Midnight, Texas - Sexy Beast - Review: "Get On With It, Already"

This week’s episode gave us a bit more about Olivia’s background, but I wasn’t quite as engaged as I was in last week’s episode. I think it’s because the monster of the week was disconnected from the Midnighters on a personal level.

Until they caught her, all of her scenes were with characters not on the canvas; just men driving the highways of Texas. There was nothing there for me to sink my teeth into.

There were no stakes to that part of the story until they’d caught her and she went after Creek’s little brother. But by that time, all the energy was gone from that story because she’d been caught, and we knew she wasn’t getting away.

I did love the monster design though. I’m guessing that, at least part, of the movement was accomplished by someone like a Cirque de Soleil acrobat.

What was fun was watching Olivia at work. I was a little surprised at how “soft” she was. When she walked into the hotel, I expected to see her set up a sniper’s hide (she packed 4 handguns for the trip!) and nail her target from a long distance. Instead, she slipped up on the guy, gave him a message I can’t help but think was dictated by the client, and forced him to swallow the pill that killed him.

In the pilot, I confess, I thought her concern that her father had sent Manfred to find her was paranoia. Turns out he is looking for Olivia. After she revealed what kind of man he was, I found myself surprised that he’d bother to send anyone looking for her. I’m actually interested in the answer.

Hopefully, Creek will quickly give up on trying to keep her little brother out of the middle of trouble. If she really wants to protect him, she’s going to have to keep him with her rather than sending him home expecting he will actually go. He’s not going to go, and the sooner she realizes that the better his odds are for surviving the series.

Speaking of which, one of the things I realized in this episode is that I want to get to know some other members of the community. I want the stakes to be more than just keeping the cops from having to come back to Midnight to investigate other murders.

I want to care about the MOW story. I want to watch the episode wondering if and how things can get worse. I want a little tension. That was sorely missing in this episode.

There’s a Southern saying I learned from my aunt. “S**t or get off the pot.” That’s how I’m feeling about some of the stories now.

Honestly, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Creek doesn’t want her father to know about her and Manfred. I didn’t need yet another long scene where they discuss it.

Get on with it already. What’s the story here? Why did her father hate Manfred before he even knew he was in town? What are the consequences of his finding out about them? Of his finding out his daughter lied?

I’m trying to care about Bobo and Fiji, but I’m not really connecting with either character. Fiji’s okay, but, for all that he’s only had four or five lines of dialog, her cat is far more interesting. I have so many questions about that cat.

When Bobo took out that jail cell full of gang members, that piqued my interest, but, once again, it feels like they’re holding back on the really interesting stuff.

We finally got to see Joe and Chuy in a scene that made them feel like a couple. Looks like my initial thought that they were hiding from someone, I still think other angels or Heaven, was right.

But I am growing annoyed with Joe telling no one, other than the Reverend, what he knows about the evil being drawn to Midnight. Manfred is supposed to be the thing that saves the world…then why not tell him already.

It’s yet another story they’re holding out on. It feels like they calculated where they wanted to be when the season ends and had a few too many episodes in the season, so they’re just repeating story points until the “right episode”.

It’s a bad approach, IMHO, in a television landscape where the networks have little patience. If too many viewers drop out because nothing interesting is happening, then the story will never be told. Personally, I have a little more patience, but if they don’t start telling their stories soon they will lose me.

What about you guys? What did you think about the episode? What stories have you most intrigued?

Random Aside: I just realized why Lem’s owner looked so familiar to me last week. That was my stage sword-fighting teacher, Anthony De Longis! It’s been forever and he likely doesn’t remember me from a hole in a wall, but it makes me happy to see him working.