October 31, 2017

The Deuce “My Name is Ruby” Review (SEASON 1 FINALE): Hitchcock & Truffle

The season finale of The Deuce’s first season was action packed, but in true Deuce fashion, it wasn’t “action packed” in the traditional sense. True, a character was killed, but this show is not a heart-pumping thriller in terms of violence or crime; not even in terms of sex if you can believe it. It’s procedural, it takes its sweet time and that slow burn may not be for everyone, but the investment risk yields a high return when it comes to connection to the people, which comes down to the performances of the actors and Simon and Pelecanos struck a rich vein of gold in that department. Every single actor and actress in this show, big and small, top billed or extra gives their absolute all to bringing the world of 1970s Manhattan to life and by God, do I wish we lived in that decade right now. All my friends and family know I’m a little too infatuated with a romanticized idea of the seventies (shoutout to Ben and the ‘70s-themed social) and even with The Deuce’s seedy, degenerate version of those times that would soil anyone’s love for the decade, I want it more than ever, especially after watching the finale episode of “My Name is Ruby”. Ok, now for some recap.

So, Big Mike’s genius idea of “Masturbatoriums”—that’s closed booths of pornographic peeps shows so viewed can have more privacy to mast…well you get it—is paying off in the stores where Marty Hodas stashes his machines. Frankie allows Mike to christen the first finished one by queuing up a rubber-hose animated cartoon, a little trick that will leave you smiling as the opening credits and Mr. Mayfield’s song roll for the last time in a while.

Then Harvey and Candy are meeting with Marty Hodas who’s got a mug with an out-of-focus Israeli flag on it—just a little Easter Egg for the NJB in me. Not surprising that Harvey and Marty know each other, particularly for anyone who’s ever played Jewish geography. Anyway, their discussion is about how the whole porn industry is getting filthier and filthier by the day with Marty now including interracial scenes and foreign Danish films that utilize dogs and horses. As Harvey says, every day the business of filming and selling sex “takes another step out of the forest”, the last word could also be used to describe the penchant for the abundance of pubic hair at the time.

Later on, Harvey and Candy go to the red carpet of a new breed of X-rated film, which, as the camera pans up to the marquee we learn is Deep Throat, despite the fact that you can guess the movie long before that because we get a glimpse of Linda Lovelace and her husband Chuck Traynor in the periphery. Honestly, The Deuce used these two real-life figures better than Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard  did in 93 minutes of the biopic Lovelace. C.C. and Lori are denied to the VIP section of the premiere and before Lori departs, she sees Linda posing for photos, beloved by all. This drives home that whores (and their men) are becoming somewhat obsolete in the face of hard core porn.

Speaking of, Candy blossoms into a full-time director in the finale when Harvey’s car breaks down and he can’t make it to set. She expertly guides the cast and crew and when Harvey does show up he lauds her direction, likening it to the Hitchcock/Truffaut interviews, which Candy mislabels as “Hitchcock and Truffle”.

CUT TO: The remaining pimps sitting around at their favorite diner divvying up Reggie Love’s girls as if they were part of a meager inheritance left behind by a deceased parent. In particular, they’re coming up with the best ways to gussy up the hoe with the gap (or “hole in the fence” as Method Man puts it) in her tooth, Melissa (Olivia Luccardi). Aptly enough, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” plays in the background during this little brainstorm. It’s also relevant because these men are deluding themselves that they’re still relevant in the ever-changing world of the skin trade. This is driven home later in the episode when C.C. meets up with his mentor who’s gotten out of the pimpin’ “biz”. The guy’s got the look, the talk and the handshake down pat, but then his lady picks him up from the bar with groceries and a reminder that they need to pick up his prescription from the pharmacy; it’s a major wake-up call for C.C., making him realize that his current life is fleeting like water through cupped hands in a running stream.

Larry Brown is also feeling some major blows after one of his girls is arrested in a federal drug bust/sting operation. He actually lets her go to jail, confident that she’d never give him up and if he paid her bail in cash (4 Large) it would look too suspicious. A broken system of controlling women, which confirms something that C.C.’s mentor says, “You want to control the bodies, you need to control the mind”.

Sandra’s also in a bit of a pickle because her editor refuses to publish her expose on police corruption in New York without hard evidence and someone to go on the record. Officer Alston, now sleeping with her, steals a ledger from some fellow cops on where they do the weekly pickups of protection money and yet it’s still not enough without him agreeing to be named. Then Alston gets in trouble for it when his partner rats him out to McDonagh who wants to keep all the dirty laundry in house. By the end of the season, Sandra and Alston are not on the greatest terms.

When it comes to Vinnie, he’s the only one trying to distance himself from the conscience-crushing world of selling women no matter how good the money. He’s like the only character who’s got a moral code even if it means straining his relationships with his own family and powerful employers, telling Frankie, his brother-in-law, and Rudy (respectfully, of course) to go f— themselves when Rudy wants them to expand the parlor operation to a multi-storied building. Vinnie just wants to run his bar and move in with Abby.

Nevertheless, he can’t escape his previous life when his sister brings the news that his ex-wife’s boyfriend beat her black and blue in front of their kids, which prompts Vinnie to go upside the guy’s head with a pool cue. One thing I don’t get is why his wife and kids just disappeared after the second episode. I really liked Zoe Kazan’s performance and find it hard to believe that a man would just abandon his children like that, but hey, I guess it was a different time. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer Vince with Abby, but would like him to see his kids sometime too. At least he still feels the need to avenge her beating. It’s something, I guess.

The episode ends with the death of a Deuce (the show and area) staple, Ruby aka Thunderthighs (Pernell Walker) being thrown out a window by one of her clients, hence the title of the episode. Her death is felt by all the inhabitants of the Times Square area from Vince to Officer Alston. Just because she was a whore doesn’t mean she wasn’t beloved by all who worked with and around her and she will be missed. However, life still goes on and the final shot is of Bernice getting ready to pleasure some dude in the massage parlor because sex is sex and, more importantly, money is still money. Whoring is a dangerous business and that’s the entire thesis statement of the show’s Season One finale. In 1971, braving it on the streets just won’t cut it anymore. You gotta get into the police-protected brothels or the high-end clients services or get yourself a juicy (sometimes quite literally) part in a porno if you want to safely make a living in the skin trade.

The future is here and it’s under the scrutiny of a camera lens.

!1972 בשנה הבאה בשנת

SONG PICKS OF THE WEEK:

“Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” — The Temptations (1971)

“96 Tears” — ? [aka ‘Question Mark’] and the Mysterians (1966)

*”Smiling Faces Sometimes” — The Undisputed Truth (1971)

*Personally, I’m a bigger fan of The Dramatics’ “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”, which came out the same year as “Smiling Faces” and has the same funky/soul/blues/mowtown thing going on that is just so characteristic of the decade. Nevertheless, I’d liken “Smiling Faces Sometimes” to “Backstabbers” by the O’Jays, which came out a year later. 

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General Thoughts on S1:

Like I said, this show isn’t driven by adrenaline-fueled twists and turns, making it a unique look at the ordinary lives of people in a certain time period. I realize that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for a lover of the decade in which it takes place, I got to drool over the fashions, music, and cars for an hour every week for eight weeks running. Moreover, once you get a few episodes in, you’re invested in the characters and their respective plights as history changes rapidly before their very eyes. Everything is executed on a near-perfect level to bring those times to life and I sincerely can’t wait for Season 2.