“The day Barry lets you fight Lights, is the day he loses his golden goose.” – Mrs. Death Row
Paradise must be paved and yellow lines are painted, ‘cuz I certainly didn’t know what I had until it was gone. I did a lot of bellyaching over the past couple of weeks regarding Ed Romeo’s hijacking of Lights Out, but I didn’t stop to consider what the show would be like without him. The Romeo character wasn’t perfect, nor was Walker’s performance, but boy, the world of Lights Out was way more interesting with him in it.
Without Ed (Eamonn Walker), the show settles back into a tired “will he or won’t he” holding pattern. Lights (Holt McCallany) needs some more time to recover from his scissor injury before he fights Death Row (Billy Brown) and pushes Barry (Reg E. Cathey) for a postponement. However, contracts have been signed, the venue has been reserved and the television networks have cleared space on their line-ups for the fight. If Lights backs out, he will owe a hefty sum in penalties. He goes hat in hand to Death Row and asks him to put some pressure on Barry, but Richard isn’t interested in helping Lights. “I don’t owe you nothin’!” Death Row says.
Things get more complicated when Lights learns that Death Row is planning to retire after his next bout, whether he fights Lights or another challenger. The implication is that Lights needs to shit or get off the pot. He starts a drug regimen, administered by Hal Brennan’s shady doctor brother, to speed his recovery.
“Cut Men” climaxes with a confrontation between Lights and Death Row in front of a fancy restaurant. The two come to blows and eventually go flying through the eatery’s plate glass windows. Death Row is so enraged that he decides to scrap the idea of fighting anyone but Lights. He wants revenge and won’t retire until he gets another shot at Patrick in the ring.
The episode features a host of B and C plots — none of which interested me in the least. There are a handful of scenes in which Lights is popping pills, so don’t be shocked if a drug dependency subplot is on the horizon. One of Theresa’s med school professors arrives on the scene and there are hints that he might have a bit of a crush on the future Dr. Leary. Hal Brennan (Bill Irwin) resurfaces, with Lights’ sister Margaret (Elizabeth Marvel) on his arm. Lights is obviously none too pleased. “You might be in bed with her, but that’s not going to help you get in bed with me,” he warns. We get a few more scenes with Death Row’s wife, but unfortunately, she’s just as boring as Lights’ wife.
With only a few episodes left, Lights Out really needs to bring the heat if it wants any chance of a renewal. I can’t imagine the show bringing on any new characters (a la Ed Romeo) this late in the game, so let’s hope they are able to manufacture some drama with what they already have.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.