The Pickle Jar (26 Jul. 2009)

West Lakefield students choose "Coach Ray" to be the recipient of their fall fundraising efforts, but Ray sees their pickle-jar donation as an embarrassing metaphor for his downward spiral.... See full summary »

Director:

David Petrarca

Writers:

Colette Burson (creator), Dmitry Lipkin (creator),

Stars:

Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, Eddie Jemison

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Jane	...	Ray Drecker
Jane Adams	...	Tanya Skagle
Eddie Jemison	...	Ronnie Haxon
Charlie Saxton	...	Damon Drecker
Sianoa Smit-McPhee	...	Darby Drecker
Anne Heche	...	Jessica Haxon
Margo Martindale	...	Molly
Rebecca Creskoff	...	Lenore Bernard
Steve Hytner	...	Floyd Gerber
Alanna Ubach	...	Yael Koontz
Michael Blaiklock	...	Hammer
Jillian Rose Reed	...	Skinny Girl Tracie
Bresha Webb	...	Lyndie
Shelly Desai	...	Hardware Store Owner
Virginia Schneider	...	Honey

Storyline

West Lakefield students choose "Coach Ray" to be the recipient of their fall fundraising efforts, but Ray sees their pickle-jar donation as an embarrassing metaphor for his downward spiral. All is not lost, however - Tanya has a couple of leads that could jumpstart Ray's gigolo career. But is Ray ready, willing and able enough to follow through? Meanwhile, Damon is shattered when he rushes to his sister's defense during drive-in family night, only to learn that Darby doesn't want his help.

---

Plot Keywords:

tent | neighbor | magnet | sickness | hardware store | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

7110 Colony Dr., West Bloomfield, Michigan, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Entertainment, Tennessee Wolf Pack, E1 Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

At Tanya's bathroom scene the cup of coffee between the shots is empty and then full again.

---

Soundtracks

"I Feel Just Like a Child"
Performed by Devendra Banhart

User Reviews

"Men Your Age Need Heat"

Former pro athlete/high school basketball coach/history teacher/would-be gigolo Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) is still lukewarm to the idea of selling his body to women even though his statistician friend Tanya Skagle (Jane Adams) remains insistent they can make money on the side.

Having made contacts through a miserable excuse for a human being named Lenore (who demanded a sexual test-drive of Ray and stole four hundred dollars from him after), Ray has two firm dates with women who have prepaid Tanya for his particular service.

Ray finds the same difficulty performing every guy finds when his potential sex partner is not classically attractive (or however you might want to say it). It doesn't matter that he needs the money as badly as he does (he is living in a tent in his backyard because his house was torched).

The head may even partly be willing but a not insignificant other part of him is required to complete the assigned task. Getting that part to perform without compelling visual stimuli is a chore and would be impossible for a lot of us.

The very concept of gigolo is one a lot of men will have trouble with for the very same one they will have trouble with in having sex with an unattractive woman. Unlikeable (i.e. Lenore)? Haven't we all done it with women we didn't like or even actively disliked? Physically unattractive is different. It just is.

Ray's desperation makes him swallow his pride and put some real work in to not only getting himself able to perform sexually but also set his clients at ease that he isn't going to hurl.

This is the episode where the series makes its transition from long-winded set-up to showing the main character fully engaged and committed to his unconventional sideline.

What makes it compelling is that he can make himself do things others can't. Ray's arc begins to take flight. He has hit bottom and intends to at least try to claw his way back putting his best face forward.

This attempt at taking the formula of 'Weeds' and blending it with 'Breaking Bad' makes for a lesser product than those two unless your someone looking for an extra dose of humiliation (which apparently a lot of men will actually pay for) in your TV programming choices.

Ray's desperation is reflected in the arc of real people's lives now. He is one of the working poor. Whether his day job is fulfilling or not is beside the point. He needs supplementary income to provide a stable home life for his children. If he could do something conventional and legal they wouldn't make an HBO series about it.