Episode Report Card Keckler: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Stanley Goetz Goetz
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 5 | Aired on 03.10.2008
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This is the most Awesome episode that ever Awesomed! Full stop. End of story. Thank you, Cleveland, and good night.
Following Bonnie's death, Beck takes off to squelch some issues in New Bern, and Jericho -- or should I say Goetz? -- is left vulnerable. Learning that Goetz is still at large in Jericho and lying about his actions to Beck, Jake immediately sets up a Ranger guard around the Med Center and Mimi.
After Goetz and his Goons close in around the Med Center, they start dragging out anyone who is related to those inside the Med Center. They make an Awesome mistake when they knock on Hawkins's door, and the ensuing scene is probably the best one in the entire show. One thing leads to another, yada yada yada: three Goons are dead, and Hawkins has made his way inside the Med Center to team up with Jake in order for the Awesome Squared to happen. Eventually, Hawkins and Jake figure out that they have a mole among them -- and it's not Adrian --- and use that knowledge to send Goetz on a wild goose chase.
In other plotlines, Heather runs into Russell and learns that he's been stalking her for a bounty Constantino placed on her head. Russell, however, is not keen to collect on it. Instead, he wants to warn Heather off from continuing to feed New Bern intelligence to Beck. Heather refuses and learns that Russell's also in town to collect Goetz. New Bern is baying for his blood. Like, get in line, dudes!
The next morning, Jake and his team watch Goetz get fired for embezzlement thanks to Trish's help, and once one of the Ravenwood bigwigs has cleared the area, Jake and crew start firing on Goetz and his six remaining Goons. They're not alone, however, because Russell shows up with his New Bernies. They all gather to argue over who will be given the supreme pleasure of meting out Goetz's punishment, but Stanley settles it by driving up in his truck and giving Goetz the toepick to end all toepicks.
Jake lets Russell have Goetz's body, which Beck finds strung up over the sign welcoming all to New Bern. Yeah, he's a bit pissed. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
And you thought last week was good? Please, that was just the warm-up.
Because we aren't emotionally wrung out enough, we pick up right where we left off last week. Kudos, by the way, to the writers and/or director for not leaving us hanging last week. They could have been like so many other shows and cut us off at the point where Mimi passes out, leaving us to nail-bite for another week before finding out Bonnie's fate. I'm glad they didn't, because not only am I an incredibly impatient person, but they capitalized on the emotion quotient.
To recap: Bonnie is dead, Mimi is critical, and Skeet is hot. Of course, the show does the recap much more poetically by clipping in shots from last week's episode. The flashing movement of the shots makes them feel like crime scene photos, and there's barely any sound, save for the building, throbbing menace of music. The first new shot we get is Bonnie's body covered in a white sheet. Her crimson life soaks through the sheet. Stanley takes one last look at that covered body in his house and turns away to walk out, barely catching Jake's anguished gaze as he does. Jake turns back to blindly survey the living room, his jaw jutted in anger. Jimmy and Bill walk in, looking sort of scared of their sheriff. Bill hesitantly asks if Mimi's going to be okay. "She's lost a lot of blood," Jake says, barely able to complete a coherent thought as the pulsing red light from sheriff-mobile stains his face. "What have you got?" Bill takes his moment in the sun: "The weapons were nine-millimeters. The tire tracks out front? Look like a Humvee." Further proof that Hummers are the vehicular embodiments of evil. "Ravenwood," Eric breathes to himself. (Eric has to say stuff out loud, otherwise his brain doesn't process.) (He's also one of those people who can't read without moving their lips.) Eric wonders what Ravenwood would want at the Richmond Farm. "Well, whatever they wanted, Mimi wasn't supposed to survive," Jake mutters angrily, breathing and thinking hard. He orders all the Rangers to the Med Center. "She needs protection," Jake explains, "Ravenwood does not get near her!" Jimmy and Bill leave. After putting a consoling, mayoral hand on his brother's shoulder, Eric follows. Jake nods his acceptance of Eric's sympathy and bites his upper lip to calm himself down.
In the next scene, Jake bursts into City Hall. He's all fired up! It's awesome! Unfortunately, he'll have to cool his jets, because Beck and all his men are suited up and shipping out to New Bern to quash some rabble-rousing. When Jake tells him about the shooting, Beck just says shortly, "I heard from Goetz already." Oh, reeeally? And what did the little shit say? "Said he went out on J&R business, someone opened fire on him, killed three of his men," Beck reports. Dude. I had myself convinced that Goetz would have scarpered, but this is even worse! He's totally counting on his Ravenwood amnesty to protect him. Well, you know what, Goetz? You didn't count on Jake and the Black Man. Jake is incensed that Beck believes Goetz. "Do you know something that I don't?" Goetz asks. "There's a survivor," Jake informs him. "All right? She's unconscious but --" A soldier interrupts them, saying it's time to head out. As Beck apologizes and starts to leave, Jake TOTALLY grabs his arm and demands, "WHERE YOU GOING?!" Dude, Jake. I know you're, like, justifiably upset, but try to remember how you felt a few weeks ago when everyone kept grabbing at you, okay? Now, I don't know anything for sure, but I have a feeling Beck isn't someone you want to roughly grab. (Unless of course, you're Heather. Rowr.) Beck tells him he's off to New Bern, where a pipe bomb went off outside J&R and killed six of his men. Beck tells him to keep his pants on until he's gets back, twelve hours from now. "It's not gonna wait twelve hours," Jake informs him. "Well, it's gonna have to -- things are coming apart at the seams in New Bern right now, and you have my word: tomorrow I'm going to get into this, but for tonight, I'm trusting that you can keep things under control here. That means Goetz is off-limits. No threats, no retribution, no exceptions -- do you understand?" Jake listens, but what he hears is, "Blah, blah, blah New Bern. Blah, blah, blah, twelve hours to kill Goetz." Jake nods at Beck. But his face? Yeah, his face is already seeing himself dancing with Goetz's head on a platter, biblical-style.