***Spoiler Alert***
Episode 1: Pilot
What I loved about this show when it first aired is we jump right in from the start of the pilot. No build up or introductory first episode. 2007 was heavy in the midst of the 20+ episode season era, and this was unusual.
The condensed formatting of The Black Donnellys, which fit well as a mid-season hiatus candidate (and then bumped back a month early to replace a failing show, another NBC nail in the coffin) required a quick jump into the deep end. But, given that it was supposed to air the previous fall, its hard to say if 13 episodes would’ve completed the first season, or if there was a chance to do another 10-12 episodes had NBC not fucked up and it was more successful.
Detective 1: “So where are the bodies?”
Prisoner: “Oh man, these guys are my friends.”
Detective 1: “Here’s the deal, Joey. You tell us where the bodies are, how they got there, you’ll stay in solitary, nice and safe. You lie, you go to general population, where more people than I can count want to see you dead.”
Detective 2: “Where are the bodies?”
Joey: “There’s two things that happened to Jimmy Donnelly that made him turn out the way he did …”
30 seconds into the pilot, haven’t even hit the opening credits, and we’re in. It’s brilliant. Who’s Joey? What bodies? Jimmy Donnelly? (more…)
Let’s take it back to early 2007, it’s my senior of college, final semester. Deeply entrenched in the indie music scene (I miss you, 2000’s), I was spending a lot time between college, Boston, and my beloved New York City. An interesting era as lower Manhattan climbed from the ashes, and small clubs became victim again to the relentless progress machine that is NYC. But that’s for another day.
headphones are on 