When I was about thirteen, I remember a co-worker at one of my first counter jobs lamenting about having to give up eating chocolate for lent. Not being familiar with the tenets of Christianity, I questioned her reasoning behind this decision. What she hoped to gain from abstaining from something she enjoyed, why she chose it, what had she given up in the past, what other pillars of religion? She looked at me like I was insane, as if there was no questioning the words of a book written two thousand years ago, no room for alternate interpretations, and no choice but to give up Snickers bars until the Easter Bunny made its rounds.
Blind loyalty to rituals is a big part of “Our Gang”, featuring parallel initiations into the Los Magnificos and the Farmington Police force, both on the opposite spectrum of pleasure and pain. The Los Mags beat the holy hell out of Olman to see if he can survive life in the barrio (and after shooting a churro vendor) until accepting him into the gang. Jackson and the other boys in blue take Julien for a “B and B”, making him chug a pitcher of beer and becoming acquainted with Betty “the badge sucker”. Both rituals forge a bond between the enablers and receivers, a memorable experience that neither party will forget, and bridging the gap between stranger and brother. But as to the origins of these rituals beyond confirming durability and/or comradery, who knows? It's always been this way. We have to. And it works.
“Our Gang” is a tense episode up until the end, with Captain “Ass-Invader” giving all he's got into trying to nail Vic for Terry's murder. After making Vic feel safe and going after Mr. Weak Link aka Shane Vendrell, Aceveda gets THIS CLOSE to nailing the main character for homicide and effectively ending the show. The episode does a great job of racking up the tension by cross-cutting between Olman receiving his initiation beating with Shane being questioned, before Vic comes in and saves the day (in both instances). But what would have happened if Shane confessed? The series does and would continue to getting the Strike Team into the tightest corners possible before yanking them back to safety. Gots to have that status quo, yo.
The second episode does a great job of expanding the world of the Farmington district. We meet another enabler in Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy, who tipped off Vic about Terry's metamorphosis into a rodent. But even Vic doesn't trust him completely, never letting his guard down about what happened at Two-Time's coke-whore/Crazy Taxi party, but Gilroy's content with whatever Vic's up to as long as it gets crime reduced on the streets. And we meet another fish from Vic's tank of endless CI's: Van Bro, a former gang banger with a penchant for painting. There's a great moment where he looks up at Vic from his wheelchair with his one good eye, after breaking a code he no doubt swore blind allegiance to years ago, and yearns “Maybe someday, somebody even win this war.” Vic: “I intend to.”
During Shane's initial questioning by IAD, Frances asks him about Terry's induction into the Strike Team. When reminded of Terry's outsider status, Shane says it doesn't matter because when Vic puts you on the team, “You're on the team.” Shane, Lem, and Ronnie all have blind devotion to Vic Mackey and trust him implicitly. But when your messiah is a cold-blooded murderer, what does that say about your religion? It may even be worse for Lem and Ronnie's case...they don't even know. Like the senior hazing the freshman in high school, we follow these set of practices that have been handed down from generation to generation, never once thinking to break the cycle or to find a better way. Because to question these actions inhibits the very thing we all want out of them: acceptance.
Canvassing Notes
- Directed by Gary Fleder, a regular TV director who most famously did the episode of “Homicide” called “Subway”, where Vincent D'Onofrio plays a man who gets trapped between a subway car and the platform, knowing he'll die when the car pulls away. Fleder does a bang-up job of maintaining the series tone set by Clark Johnson.
- “Our Gang” is most likely a reference to the alternate title of the beloved comedy series “The Little Rascals”, a show that famously defied the racist and sexist attitudes of the early 20th century by featuring boys and girls of all races together as equals. The show also revolved around a community of disenfranchised children who worked together to overcome their problems, were loyal to each other, and prohibited outsiders unless they subscribed to their rules.
- There's recurring imagery of teeth, from Terry's story about the dental dam to Claudette receiving denture cream for her birthday. Both are designed to protect the mouth and there's lots of scenes in this episode where people are either refraining from speaking (Vic and Shane about Terry's murder) or wanting to speak (Olman's accepting responsibility for the churro vendor shooting to enhance his reputation). There's also the connotations regarding Julien receiving oral sex, Marlon hungry for a cheeseburger, and the image on the Strike Team's business card of a snake eating a rat.
- More rituals: It's Claudette's birthday but she doesn't want to be reminded and sarcastically accepts a gift. But she'll observe the ritual of waiting for a gentlemen suitor's divorce to be final before hitting the dance club where he'll be.
- A couple of slick match cut editing tricks; from the police folding the American flag to a homie of Two-Time unfurling a blue hanker chief on his grave. And from Matthew setting down forks to the flashback of the Strike Team dealing cards on Terry's first day.
- Some notable guest stars: John Diehl playing Gilroy, most famously appearing in Miami Vice and one of the first Spinosaurus victims in Jurassic Park III. And we have April Grace, who's known for playing Gwenovier (Frank TJ Mackey's interviewer in Magnolia) and Miss Klugh (Michael and Walt's interrogator on Lost).
- “Tell 'em this is LA, not the Wild West!” - Yeah Dutch, stick it to 'em! Though I did once see some tumbleweeds in Culver City.
- After seeing his son shout “To infinity and beyond!” and responding “Ok, captain infinity...”, I hung my head, realizing that Vic's not a Pixar fan.
- Love the image of the old frazzled woman handling the camcorder in her bathrobe, lens cap swinging in the wind. It seems to be everybody's dream to capture another Rodney King moment.
- 25 cents for a churro? And he's trying to send his kid to Stanford? Let's hope that business acumen doesn't run in the family...
Pre-Cog Report (SPOILERS FOR ENTIRE SERIES)
- Shane will eventually take a page from the Vic Mackey playbook by murdering a fellow Strike Team member when it seems they'll turn rat.
- The Terry murder is closed for now, but the investigation will be picked up again in season 5 by the always great Forest Whitaker and his magic stick of gum.
- Gilroy will become more prominent later this season with the land scheme, then popping up briefly in season 2 before turning up dead in Mexico.
- Vic can sense something's up with Matthew, and we'll learn very soon of his autism, which is kinda sorta supposed to excuse and justify Vic's heinous actions. See also: Breaking Bad with Walt Jr. and his cerebral palsy. But now imagine if those characters had kids who were real entitled asshole texting-their-lives-away teenagers?
- Van Bro makes a few more appearances throughout the series run, though if I remember correctly his paintings don't really improve.
- The scene of Julien reluctantly enjoying his B and B plays in an all new light when we learn of his true sexual identity.
- The Los Mags will return and continue to own the streets of Farmington...until the writers get bored and bring in the One-Niners, Byz Lats, Armenians, K-Town Killers, Spookstreet Souljahs, etc, etc, etc.
Join me next Monday for episode 3, “The Spread”!
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