Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 8 Review: In Lies the Truth
Lee Jutton
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Well, Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 8, titled "In Lies the Truth," opened with a flashback confirming the biggest, ugliest truth of all – Rie and Dion slept together, despite Dion insisting to Tommy that it had never happened.
Rie and Dion's hookup was pretty steamy. Then again, as we've seen previously with Pilar...and Marisa...pretty much anyone's hookup with Dion is steamy. Sturgess has smoking hot chemistry with literally every woman on Feed the Beast.
Sturgess is just too good for this show. Watching him on Feed the Beast is like going to Chili's and being surprised when your cheap, greasy burger comes with a side of beluga caviar.
Dion: Tommy hates me.
Uncle Stavros: Hate, love -- that's family.
I can't imagine any of these women having as much fun with Tommy, in or out of bed, as they do with Dion. No wonder they're all drawn to him despite – or rather, because of – his bad boy vibe.
While Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 7 was a great showcase for Tommy's good side, "In Lies the Truth" revealed Tommy at his absolute worst.
Just as Thirio starts to take off thanks to the good buzz from Dante DiPaolo's blog, Tommy nearly sabotages the entire enterprise by turning to the bottle yet again, drunkenly taking out his anger at Dion on everyone around him – the wait staff, the customers, even Pilar.
Dion: Come on, Tommy, just kick me in the balls and get it over with.
Tommy: No, not your balls -- you'd be lost without those!
Obviously finding out that your best friend was sleeping with your now-deceased wife is a huge blow – especially when you're still struggling to emerge from mourning her death. A setback makes sense. Yet Tommy's behavior in this episode was unsympathetic and inexcusable.
Watching Tommy repeatedly insist that the bad bottle of wine he poured for one couple was in fact the nectar of the gods was awkward and embarrassing. I couldn't help but cringe in horror. But watching him rudely berate that couple in front of the entire restaurant, even after Dion came out to try and save face, just made me angry.
You cheat, you die, you take the betrayal to the grave with you. Aren't you lucky.
Tommy [to Rie]
Going back to Pilar: Can we take a moment to address a major bombshell that was dropped in this episode? I'm talking about the moment when Pilar told the Tooth Fairy that she wasn't really a widow. Her deceased husband Oscar – he of the romantic surprises that so inspired Tommy in the previous episode – never actually existed!
Turns out, Pilar is much more calculated than I gave her credit for. She was going to grief group just to try and pick up men – her reasoning being that these men had been in committed relationships before and so maybe would be willing to commit again, this time to her. Makes sense, really, despite being incredibly manipulative.
It explains a lot of her behavior. I always thought Pilar was a bit too thirsty for someone still in mourning. Perhaps throwing herself at Tommy was her way of dealing with the loss of her husband, but it seemed like a stretch to me. Now, I get it.
And now, with much reluctance, we turn to the Tooth Fairy.
Catching the last 15 minutes of Martin Scorsese's 1990 classic Goodfellas on AMC just prior to the start of "In Lies the Truth" only served to emphasize the dreadfully boring and derivative nature of the gangster subplot in Feed the Beast.
To be fair, it is totally unfair to expect anything in Feed the Beast to rival Martin Scorsese. Yet, it just goes to show that these stories can capture the audience's imagination when the characters are more than just cookie-cutter (anti)heroes and villains.
What purpose did the scene between the Tooth Fairy and the male prostitute serve? Is it supposed to highlight his ruthlessness? We already know he is ruthless. It felt as though the scene was there for shock value, but when it comes down to it, it wasn't really that shocking.
Feed the Beast seems to be implying that the Tooth Fairy may be in love with Dion, and considering that every woman who crosses Dion's path cant resist him, I'm not terribly surprised. I just think the reveal of this particular truth could have come about in a more interesting way.
She was hot. Can't justify it. Just saying.
Uncle Stavros [on Rie]
After Tommy told Dion that he only wants to keep Thirio open a little bit longer for the crew's sake, it was surprising to see Dion turn down the Tooth Fairy's offer to work at his new restaurant, insisting that Thirio is a personal project for him and he needs to make it work.
With only two episodes of Feed the Beast left to go, the fate of Thirio remains up in the air, and I am intrigued to see where it will land.
What did you think of "In Lies the Truth?" Did you have any sympathy for Tommy's behavior? How do you think he'll react when he learns that Pilar's dead husband doesn't exist?
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.
