After two well directed shows back to back, the series is handed over to Adam Arkin for two weeks. Obviously, each director this show utilizes to try and complete its first season has a completely different take on what makes this show tick.
I'm not saying that Arkin is a bad director. He directed the segment with no comedy, and some others before him directed their segments with plenty of comedy. It really does come down to the director....not the script. I'm sure all the directors are handed a serious script with implied lightheartedness. It's the directors job to pull it off.
Arkin took the events in the script, and filmed an episode of Scarface. Nice job if Get Shorty was Scarface.
Get Shorty is a comedy. All of the highest rated shows this first season were shot by directors that implemented even the most violent scenes with humor. You can't expect this series to succeed if no one likes the characters. A viewer can't like the lead characters, if they're all cold blooded killers with no redeeming qualities.
This show has only two likable characters: Shorty and her mother. If all of the directors aren't on the same page as to what they are filming, the next season that Epix has already signed on for will be the last.
Comedic violence and some compassion, forgives the fact that Sean Bridgers and Chris O'Dowd are hit men. The show must never take itself as seriously as it did this episode, or it will fail. Ray Romano can only do so much to add levity to this series. The comedic aspect must be the tone set by each director.