Gimme the Honky-Tonk Blues
WILD CARDS – Season 2 Episode 2 – (limited spoilers) ⁓
Max and Cole
Cole (Giacomo Gianniotti) is having breakfast with his cat when a woman he doesn’t know (Naomi Simpson) tells him his scuppers need cleaning. He assures her that the boat never leaves the marina and that it’s not necessary, but she continues: “I used to do it for your brother Daniel,” she tells him. “Now it’s your home. Need to take care of it. Show it some love or it’ll rot from the inside. I’ll be by this weekend.” Then Cole gets a call from Chief Li (Terry Chen).
Naomi Simpson as Daria, whose warning of clogged scuppers might foretell difficulties to come.
Across town, Max (Vanessa Morgan) is visiting her dad (Jason Priestley) in prison. Both he and her sidekick Ricky (Fletcher Donovan) are upset at her for “going soft”, citing her return of the $33 million egg (see previous episode). Her father loans her a book called “The Art of the Grift” by Jonathan Ashford (a book Max studied when she was younger).
Ashford’s book is fictional, but might be a reference to an actual book — either “The Art of the Grift” by Dr. Diana Monea (a serious discussion of grifter techniques designed to help people figure out when someone they know might be being conned) or a novel of the same title by Jordan TD Plum about dueling master con men.
Rose Pruitt and her horse, Paul
The Police Commissioner’s mayoral campaign needs the endorsement of a prominent local family, so Max and Cole’s new case involves the attempted murder of the Pruitt’s very expensive horse. Rose Pruitt (Ally Sheedy) her son Shane (Dylan Sloane), and her daughter Callie (Miranda MacDougall), live on a large ranch that borders on the ranch of Mike Wyatt (Donnie Lucas) and his family. Once there was peace in the valley, but years ago a feud began. None of these people get along with any of the others, and they are all suspects.
Katie B
We are given clues to the solution of the mystery, and the first is the episode’s title, a variation on Sergio Leone‘s 1968 western “Once Upon a Time in the Old West“. Looking for someone with a scorpion carved into his or her boot heel, Max and Cole don fancy cowpoke attire and locate the ranch hands’ watering hole. Max gets everybody line-dancing, but after they find the guy with the scorpion heel things get much more complex.
The songs we hear at the honky-tonk are clues. First, the band plays Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain. (A reference to a different Twain happens when, after Cole loses sight of Max during a struggle, Max says: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”) The next song is Drive by The Cars. Both songs are performed by Katie B. The other four band members are not credited.
The case is resolved satisfactorily. At the end, Max is watching the video diary of the guy who wrote that book her father suggested she re-read. (Ricky has obtained this by unknown means.)
The uncredited fiddler
Jonathan Ashford (Martin Sheen) begins by saying: “I have accomplished what many say is the impossible. I got out while I was still ahead, and believe me, that sounds a lot easier than it was. It takes a great deal to trust your instinct and walk away from a sure thing when you know it’s too risky, or to turn your back on a person or a relationship, because that’s even riskier. Bottom line: I never got caught. My name is still a mystery, my whereabouts unknown, and I’ve managed to hang on to most of the wealth I’ve acquired over the years. I made it to the finish line, so to speak. I won the game. So how did I get here?…why am i here alone? Because if you’re as fortunate as I was to make your living in this business, there will be no Rosencrantz to your Guildenstern; no Holmes to your Watson. In the end, the only person you can count on is you, yourself, alone.”
Max stops watching the video at that point, making one wonder what Mr. Ashford’s name might actually be. Across town at the marina, Cole is reading a boat maintenance manual and eating the same kind of Chinese food Max is snacking on. They each consider phoning the other, and both decide not to.
* Last Updated 5 months ago ago