IR TV Review: AMERICAN HOSTAGE - EPISODE 6 (“Moon News And Markets”) [TNT]
As in any good dramatic series, when the heat gets to a certain point, the key is to do a flashback reflective episode to show the progression. Episode 6 of "American Hostage" does that by replaying a time 5 years prior that encapsulates Dick, Tony and Fred in the same circle of space and time. Two operate in a matter of perspective and one shows why the empathy of misdirection plays to the end game. On Fred’s side, his dad Cookie (played with a delicious smarminess by John Kapelos) comes back into his life. Fred (Jon Hamm) has always seen his dad as a con man, putting him down and working other ladies for money. Hamm really understands playing the exasperation without going off the deep end like Draper did in "Mad Men". Cookie's latest scheme has to do with space snacks and even uses a lie with a pen to sell it.
Meanwhile across a room in a restaurant Dick is getting lambasted by his brothers even as his dad ML begrudgingly gives him a leg up. At the same time Tony is coming in hot trying to pitch a 5 million dollar dream. ML does something interesting which provides another mystery and gives Tony’s angle in the present time of the series more credence. But in a good mix of ironic structure, we see Tony’s siblings talking with a priest saying that Tony continues to lose touch with reality. They try to get him to go to a shrink. Ribisi, very intelligent himself, knows how flawed Tony is but also how to encapsulate his pride. His cadence especially in the doctors office is very telling. He makes the point that the doc knows what the right answer is but he doesn’t want to give him that. The same thing is happening with Fred. He doesn’t want to face the truth as Cookie has given him a sense of fear so he bows and does the thing that he doesn’t want to do. This episode is very good in its narrative structure because it really gives a context of motivation for the characters but also the mishmash of human flaws and missed connections that brought Tony, Dick and Fred to this point. 85%/B
By Tim Wassberg
