Vinyl Season 1 Episode 6 Recap

Vinyl (2016-)

Created by:  Mick Jagger, Terence Winter, Rich Cohen, Martin Scorsese
Starring:   Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano, Juno Temple, James Jagger

HBO's '70s music scene series still hasn't lived up to its potential. The second episode, more than the first is reluctant to start the story proper. The latest episode gave us unnecessary flashbacks in an attempt to build backstory, when the show needs to progress the plot. The first and second episodes should have been combined into one hour long episode. Check out my Vinyl season 1 recaps.

Plot: 
Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) is a New York record executive in 1973, endeavoring to sign the biggest and best talent.

Review: Episode 6 Cyclone
Episode five picked up, and this episode went right back down and how. It's boring. Richie manages to become more unlikable and less interesting each episode, much like the show. Episode five might be the highlight, and that is not saying much. This show has been mishandled. This episode is my official breaking point. Do not watch this show. You will find little to no joy, and you will feel your time has been robbed. No matter how much you wish this episode to end, it just keeps going. The ending is twist that in many shows would surprise, but in this it's used to distract us from the sub-par quality.

Richie has been on a three day bender since Devon left. I guess this episode is going to focus on his personal problems and not his record company. Exactly what I don't want. A guy with marital and job problems cant be set in any period. The record industry in the '70s is the draw.

Devon is back with her artist friends. She's having a mid-life crisis. She has no seeming regard for her children. Richie and Devon both come back home, but Richie of course does a good job of ruining what could be a turning point. His apology turns into belittling and Devon leaves him, as she should. She's upset when he tells her he's been hanging out with Ernst. We don't know why that precipitated her leaving until the end of the episode. Check out the last paragraph of this review.

Newly hired Andrea wants to execute her vision at American Century, and everyone openly welcomes her back but they aren't sure about her changes. She wants to change the logo and their office decor. No one realized their logo looks like a toilet bowl. It's fitting on many levels.
Andrea is pushing for David Bowie. That could be a good angle.

Richie is worthless this episode. He attacks Andy Warhol, thinking he knows Devon's whereabouts. He then steals a Firebird. His buddy Ernst is present just to help Richie make bad decisions. 
At Zach's kid's bat mitzvah Richie wishes he had a family like that. Zach reminds him he does. He already has exactly that. Richie then flips out and ruins the party, much like he's ruined his life, Zach's life, and ruined both families. Richie likes to be complete in his destruction.
It's not a total loss as Zach discovers a talent on the piano. 

Kip is having trouble picking a new guitar player for the band. He claims it's energy and look, when it's really that he doesn't want to be outplayed. He might have found the person he needs at the guitar store. His potential guitar player cajoles Kip into stealing a guitar.

In a flashback, a high Richie crashes a car he, Devon, Ingrid, and Ernst were in. Ernst is killed, Devon's pregnancy is apparently aborted, and maybe that was the point that Richie stopped doing drugs. That explains why Ernst seemed like a source of only bad ideas for Richie and why it sent Devon packing, but it's also whats wrong with the show. This fluff that adds nothing to the show. It's a misdirect and a cheat to try and trick me into watching this horrid episode again.