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“Sullivan & Son”: Son Gets Taboo
Carol
While Sullivan & Son is at times slow-moving and may not hold viewers’ interests, Thursday’s episode certainly did not have that problem. There were some parts of the episode that were not overly relevant, but the rest of the show made up for it in a big way.
The opening minutes detailed Steve helping Hank organize his will. It wasn’t necessarily boring or horrible to watch, but it was the least funny story line of the episode. A running joke throughout the episode had Hank continue to tell Steve to take his daughter out of the will, only to ask him to put her back in after he did some rethinking. Hank had little else to offer for the rest of the episode. The real action began when Owen’s mom, Carol walked into the bar and said she was feeling hot. The other patrons assure her it is freezing. Mel then suggests Carole probably had a hot flash and that it could be the beginning of menopause. Carol tries to dismiss this and say that menopause is for old people. It is a very awkward moment for her when she realizes that she might be considered old.
Sullivan & Son: The 50th Anniversary
Thursday’s episode of Sullivan & Son was enjoyable at times, but very little actually happened. Since the bar seems to be the only major setting, there is hardly any action. Instead, the characters are free to have very stressful conversations. While this leaves possibilities for the characters to have revelations, there is very little effort to move the story forward. Episodes that are full of dialogue can be funny at times, but they can also get boring. Despite the potential for Sullivan & Son to be humorous as well as deeply thematic, exclusively relying on slow moving episodes that are full of stress can be a bad idea.
It is the 50th anniversary of Sullivan & Son and things are getting complicated for Steve and his childhood friend Melanie, known as Mel. It is revealed that Mel’s grandfather originally owned the bar and lost it in a poker game against Steve’s grandfather, Jack. Despite this having nothing to do with Steve, Mel holds a grudge for some reason. Of course this is illogical and Steve had nothing to do with the loss of the bar. Mel acknowledges this and is still mad at Steve. Mel’s acknowledgement of her own hypocrisy is supposed to be funny but it is actually very annoying, There is absolutely no reason for this to be a story. In fact, neither of them were aware of it until Jack brought it to their attention. The fact that it was a plot line shows the drawbacks of relying on one location for an entire episode.
Wait! What's A Dial? 