Franklin & Bash Recap: Season 1, Episode 5, “You Can’t Take It
with You” (6/29/2011)
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Summary: Franklin & Bash takes on Greek tragedy this week in Episode 5 as Jared Franklin attempts to “kill” his father in the courtroom. Meanwhile, Peter Bash and Hanna Linden must prove a reality star is actually a good father, while Damien Karp attempts to suppress the dissemination of an embarrassing video. Dramalarity (Drama + Hilarity. Not the same as dramedy) ensues.
We’re coming off the best episode of Franklin & Bash this season has offered, so episode 5 has a lot
to live up to. TNT has really killed it with Franklin & Bash so far this summer, and part of the show’s
success comes from the parade of guest stars. This week we have Beau Bridges as
Jared’s father, Leonard Franklin, and Tom Arnold as reality star Ronny Streppi.
The episode opens with FnB playing “chair curling” just before they meet their
first clients, a father-daughter duo Duncan and Eileen Morrow. It turns out
that Duncan has Kirk Gibson’s uber-famous 1988 World Series home run ball, but
his sons are suing him for possession so they can sell it.
Check out last week’s recap.
We interviewed Claire Coffee, who plays Janie Ross on FnB. She said I'm her favorite internet boyfriend.
Even Terron Moore was stoked for FnB.
FnB go chat with the sons (Greg and Colin), and they quickly
realize that not only are the sons apathetic about the Los Angeles Dodgers,
their lawyer is incompetent and they should win easily in court. Bash reminds
Franklin not to succumb to hubris, as it doomed him in the junior high academic
decathlon, when Franklin incorrectly named Buffalo as the capital of New York.
Ouch.
We meet our second case of the show when Hanna Linden asks
for help with her case. She can’t handle Ronny Streppi—played by Tom Arnold—who’s
a reality star known as “Douchey Dad.” Bash agrees to help out so Franklin can
pursue the Kirk Gibson ball. After our team is split up, arch-nemesis Damien
Karp approaches FnB to ask for some help deleting something from the Infeld
Daniels server which Karp claims could damage his ambitions to become a judge.
FnB agree to help.
Franklin goes to court brimming with confidence… until Beau
Bridges walks in. Oh, SH*T! He’s Jared’s hot-shot lawyer father, Leonard
Franklin, and he’s a douchebag.
Back to the Man Cave, where Carmen and Pindar chat casually.
Damien Karp walks in and asks to see Pindar for help with his “problem.” It
turns out that Karp was filmed for a sleep study, but he chose to “relax”
himself beforehand. In other words, he jerked off on camera. Yikes!
Now we’re in court, with Franklin examining Duncan Morrow’s
son, Greg. It turns out that Greg doesn’t even know if the Dodgers made the
playoffs last year; he’s not a fan at all. The elder Franklin returns fire by
claiming that Duncan Morrow entered into a binding verbal agreement with his
sons when he tried to shut them up by telling them he would give them the ball
when they grew up and stopped arguing. It’s a setback for Franklin the Younger,
who loses his cool and begins bickering with his father. The judge tells him to
knock it off.
Douchey Dad is still douche, and he wants out of his
contract. Hanna Linden doesn’t like him, but they’re working through video
footage from the show to prove that he is inaccurately portrayed as a drunken
buffoon of a father.
Franklin’s renews his resolve with this setback, and in
court he examines the other son, Colin, and induces him and Greg to begin a
childish argument. Jared claims that this nullifies part of the verbal contract
his father said entitled the boys to the ball. Franklin thinks he’s won, but
outside the courtroom, we are treated to a TWIST!!!!! Duncan almost gets hit by
a bus… then he has a heart attack and dies. OH SH*T.
At Duncan’s funeral, Leonard tells Jared that he, Leonard,
is the executor of the estate, and therefore the boys will get the ball because
Duncan left no will. Jared is incensed.
The Douchey Dad case takes a turn when Perez prints a
picture of Ronny with “unidentified hottie” Hanna Linden. They’re trying to
attack him on all fronts. Hanna begins to have some sympathy for Ronny.
Where’s the ball? The Kirk Gibson home run ball has disappeared,
and Leonard believes Jared has it, so he convinces the judge to throw him in
jail for contempt of court. Duncan’s daughter, Eileen, calls Bash to tell him,
and she reveals that she buried the ball with Duncan. Leonard, in his infinite
douchebaggery, orders the grave to be dug up.
Back to the Damien Karp masturbation video. Instead of
erasing it, Pindar accidentally sends it to several circuit judges! OH SH*T.
The two Franklins go to the cemetery to dig up Duncan Morrow’s
grave. We discover that while Jared was at the Kirk Gibson game with his
father, they left in the seventh inning because Leonard went to see his
girlfriend. He was cheating! But wait, there’s a letter in the box with the
ball. Let’s take it to the judge to read it.
Duncan was a prescient man; the letter says that if his
grave was exhumed, he would bequeath the ball to any of his children who did
not have a hand in the disinterment. Eileen and Jared win! In your face, Dad!
In the Ronny Streppi case, Bash and Linden show a video
which reveals the show’s producer saying nasty things about Ronny. Ronny
becomes so enraged that he punches the producer in court. While he earns
himself six months of probation, he also triggers a nullification clause in the
contract which indicates that the waiver he signed is void if he is charged
with assault. Problem solved.
The elder Franklin approaches his son and says he’ll see him
in the appeal. Stanton Infeld steps in with some choice words for Leonard; it
turns out the two are familiar with each other. Jared Franklin appreciates the
fact that Infeld hired him for his own abilities, not for his name.
All’s well in the land of FnB. The boys have some hot dogs,
and Bash hypothesizes that Infeld was banging Franklin’s mom, which would
explain the animosity between Stanton and Leonard. Ugh, Franklin doesn’t even
want to consider the possibility. Pan out with a wide overhead shot.
SumOlogy: Another
solid episode of Franklin & Bash
which uses family to tackle Greek themes. While it wasn’t the strongest episode
of the season, the show continues to entertain, and Jared Franklin is truly a
star.
Grade: 7.1/10
Leftovers
-Reed Diamond, who plays Damien Karp, is REALLY good. He
walks the line between douchebag and funny beautifully.
-Franklin and Bash are working too hard. We need them to
play jusssssst a bit more.
-This show kills us with their twists. Duncan Morrow dying
outside of the courtroom after narrowly avoiding getting hit by a bus? Classic.
-Greek tragedy was mentioned specifically and the themes of
hubris and father-son struggles dominated this episode. If you thought the show
had run away from its erudite audience, you were wrong.
-Tom Arnold! Awesome.
-When is Peter going to confront Janie Ross? And when is
Franklin going to unleash his Mick Jagger libido on the world? More Man Cave
parties, please!
-We discover that Damien Karp is hung like a horse.
-“Franklin and Bash are away!” –“Franklin and Bash IS away; we’re a team!”
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