SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for The Westies Season 1, Episode 7.
The Westies Season 1, Episode 7 is the next-to-last episode of the MGM+ series’ season. “A Boy Made of Trouble” thus finally gets to some of the ideas that have been percolating all along. Yet the show still doesn’t go all the way; is it saving its best moments for last, or buying real estate for Season 2?
Let’s be clear: a second season of the latest Chris Brancato crime epic is not official. But it’s also not off the table, and as Season 1 pulls its punches one more time, it begs the question of if Brancato and co-creator Michael Panes are playing the long game and not wanting to get rid of characters they would need in the future. The biggest loss in Episode 7 is Jimmy’s friend Sean, executed on the orders of Eamon Sweeney, and viewers will know that Sean isn’t long for the world from the pre-credits scene in which he gets arrested by an undercover cop.
“A Boy Made of Trouble” is largely focused on what’s to be done about Sean, and the audience has heard this one before. Jimmy argues that Sean still has value, the same as he did with Mickey Flanagan. Glenn Keenan and Birdie Polk want to flip Sean against everyone else, just like they tried to do with both of Sweeney’s lieutenants. (It’s worth correcting that contrary to appearances at the end of Episode 6, Sullivan isn’t dead, but he is in a coma after the beatdown Keenan put on him.) There are parts of this episode that just feel like going through the motions, and that’s why this season as a whole is shy of greatness. The momentum of the early hours has slowed way down.
But there are some important beats that materialize anyway. First and foremost, Jimmy Roarke finally melts down on Sweeney. That’s a scene that could have happened episodes ago, yet Tom Brittney is fantastic when he gets to cut loose, imbuing that moment with as much rage as it deserves. It ends with Jimmy pulling a gun on Sweeney—but once again, he (and the writers) don’t pull the trigger. This is a decision point: if The Westies is just telling a limited story, it’s a big miss not to fire that gun. As fabulous as J.K. Simmons is (and he is), Jimmy has every reason to take that shot, and with only one episode remaining, the character’s death won’t doom the show. Yet if there’s any idea about The Westies Season 2, then there’s a huge off-screen reason to spare Sweeney’s life: because the producers will want Simmons back for next year. Viewed in isolation, Jimmy walking away from Sweeney feels like a moment where he’s saying he’s the better man for not choosing violence, but it also feels like a letdown because he’s not really getting anything done.
Elsewhere, Jimmy and his girlfriend Bridget Walsh have a wonderful moment where she essentially says goodbye to him before she goes off to honeytrap the man who killed her family. This plotline has a real Keri Russell in The Americans vibe to it, and while it doesn’t get close to those heights, it does get Bridget to her own emotional end of the road. Plus, the show floats the idea that her ex-boyfriend Brendan Cahill is actually a mole within the IRA, which could be delicious if the writers have enough time left to do more with it than remind viewers Cahill is still carrying a torch for Bridget. His whole line about getting “points” for leading a mission to avenge her family’s deaths makes him sound like an overgrown high-schooler.
There’s also Mickey losing his mind when he realizes Erin isn’t going to stop working as a prostitute because he’s moved in with her. On one hand, fans can absolutely relate to his feelings; he’s been starry-eyed devoted to her from the jump. On the other, he brutally beats her latest client in another example of how dangerous Mickey is. “A Boy Made of Trouble” doesn’t give much indication of what role he’ll play in The Westies‘ season finale. He’ll be wherever Jimmy is, probably, but what’s his stake in how this all resolves beyond that friendship?
It’s great to see confrontations finally being had. These are the moments that have been simmering under the surface all along, and the actors are pulling them off pretty darn well. Yet once again The Westies leaves the audience wanting just a little bit more. The season finale could go for broke and pay off everything, or not. Episode 7 certainly sets up the dominoes; it’s up to the writers how many of them they want to knock down.
The Westies airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on MGM+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Courtesy of MGM+.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
