'Feed the Beast' Recap: 'Pilot Light' / 'Father of the Year'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Second chances are rare in this life. We usually only get one great opportunity to do things right before the moment passes and we are forced to move on and live with how a particular decision went. It's why the second chance is celebrated in our culture, because it provides us with one more shot to set things right and for the most part, fiction as a whole often focuses on the wonder and the journey that comes with being given that second opportunity to repair the damage we did so long ago.

​But what happens if we are granted a second chance...and there's a good chance we are going to screw it up? It's a simple but loaded question that AMC has decided to explore in depth with its brand new series, Feed the Beast. This particular tale introduces us to two men, Dion Patras and Tommy Moran who have both seen better days. Once close friends, this pair worked in a restaurant as a chef and sommelier respectively with Tommy's wife Rie before tragedy struck. Rie passed away in a hit and run accident leaving Tommy to raise their traumatized son alone shortly after Dion burned down the restaurant they worked at while high on cocaine.  

The act puts Dion in prison, and the loss of Rie sends Tommy into a deep depression where his only comfort comes from the bottom of a wine bottle. But after spending eight months in prison, Dion is free and ready to leave the country because as it turns out, the restaurant he burned down belonged to the mob, and they want financial restitution for what they have lost. It puts Dion in one tough position, but one that might benefit he and Tommy in ways they could have never imagines since Dion is ready to follow through on a idea long thought forgotten...it's time to open their own restaurant, in the heart of the Bronx so Dion can pay back his debts and live the life he has always dreamed of. ​

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That is in essence, the grand setup that Feed the Beast spends its two first episodes putting together and while at first that plot seems pretty cookie cutter and by the numbers, it's the tiny nuances that make this show worth watching. As mentioned before, this is indeed a story about second chances, filled with incredible and rich characters and well...they seem to screw it up as they go along since Dion's heart is in the right place, but his mob ties and the secrets he hides from his friend make his attempt to live the dream a dangerous one to say the least, but the sheer fact that he is trying his best to get his life back on track and find a way to get the ends to justify the means is a noble quest to say the least, and speaks to what kind of man Dion really is. 

But Dion is not the only man looking for a second chance, Tommy is a man floating through life without purpose or direction since the loss of his wife. His alcoholism is presented in a frank and terrifying fashion since we are witness to him drinking on the job, and drinking pretty much every single chance he gets. The damage done to his life has made him morose on many levels but the moment the restaurant comes back into play Tommy is suddenly able to find focus once again, making for an incredible transformation on screen. But he too is screwing things up along the way by letting his fear overcome him as often as possible and his protective nature may also eventually be his undoing.  

Either way, this is already an intriguing show to watch because David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess are simply magical to watch on screen together and their ability to sell these flawed characters, along with the show giving us just enough about the many mistakes these men have made along the way are enough to keep your attention the whole way through. My only complaint thus far is that it took two episodes to truly put together a plot that could have been assembled in a single one, and the slow burn of this story over ten episodes could possibly come back to bite it in the rear, but this is a show with serious potential to become a powerhouse drama, so the only wise thing to do is tune in again and see if it rises above its simple plot in order to serve up a masterful story about overcoming loss and past mistakes. Until next time. 

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