"Blunt Talk" Recap: "Goodnight, My Someone"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Week by week, we are seeing something special happen on Blunt Talk, the fact that Walter Blunt is slowly putting his life back together and actually working to make it better after that little incident with the L.A.P.D. at the start the season and last night was perhaps Walter's biggest jump in the right direction. 

The truth is, "Goodnight, My Someone" turned out to be one of the first season's finest, putting on a display a vulnerability from Walter Blunt that only Patrick Stewart could pull off when his son Rafe (played by Patrick's real life son Daniel) comes to town. The first born son of Walter as it turns out, is a champion boxer who has arrived home to step in as a replacement fighter and Walter could not be happier that his son is back in town.

In fact his excitement over Rafe's brief homecoming is so great that his arrival in town becomes nothing short of an incredible event. Walter brings him to work to spend the day with dear old dad and even throws him a big time dinner at the house with the staff and his little brother Bertie. Of course it seems like everything is too good to be true and it is. Rafe gets a little drunk and a little angry at dinner and well...after meeting Celia at the office and finding a little mutual attraction between the two of them ends up spending the night with her in Walter's guest bedroom where Rafe confesses that his father's pride for him is misguided since Rafe has come to town to lose in the fight. He is no champion, just a guy who takes a dive to make some money. 

Of course Walter is unaware of this fact, which is unfortunate considering that he brings his entourage to the fight only to watch Rafe get pummeled in the first round of the bout. In fact Rafe gets smacked around so badly that Walter takes a few moments to try and motivate his son...who finally reveals his true intentions and self if you will, something that clearly shatters Walter internally and this was the moment of truth for Mister Blunt. Rather than self destruct, or perhaps fly off the handle like we might expect him to Walter instead...tells his son he loves him and is proud of him and it motivates Rafe to fight back. Rafe still loses, forcing him to flee town until things cool down with the money men, but not before saying his goodbyes and finally calling Walter...dad.

Earlier in this article I called this episode one of the finest of this debut season of this show and I absolutely mean it. This was the perfect mix of comedy, heart and character development that I've come to expect from this show. We've never seen Walter quite like this before, truly determined to set things right with his son and that moment where he tells Rafe he loves him...well that was just lovely. At the start of this show something like that would have been unheard of from Walter and here we are, finally seeing the man grow and love and do his best to be a good father, and well...that's one incredible payoff and it made me love this show even more. Until next time. 

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