around work sites, asking questions of both Kane and his wife around town. He’s got the council, who barely pushes through Kane’s latest policies. And finally, you’ve got the wife and the impending illness… no wonder there is a prescription of Xanax lying around from Dr. Harris to go along with the shitpile of medications he’s now taking to stop his Alzheimer’s like mental condition.

Quick off topic thought: It’s a lot to deal with, and could prove troublesome if they try to deal with a lot of these swiftly through the eight episode first season. However, the show’s already been renewed for a 12-episode second season, so it looks like Boss is here for the long haul (and least in the short term). The storyline with the daughter and the prescription drug dealer whose name I can’t remember still stick out as awkward, and it feels a bit cheap she is trying to redeem herself by dedicating herself to the church. The ‘failed redemption’ story is a played one, and has played out predictably in the first two hours. It will be interesting to see her interact with her parents more often, as I’m sure she’ll be getting into her parents life more as the season goes on.

Getting back to Kane, there was a particularly strong moment at the end, where he is visiting his catatonic father-in-law. The nurse is feeding him apples (and creeping Kane out by his capacity to do nothing but suck), and she drops a slice on the floor. Kane picks it up, but she obviously doesn’t want it, being too dirty to feed it to the old man. Kane doesn’t think twice, and shoves it in his mouth. He chews on it, and his eyes reveal a number of emotions: sadness, disgust,  and an undeniable vulnerability. Kane knows it won’t be too long until he’s in the same condition, and realizes how much he takes his abilities for granted.

But there is more to it than that. Look at his face in those moments; he’s realizing that a life with dirt on it doesn’t really taste so good after all. This disease is making Kane face the man he’s been forever, pushing everyone away from him while he exercised his abilities to lead and exert power over the city of Chicago. Kane’s at the end, and is wondering what he did everything in his life for. Will he be remembered as a good guy, with a storied legacy? Probably not, because it only takes a little dirt to ruin the taste of the entire apple.

Couple other thoughts:

– this week’s sex scene was more ridiculous than the last, and this time, wasn’t accompanied by any sort of stylized visuals… in other words, it was just silly and unbelievable. A rare moment where Boss drops the hyper-realism and gets goofy.

– Miller’s arc so far is about as entertaining and original as Emma’s (Kane’s estranged daughter). Reporter sniffs something nobody else does, and starts off on his journalistic integrity-based mission towards the light. Needless to say, he’ll probably be crushed under Kane’s thumb at some point after he stirs up some dramatic noise.

– did anybody listen to the children’s book being read by the mayor’s wife? An allusion to Kane’s fate, perhaps?

– Is Kane hallucinating naked women drinking in his house? Weird scene, and while it didn’t feel exploitative with the nudity, it might’ve been. Felt like it could be a lucid moment on the part of Kane… we’ll have to keep our eyes open to see if weird things like this continue.

– anyone notice the look of question on Ezra’s face regarding the tape? What does he know about anything at this point?

– “never seen chickens follow a turkey” says one black man to another during a funeral procession. easily the weakest line of the episode.

What did you think of Friday’s episode? I’ll be staying with Boss, at least through the first season, so you can check here every Monday for a recap of Friday’s episode.