Sam and Tim strike back at a couple who've dropped Crambling Advertising as their ad agency by securing their former client's main rival as an account.
"Smiling Jack" is possibly the episode closest in spirit to the pilot. It has almost everything I disliked about the first few episodes, but the timing of the more recent episodes. There are random shots of Detroit, but they're largely unobtrusive. As a native Detroiter, I recognized the below-street-level underpass adjacent to the old Michigan Central Station; was speculating in what building the restaurant scenes where Sam and Tim were courting Smiling Jack were shot (it seemed to be at the intersection of Woodward and Congress); wondered if the billboards of Smiling Jack (guest-star Keegan-Michael Key) were computer-generated; and wondered if Donut's sets were indeed shot inside Burt's Warehouse or if the interiors were shot at GoComedy! in Ferndale.
To be fair, the establishing shots weren't the travelogue-type shots of the pilot or "Hog Riders" and probably weren't distracting to non-Detroiter Detroiter viewers. The Mort Crim cameo works a lot better than his earlier appearances because, like the establishing shots, it doesn't draw attention to itself and plays off Crim's deadpan delivery, letting the humor of the premise speak for itself. And Gloria's wistful dreams of her and Irv's 30-foot bunk-bed prop with the blow-up pre-teen siblings plays a lot better than the Hot Tub King's epiphany about sexual positions in the pilot—the awkwardness is funny without actually feeling awkward. In fact, that was possibly my favorite gag of the episode. (Jack's "forced perspective" line was pretty funny too.) The element that most reminded me of the pilot, though, is the, for lack of a better term, innocent viciousness that Tim and Sam displayed. Greeting Gloria and Irving like family when they drop into the office and then wishing disaster on and waging vendettas against clients who withdraw their accounts or splurging on the client's dime at a business lunch reminded me of their reaction to running the Chrysler executive over and trying to hide the body. It's anti-social behavior that you usually wouldn't see from the protagonists on a live-action network sitcom and behavior of the type I'd given up hope of seeing on this show again after the last few episodes. This is the kind of thing that could positively differentiate Detroiters from something like The Big Bang Theory.
My biggest complaint about "Smiling Jack" is that it's unclear what Donut's relationship to the Cramblings is. The episode starting with Donut Xeroxing flyers for his show and ending with him chanting his own name to himself with the crowd (which, like the receptionist's disapproving scowl at Tim and Sam being willing to see Gloria and Irv without an appointment, could have been the basis of a story in itself) helped tie the whole show together in a neat package, but how does Donut know Tim and Sam? Is he a co-worker of Chrissy on the assembly line? It's a minor, nagging quibble that can be resolved in passing during season 2 for all I care. As I said, not a big deal, but somewhat distracting nonetheless.
"Smiling Jack" repeats several motifs from the early episodes of Detroiters, but, combined with the subtleties displayed in the last few episodes, manages to elevate itself to the best episode so far and something I'm tempted to rewatch.
"Smiling Jack" is possibly the episode closest in spirit to the pilot. It has almost everything I disliked about the first few episodes, but the timing of the more recent episodes. There are random shots of Detroit, but they're largely unobtrusive. As a native Detroiter, I recognized the below-street-level underpass adjacent to the old Michigan Central Station; was speculating in what building the restaurant scenes where Sam and Tim were courting Smiling Jack were shot (it seemed to be at the intersection of Woodward and Congress); wondered if the billboards of Smiling Jack (guest-star Keegan-Michael Key) were computer-generated; and wondered if Donut's sets were indeed shot inside Burt's Warehouse or if the interiors were shot at GoComedy! in Ferndale.
To be fair, the establishing shots weren't the travelogue-type shots of the pilot or "Hog Riders" and probably weren't distracting to non-Detroiter Detroiter viewers. The Mort Crim cameo works a lot better than his earlier appearances because, like the establishing shots, it doesn't draw attention to itself and plays off Crim's deadpan delivery, letting the humor of the premise speak for itself. And Gloria's wistful dreams of her and Irv's 30-foot bunk-bed prop with the blow-up pre-teen siblings plays a lot better than the Hot Tub King's epiphany about sexual positions in the pilot—the awkwardness is funny without actually feeling awkward. In fact, that was possibly my favorite gag of the episode. (Jack's "forced perspective" line was pretty funny too.) The element that most reminded me of the pilot, though, is the, for lack of a better term, innocent viciousness that Tim and Sam displayed. Greeting Gloria and Irving like family when they drop into the office and then wishing disaster on and waging vendettas against clients who withdraw their accounts or splurging on the client's dime at a business lunch reminded me of their reaction to running the Chrysler executive over and trying to hide the body. It's anti-social behavior that you usually wouldn't see from the protagonists on a live-action network sitcom and behavior of the type I'd given up hope of seeing on this show again after the last few episodes. This is the kind of thing that could positively differentiate Detroiters from something like The Big Bang Theory.
My biggest complaint about "Smiling Jack" is that it's unclear what Donut's relationship to the Cramblings is. The episode starting with Donut Xeroxing flyers for his show and ending with him chanting his own name to himself with the crowd (which, like the receptionist's disapproving scowl at Tim and Sam being willing to see Gloria and Irv without an appointment, could have been the basis of a story in itself) helped tie the whole show together in a neat package, but how does Donut know Tim and Sam? Is he a co-worker of Chrissy on the assembly line? It's a minor, nagging quibble that can be resolved in passing during season 2 for all I care. As I said, not a big deal, but somewhat distracting nonetheless.
"Smiling Jack" repeats several motifs from the early episodes of Detroiters, but, combined with the subtleties displayed in the last few episodes, manages to elevate itself to the best episode so far and something I'm tempted to rewatch.
