Horace and Pete “Episode 5” Review: Death and Rebirth

 A Hopeful Horace and Pete as Act 1 comes to a close

A brief review of Horace and Pete’s fifth episode right after I see if Brooklyn is on the ups…

“Because maybe It’ll get better”
-Pete

The final line of dialogue uttered at the end of Horace and Pete’s fifth episode is the thesis for the“first act” of Horace and Pete’s final play (presumably). The fifth episode of Horace and Pete is all about dealing with death and the potential for rebirth that can emerge from it. It’s the death of the “Horace and Pete universe” as we’ve seen it throughout four episodes and through that there is the potential for change. The fifth episode of “Horace and Pete” creates a beautiful set up for the last acts of the show, and suggests whether it’s good or bad the show will end on something different.

The episode begins with THE DEATH OF UNCLE PETE. Turns out the long shot of the door closing at the end of last week’s episode was indeed the departure Alan Alda’s great character as we find out near the beginning of the episode that he ultimately killed himself (I don’t know how time works on Horace and Pete but I would love to think that this happened right after he delivered his final words of wisdom to his son at the end of last week). And while I’m sad that we won’t get anymore of Alan Alda for the rest of the series the way that Louis CK used it as a means of set up was beautiful. To these characters the death of Uncle Pete was not just a singular death, but the death of an institution as a whole. No matter what happens to Horace and Pete’s from here on in it’s going to have a somewhat different face.

The wake scene that made up most of the first half of the episode was a fantastic representation of that change. We see the departure of almost everything that’s associated with the past lives of Horace, Pete, and Sylvia. From Marsha giving her tragic backstory in what felt like her exit monologue, to Sylvia essentially shoving her daughter away, to the confirmation that indeed the attempts for Horace to reconnect with his daughter have failed (in rather hilarious fashion) everything that once characterized the previous generation of Horace and Pete has exited stage left. Sure some of the old bar patrons have stuck around, but there is a different atmosphere to the proceedings.

The decision of where to go from here (essentially rock bottom in a way) is solely up to the three “siblings” (it’s hard to know how to characterize Pete at this point) involved. Syliva has always wanted to sell the bar in the first place but the want has been intensified now given the cancer and the new dollar figure associated with the bar. Pete on the other hand knows nothing outside of working and living in the bar and essentially needs to keep it. It’s Horace, for really the first time in the series who actually steps up and tries to create a compromise. There is a clear sense here that Horace is attached to something about the bar and is at the same time concerned about the livelihood of both of his siblings. His proposal is to have the three of them run the bar together, maybe redesign the place, and create something for themselves with the admittedly little the actually have. While Sylvia seems down on the proposal when she exits near the end of the episode it looks as though that’s where the series may head as it enters its final stage.

It ultimately leaves episode five/act one on a hopeful note which is one that the series has not really touched on throughout its run. Maybe, even in the most challenging of times, there can be hope to change one’s future in a positive way. The end of act one suggests potential for a positive direction for these characters, one where they won’t need to just “off themselves” like Uncle Pete. For now though we can only hope along with the characters, as we still don’t know whether this play will turn into a comedy or a tragedy.

Some other musings:

• This was the best that the “current events bar conversations” have been. It flowed really well in the last third of the episode, and ultimately set up the note that the episode ended on.

• I like the idea that Uncle Pete actually killed himself. It adds much more meaning to his death and sets up the need for change that predicates the last third of the episode.

• Jessica Lang has been underrated good as Marsha. I was glad she got one more chance to shine before (presumably) making her exit.

That’s it for this week folks. I can’t wait for what comes next!

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?