Gauntlet - Mid-Season
Genre: Sports / Drama
Executive Producer: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: Matt Parker
Cast :
William Fichtner, Josh Duhamel, Trevor Jackson, John David
Washington, Brian Howe and Reid Scott
Plot: The Memphis Pharaohs enter the locker room, hooting and hollering. They have just won another game, this time beating the Boston Spirit by 14, bringing their record to 4-2 midway through the 12 game AFA season. Coach Ken Heath (William Fichtner) congratulates the team on successfully executing the game plan. He tells the team to rest up since they will be squaring off against the first-place Baltimore Barons next week.
Quarterback Tim Collins (Josh Duhamel) contemplates calling his girlfriend, the mayor of Memphis, but instead decides to simply head home and ice his sore shoulder. He has a few drinks while watching the news and falls asleep in front of highlights from the night's games.
Rookie running back Jefferson Thomas (Trevor Jackson) receives a text from his agent. Thomas gets excited over the text's contents and heads home. He begins scribbling out notes feverishly.
Injured star Lincoln Tatum (John David Washington) is finally out of the hospital, but his leg is in a full traction brace while he recovers from the problematic knee surgery. He pops a fistful of his pain medication, washing it down with vodka.
Coach Heath is in his office with his assistants starting to discuss who they want to scout for the draft in the off-season. One of the assistants, Coach Brower (Brian Howe), broaches the subject of going after a quarterback in the first round. This makes Heath uncomfortable as he believes Collins, despite his age, still has some gas left in the tank. Brower suggests that it's never to soon to groom the next man for the job and recommends they specifically scout Michigan State quarter back Michael Revolli. Heath tells him that he doesn't to discuss quarterbacks right now and would rather move on to thinking about their upcoming game against Baltimore.
Jefferson Thomas is in a recording studio recording a rap album. His agent Eli Towns (Reid Scott) is sitting the wings typing away at his phone. He's trying to get Thomas on a nationally broadcast show to up his profile after most pundits have named him as the early favorite for Rookie of the Year despite his first couple of games. The sound engineer cuts Thomas off and has him start from the beginning of a rap. This annoys Thomas and he threatens to leave, but Towns is able to convince him to stay.
In practice, Thomas is showing a notable lack of hustle. Collins calls him out on it, saying that he should be more focused on figuring out how to beat the Barons and less focused on his rap dreams. Thomas throws a punch at Collins, but is stopped by the other players. Coach Heath orders both players to his office immediately. He tells them to cut out the bickering and focus on practicing. Thomas scoffs, but Heath shoots him a look that shuts him up. He then excuses Collins from the office. Heath looks Thomas in the eye and tells him that he needs to keep his ducks in a row or he'll suspend him without pay from the team. Thomas nods and leaves the office.
In the fourth quarter of the game against the Baltimore Barons, the Pharaohs are down by 10 with five minutes to go. Collins audibles out of a running play, much to Thomas' annoyance, and throws an interception. Thomas doesn't go after the ball carrier. On the sidelines after the play, Collins and Thomas continue shouting at each other as the Barons go up by another score. Coach Heath orders them both to head into the locker room, replacing them with unseasoned backups. Tatum, watching the game from home, turns the game off in disgust.
After the game, Coach Heath trashes the locker room. He yells at Thomas and Collins that if they can't find a way to work together that he'll find two players who can and play them instead. He reminds the entire team that football is a team sport, no one player can win a game by himself, just like no one player can lose a game by himself.
Quarterback Tim Collins (Josh Duhamel) contemplates calling his girlfriend, the mayor of Memphis, but instead decides to simply head home and ice his sore shoulder. He has a few drinks while watching the news and falls asleep in front of highlights from the night's games.
Rookie running back Jefferson Thomas (Trevor Jackson) receives a text from his agent. Thomas gets excited over the text's contents and heads home. He begins scribbling out notes feverishly.
Injured star Lincoln Tatum (John David Washington) is finally out of the hospital, but his leg is in a full traction brace while he recovers from the problematic knee surgery. He pops a fistful of his pain medication, washing it down with vodka.
Coach Heath is in his office with his assistants starting to discuss who they want to scout for the draft in the off-season. One of the assistants, Coach Brower (Brian Howe), broaches the subject of going after a quarterback in the first round. This makes Heath uncomfortable as he believes Collins, despite his age, still has some gas left in the tank. Brower suggests that it's never to soon to groom the next man for the job and recommends they specifically scout Michigan State quarter back Michael Revolli. Heath tells him that he doesn't to discuss quarterbacks right now and would rather move on to thinking about their upcoming game against Baltimore.
Jefferson Thomas is in a recording studio recording a rap album. His agent Eli Towns (Reid Scott) is sitting the wings typing away at his phone. He's trying to get Thomas on a nationally broadcast show to up his profile after most pundits have named him as the early favorite for Rookie of the Year despite his first couple of games. The sound engineer cuts Thomas off and has him start from the beginning of a rap. This annoys Thomas and he threatens to leave, but Towns is able to convince him to stay.
In practice, Thomas is showing a notable lack of hustle. Collins calls him out on it, saying that he should be more focused on figuring out how to beat the Barons and less focused on his rap dreams. Thomas throws a punch at Collins, but is stopped by the other players. Coach Heath orders both players to his office immediately. He tells them to cut out the bickering and focus on practicing. Thomas scoffs, but Heath shoots him a look that shuts him up. He then excuses Collins from the office. Heath looks Thomas in the eye and tells him that he needs to keep his ducks in a row or he'll suspend him without pay from the team. Thomas nods and leaves the office.
In the fourth quarter of the game against the Baltimore Barons, the Pharaohs are down by 10 with five minutes to go. Collins audibles out of a running play, much to Thomas' annoyance, and throws an interception. Thomas doesn't go after the ball carrier. On the sidelines after the play, Collins and Thomas continue shouting at each other as the Barons go up by another score. Coach Heath orders them both to head into the locker room, replacing them with unseasoned backups. Tatum, watching the game from home, turns the game off in disgust.
After the game, Coach Heath trashes the locker room. He yells at Thomas and Collins that if they can't find a way to work together that he'll find two players who can and play them instead. He reminds the entire team that football is a team sport, no one player can win a game by himself, just like no one player can lose a game by himself.
"The cast really makes this show work for me. I don't think there's a single bad performance in the ensemble and everyone really live up to their role, thanks to strong work from both Parker and Fuqua.
I once heard someone say that Gauntlet is like a soap opera for men and I agree. No matter what the showrunner throws at his characters, I keep coming back week after week and this is what a television series is all about.
I have very mixed feelings about Gauntlet. While I enjoy the show overall, I can kind of see how it will play out in the end, and I don't like that. Still, hats up to Matt Parker who managed to surprise me by throwing curveballs and let's hope he does it again
 |  |
Aucun commentaire:
Publier un commentaire