‘BMF’ Recap: ‘Runnin’ on E’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 204 of ‘BMF’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular aspect of crime dramas that are told from the perspective of the criminal, that is genuinely fascinating, is how much time they dedicate to the parallels and contrasts between the everyday world and the criminal world. Because one would think that a story such as this would want to focus on the crime. But in reality, these stories want us to wake up to the fact that two worlds exist and that we need to recognize the similarities, so we stop vilifying the dark one and step in and help, so it will cease to exist. Which these stories hammer home by showing us the most relatable examples possible. For instance, people in both worlds, come to know what failure is all about from a career standpoint. Since criminals and everyday folks alike, stumble and fall in their endeavors and learn plenty from it, however… it is the lessons and the results of that failure, that are truly of note. 
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Because when people fail in the everyday world, they have safety nets to help them with their mistakes, the kind that allows for them to quietly regroup and learn from what went wrong so they can quickly start over again or pick up where they left off with minimal worry about their future and their livelihood. But in the criminal world, failure is a whole different ball game. Because it can cost someone everything for certain if the failure is hard enough, even their lives, and there is no safety net to speak of. There is just reacting on the fly and learning on the fly, so that such mistakes never happen again. If anything, the dark lessons that come with failure in the criminal side of the world are top of mind today, simply because Terry and Meech were forced to learn them and deal with failure, in the next episode of BMF on STARZ.

For when we caught up with the Flenory brothers in ‘Runnin’ on E’, they were reeling from recent events. For the surprise return of Lamar and the fact that he was left for dead instead of removed… brought forth failure to their business. Because Meech was in hiding while healing to keep him safe from Lamar and his madness and with him out of commission, the business basically died. Not to mention, BMF members were beginning to step away. Because there was no weight to throw around town, and they were struggling with no money coming in. Plus, K-9 was all over the fact that some of his best movers were MIA and that pushed Terry to try and react in the moment and see if he couldn’t prop the business up while his brother was down.

That led to some unique deals and more failure as well. Since the police were watching Terry closely and quickly caught onto his plan to move new weight, which led to Denise’s arrest since she was working to help out with this support plan. Which more or less brought the business to its knees and put Terry and Meech in a precarious place. Because not only was Lamar hunting them, but they owed several houses in Detroit and that would mean trouble or death, and well… that was… the perfect way to explore the contrast between our world and the criminal world regarding failure. Since there was no chance to regroup, no safety net for these young men. Just failure, hard and painful failure… the kind that forced them to run to save their lives and take a breath to try and learn and regroup and that made for one powerful episode. 

One that really did a great job of reminding us of the dangers of this business and how hard it is to find success in such a world. Mainly because everyone is pulling for something in the life, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. Plus, it gently hammered home that our desire to see this world as the lowest of the low or a turn against who we are, instead of a failure of the system, helps it persist and that we could change it. But… all that aside… this story has taken a fascinating and bold turn. Simply because, seeing failure in a drug kingpin story is rare, and this is something that likely could have been left out to produce a different dramatic effect. But keeping it here, keeps this story grounded in realism and keeps us glued to it. Since we simply must know how this duo overcame stunning adversity to build the empire that fascinates us, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out as season two of this brilliant and dynamic series, continues along. Until next time.  

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