By Couch Baron
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.A financial adviser gives Patrick a sugar-free assessment of what he and Theresa need to do to get themselves out of their financial hole, and Patrick essentially tells her to cram her advice with walnuts -- except for the suggestion that he return to boxing, of which of course Theresa isn't enamored with. However, when Team Leary and Brennan conspire to set up a fight between him and a nice, washed-up boxer who doesn't have a prayer of hurting him, she reluctantly goes along with the plan. Things get a bit more complicated when Patrick learns that Johnny gave Barry K., who wants Patrick to fight a soon-to-be-released-from-prison ass-kicking rapist, the rights to Patrick's comeback in exchange for the Omar title shot, but Patrick and Brennan decide to go ahead and promote the fight with Jojo, he of the "glass hands," themselves. We learn, however, that someone, has other ideas, as Jojo gets all the bones in his hand broken by an assailant he refuses to identify, leaving Patrick with no choice, as far as he sees it, to fight Morales, or as his friends call him, "El Diablo." And that's it for Theresa -- at the end of the episode, she kicks Patrick out. And at the very end, Barry K. turns up for a meeting with Brennan, who it seems is playing a game far deeper that we thought. More Brennan, please.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!As Daniella watches, Patrick recites a series of numbers, each seven less than the one preceding it, and then the doctor in whose office this little test is taking place stops him and asks if he recalls the three objects he mentioned at the beginning of "this exam." Patrick digs them out of his memory, to Daniella's delight, and the doctor tells him he sees no decline in his cognitive functions, and goes on to not-very-subtly imply that the doctor Patrick saw first allowed his knowledge that Patrick was a boxer to influence his findings. Well, okay, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would diagnose pugilistic dementia without knowing Patrick was a boxer. Those things do kind of seem to go together. Patrick leans forward and asks if he can get back in the ring, and no matter what you think of this guy's medical expertise, you'd at least expect some sort of speech about the potential cons of such a move, so his response of "Go get your belt back, champ" kind of rings a bit strange. Not as strange, though, as Daniella suddenly vanishing when they get out into the hall, nor as odd as the fact that he sees a vision of himself down the hall. He gets a bunch of choppy, quick visuals...
...and then he bolts upright in bed, waking Theresa, who asks if everything's okay. He lies back down and tells her to go back to sleep, as it was just a dream. He turns away from her and toward the camera, and even though she slips an arm around him, his eyes stay haunted as we go to the opening credits.
Ava is the one now eavesdropping as the financial adviser (I'm assuming she's the one Theresa mentioned last episode) is telling them there's "no income, a crippling mortgage, and serious income-tax trouble for both of you." Hey, it's cool, the wine's already on the table. Theresa hesitantly offers that they should pay the IRS first, but the woman says that while that would be nice, with penalties and interest they're on the hook for almost seven figures. Wow. Hard to believe it's taken this long for the government to come after them. I got a stern reminder from them for a difference in my federal payment that was less than a movie ticket. (Okay, and popcorn.) Theresa gapes at the size of the hole they're in, and Patrick, apparently no fan of having a stranger comb through his finances, asks what they can do. The woman suggests filing Chapter Seven, under which they'd get to keep the house and part of his pension, but he flatly refuses to entertain any bankruptcy idea, and vetoes any discussion of tapping into the girls' college funds as well. The woman offers that many former athletes in this situation end up returning to their sport, but Theresa's the one that pipes up that that's not an option, so the woman goes on that they will have to opt for "patchwork fixes" until Theresa is really pulling in her doctor's salary. She asks if Theresa has chosen a specialty yet, and when she hears it's family medicine, sunnily replies, "You'll have to rethink that." Heh. I mean, she's a little flippant about it, but these two are doing absolutely nothing to work with her here, so I'm inclined to forgive her. Not so Patrick, who withdraws after somewhat sarcastically thanking "Audra" for coming...