SPOILER ALERT AND WARNING: The following contains spoilers for American Hostage Season 1, Episode 4. It also contains discussion of suicide and pregnancy loss.
Episode 4 of American Hostage is the equivalent of two speeding trains colliding. “A Taste of Indianapolis” starts out as Fred Heckman’s story, and then becomes Tony Kiritsis’ story. Writer Mike Skerrett brings the two main characters of the MGM+ show together in the worst way, but only after the audience understands how they got there.
This is the most quiet episode of the series, having lost most of the chaotic energy that it started with, simply out of narrative necessity. Skerrett just replaces that with some good old fashioned vitriol as the script focuses on the pressure that the hostage situation is placing on Fred and Tony’s relationships. The first half of the episode is essentially a coup de etat at the radio station. Everyone is still upset that Fred chose protecting Tony over the big exclusive, and so they’re actively working against him. Jerry interrupts a phone call with Tony to overrule Fred and say they’ll let Tony take calls live on air. Ben leads a rebellion, issuing Fred an ultimatum: resign as news director (he claims temporarily) or the rest of the staff will quit. It’s all hard to watch, because it really illustrates how much of a circus the situation has become. Fred’s intent in tabling the story seems to be forgotten while Jerry sits in his office and laughs on the phone.
The result of all this is that the audience gets to see Jon Hamm in a very vulnerable way. “A Taste of Indianapolis” is Fred feeling isolated, unwanted, frustrated—the script breaks him down to a place where he can identify with Tony. And it’s not one incident; it’s a series of incidents, from the whole forced resignation, to hearing that Tony is getting immunity, to seeing kids looting apartments in Tony’s building. Hamm’s facial expressions say so much; this is one thing that American Hostage the TV series has that the source podcast doesn’t. Even though it’s the same actor playing the same role, that ability to see the emotion makes a world of difference.
Fred’s absence means that actor William Jackson Harper has more to do, as Ben appoints himself interim news director. There’s even a brief flashback to his first meeting with Fred seven years earlier to give additional context to their relationship. On the flip side, audiences meet another member of Tony’s family, as his brother Jimmie Kiritsis (played by Corner Gas alum Fred Ewanuick) is called in by the FBI; amusingly Jimmie is in the middle of running for sheriff. This is more effective than the introduction of Tony’s sister, simply because Jimmie actively interacts with Tony and has a bigger part to play.
But the episode belongs to Hamm and to Giovanni Ribisi as Tony. One would think that listening to people support him and speak out about their own horrible treatment by Meridian Mortgage would galvanize Tony, but it does the opposite; he becomes conscious of how he’s a public spectacle. It’s this episode that really makes Tony’s mental health issues apparent, both in his conversations with Jimmie and otherwise, without becoming melodramatic. Ribisi has some moments of genuine humor, such as how Tony has to spend too long undoing the Rube Goldberg-esque setup he’s used to booby-trap his front door. And his complaining about people selling “I Love Dick” T-shirts feels a bit like the “Homer Is a Dope” T-shirt joke from The Simpsons. Yet this time, the humor comes out of pain.
It culminates in an extended conversation between the two characters as they meet at the proverbial bottom. Fred puts Tony back on air to give what Tony has described as his “final thoughts,” and his attempt to keep Tony from killing himself and/or Dick leads Fred to confess his own inner pain. American Hostage is at its best when the camera simply focuses on Hamm and Ribisi, while Fred reveals that he and his wife Barbara lost a daughter. When he confesses that if he could have had a gun and gotten justice for that loss, he would have, it’s a powerful line that puts Tony and Fred in the same headspace. Hamm is fantastic in this sequence, suffering yet still agonizingly controlled, and Ribisi likewise is beautiful as Tony reacts to this reveal while also pouring his heart out. It’s just two talented actors, acting, and everything else getting out of the way. “A Taste of Indianapolis” starts as a circus, but Episode 4 gets stripped down to the simplest core of the story: two men both trying for a way out. It’s easy to see why this is executive producer Adam Arkin’s favorite scene.
That’s three if one counts Dick Hall. Interestingly, Skerrett begins and ends the episode on what can only be described as Dick’s fever dreams. One wonders if that means Episode 5 will provide further flashbacks exploring Dick’s part of this whole situation. At the very least, it’s good to see actor Kristoffer Polaha get a chance to smile. But “A Taste of Indianapolis” is an excellent midpoint for this series, showcasing the talented actors as well as what the TV show has to offer that previous adaptations didn’t. There’s a human core to the series underneath all the drama.
American Hostage airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on MGM+. Photo Credit: Steven Ackerman/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.
