[rating=5.00] “Half-Cocked”
With an episode title indicative of a show struggling to find its footing, this week’s episode of The Brink was less disappointing, but still not quite there. Is it the acting? The writing? The timing? Generally, it seems to be the lack of a sense of humor skirting the edges of the series.
“Half-Cocked” is a loaded title in more ways than one. The first of course being the half-cocked penis pointing at Carla Gugino’s face. Gugino plays the wife of Tim Robbins’s Walter, and has ambitions to rise in politics. Just like her politician husband, Gugino seems to interrupt the bonds of marriage very loosely. The next being the half-cocked trigger happy fighter pilots who can’t seem to shake their high. The last being the overall show. As mentioned before, the lack of a sense of humor is keeping it from reaching the peaks of hilarity and instead allowing Jack Black to make snide comments and sex jokes at any given opportunity.
It was a little off putting at first that the episode didn’t go very far from last week. Instead of growing into itself and allowing the storyline to flow, we sat stagnant in last week’s jokes and action. Zeke and his co-pilot still sitting in the vomit filled plane lamenting their one chance to impress the president, Walter’s still being a creep and talking quickly with quirky one off asides to his secretary, and Alex is still bumbling through trying to make his way to heroics. Really the pilot should have been an hour to include all of these things. As you get used to the idea that the show is just going to focus on this moment in time, an interesting concept that could definitely work given the right circumstances (24), you get next week’s preview putting the characters in all new situations.
Speaking of, is it supposed to be situational comedy? It’s a little foggy as to what the show runners intended when they put together the script for the show. Again, maybe the actors just aren’t ready for that kind of humor, but for all intents and purposes it should work. Jack Black’s character Alex is the perfect Jack Black character. Smart, but lazy, witty, yet half-witted. And yet there’s an element missing to his overall performance. His saving grace at the end of the episode turns out to be his connection to Walter, a connection that’s shaky at best. There’s no explanation as to why his being friends with the politician is even a factor yet, but I suppose we’ll get there eventually. There’s so many static characters filling the screen that it’s hard to pick up on who’s actually supposed to matter, which isn’t usually indicative of an HBO show.
One of the most cringe-worthy jokes of the episode came from Rafiq’s mother. The family has been locked inside their house after Alex was taken away by militants. Rafiq for some reason is loyal to Alex, and escapes by climbing over the roof in order to reach the embassy and possibly save him. As he gathers the courage to make his daring exit, his mother and sister protest. Aside from all the danger, his mother is incensed that he would consider leaving the house without having eaten. He shrugs it off, “I’ll get something on the way” she responds with “that’s all I ask.”
Now, usually that might be a chuckle inducing joke that makes us roll our eyes with a “moms am I right?” Instead, it’s groan inducing, having never indicated that she was over protective or controlling in such a way before. It might not seem like a big deal, but that one liner is too close to what the show is struggling with. Do they let it unfold naturally? Or grab onto the reigns and hold on tight?
Eventually pressure and tensions begin to loosen up as the US president decides not to take out all the potential bombing sites as previously intended. At this point, it all conveniently works out for our main characters. Rafiq makes it out of his parents’ house and to the embassy without being detected, Alex is water boarded but eventually let go because of his connection to Walter, and Zeke lands his fighter back on the boat without too much incident. Though most shows rely on contrived situations, it’s important to note that it’s not just situations that are contrived here but the entire plot as we’re seen it so far. It’s all just a little too convenient to be taken seriously, but not funny enough to constitute a black comedy. Where does a show like this fit in?
Moving forward my hope is that these first two episodes were the main set up for something bigger, more important. If they choose to march on, the comedic moments in each episode are going to have to overtake the serious overtones of the subject matter. Otherwise there will be nothing left but a mess to clean up and a lot of out of work writers who tried their best.
