'Men of a Certain Age' Recap - Father Fraternity
The love that we give unconditionally is reserved for the few. This week, the guys of TNT’s Men of a Certain Age show just how unconditional their love can be, as the drama series returns to its regular formula with parallel storylines for Joe (Ray Romano), Owen (Andre Braugher) and Terry (Scott Bakula).
While Joe and Owen try to reconcile their strained paternal relationships, Terry is determined to foster his own by signing up for a big brother program. Of course, the guys are floored by this news and, once their initial speechlessness passes, the mocking starts, then ends with both saying, “That’s gonna be one screwed up kid.”
However, the jokes are put aside when Terry’s application is rejected. Devastated and just a little pissed off, Terry wants to know why, and relentlessly, bordering on obnoxious, pursues an answer. But, no one can think badly of the broken hearted, aging adolescent for long; when not sulking, Scott Bakula’s charisma, as Terry, wouldn’t allow it.
Terry wanted to be someone to look up to, but Owen’s father and boss, Owen Sr. (Richard Grant), couldn’t care less about such things. He is a businessman first. Unfortunately for him, that ruthless quality lights a fire under his wife and daughter-in-law when his company’s new commercial gives the impression that Marcus, a younger and better looking employee at Thoreau Chevrolet, is his son.
No match for the will of a woman, no less two in his own family, he gives in and re-shoots the commercial with Owen, who bashfully admits, “I don’t like cameras.” Dozens of takes of the same one line later, the Thoreau men have no commercial and no way to get out of re-shooting. However, as any good businessman would, Owen Sr. brings everyone together to produce a common-sense alternative, while Owen Jr. finds common ground with his daddy, for a change.
The deal with Joe’s father is a bit different. Arty, a retired hard wear storeowner, isn’t adjusting well to life without his beloved work. When Joe brings his teenage kids to visit the grainy-voiced appliance expert in his quite new retirement community, the wandering stares befitting a family of divorce, along with Albert and Lucy’s inability to suppress their technological gag reflex, are too much to handle. While the fractured family takes a neighborhood walk, Joe, intent on bringing his father back from the doldrums of his isolating retirement, decides to give Arty a job at his party store. Although that doesn’t work out, Joe keeps at it and, determined to lift Arty’s spirits, goes back to basics with his dad.
In the end, Terry gets his wish, Owen gets through his debilitating stage fright – sort of – and Joe gets his dad back in the saddle.
With all of that in mind, it’s becoming clear that Men of a Certain Age isn’t your typical cable television drama series: No cliffhangers; no unrealistically dramatic back and forth; just neatly wrapped snippets of middle-aged life, and the accompanying process of redefining that life.