Vegas - Season 1 Episode 3 - Recap and Review - All That Glitters
Vegas really is gorgeous to look at, and "All That Glitters" is as bright and as vibrant an episode as the series has had thus far, with the characters and the story luxuriating in the show's period setting. The aesthetic of the show is part of what makes its routine procedural approach feel so fresh, though the central mystery at the heart of "All That Glitters" is filled with enough surprises to keep viewers engaged while moving the show's mob arc along at a faster clip. The case surrounding the mystery isn't as interesting as it probably should be, since domestic abuse is an overplayed trope in this genre, but its deficiencies are more than made up for by the solid mob sections of the episode, which introduces us to the father of the Savoy's new counting room manager, Mia Rizzo (Sarah Jones), the volatile gambling addict and mob bigwig, Johnny Rizzo (Michael Weisman). If nothing else, "All That Glitters" illustrates just how compelling a show Vegas could be even without the procedural element that CBS relies upon so often.
Credit: CBS
Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis) has big plans on expanding the Savoy, imagining the kind of scratch they could make if they added a restaurant annex to the casino. But to extend the reach of his influence in Vegas, Savino has to go through men like Johnny Rizzo, and mob boss Angelo (Jonathan Banks). However, Johnny isn't nearly as level-headed as his own daughter, and so he goes about making an awful ruckus throughout the Savoy, despite being banned from just about every gambling establishment in Nevada by the gaming commission (his presence on the casino floor could get the Savoy into some really hot water). Johnny's hotheadedness culminates in an outburst in which he beats the casino's best dealer to within an inch of his life upon discovering that the man had been letting him win. His reappearance on the gaming floor leads to Ralph (Dennis Quaid) arresting the man, an act that stirs Johnny to action, as he organizes the visiting Chicago mob and attempts to organize a hit on Sheriff Lamb.
Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
Michael Chiklis hasn't had a whole lot to do in the role just yet, though he still manages to do plenty with what he's given. He's a unique actor in his ability to adopt a charming menace about himself, and his performance has shown that Savino can occasionally be as hotheaded as he pragmatic, as restrained as he is ambitious. "All That Glitters" gives him his best arc thus far in the series, as he first attempts to neutralize the threat of Johnny Rizzo by placating him with a private casino in the Savoy's best room. When Rizzo's own stubbornness and stupidity gets him arrested by Ralph, Savino coolly explains to the Chicago mobsters why killing Ralph wouldn't be in their best interests, since two sheriffs biting the dust in such a short time span will make Vegas appear like a lawless wasteland, which would hurt tourism. He essentially puts Johnny Rizzo in his place, and though Johnny makes overtures to his daughter at the end of the episode to the tone of Savino not being in charge much longer, it's hard to believe the man is as formidable as Savino is savvy.
The case of the week follows the murder of Tommy, a member of 1960 US Olympic Boxing Team, bludgeoned to death with a blunt object. Tommy, a young white male, is shown to be rather progressive in his thinking, owing to his friendship with African-American teammate, Ray Humphries. At the first press conference after returning home from the Olympiad, Tommy takes umbrage with a reporter's question about the extent to which Tommy's patriotism swelled upon punching his Russian opponent en route to the gold medal, with Tommy claiming that punching a Russian isn't different from punching a man of any other nationality, and that the person he'd really like to punch is the bigot who refused to serve Ray breakfast at a diner that morning. When Tommy turns up dead, it's not altogether unreasonable to expect that it had something to do with his progressive beliefs.
But there are other possibilities at hand, from a jealous, abusive husband whose wife Tommy was helping escape, to a crooked promoter who used Tommy's addiction to painkillers to blackmail the young man into signing with him, right down to Ray himself. The case embarks upon the standard business of revealing that the victim's public and private faces weren't necessarily the same, and it's fittingly dark, considering that the prospective villain of the case is more or less the dictionary definition of scum. Hell, the best cathartic moment of the episode is Ralph's assurance to the man's beleaguered wife that if the man ever comes for her again, well, she has Ralph's number. Sheriff Lamb really is among my favorite new characters on TV right now, since quality TV these days seems to indulge in the antihero, and it's great to have someone who's just a plain, straightforward, no nonsense hero. An honest, good man, but not a man without his rough edges.
Credit: CBS
As for the rest of the case, the details follow Tommy's sketchy medical history, and the question of how an Olympic boxer could be felled by some tobacco-chewing moron, and the resolution is unique, if not predictable. Really, it's not that thrilling a case in itself, and I imagine it would be pretty easy to zone out for large chunks of the narrative, but the closing moments send the case spiraling in a different direction that I could at least appreciate. If the show is going to insist on featuring a different case each week, it's good that they're finding different ways to stave off predictability while also still having the twists make sense. That said, I still feel the show would be better served by stretching one case out over several episodes, which would free up the narrative to further develop the characters and their interpersonal relationships with one another, while also addressing some of the broader themes of a city, and a people, in transition. But I think the show has more than likely already established its intentions as to its identity, so I hope at least that the cases become more nuanced in the coming weeks. I certainly appreciated the effort, even if I didn't think the case measured up to the mob portion of the episode.
"All That Glitters" isn't going to win any new converts to the show, but it exemplifies what the series can do when it tells more serialized stories. Michael Chiklis is a powerhouse actor, and I can't wait to see him pit against Dennis Quaid more often down the line. I also hope they bring back Jonathan Banks as Angelo, since it's a genius bit of casting that ultimately gets shunted off to the sidelines, and it would be a real shame to cast such a talented actor in such a temporary, and relatively thankless, role. As for the series, Vegas seems to be in no danger of going away anytime soon, so I think there will be time down the line for the series to settle into its procedural identity to the point that it feels more organic. Ralph Lamb did exist, after all, and he was a lawman. Hence, the "case of the week" element really should feel more natural than it does. But rough footing is a problem for any new series, so hopefully it's a temporary problem to a series that is growing increasingly ambitious in the scope of its storytelling.
Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS