What I’m Watching: Lights Out

Lights Out: Season 1, Episode 8 “Head Games” (B+)

If ever there was a guest star who could dominate an entire episode with his presence, it’s Eamonn Walker, who was recently seen as a standout supporting player in “The Company Men” and can trace his episode-stealing roots back to HBO’s violent prison drama “Oz.” His appearance as famed trainer Ed Romeo here manages to shape the tone for this episode, providing an outsider’s perspective on the situation in which Lights currently finds himself. It’s almost as stark to see Ed come onto the scene as it is to see Robert step down from his post and confess that he can’t stand to see his son get hurt anymore. Ed still gets the prize for the best-delivered lines, with the standouts being “Everybody smile like you’re happy” and “Everyone say cheeseburger and fries.” I loved how he answered the door for Brent from Brunswick and served as the terrifying introduction for Lights. Ava’s near-attack of Ed was also rather funny, and it’s good that this episode is able to have light moments amidst all of the seriousness. Ed instructing Lights and Theresa to have sex was another one of those such scenes. I was very surprised to see Reynolds at the door at the end of the episode, come to warn Lights about Ed. It’s interesting to see just how small this world of fighting is, and extraordinarily enlightening and intriguing to see into the psyches of such hard-working, stressed individuals as the fighters and their trainers. I’m certainly glad I stuck with this show.