Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 6 Review: The Wild West
Lee Jutton
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In Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 6, Thirio opens its doors for a successful soft opening – but between an unexpected hookup, a visit from child protective services and a gang shooting, it wasn't exactly a peaceful one.
This episode is titled "The Wild West," a reference to Dion's repeated insistence that opening a high-end restaurant in the Bronx is the equivalent of braving the Oregon Trail.
This comes up not once, but twice in this episode, and each time it made me cringe.
The scene that was simultaneously the best and worst thing about "The Wild West" was Pilar's passionate hookup with Dion prior to the restaurant's soft opening. Unlike everything that happens in the gangster scenes, it was something that I actually didn't see coming.
It was awesome to finally see Pilar grow a backbone and stand up to Dion, who has demeaned her and her ability to manage the restaurant since day one. (Though, to be fair, she did forget to get the liquor license, and pay the gas bill...Dion wasn't entirely wrong when he criticized her competency. He just could have been more tactful about it.)
Up until this episode, Pilar has been such a sugary sweet character that watching her scenes makes my teeth hurt.
She puts up with Dion's rude behavior and Tommy's non-stop gloominess – not to mention, you know, her own grief over her husband's death – and manages to somehow keep a smile on her face.
Opening a restaurant in the Bronx takes good old-fashioned New York moxie.
Reporter Mary Sue White
Pilar's positivity can be a good thing, especially in contrast to Tommy's relentless negativity, but not when it leads to her being a pushover. So, to see her berate Dion for submitting fraudulent receipts and threaten to turn him in to Aidan was pretty great. To see her punch Dion right in the face after he kissed her was even better.
At first, I thought Dion charming Pilar into serving as hostess by complementing her was merely an effort to get her off his back over the receipts. However, once she started yelling at him, it was clear that the fiery side of her was very appealing to him.
Sweet Pilar might not have been to Dion's taste, but spicy Pilar? Based on the frantic, fevered quality of their hookup, I'd say she's just about right. She definitely has more chemistry with him than with Tommy, that's for sure.
So, I've explained why it was the best part of the episode. Now, why was it also the worst?
Well, hooking up with a guy you work for is not very wise. When that guy is also a temperamental coke addict who readily breaks the law and is expecting a baby with another woman – a woman who you convinced to not get an abortion – that's just a whole other level of unwise.
So, it was the best in terms of adding another twist to the show, but the worst in terms of responsible life choices that Pilar could have made.
As sort of a father, I'd say it's not the worst, you know? To be a dad?
Stavros, to Dion
I would have been more disappointed in Pilar for succumbing to sex with a dirtbag --albeit a charming dirtbag -- like Dion, but after getting blown off by an awkward and indifferent Tommy for the millionth time, the girl deserved some attention from the opposite sex.
When Marisa showed up at Thirio and started confiding in Pilar about her concerns over Dion, it was amusingly awkward. I'm curious to see where this newfound love triangle – or square, if you count Tommy – goes in future episodes.
Speaking of Tommy: He spent most of this episode obsessing over whether Dion had slept with Rie, repeatedly watching old videos of them together on Rie's laptop. Like Pilar, Rie has more chemistry with Dion than with Tommy – likely because Dion actually has a personality, even if it's a pretty reckless one.
Watching Tommy gloomily slouch from scene to scene, delivering every line in a monotone that makes him resemble Eeyore, is capable of killing anyone's buzz. No wonder Pilar needed to blow off some steam with Dion.
A good knife can last your whole life. Your mom taught me that. Her knives were always immaculate.
Dion, to TJ
I would have liked to have seen more TJ in this episode, but with so many characters in need of screen time, I can understand why he took the short end of the stick this time.
On the plus side, the Tooth Fairy only appeared in about three scenes. On the downside, those scenes were all so boring that I barely remembered any of them once they were over.
Unfortunately, one of the Tooth Fairy's scenes was immediately followed by a gang shooting that took place right outside Thirio.
Seeing the restaurant sign looming ominously over the television news reporters covering the incident led to numerous reservation cancelations for Thirio's opening night.
Tommy: What's that, you're friends with Patrick Woichik now?
Dion: No, he just wanted to wish me luck on our new venture.
Tommy: Was he being ironic?
The next episode of Feed the Beast promises to show how that opening night ends up playing out in the wake of those murders – hopefully better than expected. Now that Thirio is in full swing, the show's future is looking brighter – even if the future of the restaurant itself remains up in the air.
What did you think of tonight's episode? Do you think Pilar already regrets hooking up with Dion? Do you think Dion and Rie slept together, or is Tommy reading too much into those videos?
If you're hungry for more, you can watch Feed the Beast online via TV Fanatic.
Lee Jutton was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She went into retirement in July of 2017. Follow her on Twitter.
