Lodge 49 Review: Exile (Season 2 Episode 7)
The power of conversation and having someone there for you becomes a major theme on Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 7, “Exile,” showing that being there is the ultimate form of getting through the difficult times.
The past continues to haunt these characters, and opening up proves to be perhaps not the end of their pain, but at least the start to their recovery. Everyone on Lodge 49 has lost something important to them, be it a person in their life or the innocence of better times. The lodge has even lost that spark, as Dud mentions. This episode could be the start of finding a start to recovery, and that help is coming.
No one needs help more than Blaise, whose difficult upbringing and slow cracking is one of the harder portrayals Lodge 49 has shown. He is a deeply sympathetic character, whose intentions are pure but need to be honed in the right way. Dud’s fast and loose apprenticeship can only lead Blaise down a harder path, and so perhaps the treatment he seeks at the end of the episode will help.
David Pasquesi has always been a great addition to Lodge 49, but on this episode in particular, he, along with writer Valerie Armstrong, brings the tragedy of his character to a harsher reality than we’ve seen up to this point.
The conversation between Ernie and Dud, a long time coming, provides the biggest impact of the episode. Ernie’s previous relationship has been a sticking point where he never quite tells the full story, and now we know why. The loss of his daughter weighs heavily on him, and Dud being the only person he’s able to open up to is such an emotional, beautiful moment.
Their sharing this moment together as they remember the loss in their lives comes as the moment where Ernie may find at least an ounce of closure as he realizes Dud is there for him. It also finally feels like he’s there for Dud again, too, both there to help carry the burden of the past. Both discovered the lodge for that very reason, and it ties them together.
Drifting apart has become a large concern for Lodge 49 during its second season, as the magic of nostalgia dissipates as reality starts to hit the characters. But the magic is returning with this episode, as everyone’s lives needed a shot of getting worse before they could get better. Dud moved a little faster than others, having gone through it with the shark tooth during Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 6, “Circles.”
But now, there feels like there could be an energy starting to come back.
The Higher Steaks checks bouncing and the responsibility falling onto Liz to make it right taps into a very real fear of being petrified about the future. Jeremy’s monologue about waking up in the middle of the night, worried about bills, is the kind of thing that rings close to home, as the show is full of those riding the poverty line as they try to make ends meet and do right by their family or circumstances.
That Liz is willing to go out of her way to make things right speaks largely to her sense of camaraderie for the ex-Shamroxx crew, and that injustice will not be done under her watch. Taking out a loan of her own with Burt is usually a bad move, but with Janet offering her a return on the loan and helping out her coworkers, it appears Liz’s gamble and street smarts is leading her down the right path yet again.
It’s always a fun ride seeing Liz somewhat fail upwards, her brash moments taken as signs of uniqueness rather than lashing out. But an upper echelon job may not be the best move for Liz, as the last time that happened, she jumped off a boat. Perhaps she’s changed since then. She’s learning that taking matters into her own hands gets results, and so maybe now she’s ready.
Lodge 49 Season 2 Episode 7, “Exile,” finds a happy medium of comedy and drama, where there can still be some laughs during the hard times. But when it comes down to the hard times, the episode digs deep and finds some catharsis in growing closer to one another. It’s a long road to finding peace, but if Ernie and Dud’s final scene together is any indicator, they’re ready for finding peace.
Some stray thoughts on the episode:
- Hologram Janet is a terrifying moment. It makes you question every presentation that happened on Lodge 49 now. Is Janet ever present for a presentation? Is Tarquin? What kind of technology powers this? It causes so many questions, all of them a fun rabbit hole.
- Paul Giamatti makes a late-game appearance at Blaise’s treatment. His L. Marvin Metz character is fascinating on the periphery, with his (fake) Prague Paradox and Operation Oslo novels, and so becoming a bigger part of the show can only be a good thing.
What did you think of this episode of Lodge 49? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Lodge 49 airs Mondays at 10/9c on AMC.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.