Plot Synopsis:
When an early morning fire erupts in Gary's apartment, Gary is forced to flee with only a duffel and the clothes on his back. A shell-shocked Gary follows Cat to McGinty's, where we learn that McGinty's and the rest of an entire city block is about to be razed to make room for a parking lot. Chuck is morally offended that anyone would tear down a bar in Chicago, and he tries to rope Gary into a plan to find Mr. McGinty and get the bar back. Gary has no time, however - he has to stop a couple of kids from getting run over by a city bus.
The kids in question turn out to be residents of a foster home that is also slated to be torn down. Will, Laverne and Annie have decided that they are going to "help" their foster mother, Ms. Frawley, gather the money to pay for the lawyers they need to stop the closing of their home, but this "help" involves stealing tips from local restaurants and attempting to rob a bank -- which means Gary has to keep rescuing them from their own folly. Annoyed, Gary reads these kids the riot act, but when they tell him about their situation, he feels bad and agrees to talk to the developer in charge of the parking lot project, Barney Kadison.
In the meantime, Chuck tracks down a drunk Mr. McGinty at the park, pours gallons of coffee down McGinty's gullet, and convinces the former bar owner that he's been cheated. Together, Chuck and Mr. McGinty confront Kadison at his health club, but Kadison refuses to change his mind about the price he offered Mr. McGinty. Gary's own conversation with Kadison about the foster home is equally unsuccessful; indeed, Gary is dragged out bodily by Kadison's security. Kadison, it seems, has abandoned the concept of social responsibility in favor of embracing the "almighty dollar."
Events conspire to change Kadison's mind, however. Later, two men come into Kadison's office and proceed to collect their "bonuses." In other words, they start robbing Kadison blind -- and at gunpoint, no less. Annie - who has come to speak to Kadison herself - witnesses all of this take place. She tries to hide from the thugs, but she is ultimately captured. Upon seeing Annie, Kadison softens. He begs the thieves to let Annie go, but the men refuse. Fortunately, Gary rushes in just in time to stop this situation from taking a tragic turn.
This is when we learn that Kadison was once a charitable businessman and a good citizen who decided niceness was pointless the day his entire family died in a plane crash. Annie, whose own parents died as a result of that same plane crash, convinces Kadison that being "sad and mean" isn't going to bring his family back either. Kadison agrees to halt the parking lot project. He also offers McGinty the fair market value of his bar, and McGinty heads off to retirement in Arizona. Kadison then turns around and gives the bar to Gary and Chuck.
And it's a good thing, too, for throughout the entire episode, Cat has been trying to convince Gary to move into the loft above the bar. Gary is resistant -- up until he discovers an old newspaper, dated 1948, that reports that his apartment at the Blackstone has been gutted by fire before. Presumably, Lucius Snow also spent some time in the loft above McGinty's.
Overall: 6.5
Early Edition's season openers and closers - including this particular episode - are, generally speaking, not representative of the best the show can offer.
Writing: 5.0
It doesn't bother me that Annie and Kadison turn out to be victims of the same plane crash. Because Early Edition revolves around the notion that something benevolent is in charge of the universe (hence the show's appearance on evangelical and gospel music channels of late), it makes sense that Annie would be in the right place at the right time to be a part of Kadison's salvation. No - what bothers me about this script is not its concept, but its execution. Instead of showing us Kadison's pain, this episode lays it all out in a long and clumsy bit of exposition. Instead of dropping hints all along that Kadison was once involved in various philanthropic endeavors - I think it would've been easy enough, for example, to have a representative of one of those charities following Kadison around and begging him to return to the fold - the writers dump Gary's "research" on us at the very end. And the result is a conclusion that is, unfortunately, rather trite and unconvincing.
Acting: 7.5
The child actors are rather average, which means their performances can be hit or miss depending on the scene. I also don't think Alex Rocco (Kadison) completely overcomes the weakness of the script. On the other hand, Kyle and Fisher are still comic geniuses, so it's hard to dock the acting score too much. I especially love that moment - highlighted below - when Gary, now homeless, runs into Marissa and Chuck at McGinty's. Kyle's deer-in-the-headlights delivery there is hilariously adorable.
Message: 7.0
I'll give this episode credit for one thing, though: there is no assumption here that all businessmen are evil. Kadison's selfishness is explained by a particular tragic circumstance and not by his social class, which is a definite improvement over the usual narrative.
I also love the way Gary responds when that fire destroys his apartment and most of his possessions. It takes an incredibly enlightened person to worry only about shelter for the night and not about the things he lost -- and it takes an incredibly trusting person to conclude that he is simply "due for a change."
The Benevolent Hand:
As noted above, the fateful meeting of Annie and Kadison is certainly the work of the Benevolent Hand. Then there's Gary's acquisition of McGinty's, which just goes to show that God isn't going to burn Gary's apartment down without providing another option. Oh, and also? Boswell's an angel, which certainly explains a lot.
Highlights:
(After his apartment burns down, Gary walks into McGinty's with only his duffel bag and the clothes on his back.)
GARY: Chuck. Marissa.
MARISSA: Hey, Gary.
CHUCK: Hey, Gar, how ya doin'? Going on a trip?
GARY: Sort of. Suddenly I am homeless. (He looks shell-shocked.)
WAITRESS: How's that?
GARY: My apartment burned... down... with everything in it.
CHUCK: Are you all right?
GARY: (still in shock) Where am I gonna sleep tonight? (LOL! Aw. Poor Gary.)
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