by Conan Simmons – October 19, 2020 – 5:25 am
Chris Rock continues to show his underappreciated acting chops. As mob boss Loy Cannon he finds himself having to deal with all manner of problems. Holding his own against all comers, Rock proves why he is the lead of this latest season in FX’s series inspired by the Coen Bros.’ classic film.
The standout scene of this week’s episode comes early on when Odis Weff (Jack Huston), the compulsive detective, leads a raid on one of Cannon’s joints. As police rough up the place Cannon deliberately provokes Odis. Somehow, Cannon knows about Odis’s time in the War.
Cannon also pays a visit to the Smutney’s in regards to the messy robbery carried out by Zelmare and Swanee (Karen Aldridge and Kelsey Asbille). Thurman and Dibrell Smutney (Andrew Bird and Anji White) do what they must to save their family.
The ever observant U.S. Marshal Dick ‘Deafy’ Wickware (Timothy Olyphant) visits the school to have a chat with Ethelrida (E’myri Crutchfield) leading him on a collision course with outlaws and gangsters. Ethelrida meanwhile plots against Nurse Oreatta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley) in relation to the secrets she uncovered.
On the other side of town, Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman) and Rabbi Milligan (Ben Whishaw) try to hatch a plan to keep Josto’s brother, Gaetano (Salvatore Esposito) under control. Unfortunately, Gaetano snaps and war breaks out between the Fadda’s and the Cannon’s.
The episode as a whole is very good with only one real downside. The sound mix was bad. Everything was audible as it should be but there was a constant volume displacement of white noise. At times it sounded like a radiator kicking on every time people stopped talking only to subside when dialogue started again. If post-production on sound was done during the Coronavirus lockdowns perhaps it’s just an unfortunate side effect, otherwise there’s no accounting for it.