Showtime 2.8 - Business Blues

Showtime - Business Blues
Genre : Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer : Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast: Barry Keoghan, Dacre Montgomery, Nick Offerman, Cooper Andrews, Zoey Dutch, Anna Gunn, Clayne Crawford, Tom Hopper, Alan Ritchson, Paul Rust, Toby Huss, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Samara Weaving and Rachael Harris

Plot: Diane (Anna Gunn) rests her head on Brad Wolfe’s (Clayne Crawford) lap as he turns on the television to watch the so-called tell-all interview that will send the professional wrestling business six feet under. The program opens with Gwen Szymanski (Rachael Harris) introducing us to tonight’s subject. She then goes on and on about the wrestling business, boring Brad who wants to change the channel, but Diane just wants to know which wrestler is stupid enough to flush his career down the toilet by doing this interview. That guy will never be hired again after this interview. A quick montage shows that everyone else is watching the interview from their home: Ben (Barry Keoghan), Thunderjack (Dacre Montgomery) and Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch), Paul Martin (Toby Huss), the Jacksons (Tom Hopper and Alan Ritchson) and Loto (Cooper Andrews) and Dicky (Paul Rust) who has frozen pea bags all over his body to heal the bruises he suffered during his squash against Cain. Cain (O’Shea Jackson) doesn’t watch the interview, he just want to have sex with Honey Moon (Samara Weaving), but she doesn’t feel like it and it frustrates him. 

The interview starts and the wrestler is under a shadow. Gwen says they may know him as a long-time tag team wrestler in the Southern region and he has found a more stable home at the Texas Championship Wrestling company, it’s Don Jackson. Diane can’t believe it and neither can everybody else. When Paul sees this, he takes his phone and calls Diane, berating her because she can’t keep control of her roster and she reminds him that it’s his roster too and she hangs up on him. During the interview, Don tells how the wrestling business destroyed his family. The Jacksons live, breathe and eat wrestling, but at what cost? He used to have a second brother, but he was killed in an in-ring accident. His family received nothing and he was told to wrestle the next day, all because the promoters want to tell everyone that it’s real, when everything about pro wrestling is fake. The guys don’t hate each others, the strikes aren’t real. It’s all a setup, a staged choreography, in a business run by big egos and show-offs. Diane has had enough, she turns off the television herself, asking herself how she’s going to deal with that. 

In the Jackson household, they listened to the interview in its entirety and no one said a word for the entire thing. Once the interview is over, someone knocks at the door and it’s Gwen giving Don a gift basket. He has a concerned look on his face and he slams the door on her without saying a word. He puts the gift basket on the table and Tom throws it on the floor. Tom asks his brother what this is all about and Don says he only did what he had to do. Tom asks him if he really understands what’s going on. Don’s career is over and maybe his own career is over, they are the Jackson brothers first and foremost, he can’t be Tom Jackson without Don. Don says he’s just sick of the business and everything that comes with it and if Tom can’t understand that, then he will never understand his decision. Don is on his way out and he asks Tom to think about quitting, before wrestling destroys his life, like it ended their brother’s.

Ben calls Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman) early in the morning as that is the only time they can match time zones. Ben is worried that the interview is going to ruin the wrestling business and thus Ben's career before it even got started. Bill is more optimistic and says that there have been people and moments like this throughout wrestling history. It will come and go. There's an enduring appeal of wrestling. Bill cheers him up by saying that he should be receiving his first tapes from Bill's Japanese matches so far. He's really hit it off nicely as the big burly gaijn (foreigner) but Ben might not what to expect of the matches so Bill tells him not to judge. Ben says that's preposterous and tells Bill he is excited for anything his mentor does. He then tells Bill he misses him and Bill tells Ben that he's proud of him.

Diane's phone is ringing off the hook and she knows it is Paul but doesn't want to answer it. Brad asks her if she is coming to the arena for their next show and she tells him she is going to wait as she tries to figure out how to spin this. Diane finally answers the phone and it is not Paul - it is Buck Gordon (Max Minghella), the young head of American Pro Wrestling. He is fuming and lays into Diane for allowing one of her wrestlers to do this. She insists that she didn't know but Buck is having none of it and says then she needs to have better control of her wrestlers. He says that this will affect everyone, not just her. After the call, Diane is so angry that she begins trashing her home. She rips up every piece of TCW merchandise she owns.

At the show, the wrestlers are all talking about what happens. Since Diane is a no-show and Paul is already back in Georgia preparing for his big dome show, Brad finds himself to be the elder statesman and the impromptu man running the show. He sheds off his usual cocky persona to be a more serious boss as he writes up a card for the the night. Ben has received his tapes from Bill and is watching them in disbelief: Bill is taking place in Japanese deathmatches. While they are not actual fights to the death, they are much more violent than American wrestling as the ropes are lined with barbed wire and use weapons while the wrestlers - including Bill - are bleeding all over the ring. Some of the other wrestlers notice and start watching with him. This gathering catches Brad's eye and he goes over the shut down the commotion. He is at first disgusted by what he sees on TV but before he leaves, asks Ben if that was Bill and Ben confirms. Brad is surprised but then goes back to his boss persona and tells Ben he needs to focus on his match. 

Thinking about what Honey said about what they'll do in Georgia, Thunderjack realizes that he has no real long-term need for her so he is going to re-commit to Tea (while he still plans on sleeping with Honey for the one night stand). He is tearfully apologetic to her and it is the first hint of real emotion she has seen in him since the merger. She tells him she needs him to be serious about this as it affects their on-screen chemistry, which affects their careers. He says he is ready to be the top guy at TCW and with her by his side. This makes her smile and she gives him a kiss. Ben nervously approaches Tea afterwards and asks if there is a day she wants to plan to start her training. She says that she isn't sure when Thunderjack will let her so maybe it is best they just do it for about a half hour after the shows when Thunderjack is off signing autographs and kissing babies outside of the shows. Ben isn't sure how much she will be able to improve in those short windows but says that they can make it work.

The show that night is a success, to everyone's surprise. Attendance is lower - an undeniable effect of the Don Jackson interview. But the fans who are there love what they see and everyone congratulates Brad. Tea and Ben begin their first training session after the show, practicing some of the very basics. Meanwhile, Brad arrives at Diane's home with flowers. He is surprised to see everything trashed at the home. She says that she is happy to hear that the show was successful. After a beat, Brad reminds her of what she said last week about TCW needing to have a new plan going forward so they don't get lost in the shuffle. He sees a ripped up TCW logo on the floor and pieces it together, still leaving it a bit uneven and jagged. He asks her if she has Bill Gundy's new number.