Review: Fugget About It “Casino Loyale”

Fugget About It follows the life of former mob boss, Jimmy Falcone. When Jimmy finds out that the mob wants to whack his Uncle Cheech, Jimmy whacks his boss and prosecutes against members of his mob. Now Jimmy Falcone lives by a new name, Jimmy MacDougal. He along with his family have been placed in witness protection. Their new home? Regina, Saskatchewan.

In “Casino Loyale” Jimmy opens his own casino to help Regina’s economy, but it doesn’t prove to be healthy for his marriage. Meanwhile, after a misunderstanding, Petey is accepted by the popular kids at school.

Casino Loyale was an episode about self-identification. Trying to fit the mold we want others to see ourselves as. Jimmy is reminded of the power that he had in his old life and strives to get some of that back. Petey gets a taste of what it’s like to be accepted by the popular kids and tries anything to hold on to that.

Last night’s episode was pretty middle of the road. Nothing particularly engaging happened with the characters and their stories, but the jokes and dialogue were sharp. Sometimes the stories can be kind of predictable, but the jokes are always out of left field. You never know exactly where a joke is headed.

Jimmy’s story started out as an attempt to reclaim some of the glory from his old life, but evolved into a power struggle between Cookie and himself. To be honest, the story was more interesting in the first act. Jimmy trying to break the shackles of his new life and strive for something more leaves more room for outcomes. When the story becomes a run-of-the-mill husband taking wife for granted situation, you can probably guess the ending of the episode with a large margin of success.

Petey’s story this episode was a bit more interesting. It has a strange incestuous theme to it that appears to fly under the radar, but comes back in full force at the end of the episode to deliver a powerful ending. The story placed Petey into a situation where he didn’t have all the answers. Usually the smartest character on the show, we see his character really struggling this week. Typical social norms were frequently lost on him and he didn’t quite fully grasp what was happening around him.

Overall, this was a pretty decent episode. The main story with Jimmy fell a little flat somewhere in the second act, but Petey’s story kept everything afloat all the way through. This may be the first episode this season where I’ve preferred the b-story over the main, so that’s an interesting change of pace. It shows commitment to having a cast of well-rounded characters instead of just having a few really good ones.