Once again, we only got to see one scene with Tim (the drawback of being on a show with multiple storylines, I guess), but it was a wonderful one, and I’m once again impressed by the way Tim and Felicity Huffman work together.
So what did you think? And do you think Laurie Ann was telling the truth about JD’s visit to their father? Let us know in the comments below!
Expect spoilers for the episode – so if you haven’t seen the episode yet and don’t want to be spoiled, you should avoid reading the comments on this post until you’ve watched it.
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As you said, once again an impressive scene between Tim and Felicity. I’m seriously worried for JD though. He seems to be falling apart more and more with each episode…
And overall, that was one particularly depressing episode… I’m not certain Sunday night is the best night for it LOL
This show is just heartbreaking in so many ways. Those telephone scenes between Luis and his wife…how do you ever tell a spouse about losing a child. As for the Hesbys, could Carson be more spineless! He’s like a small, scared child addressing a headmaster when speaking with his sister. I’m happy to see that at least Jeanette is starting to build a backbone. As for JD, I can see what lead him to the bottle – what a family! Was there liquor on his breath when he went to visit his father – quite possibly – but I think that Laurie Ann is just using that as an excuse. I get the impression that there is often liquor on JD’s breath and she uses his “weakness” at her convenience.
We haven’t been told why the Hesby siblings’ father is ill, but given how the themes of family and addiction are so prevalent in this story, I wonder if there is a genetic component to JD’s alcoholism that no one wants to acknowledge. Laurie Ann calling her brother “a drunk” is a flippant way to dismiss JD’s concerns about the family business and feelings about his father which, despite his addiction, are valid and desperately need to be addressed. JD seems as helpless and alone as Coy, except for the fact that he, at least, has Jeannette. (Whether or not Jeannette can help him remains to be seen, although that’s not really the point of the story). Carson is a pathetic excuse for manhood, but maybe I’m not being fair–JD uses alcohol to numb the pain of being at the mercy of his sister and the family business, and maybe Carson, on some level, is just trying to survive.
Meanwhile, just give Benito Martinez, who plays Luis, the Emmy now. The palpable change his character has undergone since the first episode is simply breathtaking. Luis is an outsider, a man of education and means, who has been rudely awakened to the fact that this dark underbelly of American agribusiness is very real for Latin migrant farm workers, and that their lives have no value, even as it remains hidden from most of America, and probably most of Mexico too.
This is the first season of American Crime that I’ve watched, but it won’t be the last. If the first two seasons were this good…it is easily one of the most important and relevant series on television. The writing, acting, direction, production is of an extraordinarily high and courageous standard. This story is painfully straightforward, yet painfully complex. This is not escapist fun, and it’s not meant to be mere entertainment. It’s meant to wake viewers the hell up…if it isn’t already preaching to the choir. Sunday night might not be the night for this kind of programming, but no night is the right night for this kind of programming if ratings is all that matters.
I should not have said “Mexico”–American farmers employ migrant workers from several Latin and Asian countries.