61 replies to this topic

[TWoP Gadget]

As new tension develops between Ellen and Patty over how to proceed in the case against Ultima National Resources, Ellen provides the FBI with a new lead to bring Patty down.

[PostcardtoaLake]

Poor Pete! Oh this episode made me so sad :(

I'm glad Tom allegedly didn't sleep with the hooker - we could use a "good guy" on the show since David is gone....

[MyEyesSee]

Damn, that was almost too intense. Poor, loyal Uncle Pete.

I almost didn’t recognize the actor who played the trader -- he was the hippie brother on Grounded for Life.

I'm glad Tom allegedly didn't sleep with the hooker

Allegedly indeed. One never really knows for sure on this show.

Edited by MyEyesSee, Feb 18, 2009 @ 11:27 PM.

[TheSeasAsleep]

So, I spotted two former soap actors (the undercover cops) and I am not at all ashamed that I squealed a bit. LOL Thanks, MyEyesSee: I wondered why the coke-snorting energy trader looked so familiar; I just assumed he used to be on the 'Sopranos' because he had that "I pimped for Tony" look to him. *shrugs*

Not much to say except DAMN! Uncle Pete is hardcore! I loved the entire interrogation/negotiation scene in which he all but told them to go frak themselves. Ha! Much like with the 'Sopranos', I find myself disliking the FBI agents on the show, though they haven't done anything particularly annoying yet. So, it is with some satisfaction that I view the thwarting of their endeavors. Ellen should have told them they were barking up the wrong tree when it came to good, ol' Uncle Pete. Of all possible turncoats in the Patty Hewes universe, he shouldn't even make the list. I knew he wouldn't give in, so I wasn't fooled by the trip to the storage garage. However I expected him to unload on them with a sawed off shotgun or something, get himself taken out in a haze of bullets. Well, at least I was right on the suicide angle.

He'd rather die than flip. As Huey of Boondocks would say, "That's gangsta!"

Edited by TheSeasAsleep, Feb 19, 2009 @ 1:51 AM.

[Mindymoo]

Noooo! Not Uncle Pete!

That totally broke my heart and had me in tears. He was so sweet with Stefania. And that poppyseed roll looked delicious. I haven't had one in years.

I know that he won't flip on Patty, because she is the star of the show, and they won't bring her down in the middle of the second season. Her press conference with Frobisher was nauseating, though. And the product placement!

Does anyone know what the deal with the coordinants is? That is going totally over my head. Also, with Ellen's continued incompetence with all things firearms, maybe Wes is trying to keep her as a bad shot. Oh, no, don't aim for the head! Aim for the, the, the arm! Yes, the arm! You'll bring them down faster with an arm shot!

Still don't know what the deal with Katie is. And is Purcell gone for good? Are the rumors of him being a miserable asshole to work with true? I want to know!

[Absurdist]

Is it just me, or are these FBI guys the DUMBEST field agents EVAR? I knew two episodes ago what would go down in that situation. I don't know if that speaks poorly of the writers here or what, but anyone with sense would have known that Pete would take himself town before he'd flip on Patty. Why those dolts couldn't have seen that coming is beyond me. And Pete being a small-potatoes bootlegger? Just too cute. But really, for anyone with a rap sheet that long for as many years as he's been operating, these guys have to be MAJOR NOOBS to think that they're going to lean on Uncle Pete for bootlegging and get him to flip just like that. They've clearly been watching too much Law & Order or something.

I'll say this much, for as much crap as Patty may have had to deal with from her father, it's clear that some of the Machiavellian tendencies she has comes from her mother's side, if Pete is any indication.

Even in his centered place, Froby BigBritches still thinks he's above it all. Danson is so good at cocky dolts...

Now, let's see. Mr. West Virginia wants to be a badass playa, but even his grandkids know he's totally out of his league. Vicious but petty, that's always dangerous, especially when cornered. This is going to be very interesting.

Where's Spitzer when you need him, right?

I'm beginning to wonder if the producers are actively trying to make Froby and Kendrick seem dumber than Patty intentionally.

Katie and Wes are clearly here to be stupid obstructions, and they will lead Ellen to success despite her hardcore, dogged determination to be ignorant.

Why does Patty even bother with these people? She is so from a distant universe. Everybody here likes to fancy themselves high-order string-pullers, but not one of them has the slightest clue, apart from Patty. Patty seems to know more than even she is aware of most of the time. I'm beginning to doubt that there is (well, other than trying to kill Ellen, anyway) nothing to be had on Patty, at least that could put her in prison.

Edited by Absurdist, Feb 19, 2009 @ 3:32 AM.

[AresCupid]

Finally! For me that was the first truly good episode this season. Events actually moved, no William Hurt, and having Glenn Close and Ted Danson both back in form was the icing. And no flashbacks or flash-forwards except the first time we saw Pete. Why yes, show, it's nice of you to embrace the things that originally made you great in the first place.

Kendrick, please. Boring. Move on!

Every time I see Ellen and Katie I hope CheeseCop shoots them both in the head and end our misery. I found myself watching an extra with a striking coat behind Ellen during her walk with Wes on the street. He's looking good. Don't hurt my boyfriend, CheeseCop!

At first I wondered if Tom would run into Phil at the escorts' place. I agree the trader john is gross. But I don't agree with her arguably unprofessional attitude to Tom when he revealed he wasn't paying her to touch her, regardless of how they might have ended up.

I think William Hurt will be back for at least one episode. We haven't seen him screaming about some fugly Cadillac in the aired episodes like he does in the commercials.

I have some nitpicks. The FBI didn't look into all of Patty's employees past and present until Ellen shared her suspicions about one in particular? And how smart of the agents to point at their targets, just like the targets themselves doing all of their underhanded business in broad daylight rather than away from prying eyes.

Edited by AresCupid, Feb 19, 2009 @ 3:28 AM.

[crazydaizy3]

I loved the entire interrogation/negotiation scene in which he all but told them to go frak themselves. Ha! Much like with the 'Sopranos'

I thought Sopranos during that part too. Uncle Pete would have been perfect for that show. I knew he was going to kill himself once they headed to that storage space.

Does anyone know what the deal with the coordinants is? That is going totally over my head.

It's over mine too. At first I thought it was obviously locations, but I tonight the guy stared at 3'14'04 and wrote "3 Ca-" then what seemed to be another curved letter after the 'a'. I'm fairly certain it was 'c' and 'a' anyways. At first I thought it was a "2" but I dont think it is based on how he wrote it. These numbers are way more than a location.

Every week in the back of my mind all I can think is how Patty will absolutely obliterate Ellen once she finds out about everything she is doing with the feds. It is inevitable and that girl will be so sorry. I still don't get how Ellen thinks she is protected by these dumbass cops. She knows what Patty is capable of and keeps going. The more she continues to play with fire, the harsher the burn will be.

Edited by crazydaizy3, Feb 19, 2009 @ 3:39 AM.

[PostcardtoaLake]

Since Patty said Uncle Pete is the most loyal man she will ever know, do you think she knows Phil is cheating?

[amabele]

"You need to become more self-centered."
"... I'm pretty selfish as it is."

Loved it.

I still think we're not seeing enough Patty, but this was a big improvement from last week.

What I liked about the episode:
* Uncle Pete saves the day (kinda, sort of)

What I didn't like about the episode:
* Patty's speech about Frobisher (too forced, please)
* "You should have asked me first!" (really? who the hell are you?)
* Kendrick's granddaughter
* Learning that Mario VP and Glenn Kessler are actually FBI (for some reason, I thought they were working with Frobisher+Nye to bring Patty down)
* The KetchupCop/Frobisher meeting confused me (could KC also be working for Nye?)

You see, inside my head Nye is behind everything.

One last thing: What's the deal with Dave? Why did he warn Phil about the investigation on Patty? Do you think Kendrick knows about this? If they can help expose Patty, she'll go away and they don't have to worry about her anymore.

[Bullfrog]

Since Patty said Uncle Pete is the most loyal man she will ever know, do you think she knows Phil is cheating?

The look Patty gave Pete in the next episode teaser looks like she may have changed her mind about U. Pete. Looks like smothering him with a pillow is crossing her mind.

[braggtastic]

The superficial:
I don't like Marcia Gay Harden's eyebrows. They're too severe and remind me of Uncle Leo's painted on angry brows from that Seinfeld episode.

Did Ted Danson wear a piece as Frobisher last season? His bald spots are gone - both in the back and on top of his head, and he's had them since the end of Cheers. He does look good with white hair though.

Kevin Corrigan is the trader. He was an indie darling about ten years back. I remember him from Walking & Talking and Slums of Beverly Hills.

[DEM]

Kevin Corrigan The Trader was also in Monday night's Medium. He was a bit of a nutjob there, too. Weird to see him twice in one week on different shows.

re: the latitude. "Ca" made me think it was a simple "numbers for letters" code (as in "C-A-D-D"), but that doesn't explain the "3" part, nor why it would take Trader so long to transcribe it.

I was kinda surprised to get confirmation that the FBI agents are for real. They seem so... Keystone. And unbelievable.

[Lemmiwinks]

For those of you who were reminded of the Soprano's during Uncle Pete's interrogation, he played Carmela Soprano's father!

[Absurdist]

I think that the coordinates aren't coordinates at all. No one ever drives to them, and frankly, relative to New York, those coordinates are somewhere in the tropics, if not in the middle of the ocean themselves. They're a means of the insider trading somehow, worked out to keep anyone from tracing the orders to Kendrick. The Escalade was paid for in cash, so no one knows who bought it, and all the stock order information is being passed through it in a way that is pretty untraceable, but for the weird near-equatorial latitudes.

[Mad Hettie]

What I want to know is if there wasn't an easier (and cheaper) way to send the code without purchasing a brand new car. Dummy e-mail accounts accessed from internet cafes? Notes left under a rock? Disposable cell phones? Carrier pigeons?

[LostInOakland]

Yes, but carrier pigeon companies don't pay product placement fees.

Yeah, I don't get the "coordinates" thing -- not only are they in the wrong part of the world, but they're not actually coordinates, since they only ever have latitude. I like the theory that it has something to do with passing on some insider trading info, but, yeah, why do that in a car?

[shegunner]

You can't just park an escalade in NYC and not expect it to be ripped off (including the Garmin) in a hurry. But certainly it looks as if the trading info is being passed on through the car. The data is saved in the Garmin so wouldn't that be evidence in the case of discovery? Oh well.

Kendrick's granddaughter has to be the most obnoxious brat I have ever seen on television - except maybe for the little girl in S3 of Veronica Mars. Forget which ep.

And who is David (Lester)? Is he a freelancer? Working for Kendrick? And what are his ties to Phil? Is Kendrick's bankroll seriously going to be Columbian cocaine? I can't believe that he'd over pay on a merger with the plan being to sell drugs. Too many years on The Wire for this guy! He should know there are better ways of making money.

[cyberpumpkin]

I just couldn't believe that the FBI Guys (Dumb and Dumber) turned their backs on Uncle Pete at the storage unit. I was seriously expecting him to shoot them both with a gun he hid in his boot during his bathroom visit.

[SassandtheCity]

Claire Maddox gets dumber and dumber in each episode she appears which makes me sad. Why in the fresh hell does she trust Kendrick since he has no problem withholding information from her and she has her own secrets so I don't get why she'd be that dumb to be trusting? Her stupidity is getting to the point that she's going to have to join the FBI.

[txhorns79]

I just couldn't believe that the FBI Guys (Dumb and Dumber) turned their backs on Uncle Pete at the storage unit. I was seriously expecting him to shoot them both with a gun he hid in his boot during his bathroom visit.

I thought he would have a bomb or something set up in the storage unit, to take himself out and the Feebs. So color me surprised he just killed himself.

I did love the look Patty gave Ellen when Ellen was bitching about how she should have been told about Frobisher. It was a "And that would be because why?" type look, mixed in with a "Do you honestly think I'm going to run decisions past you now?" look.

[Mad Hettie]

Claire Maddox gets dumber and dumber in each episode she appears which makes me sad. Why in the fresh hell does she trust Kendrick since he has no problem withholding information from her and she has her own secrets so I don't get why she'd be that dumb to be trusting?

Because she's known him for 20+ years, and he plucked her from obscurity to give her a life of wealth and prestige?

Whatever Kendrick's business practices are, it's obvious that he's quite personable to those close to him. Kendrick and Maddox are evidently close enough friends for him to set her up on dates with his friends. Despite the fact that they're both harboring secrets, there's no reason for them not to trust one another. In fact, Claire keeping secrets from Kendrick might make her less suspicious of him. It seems that in her mind, her relationship with Purcell doesn't adversely affect Kendrick, and she might assume that he's doing the same.

I feel like people are too harsh on the characters who do not reach Patty-Hewes-level of near-clairvoyant brilliance.

This goes the FBI agents. I don't particularly like them, but I don't think they've done anything that is unreasonably stupid. They didn't look at Uncle Pete at first because there's no reason for them to. Without being privy to private conversations, how would they know how important he is? The majority of Pete and Patty's meetings take place at the office, and if Pete's on the company payroll, it's probably as a handyman or some such thing. Similarly, they couldn't have known that Pete would rather kill himself than turn in Patty. (How many people would do that for anybody?) And what was a frail, unarmed, 80-year-old man really going to do to them, especially after he'd been cooperative all day? (Minus the briefly 10-minute initial resistance.)

Personally, I expected a bomb in the box because it's TV. But even if that had happened, I wouldn't have thought that they did anything wrong.

[txhorns79]

And what was a frail, unarmed, 80-year-old man really going to do to them, especially after he'd been cooperative all day? (Minus the briefly 10-minute initial resistance.)

I would just think that day one of training would be not to let your guard down with a suspect, no matter how frail they may seem. I know they haven't seen what we've seen, but Pete is not someone I would mess with.

They didn't look at Uncle Pete at first because there's no reason for them to. Without being privy to private conversations, how would they know how important he is?

They pointed out after doing the background, that Pete had a long rap sheet that stopped right after Patty first represented him, so it isn't like he doesn't have a long history with her. Now whether he is actually her uncle, like Patty said he was, I don't know, but it does feel like the FBI is ten or eleven steps behind everytime Ellen goes to them.

[Mad Hettie]

I would just think that day one of training would be not to let your guard down with a suspect, no matter how frail they may seem. I know they haven't seen what we've seen, but Pete is not someone I would mess with.

But why not? He's an old man whose worst crime was bootlegging. And they have no idea of the extent of his involvement with Patty. He's a suspect because they set him up to be one to turn him into a witness - which they thought he was. In any event, they did exercise due caution in the house. They did tell him to leave the bathroom door open. It would've been unreasonable for them to stare at him as he went.

They pointed out after doing the background, that Pete had a long rap sheet that stopped right after Patty first represented him, so it isn't like he doesn't have a long history with her.

But to find that out, they would've had to run a background check on him first. I don't think they can justify the expenses or the causes for checking into everyone who works at the firm, and it's a large firm. If Pete was on the payroll as an executive at the firm, I'd say maybe, but I don't think that he would be. Who would sift through the roster of lower-level workers?

[txhorns79]

But why not? He's an old man whose worst crime was bootlegging. And they have no idea of the extent of his involvement with Patty. He's a suspect because they set him up to be one to turn him into a witness - which they thought he was. In any event, they did exercise due caution in the house. They did tell him to leave the bathroom door open. It would've been unreasonable for them to stare at him as he went.

The fact they don't know the extent of his involvement is exactly why you don't leave a suspect where you can't see him! For all the feds know, the guy is super dangerous and has guns stashed all over his house. Clearly if Pete had time to take the overdose of pills and write a goodbye letter to his wife without the agent noticing, he'd have time to pull a gun out from under the sink and shoot the guy dead. I was even more amazed that they just both left Pete standing there alone behind them while they walked into a darkened storage space.

[EastSideFluffy]

Yeah, I don't get the "coordinates" thing -- not only are they in the wrong part of the world, but they're not actually coordinates, since they only ever have latitude. I like the theory that it has something to do with passing on some insider trading info, but, yeah, why do that in a car?

In both instances, the coordinates look like dates to me. I'm not sure what significance historical dates would play in insider trading, but that's what I thought the numbers were the first time I saw both sets.

Though if they are actually coordinates to some tropical area as someone here suggested, maybe they are locations of off shore bank accounts? I have no idea...

Now, as for Ellen's reaction to Frobisher being the plaintiff, riddle me this:

Ellen keeps harping on Frobisher killing David to Patty, and to the FBI, she says Patty tried to kill her. But she never talks to Patty about her own attack. So who does Patty think Ellen thinks tried to kill Ellen? It just seems that if Ellen doesn't want to clue Patty in on what's in Ellen's head, she'd maybe, I don't know, freak out about Frobisher because he tried to kill her. The whole, " you should have asked me first line" was so pathetic of Ellen, but would be understandable, if Patty held the mistaken belief that Ellen feared Frobisher for her own safety and was not just over-sensitive about getting revenge.

Am I making any sense here? Why on earth is the attempted attack on Ellen a non-issue between Patty and Ellen?

[amabele]

Didn't Patty say in "I Lied, Too" that whoever attacked Ellen was actually after her? That's probably what she wants Ellen to believe.

[adelaide97]

Did Pete kill his wife, too? He did, right?

[ChainofFools]

Let me get this straight: We might lose Pete, a great character, played by an actor with actual talent, but we get to keep Ellen, an increasingly one-note character, played by a woman who appears to be incapable of operating on anything other than a quarter cylinder! Wow!

Uncle Pete. Now that's hardcore! He is the person you want to have in the know about where your bodies are buried.

Ellen and her claim that Patty should have "asked her" before bringing in Frobisher. Did I miss the episode when Ellen went from being anything more than the cloying underling trying scrounge a nut in the squirrel that is Patty's world! Because as she said that, my only thought was B***H, Know your position, play it, and STFU!

What is Tom's point on the show anymore other than to come across as more desperate and pathetic in each passing episode.

Edited by ChainofFools, Feb 19, 2009 @ 8:10 PM.

[crazykathat1]

I expected Uncle Pete to kill his wife, but didn't see the rest coming. Surely the FBI know better to let a man like him go unwatched. They're so stupid!