Review:  Boss – Season 1, Episode 5 – “Remembered”

Air date: Friday, November 18 at 10pm ET/PT on Starz

Rating: ★★★★★

“Who’s fucking me,” Mayor Kane (Kelsey Grammer) asks aide Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan).  Someone has made public a document implicating Kane as having authorized a carcinogen trichloroethylene dump in Bensenville. “Remembered” is all about how Team Kane handles a political crisis while trying to unveil who the culprit behind the leak is. Although I consider myself savvy in news media coverage, I was fascinated with this episode’s case study in how a political crisis is diffused via the control and manipulation of media and public perception.

Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan) and Kitty O’Neil (Kathleen Robertson) handle Kane's latest political crisis from their war room.

Stone is the spin guru of the three-pronged approach Team Kane is to follow. Donovan excels in portraying Stone as a credible strategist in the face of adversity as he perfectly showcases the calmness and methodical nature of his character.  As the scandal heats up, Team Kane demonstrates their high level of competence as they efficiently mobilize people:  Kitty calls upon her media contacts to plant stories, while Stone orchestrates an O’Hare Airport bag handler’s union strike as a diversion tactic.  The effective use of a whiteboard to track the influence of five key media outlets to drive the focus away from Kane and Chicago to Bensenville is a clever storytelling and visual timeline device.  As these developments unveil, Chicagoans will recognize former news anchor Diann Burns as Fox reporter Jane Hayes.

Music and visuals are used to alert us to the worsening of Kane’s symptoms as his paranoia and hallucinations increase. This leads to my two favorite scenes of “Remembered.” One of Kitty’s minions discovers Sam Miller (Troy Garity) is the whistle-blower blogger known as “Chump Bait” and as she reports this to Kane, her loyalty is called into question. The conversation unfolds like a showdown at the OK corral and what is not being said is more important than what is. I like the scenes in which Kitty’s toughness and resilience are showcased — Robertson does a great job in showing her character doesn’t lose an ounce of coolness to her intimidating boss.  The other scene is one of the most hilarious sequences this season. I have to commend Ricardo Gutierrez for his superb portrayal of the shocked and disgusted Alderman Lalo Mata who has to deal with Kane’s poor restroom manners.

Chicago Sentinel reporter Sam Miller (Troy Garity) is determined to investigate the trichloroethylene dump scandal to the last consequences.

Kane’s use of fear and intimidation is evidenced in how former allies and partners proactively come to assure him they didn’t sell him out. But no one states the truth openly: Kane is in an extremely vulnerable position. Even Chicago Sentinel big wig editor Bob Bentley (David Pasquesi) refuses to help Kane in dealing with Sam Miller.  Kane’s next step is to reach out directly to Miller and I’m sad to say I found Garity’s performance clichéd and repetitive, especially when Miller defies Kane’s wishes. I would like him to portray his character as more than an irreverent and cynical reporter.

Since the beginning of the series I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard Kane is a bad and much hated man; in “Remembered,” we actually get to see how much. When Kane nearly strangles his father-in-law’s caretaker, Debra Whitehead (Jennifer Mudge), the monster within him is nearly out in full force. Grammer’s acting is stellar and for a moment, I thought he was going to kill her. The viciousness and anger in his expressions are realistic and scary.  Seeing a room full of Kane foes gathering at Alderman Ross’ (James Vincent Meredith) home isn’t shocking and I’m not surprised to find Kane’s choice for Governor, Ben Zajak (Jeff Hephner), among the attendees. Ross appears to be Stone’s equivalent in the anti-Kane camp and his success will be dependent on whether he can be as visionary and effective as Stone.

Kane's (Kelsey Grammer) symptoms worsen as he's desperate to find who is behind the leak.

The only thing going well for Kane is his reconciliation with his daughter Emma (Hannah Ware) and he shows his most human and vulnerable state when he is with her.  And does anyone think the relationship between her and Darius Morrison (Rotimi Akinosho), the drug dealer with a heart of gold, is a bust?

It’s cute to see the puppy love demeanor Darius has towards Emma. His mannerisms tell us he’s really taken by her but does anyone else think her abstract speech about her past (which I took to be part of her counseling sessions) as they lie in bed is as boring as I do?  When Darius replies, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I’m relieved to see him laughing because I am too!  I find this scene absurd and it doesn’t help my opinion of how forced this storyline seems. It gets even worse when Emma calls Darius out for not caring about the consequences of his drug selling – never mind she’s one of his customers – and the conversation ends up in another round of sex. This relationship’s shaky foundation is the weakest point of the episode and somehow, this mess is going to bite Kane in the rear.

Stone proves to be a genius as his plan works to perfection and Kane emerges as a hero just as Rosebud and Miller strike again. Dr. Gabriela Reyes (Carmen Roman) denounces her own participation in the sanitizing of a report that implicates Kane deeper into the trichloroethylene scandal. “Remembered” ends with this emerging crisis and a beautiful shot of Zajac overlooking Chicago as the group of Kane foes awaits his decision whether he’ll step down from the Governor’s race to instead run against Kane next year.

Will the ambitious Zajak take on this challenge?  I hope so, as a showdown between these two very different men should provide some great drama.

And who do you think Rosebud is?  In thinking about what Stone said, “It had to be someone close” and “someone with access and knowledge,” I’m suspicious of Kane’s wife Meredith (Connie Nielsen) as her passive aggressiveness concerns me. She clearly keeps secrets. The guilt she feels for what she and Kane have done to her father also tips the scales for me. It’s obvious Kane doesn’t trust her and it must be for a good reason.  Things are going to get ugly for Kane and I anticipate he’s going to put up a good fight.

Tune in to Boss Fridays at 10pm ET/PT on Starz. For more on the show, visit http://www.starz.com/originals/Boss.

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