Five Things To Remember Before You Watch The Boss Season Two Premiere
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 17, 2012 9:05PM
Kelsey Grammer as Mayor Tom Kane in Boss. (Photo courtesy of Starz)
Before you watch the Season Two premiere of Boss tonight, here's a refresher of who is screwing who. Beware: This is chockfull of Season 1 spoilers. As we've said before, Boss has so many swirling subplots it can be tough to keep them apart, especially when the plots so easily tangle with Chicago news stories from recent decades. Read last season's episode recaps to get up to speed: S01-E01-E03, S01-E04, S01-E05, S01-E06, S01-E07, S01-E08
Who Zajac Was Screwing
When we last saw lady-lovin' candidate Ben Zajac, the smug, handsome bastard was celebrating winning the Democratic primary for governor. In the meantime, Kitty is pregnant, and Ald. Ross is an emotional disaster after he receives a bunch of salacious photos of his wife in bed with Zajac. While Kane didn't know about the pregnancy, Kitty's attachment to Zajac may have cost Kitty her job, but it's not clear if she quit or she was fired or if maybe she's taking a break. Either way, Zajac's womanizing ways left debris all over the political map. How satisfying was it when Ross punched Zajac? His wife Maggie started to show in the final episode that she's the one who's really in charge, asking only political questions when she sees the photos of Zajac with Ross' wife. "Since when have I ever cared who you're fucking?"
Who Ezra Was Screwing
So many pawns moved in the Season One finale, that we almost forgot Ezra was dead. When Kane found out his top aide was responsible for the beating of his father-in-law's nurse, he confronted Ezra to find out he was conspiring against Kane by leaking files that put the blame on Kane for the Bensenville disaster. Kane had Ezra killed by the nameless recurring hitman character.
Who Tom Kane Was Screwing
Perhaps we should call this, "Who Wasn't Kane Screwing?" For starters, the man gave up his daughter to the cops to distract the press, and he made his wife sleep with a creepy old man to call off the legal dogs in the Bensenville case. As Kane tried to weasel out who was leaking information, he said, "Shake the tree, bad apples do fall..." With Ezra dead and Kitty out of the picture, Kane is without family or confidantes, as isolated as in the final scene of Season One. As for his health, it's unclear where he's getting treatment. Remember Dr. Ella Harris? Well he screwed her life up by shipping her and her son off to Arizona against their will.
Who Emma Kane Was Screwing
Emma and Darius are in love. Darius even got the word "Dilemma" tattooed on his forearm, pointing out the last four letters to Emma as a sign of commitment. She's locked up and messed up, while he's on the outside, having escaped the net law enforcement cast in the drug bust. Theirs is probably the only relationship in the series that is based on affection, so it may not crumble as easily as the familial and political relationships. Emma says her involvement in the drug trade was the right thing to do, the only way to keep her clinic running, but the moral stance isn't the easiest or most popular one in the Boss version of Chicago.
Who Sentinel Reporter Sam Miller Was Screwing
Actually, Sam Miller hasn't successful screwed anyone over yet. The reporter has all of the idealism of a wet-behind-the-ear reporter with the talent of an old hack. He knows who to interview and what to ask, but his investigations never gain momentum enough to mow over Kane. He knew to question Dr. Harris, and he stirred up trouble, but he never really resolved anything. Miller accepted a promotion to become editor of the Sentinel at the expense of one of his investigations, but with permission to go at Kane full speed ahead.