‘Extended Family’ Recap: ‘The Consequences of Being Irish’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

EXTENDED FAMILY -- "The Consequences of Being Irish" Episode 112 -- Pictured: (l-r) Donald Faison as Trey, Abigail Spencer as Julia, Jon Cryer as Jim -- (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Twelve of ‘Extended Family’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
​
Over the course of the past couple of months, we’ve talked at length about the struggles that blended families face, and how best to overcome them, courtesy of the amazing NBC series, Extended Family. For this series has served as the guide to blended family life, and explored in great detail the many challenges multiple parents will face in raising their kids and getting along and navigating life’s challenges along the way, and that’s brought forth some revolutionary storytelling. The kind that continues to go to new places every single week to keep things interesting, and this week’s episode is no exception to that truth.

Because ‘The Consequences of Being Irish’ took the time to move the family forward by pondering upon how the new member of the family truly becomes part of the unit and what comes next when that happens, and it explored such matters by having Jim do something that every parent must do in life… teach their children about their heritage. Which for the Kearney family, involved a grandiose lesson on their Irish heritage, and what it actually meant for them to be Irish and well, Jim’s passion in having the kids understand their origins and their lineage, prompted Trey to lean on Jim for something big.

After all, being the owner of the Boston Celtics meant that respect had to be paid to Irish culture during March and well, since Jim knew his stuff and harbored hard convictions in expressing it right, this duo quickly came to an understanding that Jim could do right by the Celtics and offer education regarding Irish culture during a gala that Trey was hosting to celebrate the club. Which at first, looked to be steeped in disaster. Because Jim showed the folks in attendance, everything about Irish history via virtual reality. Even the scary, ugly stuff. Which brought about a panic and the potential disaster in question. But it turned out that it was the right decision and really offered up incredible education to the crowd. To the point where money was injected into the club and what Jim started.

All of which spoke to the importance of being honest about the past and showcasing the truth about it often. So, people can really understand how far we’ve come and how far we need to go. But that lesson aside, make no mistake about it… Jim and Trey saw one another in a different light in this tale… as family. Complete with seamless thinking and movement and flow, and well, their actions here and the suddenness of this shift, spoke to how, there will come a day when a common ground is found. One that both believe in and bond over and when that happens, an extended family just becomes a family, and that will occur quickly because of the importance of the big moment that serves as the catalyst, and what follows is wonder.

Because now, everyone will work together and offer help in a seamless manner that inspires and offers a sense of real safety. Because now everyone has everyone’s back, and no one is a stranger and that made for another delightful and amazing tale from this series. One that truly did offer up another important lesson about blended family life, and a special one at that. Since now we know, eventually the road bumps go away, and synergy comes into play, provided we follow the other lessons present here, and well… this sense of peace could not have come at a better time. For the season one finale of the show awaits, and that synergy could be used to help wrap up one chapter in this family’s story, to prepare for the next one. Until next time.

---

Watch ‘Extended Family’

Powered by JustWatch