What I’m Watching: Hung

Hung: Season 2, Episode 9 “Fat Off My Love or I’m the Allergen” (B+)

I can’t believe that this show is already wrapping up its second season, with the finale airing this coming Sunday evening. I would certainly hope it will be back for a third season, though that news has not yet been reported (Update: since I wrote this review, the show has in fact been picked up for a ten-episode third season slated to air next year!). Things certainly are falling apart, as Lenore begins her plan of revenge, Tanya starts to go nuts, and Ray pretty much loses both of his jobs. Ray getting laid off isn’t something entirely surprising, but it happens so easily that it’s a reminder of how much his full-time job isn’t really an important part of his life anymore. When Lenore comes to find him at the school, it’s one of the first times that we’ve seen Ray in a classroom in a long, long while. He’s lost Mike as a friend, Tanya as a pimp, and any real source of income that he has. Of course that magnificent final scene shows what he still has, something which he both didn’t know he had and also didn’t have up until recently, and that’s Jessica. Her showing up in his backyard ready to swim naked with him was fantastic, and the ending scene of this episode was one of the best I’ve seen on television. Ronnie’s meltdown is the most extreme of all in this episode (though a case could certainly be made for Tanya’s use of physical violence), and also the most public and embarrassing. Good riddance, Ronnie. Tanya, on the other hand, is a center point of this show, and hopefully the loss of her primary job won’t lead to an arrest and can help her and Ray get their heads back in the game for the uphill battle they’re likely face in the near future.