Lights Out

My son and I are really enjoying this new series on FX.  The characters are well developed and the conflict is physical as well as emotional.  Some viewers will probably find their patience tested by the slower than normal plot advancement, but that's what needed to invest in and enrich the characters.

There have been some fights so far in these first four episodes, but the big ones are coming up.  I suspect that one of them will be next week, and Chandler and I are looking for it to it.

We really feel for the main character, Patrick Leary.  This guy is up against the wall on so many fronts that you can't help but feel for him.  Financially, he's ruined.  He can't trust his younger brother, who has been managing his money, and, I suspect, mismanaging it as well.  His relationship with his family is on the line, and tonight's episode pushed it one step over.

There was also a surprise twist at the very end that I had suspected but didn't really see coming.  Patrick has gotten totally boxed by everyone he's involved with.  His wife was kicked him out.  His brother has betrayed him.  The boxing promoter that he hates owns a piece of his next three fights.  The semi-relationship Patrick has been forced into with a local gangster is turning decidedly ugly.  And he's still broke.

When I was a kid, I enjoyed the Rocky movies a lot.  Sylvester Stallone was an awesome and tragic figure at times on the big screen.  However, those stories could no be no longer than 2 hours.  Lights Out is going to be 13 episodes this season, and it reads like one big story.  Every episode sets up the next, and just coming to this series in the middle isn't going to work very well.  This is one of those television series that you need to see from the very beginning.  Thankfully, you can get the episodes on Hulu and other web sites.

If you're a boxing fan, I think there's a lot about this series that you'll enjoy.  A lot of the behind-the-scenes boxing politics is explored, and there's a lot of drama within the family.  We still don't have all of Patrick's wife's story, but some of it is there and I think we're going to understand her a lot better in a few more episodes.

There are two relationships that I enjoy most in this series.  The first is the relationship between Patrick and his father, played by Stacy Keach in a role that he was born to play.  The second is between Patrick and his second daughter, who knows more about her father's medical condition in anyone else in the family.

I can't wait to see how everything resolves this season, though I'm pretty sure I can figure most of it out.  The final episode of this season is going to be a gut-wrencher.  I just hope that the show gets a green light for a second season.