‘Kin’ Recap: ‘Episode 3’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘Kin’.
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Over the course of the past couple of weeks, we’ve talked at length about how the AMC+ series, Kin, is turning the crime drama upside down and with good reason. For the first two episodes of this series have done a phenomenal job of shattering just about every single trope that exists within the genre, providing the audience with a story that is both moving and uncomfortable and painfully realistic. Since the emotional responses we’ve seen from the Kinsella family regarding the painful experiences they’re currently going through feel oddly organic and relatable and that same realism has allowed for us to understand their need for revenge against Caolon Moore, since there is no other way to find peace or justice in their particularly strange world. 

But while it has been quite incredible to enjoy a different kind of crime drama, one that is so dynamic and human, there is undoubtedly in the back of our minds… an expectation that the series has to eventually go by the book in some form or fashion. After all, that is what crime dramas do. But wouldn’t you know it? Writer Peter McKenna is refusing to let this series slip into anything traditional from this genre, as evidenced by the next episode in this harrowing journey. For when we catch up with the Kinsella clan in ‘Episode 3’, they’re preparing to lay Jamie to rest and that alone… shatters all kinds of tropes in the genre. Because there should be nothing but fury and discussions of a level of revenge that will lay waste to the Cunningham empire. But instead, there is nothing but what the rest of us experience when a loved one dies: hard sorrow and grief and regret. 

In fact, it is Amanda that leads the way on those elements. Because for the first time since we’ve met her, she seems quite eager to isolate herself from the life of crime she’s surrounded by. Even going so far as to ask that a great deal of the crew not attend her son’s funeral. Not out of cruelty, but out of the hopes of having a normal funeral for her boy. A move that you just don’t see in this genre in the slightest, since the loyal always surround the top brass in these stories, but that need for humanity and a raw connection with this moment supersedes that for Amanda and sadly, she doesn’t completely get her wish. For Eamon Cunningham swings by to pay his last respects, reminding her of the cruelty that surrounds her and that in turn, only solidifies her decision to exact revenge, on this important day no less.

For she and Jimmy realize that now is the perfect time to strike, since Moore and everyone else involved in Jamie's death will be of the belief that the Kinsella family will retire to their homes to grieve, giving them license to move about freely. Which puts Jimmy and Michael on the job to hunt down Caolon and teach him a lesson and even this seemingly traditional moment… finds a way to go deeper and shun what’s come before it. A feat that this sequence accomplishes, by showing us that ending the life of a man, regardless of what he has done, isn’t an easy or simple task. For it sent Michael’s heart racing and triggered his uncomfortable stress response, but despite being on the edge of blacking out, he did finish the job and bring justice to his family and in proper fashion for this show… that too came with unique consequences.

Such as the fact that the family is now on edge, for Cunningham knows what happened and he has declared war on the Kinsella family. Which forced Frank to scramble to protect their assets and well, what comes next is anyone’s guess. For an unconventional crime drama will undoubtedly bring forth an unconventional gangland war. But while we wait to endure the stress of Eamon Cunningham’s fury, we can bask in the wonder of a downright incredible tale. Because this one really did offer up some raw emotion and powerful humanity and it helped us to truly understand the family’s desperation and need for justice and that in turn, leaves the viewer in a dark place. Since we are now fully aware of the fact that these are decent people that have made hard choices in life, the kind that they will now regret in the weeks ahead... as war and suffering begins to surround them. Until next time.

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