The Almighty Johnsons 2.07 "Effortless Manly Coolness" REVIEW

The Almighty Johnsons 2.07 "Effortless Manly Coolness" TV REVIEW

Episode 2.07
Writer: Fiona Samuel
Director: Geoffrey Cawthorn

THE ONE WHERE An old flame from Ingrid’s past returns and Agnetha may be gone but she’s still causing problems.

VERDICT There’s a much more stand-alone feel to this week’s episode with Ingrid getting centre stage here. With the Eva plot – which has run throughout the season so far – seemingly tied up last week this episode was a moment to pause, show us where everybody is and reinforce relationships. This feels a lot more like an ensemble piece; even though we see the character every week the plots don’t usually overlap that much, but here, everybody felt more involved and relevant in the main plot. This was a pleasant change.

The Ingrid story was good, taking a familiar idea and turning it on its head; the old flame from the past who is an obvious arsehole. Everyone can see it except the one who loves them. Erroll Shand did a damn fine job of playing ex-convict, ex-lover Danny and made the character instantly unlikeable and a creep. We’re sure we’ve seen him play this exact character somewhere before.

Having it turn out that Ingrid secretly knew exactly what a loser Danny is right from the off is a good twist and we felt really sorry for her because of her desire to just feel needed by someone. Rachel Nash plays the character brilliantly, with a perfect mix of sadness and wisdom; she deserves her bit of time in the spotlight. Let’s hope they don’t just stick her back on Olaf’s arm for the rest of the season. Ingrid’s final confrontation with Danny was spot on too.

Ty’s desire to get rid of his God spirit is interesting. We kind of saw this coming as there have been clues pointing towards it; his interest in what happened to his God aspect when Eva died has been mentioned before and his urge to be with Dawn but being scared she’ll get hurt goes back to the last season. You have to wonder who exactly Ty will be without the God aspect of himself. It’s really never been explained how that works. The way Ty’s and Ingrid’s plots are tied together at the end of the episode works well and having Ty and Mike talk things over and decide on a course of action is refreshing considering just how often the Johnson boys are at odds with each other. We look forward to seeing where this leads.

Axl once again shows some back bone by standing up for Ingrid and taking on Danny and Mike. His lie about finding The Frigg was a great move too. Using it as a way to pull all the Gods together to help Ingrid may be duplicitous, but also shows that he knows how to make everybody jump to his tune when he wants. Once the Gods are gathered and charged with showing Ingrid how valuable she is hety fail in spectacularly amusing uncomfortable manner. Having Ingrid see right through every lie and plot they try to tell just added to the fun. She really is smarter than any of the other Gods give her credit for.

Elsewhere, Agnetha’s gone but is still causing problems as Mike is appointed executor of her will and the caveats she’s laid down are anything but simple. Exactly where this will plot is going we don’t know, maybe it’s destined to re-open the rift between Gods and Goddesses or maybe it’s just going to be a fun B plot. Either way we like the bickering it’s causing already.

There are several nods to last week’s goings-on, with Michele and Stacy having a moment about Michele’s matchmaking hijinks and Zeb getting drunk with Ingrid and pouring his broken heart out.

There’s not much of Dawn and Anders this week but their one scene is worth the wait. It’s good to see them sharing the screen again. The return of Anders should also get things moving again. Hopefully we’ll find out what his quest was about next week and more of whatever it was that Agnetha was plotting. There should be interesting times ahead.

NECTAR OF THE GODS the amount of alcohol consumed by the characters on this show has never been exactly low but this week it seemed like every new scene started with someone cracking open a tinny or passing someone a bottle. This lot sure know how to put it away. Maybe a “drink when they drink” drinking game is in order.

BEST GOD Nobody does much Godly stuff this week but Ingrid wins just for being far smarter than anyone else gives her credit for.

OLAF GETS HIS KIT OFF Nothing more racy than an open shirt for Olaf before he disappears off to spend the episode surfing. Mike shows a bit of man boob and Zeb is rocking the long Johns again.

FRIGGWATCH No Firgg. No Frigg hunt. But Axl does use the excuse that he’s found her to gather the Gods to save Ingrid.

MISSING GOD No Loki this week. We missed him and his natty red suit.

BEST LINE
Michele: “You’re not sick are you? I don’t like touching sick people... ”
Ty: “Isn’t that a problem when you’re a doctor? ”
Michele: “There are ways around it.”

Or maybe…

Mike: “I just want to be a hedonist with a bar.”
Ty: “I just want to touch the woman I love without freezing her to death.”

Steven Ellis @Steven Ellis

The Almighty Johnsons airs Mondays at 10pm on SyFy

• Read our other The Almighty Johnsons season 2 reviews