Grizzled grandpa steals the show again. Kidnapping a team of children and using prison rules to teach them no fear? I shouldn't be okay with it but I am. Instead of advertising a gruff grandpa and backing down during the episode to make him lovably flawed, Back in the Game sticks to its guns. Gramps is screwed up. He's angry, punishing, manipulative, violent, and unapologetic. His relationship with is daughter is damaged possibly beyond repair, and his relationship with his grandson?
Daniel: I like living at your house. I like having you as my grandpa.
Cannon: Why?
Daniel: (Pause.) You win. (Walks away.)
Honestly, you can't really say that the Cannon is a bad influence. Sure, he takes a van of 10-year-olds to a maximum security prison where three kinda terrifying inmates and two kinda rabid dogs intimidate the fear out of them. The Cannon is good friends with the warden, a familiar face who once wreaked havoc at a different kind of prison.
Daniel: I like living at your house. I like having you as my grandpa.
Cannon: Why?
Daniel: (Pause.) You win. (Walks away.)
Honestly, you can't really say that the Cannon is a bad influence. Sure, he takes a van of 10-year-olds to a maximum security prison where three kinda terrifying inmates and two kinda rabid dogs intimidate the fear out of them. The Cannon is good friends with the warden, a familiar face who once wreaked havoc at a different kind of prison.
Plus, the kids respond frighteningly well to the exercise, staying in the box while baseballs fly past them. True, none of them swing, but that'll be a prison trip for another time. I'm sure we will see them again. After all, the kids bonded with the inmates, and how am I ever going to know if Joey and his fellow inmate work it out? (That whole credits scene was perfect.)
Oh, and Terry had her own story about trying to get a job and choosing the high road and it was all very whatever. She's not bad. She's a good character, and once she finds her rhythm, may even become a great character.
She really stepped up in the scene between her and her father. The Cannon shows Terry why he has kept the master bathroom locked, and it's a heartrendingly simple reason. He misses his wife as much as Terry misses her mother. Though their relationship is fractured, their root problem is the same. It wasn't heavy-handed and it was a simple exchange from two people who do not know how to talk to each other. It was believable. It was relatable. It was a good balance to the comedy, and that delicate balance has me excited for the next episode.
Oh, and Terry had her own story about trying to get a job and choosing the high road and it was all very whatever. She's not bad. She's a good character, and once she finds her rhythm, may even become a great character.
She really stepped up in the scene between her and her father. The Cannon shows Terry why he has kept the master bathroom locked, and it's a heartrendingly simple reason. He misses his wife as much as Terry misses her mother. Though their relationship is fractured, their root problem is the same. It wasn't heavy-handed and it was a simple exchange from two people who do not know how to talk to each other. It was believable. It was relatable. It was a good balance to the comedy, and that delicate balance has me excited for the next episode.