Quick Take: Caged, "Episode Four"
"If you lose, it's because the other dude is more badass than you." - John Wesley
Review: Caged, "Episode Four"
(S01014) While my coverage of MTV's Mixed Martial Arts show Caged has been overwhelmingly positive, I did voice a bit of concern in last week's review.
"I do have some concerns with Caged going forward. As a short (maybe five episodes?) mini-series, I have no doubt the show would remain interesting throughout. But through three episodes, I have started to notice that the producers are beginning to recycle plots from prior episodes, which leads me to worry about the show's long-term prospects," I wrote.
After four episodes, I think it might be time to put these concerns to rest. Sure, Caged keeps going back to the Wes/Red-relationship-drama well. But that's okay. Wes and Red are interesting characters. Daniel is still comingto terms with the death of his high school sweetheart and the jealously of his new girl.
While I was (briefly) worried about the "recycling of plots," I was underestimating the depth of show's bench ofcharacters. Last week we got to know Tony, one of the trainers at Karate Mafia. His hard-luck story mirrored therials and tribulations of the show's main cast.
This week, we get a peek into the life of Donny, the owner of Karate Mafia. For reasons that went unnamed (Iassume lawyers had something to do with this), Donny was arrested years ago after a dispute that ended with aman dead. After going through the legal process, it's finally time for Donny to pay the piper: five years hard time.
So what does Donny's incarceration mean for the rest of the Caged fighters? Well, first and foremost, the gymneed someone to run it. That job falls to Danger, which (to me, at least) is a good call. Danger might not alwayscome across as the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he seems most capable of keeping Karate Mafia runningwhile Donny is upstate.
The fight scenes this week were particularly good. John Wesley, a minor character until now, reenters the ring after three years and dominates. Then danger dismantles a poor guy who should have never been in the ring with him.
