Well, it’s finally time for the mayoral election, something we’ve been talking about on this show since almost the very beginning. But at the last minute, Jill decides she’s so disgusted at what the candidates are up to that she’s going to throw her hat in the ring. With only three days to the election, will this have an effect? Meanwhile, Kenny finds out that a prisoner under arrest for tax evasion used to be a pro-boxer and he wants to stage an exhibition match. This is a solid enough episode. The show seems to be reaching for some kind of a theme about the underdog, but it doesn’t really work. Costas Mandylor is good here as Kenny; often it doesn’t work when the more cynical characters on a show become idealistic and exuberant, but Mandylor sells it and Kenny’s giddiness is a lot of fun. The mayoral plot is fun, because it gives Fyvush Finkel and Michael Keenan plenty of screen time; Keenan in particular is quite good. The plot is an odd rehash of the episode when Jimmy considered running for mayor because he was disgusted by the candidates and their behavior. I’m not sure what made the show runners decide to do the same plot twice in the first seven episodes of the series, but it still works surprisingly well. I think I prefer this one to the Jimmy episode, actually. 3 stars.
tl;dr – a rehashed plot from early in the season surprisingly doesn’t cripple this episode; great performances help elevate it, of course. 3 stars.