Often, a show's second episode is a step down from the pilot. Significant time may have passed between the filming of the two episodes and the production staff may have changed, resulting in the show still finding its legs. Detroiters' second offering, "Hog Riders," ends up being on par with the pilot.
This episode, a client's advice inspires Sam and Tim to purchase a motorcycle instead of a van to tote the agency's video equipment. While the plot line lacks the relative heft of the pilot, that shortcoming is offset by several factors. First off, the director on this episode is measurably better at framing his shots than Jon Solomon was in the pilot, and at least for the first half of the episode, the scenes on the motorcycle are cropped in such a way that it isn't so obvious the director was shooting early on a weekend morning when there was no traffic.
Two or three shots in particular caught my eye: Sam and Tim looking at their new hog from their office at an angle paralleling the angle from which they watched their client Sebastian ride off on his hog in the cold open (and to a lesser extent, the shot of the van from their office window even later in the episode); the scene where Sam and Tim come into the office from a motorcycle ride and you can see the Strohl Ice Cream owners dancing in the conference room in the background; and the scene where Sam and Tim are riding past a fatal motorcycle accident, the camera pans, following one of the cops on the scene, and he's blocked out of the shot just as he's starting to vomit. Also, there are no time-wasting NYPD Blue-style scene transitions this episode.
Episode MVP goes to Sheila, the receptionist. As random as her bits are ("I must have had one of my 'dumb blonde' moments" and her phone conversation with her mother), they are among the funniest parts, along with Tim's response to Leah's asking if he and Sam were through jerking off and Spike falling off the motorcycle.
On the minus side, the parody of the D.O.C. Sexy Specs ad lacks context; the ABC Warehouse parody of it was funnier. And if neither of those names means anything to you, then you have an idea of what I mean by a lack of context. Like Mort Crim saying he doesn't make it a policy to comment on the commercials, just before he comments on the latest commercial Sam and Tim have delegated to someone (this time, the building security guard) because they are too busy with the main plot of the episode, I wonder if that joke plays to anyone not familiar with Detroit. And if the scene where Sam and Tim are trying to sell Sebastian on a dance for his commercial was supposed to feel awkward and uncomfortable, congratulations; in that regard, it was on par with the Hot Tub King's epiphany in the pilot.
As with the pilot, there is a through-line, but it almost feels like the show closes on the least interesting one. Either of the two wish fulfillment/disillusionment plot lines—Sam and Tim's motorcycle distraction or the security guard's ad campaign taking off—would have made a more compelling show closer than what the episode ended on. Consequently, despite the superior framing, "Hog Riders" ends up being merely on par with the series pilot.
This episode, a client's advice inspires Sam and Tim to purchase a motorcycle instead of a van to tote the agency's video equipment. While the plot line lacks the relative heft of the pilot, that shortcoming is offset by several factors. First off, the director on this episode is measurably better at framing his shots than Jon Solomon was in the pilot, and at least for the first half of the episode, the scenes on the motorcycle are cropped in such a way that it isn't so obvious the director was shooting early on a weekend morning when there was no traffic.
Two or three shots in particular caught my eye: Sam and Tim looking at their new hog from their office at an angle paralleling the angle from which they watched their client Sebastian ride off on his hog in the cold open (and to a lesser extent, the shot of the van from their office window even later in the episode); the scene where Sam and Tim come into the office from a motorcycle ride and you can see the Strohl Ice Cream owners dancing in the conference room in the background; and the scene where Sam and Tim are riding past a fatal motorcycle accident, the camera pans, following one of the cops on the scene, and he's blocked out of the shot just as he's starting to vomit. Also, there are no time-wasting NYPD Blue-style scene transitions this episode.
Episode MVP goes to Sheila, the receptionist. As random as her bits are ("I must have had one of my 'dumb blonde' moments" and her phone conversation with her mother), they are among the funniest parts, along with Tim's response to Leah's asking if he and Sam were through jerking off and Spike falling off the motorcycle.
On the minus side, the parody of the D.O.C. Sexy Specs ad lacks context; the ABC Warehouse parody of it was funnier. And if neither of those names means anything to you, then you have an idea of what I mean by a lack of context. Like Mort Crim saying he doesn't make it a policy to comment on the commercials, just before he comments on the latest commercial Sam and Tim have delegated to someone (this time, the building security guard) because they are too busy with the main plot of the episode, I wonder if that joke plays to anyone not familiar with Detroit. And if the scene where Sam and Tim are trying to sell Sebastian on a dance for his commercial was supposed to feel awkward and uncomfortable, congratulations; in that regard, it was on par with the Hot Tub King's epiphany in the pilot.
As with the pilot, there is a through-line, but it almost feels like the show closes on the least interesting one. Either of the two wish fulfillment/disillusionment plot lines—Sam and Tim's motorcycle distraction or the security guard's ad campaign taking off—would have made a more compelling show closer than what the episode ended on. Consequently, despite the superior framing, "Hog Riders" ends up being merely on par with the series pilot.
