Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Be My Baby
Lee Jutton
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So, as strange as it may sound, Feed the Beast Season 1 Episode 9 feels a little bit like an episode of Maury Povich. It's all about fathers – the good, the bad, and the murdering.
"Be My Baby" begins with a flashback to the day TJ was born. Unfortunately, the hazy, golden happiness that Tommy has always associated with the day he became a father is starting to fade.
After doing the math regarding when Dion and Rie started sleeping together, Tommy is beginning to suspect that he isn't actually TJ's father – so much so that he orders a home paternity test!
Needless to say, I couldn't help but laugh out loud as I pictured Maury sitting across from dour David Schwimmer, preparing to ominously reveal whether or not Tommy is, in fact, TJ's father.
Then again, Feed the Beast's entire first season has been so jam-packed with melodrama that it's characters' problems could fill quite a few weeks' worth of Maury.
Everything is crazy until proven.
Tommy
Most of the drama in this episode surrounded TJ, both his paternity and his decision to take a gun to school to defend himself against cruel bully Andre.
Considering how heavily the show has been foreshadowing TJ's use of the gun, I was pleasantly surprised when he ended up not pulling the trigger. Too often Feed the Beast does what is obvious. This was not.
Planting a weapon in someone's locker is still a pretty serious crime, but it isn't murder, which was what I expected after numerous scenes of TJ learning to shoot and clean guns under Aidan's watchful gaze.
Andre tortured TJ, including having someone pretend to be Rie on the phone and burning the public memorial to her. So, it's hard to feel very bad for him, even if what TJ did was wrong. Very wrong.
In addition to the aforementioned emotional torture, Andre had essentially threatened to kill TJ, so it's understandable that TJ would want to take action and defend himself.
Of course, it would have made more sense for Tommy to speak up and tell his school counselor – or, you know, the police – rather than take a stolen gun to school to frame him.
Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see where TJ and Tommy's relationship goes from here.
After opting out of taking the paternity test at the last minute, it's clear that Tommy loves his son so much that it doesn't matter whether or not they are actually related by blood.
We don't have to whistle, or hum. It's not a daycare center.
Tommy
Yet, it's also clear that Tommy has not been there for TJ as much as he should have been during his time of grief, too busy drowning his own sorrows in endless bottles of wine.
Tommy needs to step up and set an example of how to be strong for TJ. Otherwise, his son will keep turning to other, less positive male role models like Aidan and Dion.
The other big storyline in "Be My Baby" concerned the Tooth Fairy and his troubled relationship with his own father, mob boss Ziggy.
After Ziggy threatens to delegate the Tooth Fairy's duties to another lieutenant, his son sets out to prove that he is a worth successor to the bloody family business.
Spare me from reliving that gooey moment. What is about Tommy Moran that you are so enamored of?
The Tooth Fairy [to Dion]
I did not enjoy the gruesome nature of Detective Giordano's demise, though it was pretty clear it was going to happen in this episode after he decided to let go of his insane obsession with the man who would become his killer. A happy ending was never in the cards for him.
The scene between Detective Giordano and Marisa, in which she revealed that Dion was the father of her baby and threatened to cut her father out of her life – and her baby's life – was incredibly touching. To see Detective Giordano relinquish his dangerous quest at his daughter's behest added an extra layer of tragedy to his death.
Marisa [on Dion]: He was my client. We became involved.
Detective Giordano: Does your client intend to become involved as a father?
Hopefully, Detective Giordano has succeeded in keeping Marisa and her baby safe, even if, in the end, he couldn't save himself. But, with Dion still in the Tooth Fairy's cross-hairs, anything could happen in the final episode of Feed the Beast's debut season.
So, what did you think of "Be My Baby"? Were you surprised when TJ didn't pull the trigger? Do you think the Tooth Fairy will take out his anger and jealousy on Dion or Tommy?
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.
