Lights Out: Infight

Lights Out spends most of the time examining the gray areas between right and wrong, understanding that almost nothing in life is ever that simple. Most of this episode built toward Lights’s firing of new trainer and awesome character Ed Romeo. Despite all the hints that made firing Romeo pretty much inevitable—Patrick walking in on what looks like Romeo making Daniella cry, Patrick walking in on Romeo and Theresa holding hands—I didn’t want it to happen. Sure, he’s wrong to ask Patrick to completely avoid Johnny and Pops, but his motivation is admirable. It’s both right and wrong. I would totally understand if Patrick suddenly cut Johnny out of his life completely; he’s a total fuck-up who repeatedly makes Patrick’s life worse. He’s also trying to do the right thing. In a way, Johnny and Romeo aren’t that different. They’re both making good and bad things happen with the best intentions. Only Johnny is kind of a skeezebag.

Romeo takes over this episode, which I’m OK with. He’s unstable, and he’s got real emotional problems. It’s interesting that the camera stays with Romeo when he breaks down in his bedroom. I believe that’s the first time a Lights Out character has completely let his guard down on camera. Humanity is always intriguing to see. This is why we watch TV and movies, right? Romeo is clearly damaged, so we understand why Reynolds fired him. But Reynolds’s relationship (or lack thereof) also says a lot about Romeo. We see that Romeo (at least) seems wrong in his assessment that Reynolds is afraid and uncentered, but we also see Reynolds doing yoga, swimming, and having all of his life priorities straightened out. If Romeo were able to put aside his history with Reynolds, I imagine he’d mostly approve of Reynolds’s mindset while preparing to fight Lights.

From there, things get all pushy, punchy, and even stabby. You just knew another bad thing had to happen to Lights.

Sidenote: Love the literary fun going on in this episode. Johnny calls Romeo “Othello.” And what’s going on with the book Romeo is reading (Ether, God, and Devil)?

Other sidenote: During a commercial break, I discovered that Blue Crush was on at the same time. Turns out Blue Crush and Lights Out have some pretty similar story arcs going. In Blue Crush, Ana Marie Chadwick (Kate Bosworth) is preparing for a huge surfing competition, only her roommates, most notably Eden (Michelle Rodriguez), disagree with her “training” by teaching some hot young stud how to surf. Chadwick = Lights, Eden = Johnny, hot young stud = Romeo. I found this humorous. It’s a pretty canned plot, especially for sports films and shows, but Lights Out is at least doing it in interesting ways.

Lights Out: Head Games

Last night’s Lights Out episode exposed some sort of duality in pretty much every character involved the show up to this point, and it was all anchored by the appearance of the mysterious Ed Romeo (played by Eammon Walker of Oz, and Cadillac Records). Patrick turned to Romeo after Pops said he wouldn’t train Patrick to fight Reynolds. Enter Romeo, who sets off a chain of subplots with his unorthodox training technique of breaking fighters down to their core and working from what he probably sees as a fighter’s true self.

Pops, Johnny, and Margaret all band together to try to get rid of Romeo, which seems like the first time they’ve fought against Patrick rather than with him. It most certainly must have been the first time they’ve all turned against Patrick. Even when Johnny was screwing things up (or still is?), he’s at least trying to help. Seeing Pops walking down the street with ramen, seeming to use his cart as a crutch, was a rare moment of his weakness on display. We see that he’s lost a lot more than a fighter when deciding not to train his son. 

Theresa and the Leary daughters have their moments also (aside from the youngest, who is apparently on an eternal “Girl Scout retreat”). Most notably, Ava ranges from spoiled teenager to showing that she can be caring and charming. When Theresa mentions that Ava was a natural at the hospital, Ava blows it off as nothing because she easily relates to people (at least non-Learys). The writers’ decision to have Ava point out exactly how aware she is of her parents’ marital and money problems by saying she just wanted to forget them was pitch-perfect as well.

The best scene, though, belonged to Theresa, Patrick, and Romeo. First of all, I liked seeing them having a late-night conversation. It’s a small thing, but it’s the type of small thing grown-ups do when they have guests. It also led to the hilarious conversation where Romeo tells them he likes his fighters “relaxed,” so they should “keep on doing what they’re doing” (as opposed to refraining from sex before a fight). Patrick and Theresa’s reactions were priceless. Sure, they may be grown-ups, but talking about sex in front of relative strangers can be pretty awkward, especially for Catholics (I would know). Romeo’s choice of words was perfect, too: “Keep doing what you’re doing.” What are they doing? Sure, everything seems fine now, but it wasn’t that long ago when Theresa kicked Patrick out of the house. Couples (and their children) don’t forget about things like that. 

Finally, Romeo once again reveals a little more about Richard “Death Row” Reynolds, who I’ve already said is my favorite character. I worry that the show is shaping Reynolds as a sort of black-athlete stereotype: Romeo describes Reynolds’ childhood as fatherless and troubled. Luckily, Reynolds makes an appearance to warn Patrick about Romeo. As usual, we’re not really sure what his motives are, which is fantastic. He also throws some more doubt onto Romeo, who already harbors some dark secrets. That these two mysterious characters are granted access to the Learys only makes them more dangerous and intriguing.

Sidenote: At first, I hated the idea of bringing in the Ed Romeo character. His approach to training through finding what really makes a person tick is a sports show cliché and a bad writing gimmick. (It’s a lot like making your protagonist go to a therapist to tell the reader all the character’s problems.) It worked, though. Not only did he bring out many unseen parts of other characters, but he had some fantastic moments himself. Was I the only one who thought it was a really nice moment and also incredibly terrifying when he took a picture of the Leary family?

Help a Sportswriter Choose an NBA Team!

When Walt “Crimedog” McGough joined us here at There’s No “I” in Blog, I knew he’d bring along his acute insights and wonderful wordsmithery. I also knew we’d have to do something about his one moral defect: he’s never watched a complete game of basketball. (Before you all crucify him, trust me. He’s a really good guy. He even keeps a nerf gun on hand at parties just in case some idiot starts acting a fool and needs a child-safe cap busted in his hind parts.) In order to help him jump into the world of basketball, Walt’s also agreed to let us help him find an NBA team to follow. We actually talked about this a while ago, but I waited to get going until after the NBA trade deadline because—as we found out yesterday—no one really knew what the teams would look like after the trades.

Walt’s from Pittsburgh, so he’s got the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates but no NBA team. This means Walt has the opportunity to make his own decision on which team to follow, a chance most people (aside from fairweather fans) don’t often get. The goal here is to find a team that will both showcase the beautiful spectacle of basketball and foster a long-term interest in the game. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the post comments.

There are a few teams I feel should be OFF LIMITS:

- Los Angeles Clippers: This sucks. The Clippers were actually on the list of teams I’d suggest to Walt, but then Donald Sterling had to trade Baron Davis’s awesome beard to Cleveland, reminding everyone that he (Sterling, I mean) is a terrible owner. Sure, they still have Blake Griffin to throw down some killer dunks, but I wouldn’t encourage any friend of mine to root for a team whose owner heckles his own players and MAY HAVE done some crazy racist nonsense in his team’s locker room.

- Cleveland Cavaliers: Walt already roots for the Pirates, so we don’t want to inflict any more of this kind of damage to him (sorry, Cleveland).

THE FRONT RUNNERS:

- Chicago Bulls: Not only do they have Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah (and Noah’s awesome hair and Le Coq Sportif shoes), but Walt has some Chicago connections, having co-founded the Sideshow Theatre Company in the city.

- Oklahoma City Thunder: As Shoals pointed out in his GQ article, the Thunder are the perfect bandwagon team. Awesome atmosphere, well run organization, and two superstar players in Westbrook and Durant. Picking up Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammed to play alongside Ibaka also gives them the size to be a legit title contender.

- Boston Celtics: Ray Allen. Kevin Garnett. Paul Pierce. Rajon Rondo. It’s beautiful basketball on both ends of the floor.

- Los Angeles Lakers: Just because he lives in Boston doesn’t mean we should rule out rooting for the enemy.

- Portland Trail Blazers: Why wouldn’t a dramatist who also loved the Pittsburgh Pirates be interested in what could be the most cursed NBA franchise (all those broken knees!)? Plus, LaMarcus Aldridge has turned into a crazy beast.

All other teams are on the table as well. Let us know your suggestions and reasons in the comments. The other option is we could force Walt to sit through a League Pass marathon A Clockwork Orange-style and let him make his decision then.

(Source: Flickr / keithallison)

Lights Out: Crossroads

From a sports drama perspective, the opening scene with “Death Row” Reynolds talking to Lights in the diner may have been the most satisfying scene of Lights Out yet. Personally, I find Reynolds (played by Billy Brown) to be the show’s most intriguing character. Maybe it’s simply because we don’t see enough of him, so every time he makes an appearance becomes immediately significant. But there’s also something about a guy who seems just as hardworking and likable as Lights conceding to be constantly cast as the villain in the boxing narratives simply because of his skin color. It shows an amazing amount of self-awareness on his part. 

The conversation between Lights and Reynolds is the kind of conversation I’ve always fantasized about legendary athletes having (that is what these two boxers are, right?). Reynolds clearly understands both the hero-worship and myth-making of larger-than-life athletes as well as his place in a long line of history. NBA fans assume LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had this kind of conversation at some point and realized they could catapult themselves way up the hierarchy of NBA history. Do we know that? It’s also interesting because writers and fans are always using this history to build up and tear down our sports icons. Baseball fans absolutely tore (and still do) Barry Bonds apart because he knew—just as everyone else did—that perhaps the game’s most unlikable player would sit atop the list of baseball legends. When Kobe and LeBron chose their numbers (24 and 23/6), they were both praised and hated for their obvious attempt at gunning to pass their sport’s top athlete (Jordan). It’s an understatement to say I’d like to see more of Reynolds on the show. His character adds a refreshing level of depth to Lights Out.

The rest of the show was fairly Rocky-esque, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It was entertaining to watch, but the plot points were all prescribed. Patrick trains, family argues, and Theresa shows up in Patrick’s corner, which of course fuels him to knock the crap out of “el Diablo” Morales. There are great moments throughout though:

- Daniella as distributor of alcohol via hairspray bottle is so effing hilarious. Of course someone who didn’t know what they were doing would put alcohol in a spray bottle. (True story: In middle school, I brought patis, a Filipino fish sauce, to school in a spray bottle and sprayed it on kids’ clothes. Just one small spray made them reek of awfulness all day. I avoided trouble when the principal accidentally made a borderline racist comment about the actual edible quality of the odorific stuff).

- Lights Out spent a full two minutes showing Patrick taking an eye exam, and somehow I wasn’t totally bored. (What was his acronym for passing the test? Fantastic Light Electric Orchestra somethingsomething?)

- Morales brought a machete to the official weigh in. That’s all kinds of crazy and all kind of badass. Morales truly redefines “crazy badass.” He also does a really good Pedro Cerrano impression when he says “I kill you until you die from it!”

- Theresa says “I missed you,” after the fight, and I assume she meant she missed Patrick the boxer as much as she missed him living at home. 

The episode ends with Pops telling Patrick they won’t be training together if Patrick really intends to fight Reynolds. This makes for good television. While everything is all happytimes at home, Patrick may risk permanently damaging his relationship with his father. If you thought the boxing sequence during the Leary/Morales fight was terrible, that’s because it was. I was disappointed at how awful it was, actually, until I realized Pops also saw how terrible the fight was. It’s possible Morales had some shady dealings going on with Brennan (or their eyes met between rounds from across a packed arena because they find each other dreamy), otherwise we would’ve seen a lot more of this:

Lights Out: Combinations

The best part about getting Lights back in the gym and training is that Lights is finally a force in motion. While a big portion of the show has been setting up the forces working against Lights and getting them to circle him like vultures, at times it’s been a bit frustrating to watch him watching the vultures gather. Meanwhile he’d do just enough to fend them off (such as not dying). Patrick’s training is the beginning of him fighting back against those forces.

Sportswriter Mike Fumosa (played by Ben Shenkman) played a key role in this episode, which seemed fitting for an episode where all the boxing action was used to establish narratives. From the fantastic Barry K. Word on down to the fighters, everyone knows a fight is more than just a fight. They all work toward building the Good vs. Evil storyline in order to sell tickets. Fumosa buys in as well because he’s a writer, and he knows all the narratives. Maybe this is the wordnerd in me sympathizing with him, but I get the feeling that Fumosa might actually be a very good writer. He just happens to cover a dying sport for a dying industry. I particularly liked the relationship between Fumosa and Patrick. Fumosa’s repeated offers to allow Patrick to essentially change the real stories resembles the relationships some athletes and reporters develop after having extended close contact with each other. I get the feeling Fumosa will do something terrible to himself, but I hope I’m wrong. I like him.

Speaking of sports narratives: as fans, we sometimes buy into the narratives and take for granted the fact that our favorite athletes are likely fully aware of the manufactured identities created for them. In Lights Out, they become active participants. The whole staged press conference and backstage bro-hugs was a nice touch. El Diablo had to ruin it by actually being a d-bag, which keeps the Lights Out audience in on the whole Good vs. Evil dynamic. 

The Leary family gets bonus points in this episode. Pops was great as always, and Johnny’s schleaziness actually helps Patrick out in this episode (and also indirectly gets Fumosa fired from the newspaper). Ava’s character became more than a teenage stereotype. Patrick’s sister and diner-owner Margaret comes through in a big way by asking Theresa the question everyone who’s seen this show has been wondering: How could she ask the man she married to become a totally different person? Everyone sees that Patrick is a fighter at his core. It’s what makes him feel alive. Even though Theresa stonewalls Margaret, it’s obvious that Margaret’s visit made her rethink what she’s doing to Patrick. 

I thought the episode ended on a rare high note. Not only do we think Theresa might actually be flexible (at least a little), but he finds some light through his crazy double vision. It’s a small moment, but a much needed one. A show as bleak as Lights Out needs as many positives as it can get. (Patrick’s conversation with Fumosa at the bar was another nice moment). Plus, the small victories can lead to bigger ones (Lights has to beat El Diablo, right?). 

Sidenote: Word brought up a great point about the racism that comes with boxing promotion. Patrick gets to be the good guy because he’s white. Even if he really is a good dude, the skin color is what really matters. I’ll leave it at that for now and wait until the show builds on it. 

Other Sidenote: Pops looks funny in Patrick’s double vision.

Super Bowl Preview

Alex: I’m still a little sour from the Patriots premature exit from the playoffs, so it’s been hard for me to get amped up for the game. That being said, fans of the sport have plenty to look forward to: two historic organizations, Dallas’s beautiful stadium, and perhaps the last game we’ll see in a while. At the beginning of the season, like the rest of the TNIB staff, I picked the Packers to win the Super Bowl, so I have to stick with them here, I’m thinking to the tune of 35-27 and I predict this will be the game that we remember Aaron Rodgers for at the end of his career. I also predict Alex Smith is sitting at home praying that during the game nobody mentions the time the Niners picked him number one while Rodgers fell into the 20s.

Patrick: I’m sticking with the Packers here. That will make my preseason prediction of a Packers Super Bowl win look pretty good, which I need because, like the rest of the TNIB staff, I was crazy wrong about the AFC. Here’s my prediction: Aaron Rodgers will throw for one million passing yards (give or take a few) and will have two rushing TDs to accompany his 23 passing TDs. Those number work out, right? He’ll also throw one interception, but he’ll do it on purpose. Rodgers will throw a pass directly at James Harrison so he can tackle Harrison and put on his wrestling title belt. 

The Packers will win by a score of 175-7. The Steelers lone TD will be a defensive touchdown scored on a fumble caused, recovered, and returned by Troy Polamalu because even though the Packers will win, Polamalu will always win the hair battle, no matter how glorious Clay Matthews’s hair might be.

Walt: The Packers are pretty much a lock for the “moral” victory award, but I think that’ll have to keep them warm during the cold, snowy Dallas night, because to the surprise of absolutely no one I’m picking the Steelers. Mostly out of pure homerism, but I’m also doing it because, dammit, I wasn’t at TNIB for the beginning-of-season picks and SOMEBODY needs to bring a little variety to these proceedings. Predictions: Pittsburgh will get off to a slow start when the entire O-line injures themselves during the coin toss, but receive a lucky break when Harrison decapitates Rodgers in the second quarter. He’ll be charged the first-ever on-field multi-million-dollar fine, which he’ll pay with spare change from his son’s piggy bank.

The Steelers will oversleep during their halftime nap and miss the third quarter completely, but hold Green Bay off and pull it out at the last second when Randle El completes the gadget play everyone’s been waiting for him to throw all season long. Pittsburgh takes it, 24-17, which everyone will complain about until Roethlisberger single-handedly prevents a lock-out and saves the next season, thereby making him a good person again in the eyes of the world.

Ian: Go Pack Go. Like Alex, I’m still sour from the Patriots’ loss, but the Packers have been my second favorite team since they jettisoned Bart Farve. I hadn’t been super-excited about the game, but Lil’ Wayne’s new freestyle called “Green and Yellow” actually got me pumped up (at least more than the Super Bowl Shuffle would have) and so now I’m ready.

As for the actual game, I can’t see the Steelers’ offensive line, especially without Maurkice Pouncey, holding back the front seven of Green Bay, especially B.J. Raji and Clay Matthews who may be the two best players in the NFL at their respective positions. Roethlisberger may be able to make things happen when his protection fails, but it’s likely that he’ll be so hassled that the Steelers won’t be able to do much on offense. On the other side of the ball, the Packers have so many weapons that they’re tough for any defense to stop, and with the emergence of James “Heart like John” Starks it’s tough to look past them for this game.

*Image courtesy of We’ll Never Forget You Brent

Lights Out: Bolo Punch

After last week’s episode, Rachel (TNIB editor and girlfriend extraordinaire) said that it’s hard to watch a show where only bad things happen. This fourth episode of Lights Out sure had its share of terrible things, as it brought the Leary family even farther down the toilet. Johnny gets into more trouble, has the butts beaten out of him, and forces Patrick to save his arse yet again. While saving his brother’s arse, Patrick gets beat down by some hired muscle/MMA fighter. The other bad things: Theresa makes a $50,000 donation pledge to help rebuild a clinic in Haiti because she doesn’t realize they don’t have any money, Theresa’s credit cards get declined and confiscated in front of the Leary daughters and their friends, Omar pulls a gun on the Leary boys and, later, quits boxing.

The list goes on, but there’s good news in all of this as well. Patrick finally had to tell Theresa they’ve lost their entire fortune, so there’s no more secrets between the two (besides his pugilist’s dementia). The timing was perfect, as I just started to think he wasn’t a good enough liar to keep hiding something of such large magnitude from his wife. It also allowed a better part of Theresa’s character to finally be revealed.

I never got the feeling that she loved Lights for his money, but seeing her packing up her jewelry to sell off for a quick buck confirms what she says about sticking with Patrick “for richer or poorer.” The mention of “apology rings” is a nice little detail that implies she’s stuck with Patrick through some other troubling incidents. I like seeing her with more dimension than the nagging wife who forced Patrick out of boxing. Also, the Leary daughters know about the money problems. Now that everyone knows, we can get past Patrick hiding things from everyone and move forward into everyone trying to make things better.

Speaking of people trying to make things better. Johnny’s a real eff-up. We can assume he bet on Omar’s fight because the huge payoff would help him fix a number of the problems he’s created. Of course he loses, because Johnny loses at everything. He’s always getting things his way in the short term (setting up risky fights/investments, hooking up with receptionists) only to fail down the line (losing money, breaking the copier with the receptionist/losing even more money). At some point, Patrick will have to lose faith in Johnny. Theresa’s already tried to tell him to cut Johnny loose, and, as loyal as he is to family, Patrick should be feeling it, too. When Lights wins his underground MMA fight and looks out at Johnny, I got the sense that Lights doesn’t want Johnny dragging him into more effed up situations like that. Meanwhile, Johnny gives a sigh of relief that immediately disappears into an expression of opportunity: he realizes Lights can still fight, which is bad for Lights, but good for the show. 

Sidenote: A good portion of the show revolved around Patrick and his father. Patrick chased his father around town, worrying that Omar had done something bad to Pops. Anytime Patrick looks uncomfortable in his own skin is good television, and their relationship seems to make Patrick very uncomfortable. Their relationship seems to have paused in Patrick’s teenage years. He gives Pops a lot of half-answers, knowing Pops doesn’t really want to know the whole truth, and he’s right. “I got this covered,” Lights tells his Dad in a dark alley in front of a bunch of scary looking dudes. Pops leaves without saying anything. Of course he knows there’s trouble, but not the whole story. 

Other sidenote: This episode provided a glimpse into the decaying world of boxing and the rising world of MMA. Since the pilot episode, I’ve been wondering how the show would deal with a sport so steadily on the decline. Patrick hints that big-name prize fights can still land a huge purse, which I suppose is still true today. 

Lights Out: The Shot

Things keep getting worse for the Leary family. While Lights is busy doing anything he can to keep his family afloat, Pops and Johnny are busy screwing things up. Pops is only trying to help, as he jumps at the opportunity to get Omar Assarian—Leary’s Gym’s next and maybe last hope—a title fight after another boxer drops out. Johnny’s also trying to get Omar that same fight, but you get the impression there’s no limit to how low Johnny will go for a couple of bucks. Sure, he’s also trying to help, but he’s going to screw things up big time for all of them.

Johnny’s actually a perfect foil for Lights. They’ll both do whatever it takes to get their families back on stable financial ground, but Lights wants to dig everyone out of a hole while Johnny seems perfectly willing throw everyone back in it. At the very least, Johnny’s ignorant to the fact that he’s making the hole deeper. He’s also kind of a schleazeball. As soon as he talks to Barry K. Word’s receptionist, you know he’s going to be using her to get an upper hand over the other managers trying to get Omar’s fight.

Even though this episode had a ton of Rocky elements in it, like Lights taking Omar under his wing and training the young fighter to reach his untapped potential, the closing sequence provided a nice ending to the episode. The two main running storylines revolve around Lights’s wife and kids planning something special for his 40th birthday and getting Omar that title bout. In the final minutes, we see simultaneously the life Lights built around boxing and, through Omar’s fight, his realization that everything he built is about to fall. When Omar hits the mat, Lights falls back into his couch, and that’s the image we’re left with: Lights hitting his sofa cushions feeling every bit of the knockout as Omar.

Sidenote: Reg E. Cathey as Barry K. Word needs to be involved way more as the show progresses. His smooth talking boxing promoter seems to be a cross between a bald Don King and a bald version of his character, Norman Wilson, from The Wire. He’s fifteen steps ahead of everyone and can smooth talk his way through anything. I’m sure we’ll see him in the future, when Lights and “Death Row” Reynolds finally have their rematch. Hopefully, that’s not the only time we see Barry Word.

Other sidenote: Who was Lights sending money to? I couldn’t read the envelope. Was it the child support Johnny should’ve been paying? Why was he sealing the envelope at the mailbox? Who does that? Also, why did the handwriting look so childish? Lights can write, can’t he?

Last sidenote: “Death Row” Reynolds buying Lights’s gloves on QVC and giving them back was pretty badass. I believe Lights owes Mr. Reynolds 25 grand after that.

Lights Out: Cakewalk

Just as I thought, Lights Out slows down a bit after the pilot episode and lets the plot, characters, and themes develop a little more deliberately. Cliffs have been hung, and moments that seem small for now will surely come back in a big way later (e.g. the earring in the locker room). Lights Out now resembles the serialized TV show we’re all used to seeing. The show’s writers also introduced Hal Brennan (played by Bill Irwin), the mysterious stranger who moves in darkness and will, from this point forward, be Lights Leary’s puppet master. 

Brennan’s presence is necessary, as every other character seems equally as lost as Lights. Just as the unseen Brennan pressed Lights to rough up “the dentist” in the pilot episode, he’s the character who pushes Lights into action, sending him on a number of shady errands throughout the episode. But since Lights appears to be a good guy doing bad things for his family’s well-being, he’s new to the world of (semi?)organized crime, leaving trails of his involvement everywhere. Brennan likely knows what he’s doing, which means he’s gathering evidence against Lights for his own profit. My guess is he’s the one who eventually forces Lights into the rematch (that everyone knows is going to happen) against “Death Row” Reynolds.

Which reminds me: I can’t be the only one who thinks it’s a bad thing that the only black character with a name happens to be called “Death Row,” am I?

Part of what makes Lights Out entertaining is watching Lights lie his way through every scene. He does it so easily, even though he doesn’t really want to. It makes the few honest moments even better, like when he tells his daughter Daniella about his pugilistic dementia. Now she’s been let in on one of the secrets viewers are already aware of. How they work together will surely be a nice addition to the story. How much is he going to make Daniella lie to the rest of the Leary family?

I was pleased to see Daniella utilized more in this episode than the oldest daughter Ava. Even though Daniella is still another teenage stereotype (so far), we found her doing real teenager stuff like snooping through her dad’s computer and “researching” on Wikipedia. 

“Cakewalk” also showed us some actual boxing. I’m happy it was a fairly short scene because boxing (and all other sports) shows or movies aren’t really about the sport. Lights is out of fighting shape, but we saw what he’ll be able to do when he gets himself conditioned. Pops, by choosing to chastise Lights after the sparring, revealed that he doesn’t expect much from his son anymore. While Lights tries to stay afloat, Pops has moved on to his next great hope.