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

Posted: October 16, 2020 in 2010's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2010's, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

Episode 13: “Easy is the Way”

“The gates of Hell are open night and day; smooth the descent and easy is the way.” – Virgil

Also known as the unintended series finale that will haunt you forever.

The time has come to talk about the final episode, the cliffhanger, the want and need for another season, another anything that we’ll never see. The show’s death quickened by NBC’s marketing neglect, still painful 13 years later.

Joey: “You don’t know anything. You just look at what happened, not why or how it happened.” My life motto. Not just the what, but the why and how.

Tommy beat Dokey in the street, but didn’t kill him. Which means Dokey is on the war path and Tommy needs to come up with a plan, fast. And that plan becomes to get the whole family out of the city. Kevin is totally right that they should’ve just killed Dokey, the neighborhood locals would’ve helped to cover it up. But, that’s not really Tommy’s problem, is it? It’s his conscious. And Kevin’s also right that they can’t hide in the Firecracker forever.

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Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 12

Posted: October 13, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV
Tags: 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

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?

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Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 11

Posted: October 6, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

Episode 11: “Wasn’t That Enough?”

“Father, you died once … wasn’t that enough?” – Anne Sexton

Also known as the episode in which Kevin gives his number to a “human hate machine” and Tommy wears a black t-shirt.

Joey: “Enterprise? You guys talk like it was some kind big kind of corporation. It wasn’t like that at all, we were just a bunch of kids hanging out in a bar. At least, that’s how it started.”

That building the Donnellys cleared? Torched, presumably by the building management. But they still get paid, with an extra $10,000, so I guess a deal’s a deal? Dokey wasn’t too happy with that. Mr. Reilly reveals that his building is still in danger, but so eloquently telling Tommy he hates him and his family. What a way to request a favor. The city has deemed the building structurally unsound, but Mr. Reilly knows that Dokey is behind it. Tommy refuses to take half the diner as payment, but Mr. Reilly is Mr. Reilly.

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Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 10

Posted: October 2, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

Episode 10: When the Door Opens

“There is always one moment in childhood when the door open and lets the future in.” – Graham Greene

Also known as the episode in which Kevin gets hit with a “piss balloon”, and Jimmy is involved in one of the most brilliantly composed murder scenes of all time.

Tommy: “We’re all going to die.”

Just a casual declaration in the Firecracker, after Tommy turns down the deal with Nicky because Nicky won’t work with Jimmy. Tommy’s plan? To get on Dokey’s side to build up funds and manpower, to prepared when Nicky kills Dokey.

Sean meanwhile gets the boot from the real family business, crime, and momentarily quits as the beverage manager to make a point. But he ends up hanging with Nadine, the jukebox sales girl, so maybe his life is taking a better turn.

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Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 9

Posted: September 28, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

Episode 9: “All of Us are in the Gutter”

“All of us are in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” – Oscar Wilde

Also known as the episode in which Kevin proves his loyalty to Jenny by saying “I’ll stay”, and you feel in that moment who Kevin really is.

Tommy takes Kate up on meeting her art friend, Munst. Except he doesn’t realize that it’s actually an internship and shows up all prepared to present his work. Poor Tommy. He’s slinging disgusting studio garbage into a too high dumpster and gets a visit from Kate who wants more than to just visit. Munst fairly calls out that everyone needs a benefactor, and it seems like Tommy is just realizing what Kate’s bigger plan is. Again I wonder, would something more have happened between them in future seasons?

Jimmy got a new sign for the Firecracker Lounge, which is literally an illustration of a flame and a Saltine-like cracker. Too literal or so basic its creative?

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Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 8

Posted: September 23, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000s, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

Episode 8: In Each One a Savior

“… in each one a savior is crucified.” – Herman Hesse

Also known as the episode in which Kevin utters my favorite line of the show, in regards to the Firecracker he says, “Crime is the family business, Sean, this is just a staging area.”

How is that not the greatest thing of all time!? I love it so much.

Post NBC’s cancellation of the show, on the same day that Episode 7 aired, and two weeks earlier than initially announced, the show in its entirety went up on both iTunes for purchase and on the NBC site for free streaming. This was online binging before it really existed. Definitely one of the first video purchases I made on iTunes.

Episode 8 opens with Joey and the neighborhood priest talking in Joey’s jail cell, the Father asking to know what happened to the Donnelly brothers, who were “good kids”. Joey thinks it all started to go downhill the day he bought a car for Sean. Who, by the way, doesn’t have a license.

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Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 6

Posted: September 10, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000s, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys

Episode 6: “Run Like Hell”

“If I was ever sure that someone was coming to help me, I should run like hell.” – Thoreau

The episode in which Kevin has to do everything and Tommy can’t let go of helping Jenny, despite the bread man situation. (more…)

Episodes Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 5

Posted: September 5, 2020 in 2010's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2010's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

The Black Donnellys Episode 5: “Lies”

“For a moment the lie becomes the truth.” Dostoevsky

Also known as the episode in which Tommy steals a casserole and Kevin has to eat bread for dinner.

Wooo boy, Samson is not a dude you want to reject after sleeping with him. His face when Jenny says there is someone else is not good. And Jenny’s talk with the priest? Hilarious, yet you know “Teach” is a scumbag husband (and dead, but Jenny doesn’t know) when your priest suggests an annulment. (more…)

Episode Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 4

Posted: August 31, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***

Episode 4: The World Will Break Your Heart

“To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart”. Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Definitely my favorite quote slide of the show.

AKA the episode in which Kevin Donnelly and Joey Ice Cream steal kosher wine for an Irish wake, while Jimmy’s making a birdhouse.

We kick off episode 4 with Jimmy in a bar, saying that his brothers killed for him. This how we get the lead into the condensed Joey Ice Cream voice over about what happened in the highly important, yet unaired, Episode 3. Has my hatred for NBC come through yet? I’m not sure.

Cut to Kate Farrell, Huey’s widow and a fantasy for all the neighborhood boys, showing up at the Donnelly door, nearly killing Tommy by asking to hold Huey’s wake at the Firecracker. The flashback scene of the brothers and Joey looking at pictures supposedly of Kate reminds me SO much of the Sleepers scene with the four boys (Jonathan Tucker included) looking at the Rockettes through a hole in a window. Ah, young boys, they were so … industrious. And now, there is the internet. (more…)

Episodes Notes: “The Black Donnellys” Episode 3 (Unaired)

Posted: August 26, 2020 in 2000's, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch
Tags: 2000s, Episode Notes, NBC, On Repeat, Rewind, RIP, Sleepers, The Black Donnellys, TV, Watch

***Spoiler Alert***
The Black Donnellys Episode 3: “God Is a Comedian Playing to an Audience Afraid to Laugh”

“God is a comedian playing to an audience afraid to laugh” Voltaire

Also known as the episode in which Kevin Donnelly starts to become my favorite.

Here comes another major NBC fail – this episode was deemed “too violent” and wasn’t aired. Instead, it was put up on the NBC website to stream and was later available on iTunes. Let’s remember, this is 2007, and streaming just wasn’t much of a thing yet. So the show loses steam, and continuity, resulting in a really weird mashup of the episode with a Joey Ice Cream voice over at the beginning of episode 4 to fill in the gaps. (more…)