By Couch Baron
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.In Vegas, Reynolds's wife Jennifer finds Theresa and is a total bitch about Patrick' chances, but Theresa handles her with surprising equanimity. Also, Brennan takes Patrick and Johnny to dinner with a bunch of other champion fighters who have been screwed at one point or another by Barry, with the idea of forming a separate association. Barry turns up to Patrick's hotel room and gives him proof that El Diablo not only threw the fight but did so at Brennan's behest, which THANK YOU for the vindication of my suspicions on the first point (and I give Stacy Keach a lot of credit for not buying into the hype of that moment). With the confidence of that win stripped from him, Patrick of course must fear for his life, but he's also apparently worried about his soul, as he goes to confession to make a clean breast of everything he's done during the run of the show. The sympathetic priest, however, tells Patrick that God is with him, which at least seems to give him some solace. Also, Stacy Keach counsels Patrick once again to pick his spots and wait for his moment, and assures Patrick that no matter what may have happened pre-fight, El Diablo was coming for him for real, and goes on that whatever happens, they're not letting this one go to a decision.
When the fight starts, as predicted, Reynolds dominates, knocking Patrick out of the ring in the very first round, and Patrick barely gets to his feet ahead of getting counted out. We also get an early indication that the ref is in Barry's pocket, but Patrick survives the round. In the second, however, Patrick starts to hit back, causing Reynolds to look slow, but although Patrick seems to win the round, Reynolds opens up a cut over Patrick's eye, as I must point out that I also predicted. In the third round, Reynolds starts off better, but Patrick's onto his rhythm by now and eventually knocks him down. The crooked ref stops the fight so the doctor can look at Patrick's eye, but luckily, the doctor is in Brennan's pocket, so the fight goes on. When Patrick knocks Reynolds down again, Reynolds barely struggles to his feet, dazed and disoriented, and after another barrage from Patrick, the ref is forced to stop the fight and call Patrick the winner. Afterward, though, Patrick can't remember who won, and even though he meets the press as the champion once again, it's a bittersweet ending with many questions for the future. Questions which, of course, to which we will never know the answers.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Patrick dreams of the end of the fight five years ago, interspersed with memories from the rest of the season. We see both Reynolds and Patrick looking extremely unsteady, and when Reynolds is declared the winner by split decision, Patrick loses consciousness and falls to the ring floor...
...and then he wakes up to hear Katie calling insistently for him. When he comes into the hall, she hugs him and cries, "He hurt you! He hurt you!" and she begs him incessantly not to go for about sixteen years and oh, GREAT, could there by a cheaper way to shorthand the reservations everyone has about this fight than giving Patrick's young daughter a nightmare? Lame. So, so lame. And that's the whole cold open! God, how I won't miss this show. Credits.
At the gym, Stacy Keach is shadowboxing in the ring when Patrick appears, dressed up in a sport jacket, and asks what round they're in. Stacy Keach tells him it's the seventh, and "he's" punched himself out, and Patrick gets in the ring with him for some synchronized boxing as they move in for the kill. Patrick keeps punching in earnest as Stacy Keach goes on that Patrick will have worked Reynolds's body to the max, and "kill the body, and the head will fall." Just chopping it off seems more efficient, but I'm guessing that's against the rules. Johnny then rings the bell, announcing his presence, and Patrick smiles that they should get going. Johnny affirms that the limo is outside, and then tells Patrick that he went to the city the day before and "everyone" is talking about the fight. It's probably unseemly to opine that that sounds like how "everyone" has been watching this show, but with a line like that they were kind of asking for it. The good mood is dampened somewhat when Patrick announces the news that the girls will not be joining them, as "they don't need to see this." Well, it won't stop Ava and Daniella given that they watched the El Diablo fight on TV, but it's better than him explaining about Katie and her STUPID NIGHTMARE so I will take what's given. The Leary men head out, with Patrick stopping to take a long last look at the gym...
...and then we cut to Vegas, where Reynolds is speaking to reporters outside the hotel about how Patrick's been playing "Mr. Mom" for the past five years and all of a sudden thinks he's going to "Riverdance" back and take Reynolds's belt. Faith and begorrah, it's because he's Irish! Reynolds goes on that he'll knock Patrick out in the first round, and just then, Patrick pulls up and Riverdances out of the limo and into the hotel while Stacy Keach stays to talk to the press...