No More Blue Balls: ‘Hung’ Has Arrived

Hung-HBOEpisode Commentary: The Pickle Jar

Even though it took a few episodes to reach its full potential, HBO’s “Hung” has finally hit the audience’s G-spot.

Again, while the show isn’t as obscene as it was originally thought to be, the dark humor and wit in the past few episodes more than make up for it, making it a hybrid comedy that is slowly carving its own niche on the network.

Much like last week, Tanya Skagle [Jane Adams] is trying to build up her “Happiness Consultants” or male gigolo business, with the good-looking, yet George Costanza-esque Ray Drecker [Thomas Jane] as her only John. However, Drecker gets a case of the flu after meeting his first “client,” played by the sweet, but larger and older Molly, [Margo Martindale ] who is sick and tired of her husband’s under-performing in the bedroom.

While it takes time for Drecker to come to grips with his new job and Molly’s needs, by the end of the episode, viewers see his transformation: He is now a professional male hooker and is happier because of it.

Thank you; now the show can be begin.

There’s more though.

If that all wasn’t enough, there’s still problems with the ex-wife and kids and at work for Drecker to deal with. Seeing him manage all of these concerns and teeter on the brink of insanity are a treat. The fact that he’s able to stay ahead of the curve, despite living in a tent, show a strength of character that make him incredibly easy to root for and equally as interesting. He’s also got a roof to fix on his parents burnt out home [that he doesn’t have the money to pay for] and it seems that his next-door neighbor’s wife may be a bit intrigued by him.

These developments alone should be be enough to create a more than ample episode next week.

In other developments, Drecker’s ex-wife, Jessica Haxon, played by Ann Heche, is going through her own problems and is slowly losing control of both her relationship with her children and her new husband. After weeks of earning the hate of the audience, due to her arrogance and lack of concern for her ex-husband, it’s fun to see her slow demise. It also shows that the writers had a reason for making her so revolting through the first few episodes of the series.

With all of these small stories encompassing the half hour show, it seems “Hung” has finally hit its mark and has enough provocative and steamy material to get through the next few weeks before going flaccid.

Let the show begin.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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