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***Spoiler Alert***

Episode 12: “The Black Drop”

“How shall a man … draw off from his veins the black drop he drew from this father …” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Also known as the episode in which Kevin hates people who cut the line and your heart breaks into a million pieces for Jimmy. 

Joey Ice Cream gets stabbed in the shower, appears to be fairly minor, and reveals that his friends have a contract out on him. Dun dun dun, the plot thickens about the real reason Joey’s in jail. I have my own theories I’ll share after the final episode.

Tommy and Kevin are still trying to help Mr. Reilly save the diner, and Joey third wheels by revealing Anthony Lino’s (the building inspector) location. Or so he says. Tommy tricks Lino into an inspection of a local business and they kidnap him, hiding him in the basement of the Firecracker, Louie Downtown style. Joey gleefully joins the basement session, except when he’s left in charge of keeping an eye on Lino.

Kevin continues to prove his fascination and ability for violence, while Tommy puts the pressure on with just a nod of the head to Kevin. Have I mentioned how much I love their working relationship in the family business?

Off Kevin and Tommy go to the city offices to get the paperwork pushed through for the diner, resulting in one of my favorite scenes of the episode:

Tommy: “You talk to anyone?”

Kevin: “I haven’t gotten up there yet.”

Tommy: “You don’t have to wait in line just go up there and show ’em Lino’s business card like he told us to do.”

Kevin: “No, I’m not cutting the line, Tommy.  I hate people who cut the line.”

Tommy: “Give me the card.”

Kevin: “People aren’t going to like it, that’s all I’m saying.”

Tommy stalks up the front of the line.

Kevin, to the person in line behind him: “What an ass.”

Sean’s toting around a GED prep book, and sweet, normal Nadine is trying to help him study.  Oh Nadine, you came to the city for music school, and boy did you pick the wrong family to sell a jukebox to.

And Frankie, the neighborhood detective, brings a somber bit of news to the diner – a body was found and the police think it’s Jenny’s husband, Teach. The rumor was that drug dealers had killed Teach and stuffed him in an oil drum. The deceased’s belongings don’t signify anything specific to Teach, but Jenny has a few items left that she submits for testing.

As Jenny goes through a box in her closet, she pulls out a scarf that she originally gave to Tommy.

Joey: “It was the best birthday Tommy Donnelly ever had.  It lasted all of 17 and a half seconds.” 

Mr. Reilly tries to pay off Tommy to stay away from Jenny, threatening to show scars from former beatings Bobby Donnelly had inflicted. And now we know that Jenny and Tommy were very close to dating or had just started dating before she got married, and that Mr. Reilly ended it.

Flashback later on to Tommy returning the birthday scarf to Jenny and breaking things off, but lying terribly that he met someone else. WHY, TOMMY, WHY?! The string of events the lie leads to couldn’t be predicted, but it’s one messy spiral. Men.

Jimmy’s working Dokey for more of a cut in the neighborhood business, wanting to renegotiate the 30% deal that Tommy accepted. There’s an interesting comparison here in that Dokey was likely much like Jimmy when he was younger – big mouth, irrational, quick to violence and always looking for a way to cut corners.  I’m sure Huey loved Dokey carrying around a big axe while doing the dirty work. And I think Dokey knows this about Jimmy, which is why he does what he does, and breaks every heart that’s ever seen this episode. He asks Jimmy to pick up a package, and Jimmy, unsuspecting, follows through to show he’s trustworthy.

But first, he has to deal with Joanie who shows up high at the Donnellys apartment, running into Sean and said innocent Nadine, who so impressively treats Joanie as an equal, while Jimmy’s bad choices are coming through the cracks. He’s teetering on the edge of falling into his drug addiction, and needs Joanie to pull herself together to be his other half in trying to climb the crime ladder.

After, he heads to the bar where said package is, and as the wait grows for this mysterious package to arrive, Jimmy is served free drinks and it quickly becomes clear that Dokey has his men there getting Jimmy drunk. Dokey’s true colors come out as he executes his plan to absolutely humiliate Jimmy, starting a war he never really believed would come.

Mrs. Donnelly meets Nadine, and in true Mrs. Donnelly fashion, treats her like scum of the earth. Nadine of course, turns the tables with her polite manners and good girl smile. Which leads to a dinner invite.

Tommy and Kevin put the pressure on the inspector that comes to the diner, just after Kevin reveals that he killed Franny Kenny and buried him where no one else knows. The inspector asks for a BMW, to make a point about asking for the impossible. Of course, Tommy and Kevin being Tommy and Kevin, head over to a high end building with a valet. A quick jacket switch and they drive off with a BMW, which they deliver to the inspector. WHO LITERALLY STAMPS THE PAPER AND WALKS AWAY. Bureaucracy at its finest right? And as Kevin says, “That was going to take six weeks?!”

But they’ve still got it finish pushing it through the system, so back to Lino in the basement for a signature, which Kevin wants him to sign with a red pen until Lino points out it will be suspicious. The form goes back to the city office, and Kevin’s already got a burial site for Lino. But, Tommy stays with Lino to talk Longdale Properties, while Joey and Kevin handle the paperwork.

Turns out, Lino works for Alo and he really doesn’t know anything about Bobby Donnelly’s death. But he does know about Longdale Properties and confirms that City Hall is in on the property development deals. Lino is surprisingly pretty good under pressure, talking some sense into Tommy.

Nicky’s plan for Alo is forming, Vinnie’s prepping the car too far in advance, and Tommy turns Lino over to Nicky for information about who killed Bobby Donnelly. For all of Nicky’s faults, he’s honest with a sense of Mafia ethics and Tommy believes what Nicky says – Nicky confirms that Huey called Helen to make Bobby go down to the diner. And that Dokey was responsible for killing Bobby.

All leading up to what truly has to be the most heartbreaking scenes of all time and triggers the war coming – Jimmy being thrown out of a car in front of the Firecracker, with a shaved head and covered in oil. In front of Tommy, Kevin, Joey, and Joanie.

Joey: “That day killed me. See, Jimmy and me, we had a special bond.”

Tommy gets his jacket around him and helps into the Firecracker, as Jimmy starts crying, and the rest of the crew follows them in. Joanie cleans up Jimmy in the bathroom, and for all of their issues, they really do love each other, and Jimmy can break down with her, finally.

Frankie confirms that the body was Teach’s after all, and Jenny finally knows the truth. Cut to yet another flashback, as Tommy comes in to tell Mr. Reilly that he doesn’t know Tommy, and that he’ll be working things out with Jenny. Fighting for Jenny with the pride he has, and he didn’t realize that Jenny had started dating Teach.  Which Tommy finds out in the Firecracker, the night Jimmy wins the bar, as Jenny puts the doomed scarf around Teach’s neck.

Tommy, Kevin, and Joey arm up at the Firecracker and track Dokey down in a local bar, where he’s presumably bragging about what he did to Jimmy. The absolute fury in Tommy as he wages revenge on Dokey for their father and for Jimmy, dragging Dokey out of the bar by his legs, shows the strength he has to rule the neighborhood and do what needs to be done. And so does his ability to quickly come back and realize there are too many people around to kill Dokey. You want him to kill Dokey, Joey does, Kevin does, but Tommy doesn’t. Because either way, the war has started.

Joey: “The thing about blood, family, its always there. You can hate each other, you can want to kill each other, but you never stop loving each other. But love, love, damn, that’s a whole other thing.” 

Favorite Scene: For laughs, the scene with Kevin and Tommy at the inspector’s office, with Kevin waiting in line. For vengeance, Tommy dragging Dokey out of the bar by his leg. Seeing that scene for the first time, it was so intense and you want him to kill Dokey and you know he can’t.

Soundtrack: Another Del Bombers song, “Turn to Stone” plays over the final minutes of the episode, from Jenny to Tommy finding out about Teach, and then Tommy beating up Dokey. The music placement is just so good in this show.

“The Black Donnellys” is available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, and DVD. Also available to stream, with extremely annoying and poorly placed commercial breaks, on the NBC app or NBC.com

At the time of posting, the episodes are still out of order on the NBC app and website, so Episode 4 = Episode 2, Episode 2 = Episode 3, Episode 3 = Episode 4. The title of each episode should reference the quote slide within the first 5 minutes of the episode.

Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 13 – Season/Series Finale

Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 11

Sleepers: “The Black Donnellys”