“We’re going to do whatever we have to do, lie, cheat, steal. I don’t give a s—. We just have to survive now.” – Johnny
I have been pretty critical of Lights Out in previous reviews, but it should be noted that for the most part the first two episodes of the show successfully avoided many of the cliches that often accompany any movie/show set in the world of boxing. Then there’s episode three, “The Shot.”
We made it through two whole hours (an hour and a half if you don’t include commercial breaks) without the single most common element in all of boxing entertainment: the training montage. The reason for this could have something to do with the fact that Lights Out, despite being about a boxer, didn’t really feature a whole lot of actual boxing in the first two episodes. Most of the in-ring action takes place in the realm of flashbacks. “The Shot” is all boxing, all the time as Lights (Holt McCallany) and his gym mates prepare a young fighter for a title shot.
Popular sports writer Bill Simmons, in a recent column for ESPN.com, compiled a list of cliched movie lines that are never actually heard in real life. The second item on his list goes a little something like this: “Is everything all right?” “Yes (fill in name) was just leaving.” Well, when it rains it pours. Not only does “The Shot” have a classic (read: hackneyed) training montage, but also a textbook example of a “He was just leaving.” Early in the episode, Lights’ rival Death Row Reynolds (Billy Brown) shows up at the Leary residence to talk a little smack. Lights’ youngest daughter, Katie (Lily Pilblad), approaches the pair and asks her father if everything is all right. Lights replies, “Mr. Reynolds was just leaving.” It doesn’t get much more cliched than that, does it, Simmons?
I have some other cliched lines that no one has ever actually said to add to the list, which I’ll get to in a second. Johnny (Pablo Schreiber) arranges the title shot for his fighter, Omar, with Death Row’s promoter, Barry K. Word (Reg E. Cathey). At first, Barry isn’t interested in letting Omar onto the card, but Johnny is persistent. He seduces Barry’s secretary to get the inside scoop, leading to the cliche I mentioned before. His opening line to the secretary involves a compliment about a picture of a little girl on her desk. The secretary responds by saying, “That’s my daughter, I’m a single mom.” What?! This is a guy you have never met, he says like five words to you, yet you let the “single mom” card slip out? No chance. The other line I would like to add to this list is “There’s only one thing you’ve got that I’m interested in.” Barry utters this cliche as a way of telling Johnny that the only way he is going to give Omar a title shot is if Johnny convinces Lights to fight Death Row again.
And really, that’s what all of the preamble is leading up to, right? Lights is going to fight Death Row, it’s just a matter of how long it takes to convince him. I’ll keep watching because (despite my barrage of criticism) Lights Out actually does have some redeeming qualities. It’s just that the show’s problems are easier to pick out.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.