TV Show Review

TV Review: THE BRINK: Season 1, Episode 4: I’ll Never Be Batman [HBO]

Jack Black Pete Gardner Dorian Missick The Brink I'll Never Be Batman

HBO’s The Brink I’ll Never Be Batman TV Show Review. The Brink: Season 1, episode 4: I’ll Never Be Batman is a lightning paced romp of frantic ensuing cringe worthy disaster for Secretary of State Walter Larson (Tim Robbins) and Alex Talbot (Jack Black), both now in India while trying to appease General Raja’s (Bernard White) demands of an Ohio-class ballistic nuclear submarine and the even harder to come by membership to  Augusta National. Note that in reality the U.S. only carries fourteen of these subs in its arsenal. Raja isn’t getting one. Well, maybe.

Talbot tells him he can, refusing to renegotiate under his perceived duress.

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Walter isn’t letting a pesky kidney stone get in the way of discussing a border strategy with India’s Foreign Minister (Ajay Mehta) despite the unbearable situation he is experiencing. After his deal is done, he finally makes it to a hospital only to learn as he is about to go under that the deal will be sidelined. The Secretary is inexorable, blue in the face, and the more outrageous he acts the better it is for his satirical character, possibly inspired by a former liberal president. Ahem.

Delivering his best (and most offensive) line of the episode, possibly in the series so far, he comes out of his anesthesia. If you want to see unambiguously sexist Walter in the flesh, I’ll Never Be Batman is the episode to see. Oh, and his wife Joanne (Carla Gugino), now has a ball busting position at the Pentagon as a defense counsel.

Mixed feelings about Batman and Bruce Wayne who never have to come clean to a woman about their shared identity perplex Zeke on the aircraft carrier as he tries to construct his own paradoxical meaning of relationships, while Glenn offers some humorous moral support by stating the obvious. Juxtaposing these two is a special dynamic military parody that gives me the feeling the producers of The Brink are vying for a movie deal eventually. I wouldn’t be surprised if the series leads up to the capstone film with the star studded cast thriving in their comedic shoes.

This show is earnestly funny if you can get into the context which is a little more difficult than a film. The story is going to seem to plod along week to week, on pace, one baby step at a time, with a new curve ball in each episode. However, seeing more and more of these characters as they enable each other doesn’t appear to be weakening them, and despite some critical audience boredom with the consistency, the show is doing a fine job keeping its rung intact on the story ladder of a successful dramedy.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of The Brink below in the comments section. For more The Brink news, photos, reviews, and videos, visit our The Brink Page, subscribe by Email, “follow” us on TwitterTumblrGoogle+, or “like” us on Facebook for quick updates.

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Stephanie King

I am a meticulous writer. Story is my strong suit. I do not waste time on political "critique" or paranoid "undertones" that might have been an inspiration to a story writer, but clearly are not a main or secondary theme. I can identify high concept, main and sub theme(s), protagonists and antagonists, secondary character roles, the turning point, the key, the antagonist's story thrust, the spine, twelve sequences, the climax, the resolution, and most importantly, the goal of any film. I am aware of the act structure which can be from three to five acts, generally. Aristotle elaborates in his Poetics on Plato's Republic on act structure.
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