LAST EDITED ON 05-13-23 AT 05:48 PM (EST)
First, a preamble to set the stage for the summary of episode 11 :
A long time ago, a theory emerged in the Spoiler Community : Due to the tough conditions, the players seeked the comfort of the core Family. So the spoiler stated that the Final Four would have the elements of the Family. It was understood that those roles needn’t follow the strict old man, old woman, young man, young woman definitions but some variants of people assuming these typical roles.
In S1, because of his tendencies to take care of the shelter and cook the food, Rudy was actually considered the Mom while Trucker Sue was the rough n' tough Dad. Hatch and Kim assumed more normal roles and, in the end, as the theory predicted, the son beat his sister.
Yes there was a hierarchy in that theory. It stated that the Father wins if he makes the F2, if not the Son had the better chance over the sister and the mom who both needed special circumstances to win.
In S2 Tina and Keith were the parents with Colby and Lis as their kids. Seen as an exception, Mom Tina beat her son.
S3 saw Lex and Mama Kim (of course) as the parents, Big Tom and Ethan as their two sons. The latter prevailing over Mom.
S4 : Paschal and Kathy were beaten in the end by their 2 daughters.
S5 was a bit of a challenge but not if you put aside their actual age. So Brian was the father, the true leader of the tribe, Jan was the (senile) mother, Helen and Clay the daughter and son.
The Amazon saw the first non-traditional family with Butch as a mono-parental Father living with 2 sons and a daughter. Jenna’s win over her “ brother “ was unexpected.
S7 maybe because of the outcasts, had a Family Final 5 with Mom Lillian divorcing from her Outcast Husband Burton and then choosing her favorite daughter Sandra over Darrah and Jon.
In S8 the returning players still had Pops Rupert and Mom Jenna protecting the son and daughter. Daughter Amber’s win had people questioning the hierarchy! Was this game made so that only women can win?
S9 answered that even with an untraditional family but it was evident that Scout and Twila acted as parents to Chris and Eliza, saving them from all the attacks. Then the son beat one of his mom in the more expected manner.
Getting to S10, the theory held with Tom and Katie, for the first time, outlasting their kids Ian and Jenn. Of course, dad won.
When we got to S11 the final 4 Family was made up of Rafe as Father and Lydia as Mother and they had two daughters who were both a bit tom-boys : Danny and Stephenie.
I’ll end with my favorite of them all S12 and the dysfunctional Casaya Family where Cirie and Shane were Mom and Pops. Yes, Terry intruded in the narrative but he was clealy the outsider who tried to take the place of the Son Aras or of the Daughter Danielle. When he failed, the son easily beat his sister.
So, who is the Family Final Four this time around? Since they have dominated the game I will say Yam Yam is the Father, Carolyne the troubled Mom, Carson is the favorite son while Jaime is adopted!
They live in a dangerous neighborhood: After seeing his mansion in Little Italy torched, Robert Dannyro decided he had enough of the Mean Streets of New York and wanted to retire to a calm place himself. So he took a Taxi, went to the airport and moved to Fiji in the hut next door to the Tikas with his partner Say-Hi-Dee.
Living on the same street we have Lauren’t-U-Bad but she only has a minor role.
The 11th episode of the 44th season of All in the Family begins at night. They are back from Frannie’s funeral and they suspect murder.
I think it’s that nasty spider that killed her but what do I know ?
Carolyne is upset because she thinks she has everything to do with Frannie’s death. Yam Yam reassures his « Wife » telling her it never has anything to do with her. Nothing. Ever
Yam Yam only makes it worse when he says he was thinking about her.
Something tells me Yam Yam isn’t getting any tonight.
Standing on the Tika's front lawn, Dannyro, Say-Hi-Dee and Lauren’t-U-Bad commiserate with Carson and Yam Yam.
Dannyro wants to know who ratted on him. He doesn’t know that it’s his own partner Say-Hi-Dee and she wants to keep it secret.
All puffed up, Dannyro tells the reporter on the case, yours truly, that he was interrogated by the police because someone ratted on him and he wants to know who it is.
Say-Hi-Dee explains that she thought Dannyro was going to be the one to get hit last night. Now instead of looking forward to a new life she has to lie about her involvement. She herself had two bullets fired her way. She never saw that coming but she has a secret weapon to get out of the next shoot-out.
The next morning the 55th Street Gang gathers around for a session of meditation.
See, the real name is Va Va but the gang wanted to sound legit. «Va Va » is DUMB. Since V is 5 in Roman Numerals they saw a better option. You are not going to impress a mafia boss if you call yourself the « Va Va tribe » but if you go by the name of the 55th Street Gang, you have something.
The innocent Jaime was leading the proceedings and she sees the Gang as her Family. But then she goes on to explain that it’s just a facade to hide the fact that they all want to cut each other’s throat.
Our little Jaime is not so innocent after all !
Say-Hi-Dee pitches in and says they all have lows and Heidys in their lives.
This brings her back to the mean streets of Puerto Rico where she says she had nothing and had to struggle.
Her motive to go after her husband Dannyro is obviously money and I think she’ll electrocute him. She even tells us that she has another family back in the States so this was just a mariage of convenience.
We go back to Carolyne and Yam Yam. He is telling her to live her life her way and to have a plan.
Carolyne tells me that she doesn’t play like that. She doesn’t care that Yam Yam and Carson betrayed her last night and got rid of her friend Frannie. « I’m over it, I’m over it » she insists.
That’s when the beloved son Carson walks in and says they should really plan to be the Final Three people living on this island.
I interview him and he tells me he’s glad that his mom has gotten her senses back. The Family Plan is their first consideration, above all else.
Carson even has an evil idea: We could break up the marriage between Dannyro and Say-Hi-Dee by telling him it was his own wife that ratted on him. Yam Yam loves that plan especially since we know Dannyro is still fuming about being exposed like that
So Yam Yam takes Dannyro to the local watering hole and while the two share a pint, he tells him about his wife’s duplicity.
Coming to me, Dannyro asks how can Say-Hi-Dee advance her situation by getting rid of him?
I’m here to ask the question, buddy, I don’t answer them but I figure that the $1 Million life insurance policy could do wonders.
It seems so ludicrous to him that he tells her he believes her and that it’s Yam Yam who has to be lying.
Dannyro tells me that Yam Yam’s lies are so evident that even a 1st Grader wouldn’t buy that story.
Does that make Dannyro a kindergarden level kid ?
The next time the 55th Street gang gets together, they give gifts to Carolyne, something to wear on her head and something to wear on her hand. She loves it. They even offer her a sea excursion to spend time with the Lobsters.
I guess they figured it was Mother’s Day week and she’s the only one with kids on their block. But I wonder: Was the sea excursion a gift or a way to drown her? If it was the latter then they failed because the police had our favorite mermaid under helicopter watch, giving us a few more beautiful aerial shots. If the plan was to drown her, they’ll get another chance soon.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOMS !! Carolyne told me she was happy to be out of the chaos but she jumped right back in it by planning the Final 3 with Yam Yam, who, once he was told he couldn’t have his two personalities sit in the Final 3 agreed they should go with Carson. They plotted once more against Dannyro, trying to point him at Lauren’t-U-Bad.
At the same time Dannyro was trying to recruit Lauren’t-U-Bad in his own plan against the Tikas. She agreed since that clan had too much power. Dannyro even talked to Jaime who was open to the idea of committing patricide on Yam Yam. She loved her Dad but he wasn’t giving her the chance to play her own game.
Dannyro then told me about what he sees as Mob Rules 101 : « You have to be aggressive to knock down the opposition. We’re in the 9th round of a 12 round fight, we’ve all been knocked down once, we’ve all had a punch in the face but I’m playing hard and I’m going to win. I didn’t come here to take part, I came here to take over. »
So Nothing except becoming head of the mob will satisfy Dannyro. He is due for a night with the fishies.
Day 21 and they were about to meet the real Godfather Jiffy Corleone.
At first, Corleone is friendly and shows them his excellent beach house and its panoramic view of the ocean. But suddenly a problem arises and his basement is flooding. They have to save his house by plunging under water and closing the valve that is letting in all that water.
The 7 dive in bravely into the water and start fidgetting around for that darn valve. The water level keeps rising and Lauren’t-U-Bad is the first to give up. She is followed in quick succession by Jaime, Carson, Carolyne and Dannyro. It is coming down to Say-Hi-Dee and Yam Yam to save the Godfather’s house. Say-Hi-Dee says goodbye so all hopes rest with Yam Yam. But suddenly the water stops rising and Dannyro jumps back in the water to tell Yam Yam it’s over.
For his valiant effort Jiffy Corleone rewards Yam Yam with a huge necklace. Yam Yam is so happy that he does a little dance.
Yam Yam adds that everyone in his family, his dad, his mom, his brother, is super athletic while he is a tub of lard. They will be proud of their lard today.
Jiffy Corleone sends them back to their hood but tells them there is unfinished business so he orders him to his mansion that very evening.
Back on the 55th Street Hood, Carson understands his mother’s limited math skills so he counts the remaining Playas on his fingers.
Carolyne will use that trick when it comes to aiming her gun later on!
However the rest of the players, including that greedy sister Jaime, have their sights on Carson.
Still fuming over losing Jiffy Corleone’s necklace, Dannyro is intent on going after Yam Yam’s son and strongest ally. However Dannyro is worried about the shots in the dark. He might not see where they are coming from and they may ruin his plan.
When Dannyro tells Carolyne that they will be gunning for Lauren’t-U-Bad she has a wonderful retort : « Is that the real plan or is that the fake plan ? »
Carolyne is one step ahead of Dannyro.
She tells me that she needs to investigate the situation because she thinks Dannyro is after her son.
She goes directly to Dannyro and says she’d be open to going after her own son. Dannyro should be pleased by this but, instead, he tells her it’s not time to go after Carson.
Carolyne rushes right back to our little area on the beach, proud to tell me that she now knows Dannyro is lying to her.
She then goes to warn her son who realizes his life is in danger for the first time. She later adds that she’s got a bullet-proof vest that she’s ready to give him. Carson is in tears of disbelief: His mom is a player after all ! He is so proud of her.
Jiffy’s Council :
The accusations fly left and right, the players don’t know if yesterday’s allies are still allies or if they have turned on them. Carolyne’s says she’s lost sleep over counting all the different plans but Dannyro says he’s more like the seasoned pro who has been in many fights before and isn’t nervous. Some remarks made Carolyne angry and Jiffy realized she was even angry at him, the King of Kings. How dare she? He couldn’t believe it.
Thats when the weapons came out. With bullets flying all around, Carolyne was counting the possibilities on her fingers. She was still counting when she told Jiffy that she was handing her Bullet-Proof Vest to Carson. Just in time too because two bullets came directly at him but didn’t pierce the vest. Now Carolyne’s left index finger wasn’t ligning up with her right little finger so she had to do a recount. That’s when a first bullet hit Dannyro but it only grazed him. A second one came in right after and that one knocked him to the ground. Could Carolyne’s ring finger on the left hand team up with the middle fingers of both hands? She was not sure but we saw Say-Hi-Dee get hit twice ; once in the shoulder and the other in the gut. To whom should Carolyne give the finger? Carolyne had composed a whole concerto right there on her fingers before making her final decision.
The last bullet hit Dannyro right in the heart killing him instantly.
OK, I'm sure you will say this script isn't good enough for a Scorcese movie but I'll reply that it's better than that De Niro impression that Danny delivered before getting his torch snuffed...or maybe not.
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