'Feed the Beast' Recap: 'Screw You, Randy'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

AMC's Feed the Beast is quickly becoming an intriguing television show for the most unlikely of reasons. In the short time that it has been on the air, it's done a phenomenal job of putting together intelligent and thought provoking thematic concepts that the characters explore through and through. The first two episodes took an in depth look at what a second chance really looks like when there's solid opportunity to screw it up while at the same time exploring the meaning of family and unity.

Last night's episode, 'Screw You, Randy', decided it was time to challenge Dion and Tommy further in their quest to open Thirio by taking an in depth look at the nit and grit of what it means to chase one's dream and how important that dream can be to others and well, this turned out to be one engrossing episode that one more allowed Jim Sturgess and David Schwimmer to shine and it managed to advance the plot at a breakneck pace, something that was sorely missing from the first two episodes. So with all that mind, how does a show go about analyzing the pursuit of a dream? By energizing your characters.

Because really, the highlight of this episode is Dion and the manic joy that came with finally being able to see Thirio come to life. Armed with $75k of start up money from Tommy's father, Dion basically went hog wild with the money, piecing together a wonderful kitchen, a top notch staff...and of course burning through the cash in the process which led to our darker side of the story, which we will get to in a moment. Because in the process of putting together the restaurant, Tommy managed to inspire Pilar to chase the dream as well since she volunteered to become Thirio's new manager. Granted this could be part of a push to become Tommy's new love as well, but in the here and the now the fact she is willing to do it for free and cares legitimately about expenses just goes to show how much the notion of Thirio is beginning to inspire others.

But, let's go back to the money for a moment because this is where the show delved a little deeper on the chase of the dream by asking our characters exactly how far they would go to make this dream happen and well, with their cash depleted thanks to Dion's spending spree, there was no money left for the fine wines they would need to pair with their outstanding dishes. This led Dion to head off on a mission to simply steal it from Tommy's old boss and while one would expect Tommy to not go along with this, once all was said and done, he was willing to go that extra mile and let whatever happens, happen and now we know that both these men are willing to do whatever it takes to see Thirio come to life and well, let's be honest...it's only a matter of time before this comes back to haunt them. 

Yet while this episode focused squarely on the pursuit of the dream, it gave us quite the grand hint of how difficult it will also be for these two men to continue to achieve it seeing as to how the mob is still going to be an ongoing issue since ten grand of that startup money went to The Tooth Fairy and he forced Dion to keep a ton of cocaine hidden away for a Mob rainy day; and to top it all off, the contract that Pilar warned Dion about truly is a deal with the devil when all is said and done. Because while Tommy's father Aidan sees the potential of Thirio, he clearly doesn't trust either of them to make it successful since he hired a Chef, effectively demoting Dion in the process. Either way, this show is quickly growing on me and it should be interesting to see what kind of conflict Aidan's decision is about to bring about. Until next time.

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