Hot! Hot! Hot! – As the fifth episode of Painkiller begins, a young Richard Sackler (David Kohlsmith) goes to New York to visit his uncle. When his father tries to give Arthur (Clark Gregg) gifts, Arthur tells him to take them back because he has confused things with wealth. He claims you build wealth for your family. Arthur tells Richard about legacy. Edie Flowers thinks it is obvious why the Sacklers thought they could pull this off. They thought they were untouchable after their representatives sailed through congressional testimony. When they lied about not knowing until the Maine incident, it gave Edie’s team everything they needed to subpoena Purdue’s documents.
Edie (Uzo Aduba) goes on to say that Richard (Matthew Broderick) didn’t behave like you’d think because the guy was weird. Howard Udell (Brian Markinson) tells Richard that it has to be a fishing expedition. Richard agreed to give them everything. By design, most of the stuff was useless to Edie’s team. John Brownlee (Tyler Ritter) brought in Ricky Mountcastle and Randy Ramseyer to help go through the documents. They needed to confirm that Purdue knew OxyContin was a problem and find out when they knew. They believed their lies would start falling apart once they knew.
While they look through the files, Molly Dover (Maddy Hills) thanks Shannon Schaeffer (West Duchovny) for giving her one of her whales. Molly confesses that she’d clean his toilet if he buys drugs. When they see the moms protesting, Molly claims they’re bored and blame everyone but themselves. Once they go inside, Shannon introduces Molly to everyone including Dr. Tim Cooper (Johnny Sneed). Benji walks them out to keep the protestors away. As Glen Kryger (Taylor Kitsch) snorts pills, he calls Lily (Carolina Bartczak) to say he needs to swing by to pick up some shoes. Once he goes to Lily’s place, she reminds him that she asked him not to come back.
She tells him he looks sick and ended up shutting the door in his face. After Lily opens the door again, Glen says he is sorry for everything. Lily tells him he needs to go. Glen says he isn’t going to leave until he sees his daughter so Lily threatens to call the police. She shuts the door. Glen leaves with his boots on the ground behind him. Then, he goes to Dr. Hartman (Darrin Baker) to ask for another prescription. Hartman insists he cannot write him a script because this isn’t about pain anymore. Instead, he wants to put Glen on methadone to help him get off OxyContin. Glen gets upset and tells him what is going on with his family.
He yells at Dr. Hartman to write the script. When Glen leaves, he gets some of his stuff so he can pawn it for money. He pawns even more of his tools. Glen pawns his ring and nearly gets into a wreck. He tries to get in to see a doctor by paying the guard outside. Once he returns to his truck, a man comes up behind him and tries to rob him. Arthur talks to Richard about this being a problem, but Richard says it is only a small one. Arthur tells him to take care of this now. Later, John Brownlee visits Deborah Marlowe (Trenna Keating) who is working for Howard Udell. Deborah says she doesn’t have Edie’s name on the list and she can’t bring in anyone who hasn’t been pre-approved.
Eventually, Edie agrees to wait in the lobby. Howard tries to get Richard ready for the meeting with John Brownlee. They discuss the case of Bryan Hutchens who died in a car accident. Richard points out that he had caffeine and nicotine in his system. Howard urges him to take this seriously. Richard argues that they shouldn’t give them anything, but Howard thinks a small settlement would do the trick. Richard tells him to eliminate that word from his brain. Howard says hello to Randy Ramseyer (Austin Strugnell), Rick Mountcastle (Joel Keller), and John Brownlee. They’re surprised they’re only going to be sitting down with Howard.
While they talk, Edie watches Richard Sackler play ball with Unch. Howard is told they want Purdue to change the labels so OxyContin can only be marketed for end-of-life care. They also want Purdue to make an investment in the Virginia communities harmed by the drug. Brownlee suggests paying $2 billion. He goes on to say they want a public apology from Purdue. Edie tells Richard that he did a good job making all that money. Howard says they can give them a one-time $10 million gift to Virginia law enforcement or the charity of their choosing. The company will not admit to any wrongdoing.
Howard says they believe they’re being demonized unfairly. They begin talking about the overdoses Brownlee’s department flagged. Howard thinks it is unfair and dishonest to single out Purdue. They believe their offer of $10 million is generous. Brownlee says they now want $5 billion and the drug can be taken off the market entirely. He says he isn’t going anywhere. Edie admits she has never seen Brownlee so upset. They thought they had shut him down, but they had only lit a fire under Brownlee. Edie says they thought someone would talk to them so they started making cold calls. They continue looking through Purdue’s files while calling to see if anyone will talk to them.
Eventually, Edie speaks to Deborah Marlowe who worries she might be in some kind of trouble. Edie asks if she’d be willing to talk to her about her time at Purdue, but Deborah hangs up on her. Howard tells Richard and the others that Brownlee is calling everyone at the DOJ in hopes of building support for his case. They discuss the possibility of giving them more money, but Richard is adamant they will not settle. While listening to them, Deborah calls them Oxycoffins instead of OxyContins. She explains that people called the 160s Oxycoffins. Richard remains adamant that they will not settle. Mortimer turns on Deborah and tells her not to put that in the notes.
Deborah ends up calling Edie because there is something she thinks she’d like to know. She explains that Howard had her look online for things about OxyContin and addiction. This was before what happened in Maine. Deborah says this stuff is addictive and she sent it to everyone. Howard told her to get the memo back from everyone and shred it all. Although Deborah did what she was asked, she questioned herself later. She wants to do something about it now. John Brownlee tells Edie that they need her on record. Deborah agrees to let them come to her tomorrow. Howard wakes up Richard to tell him they need to get going.
Richard starts getting ready while explaining why it is a good idea to go to Miami. Arthur warns him that he is messing this up. Later, the others tell Richard that the investigators are calling around looking for snitches. Richard walks out onto the stage while Shannon and the others chant OxyContin. While they party, Edie and the others prepare to interview Deborah. Edie explains that they waited there for hours. They also try calling Deborah multiple times. Deborah was at an urgent care doctor shopping. She had been an addict for years. They couldn’t prosecute unless they found someone on the inside. Glen visits Tyler (Jack Mulhern) when Jack isn’t home.
Glen confesses that he messed up big time and it is time for him to be accountable. He knows that Tyler deserves better. Glen says he is going to be a better man for his family. He just needs a little money and asks Tyler whether he knows someone who can get OxyContin. Tyler begins crying because he can’t believe what Glen is saying. Shannon is introduced to Jay McCloskey who is described as Purdue’s new MVP and killer consultant. Tyler screams at Glen until he convinces him to leave. In this car, Glen urges himself to fight this. Meanwhile, the girls get high in the bathroom and talk about hooking up with a 50-year-old.
Shannon is surprised that they’re taking OxyContin because she never has. She notices that Molly has the bracelet Dr. Cooper tried to give her. Shannon insists she didn’t know Molly was going to sleep with him. They try to pressure Shannon into doing a line with them. Glen goes into a convenience store and walks out with drinks. Shannon takes a line. Glen struggles alone. Shannon walks around the party high while Glen continues dealing with the withdrawal. Glen calms down and puts water on his face. Shannon falls into the swimming pool. Someone jumps in to save her. We hear ambulance sirens before the episode ends.
Painkiller Review
Although Painkiller hasn’t been perfect, there are glimmers of light in between the mess. In particular, there have been a few excellent performances, especially those of the Kryger characters. Taylor Kitsch, Jack Mulhern, and Carolina Bartczak were great in this episode. In fact, the scene with Glen and Tyler was gripping enough for Painkiller to finally reach its emotional peak.
Some of the other scenes weren’t so great though. It was most likely a mistake to create the Edie Flowers character and put so much emphasis on her. The character isn’t very sympathetic and hasn’t been since the first minute of the first episode. It also takes away from all of the hard work the real people did.
On top of that, it just doesn’t work most of the time. That was evident when Deborah Marlowe wouldn’t let Edie into the interview room with Howard. Those three minutes were unnecessary considering Edie isn’t real. If the viewer is oblivious to the fact that there is no Edie Flowers, they may be able to overlook some of these hiccups.
The portrayals of the drug reps and Richard Sackler could’ve been so much better because they resemble a sorority a bit too much. A great finale could easily make up for some of these shortcomings though. Otherwise, Painkiller is an okay watch that can be frustrating and even annoying at times. This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10 primarily for the scenes featuring the Kryger family.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
