‘Black Donnellys’: Daddy’s Lucky Charm
If Donnellys is indeed deader than a mob informant, we may never know why Sean Donnelly is so, well, different from his brothers.
In what appears to be the show’s final episode on air, the erstwhile head of the Donnelly clan returned in several flashbacks throughout the course of this week’s episode, and it was great to see his character involved in the fleshing out of the back story of one of his sons other than Tommy and Jimmy. The writers made use of several sweet vignettes depicting a young Kevin Donnelly and his father (interacting over what might have been the breakfast table) as a means of illustrating how Kevin got his start as a very unlucky gambler.
The flashbacks served to breakup an otherwise very tense episode of Black Donnellys, which I realize is like saying that last night’s Deal or No Deal was a little overcaffeinated. I was grateful for the reprieve they offered, and also because the audience got to see how charismatic the Donnelly brothers’ father was, and thus gained insight into understanding how their sense of family loyalty became so deeply ingrained.
Helen Donnelly, played by Kate Mulgrew, has clearly remained a huge presence in her sons’ lives, but the character is so overbearing that she nearly smothers her sons. The insertion of the boys’ father into the scenes with Kevin made for a nice contrast. The only parental figures we’ve ever seen interacting with Sean are his mother, the family priest, and his brothers.
It did seem as if the writers were beginning to move in the direction of a plotline oriented around this fourth brother, feasible now that they’ve brought him out of his coma. But if reports of the show's demise are to be believed, the audience will never see that angle brought to bear.
By Liz McKeon
Jaelyn commented:
You couldn't pay me to igorne these posts!
Tisha commented:
Which came first, the problem or the solution? Lucikly it doesn't matter.
lucky charms commented:
want a bit a luck o the irish as they say, totally free lucky charm blessed by local irish druid here in ireland, spread the luck love
best regards Seamus
www.irishmagic.org/charms.htm
CeeJay commented:
I am really sorry to see this show go. I watched it online because I couldn't see it on Monday Nights. I really got to know the characters and like them for being "unlikeable". I don't know much about the irish, but I really got into this show. It's sorry to see a show iwth such hit potential die so fast!
braceface commented:
As all people are somehow destined to be interwined with a specific end of the "love-hate" spectrum, I was, luckily enough, chosen to be at the love end. Unfortunately, the show's future demise is something I hope will not be true. I really enjoyed the show and it'll be sorely missed.
wen313 commented:
I want to like this show, I really do, but the writers just can't seem to get it off the ground. None of the characters are very likable, and I've come to the conclusion that Tommy is just as stupid as his 3 brothers. None of them ever has a happy moment or gives us a reason to care what happens. In the Sopranos, if I dare make that comparison, we see the characters at less-intense moments and we have a clue why we like them. The Donnelly brothers are amazingly stupid, never stand up to their mother (the way Tony Soprano always did) and I am left wondering how the writers expect us to believe these morons have kept themselves out of real jail time. It's too bad, the show sounded great. I just don't care about anybody on it.