Episode Title: “Crossroads”
Writer: Mitch Glazer and Ted Mann
Director: Ed Bianchi
Previously on “Magic City:”
The status quo takes a major hit in this fourth hour of “Magic City’s” second season, shifting and reshaping relationships, both professional and personal.
If Stevie (Steven Strait) was hoping for a bigger role in his father’s burgeoning hotel empire, this episode squashed those aspirations. Stevie thinks he’s done good when a winning poker hand lands him the DJ convention at the Miramar Playa. Ben (Danny Huston) seems to think it’s a pretty big score and congratulates Stevie. But Ike (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his partners bring reality crashing down on the older Evans boy when they explain to him why the Miramar Playa has never hosted the raucous affair before. However, Stevie manages to convince everyone but Ike to let him take a chance on the convention. However, it’s Ike who has final say and it’s Ike who shoots him down.
All this feels a little bit like going through the motions, as Stevie needs more incentive to get closer to Ben. We get it here, but what we don’t get is an explanation for Ike’s lack of faith in Stevie. Everyone else at the table thinks there’s a chance the DJ convention could be a success for the hotel but only Ike remains unconvinced. Is it for fear of being seen as putting family before business? Ike is pretty much oblivious to Stevie’s relationship with Ben, but why wouldn’t he give his eldest a chance to prove he can run the show?
Maybe because Ike is a control freak and an egomaniac? That might be a bit too extreme an assessment, but in this episode, we do see Ike take some big risks in hopes of taking total control of both the Miramar Playa and his operation in Havana. In reaching out to Ben’s boss, Sy Berman (James Caan), Ike hopes to make a very dangerous deal: Havana in exchange for the Miramar Playa.
It’s a bet Sy isn’t willing to make, especially when he believes casino gambling is on the verge of becoming legal in Miami. And when Ike tacks on the million-dollar loan he needs to get things rolling in Havana, Sy leaves Ike listening to a dial tone.
You could say Ike’s trying to get out of his deal with one devil by propositioning another. And for his part, Danny (Christian Cooke) starts to question his own relationship with a devil in disguise as a man of justice, Jack Klein. When Klein (Matt Ross) takes him along on his bust of Nicky Grillo’s arms deal with the Cubans, Danny finds himself intervening on behalf of the “bad guys.” Danny’s conflicted feelings about the relationship between Klein and his father are much more interesting than Stevie’s resentment towards Ike and his increasing allegiance to Ben.
While both Evans boys are weighing their options, so are their ladies… or at least one. Mercy (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) finds herself drawn to Antonio, who tries to woo her with Cuban cigars, rum and childhood memories of their homeland. In the meantime, Stevie listens to Nicky Grillo lament his first encounter with Lily, who used the same “wrong woman’ line on Nicky as she did on him. Stevie thinks he’s being played and confronts Lily (Jessica Marais). Nevermind the fact that she’s married to “The Butcher….”
The episode closes with Vera’s (Olga Kurylenko) successful B-12 shot-fueled opening night. After introducing Ike to some important media types, Meg (Kelly Lynch) looks crestfallen when she sees Ike excitedly applauding his wife’s performance. The “Meg versus Vera” storyline continues to drag on with little more substance than sarcastic quips and longing looks. It feels like a soap opera storyline trying to find a place in a show trying to be a serious drama. But that doesn’t mean we should give up on it yet, as I’d like to see both these characters step up for some more screen time.
Other developments in “Crossroads” include the death of elevator operator and mole, Theresa at the hands of Bel Jaffe (Michael Rispoli). After supplying Ike with valuable info on Senator Sloat’s payoffs, she wasn’t long for this world. And Ike’s father’s gambling habit provides inspiration for funding his Havana operation – tinkering with the Cuban lottery. Ike’s wheeling and dealing is enough to make your head spin and it’s bound to make some heads roll before this season’s through.
