Bubble IE Review: Ends Meet S1 Ep4

Sorry about everything.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Episode four of Ends Meet sees Seán Óg take center stage for really the first time. The episode revolves around his realization that his dad, Beezer, is chronically unemployed. Early in the episode, we are introduced to Michael, a spotty kid in Seán Óg’s school who likes to bully his classmates about the quality of their packed lunches and their parents’ jobs. Michael taunts Seán Óg, and tells him that his dad is a sponge, for which he ought to be ashamed. Boasting loudly that he has seen extra hidden Star Wars scenes that nobody else has seen, it is immediately obvious that Michael is (as an Irish person might put it) talking out of his arse! Nonetheless, Seán Óg is confused and upset that his dad should be a source of shame for him, and he confronts Beezer over dinner, which is, of course, nothing more than a greasy bag of chips. In the episodes thus far, Beezer has been presented as a sort of lovable layabout, whose heart is in the right place, and tries to do the right thing in spite of his intellectual shortcomings. It is good to see the show actually grapple with the implications of having an unemployed parent. Picking up on his son’s distress, Beezer applies for and manages to secure himself a job. In a double twist of irony, the job he gets is a sponge-man at the local car dealership, which is of course owned by Michael’s father. Seán Óg is subjected to more taunting and belittling by Michael, upon whom the irony of Beezer’s new job is not lost. Seán Óg is then forced to wait at the car dealership for Beezer to finish his day’s work. it is there that he overhears Michael’s dad pleading on the phone to some muddled sounding angry voice, confessing that he is heavily in debt and unable to pay his loans. This twist of fate pleases Seán Óg at first, and a grin cracks across his face. In the next scene when Michael is doing his usual routine of being an asshole to everyone, Seán Óg is poised to reveal to everyone the not so rosy condition of Michael’s own home life, but stops himself, knowing that to do so would only be to sink to Michael’s level.

Our take

This episode does a good job of making Seán Óg into more of a fully rounded character, rather than just a plot device to tell Beezer’s story. I liked that it grapples with what Beezer’s life choice mean for Seán Óg. Thus far this has been a distinctly working-class hero show, except its hero, seems not to have ever worked a day in his life. It is good that the show acknowledges this, as it has seemed to be a bit indifferent to its own social themes so far. It was also nice to see a bit more of Seán Óg, and his life outside of the house. My issue with this episode is very much the same as it has been for the other episodes of Ends Meet. Namely, the show isn’t funny enough to be an outright comedy, nor is it hard-hitting enough to be an effective social satire. Again the short running time makes it difficult to pack a lot into each episode, but I really think the writing and voice work could be sharper. I didn’t laugh out loud once during this episode, and it’s not because the ideas aren’t there. I think the show could benefit from a slightly more over the top approach to the writing and the voice-acting, as I feel the moments where it has been a little bit zany, were among the best moments so far.