‘Lopez vs Lopez’ Recap: ‘Lopez vs Raider Nation’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

LOPEZ VS LOPEZ -- "Lopez vs Raider Nation" Episode 205 -- Pictured: (l-r) Al Madrigal as Oscar, George Lopez as George, Momo Rodriguez as Momo, Moises Chavez as Raul -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Lopez vs Lopez’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Often times, stories that focus on addiction and its recovery process, have a tendency to speed through the healing, and understandably so. Simply because, a vast majority of us don’t understand what goes into coming back from years of addiction… so it is deemed best that a story focus upon the simple aspects of healing and how we make peace with addiction over anything else. All so we find inspiration and perhaps are not confused by too much detail. Which while noble in nature, does the story and the viewer a disservice. Because that route does in fact, detract from the hard realities of recovery, the kind that people do need to take part in, so they can face them bravely and handle them with a measure of confidence and that is why this week’s episode of Lopez vs Lopez is of note.

Simply because ‘Lopez vs Raider Nation’ explored how addiction causes great harm and how much work has to go into repairing the damage it brought forth in a person’s life, and it accomplished such feats… by having George work hard on his eighth step. Which in the world of the Twelve Step Program, involves offering amends to those who suffered the most harm during one’s darkest hours with addiction, and George was tearing all over town to offer those apologies up, and was happy over the fact that he was making peace with his sordid and painful past. But there was one individual who was left out of the apology tour and that bothered Oscar to no end.

Because he was there for some of George’s worst moments, and even took the fall for one of them so George would be okay, and it deeply wounded him that George had not apologized for that. So… he came up with a plan to make it happen. Wherein he would bring George, Momo, and Raul to the Raiders/Chargers game, where he took the fall for his hermano, to prompt George to make amends. But that of course, didn’t work and Oscar was deeply wounded over how little George recalled of that moment, and how he now blamed Oscar for everything. Which in turn, prompted Momo to fill George in on everything that concerned Oscar along with the truth about how that moment went down. Which gave George pause and helped him to understand the real damage his actions caused and how much more work he had to do to properly offer amends, since his memory had a bit of fog, and well… to start that process… he did right by Oscar in one epic manner. 

A plot that truly presented in a very raw manner, the impact of substance abuse and how hard the road to recovery can be. Since the bigger picture isn’t always present and that requires more work to make things right. Which is the kind of frank and wondrous explorations we have come to expect from this show and while this was going on, a secret was revealed back home. Because Mayan had concerns about how much time her mom was spending with Quinten, and that prompted her to swing by mom’s place, with Quinten, to discuss the need for Rosie to return to the dating game. But… surprise, surprise… Mayan and Quinten were met at the door by Rosie’s new beau, and that meant Rosie was on the spot and had to explain why she was keeping this a secret from everyone. As it turned out, it was to protect her daughter. To make sure the right man had the honor of meeting her, which was a very sweet sequence to see play out, one that did bring some solid laughs.

Granted, so did George’s story since the whole Raiders game and guest appearance from Marshawn Lynch made for some memorable moments. But laughs aside, this was a brilliant episode through and through, and it truly offered up some incredible observations and moments revolving around the theme at hand. The kind we honestly don’t see in this type of show since sitcoms are all about the funny. But this series has figured out how to add real depth into the mix and for its efforts… people in need of guidance on such matters have it after this episode, and those unsure of how to support someone in recovery are aware now of the honesty it requires and that really does make this an amazing show through and through, one that is as much about life as it is about the laughs. Until next time.

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LOPEZ VS LOPEZ -- "Lopez vs Raider Nation" Episode 205 -- Pictured: (l-r) Marshawn Lynch as Himself, George Lopez as George, Jim Plunkett as Himself -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/NBC)

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