Roadies - The City Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken - Review: "The Curse"

Roadies Season 1 Episode Guide
1.01. "Life is a Carnival" - Review!
1.02. "What Would Phil Do?" - Review!
1.03. "The Bryce Newman Letter" - Review!
1.04. "The City Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken" - Review!
1.05. "Friends and Family" - (Airs July 24)
1.06. "Lost Highway" - (Airs July 31)
1.07. "Carpet Season" - (Airs August 7)
1.08. "The All Night Bus Ride" - (Airs August 14)
1.09. "The Corporate Gig" - (Airs August 21)
1.10. "The Load Out" - (Airs August 28)

Roadies 1.04: The City Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken - Review!


Curses are normally the sort of things you'd expect to find in dramas like Supernatural and Once Upon a Time, so to find one at the centre of a show like Roadies was a nice surprise even if obviously it was nothing more than superstition and it isn't exactly like this show is going to head into a supernatural drama anytime soon. The episode starts with Rick confesses that they should have never played the song Jeanine in the first place, given that his break-up troubles with someone who apparently broke Christopher's heart.

Whilst Kelly-Ann runs into a drunken Rick the rest of the team are making the most of their day off, doing various activities that they wouldn't get the chance to do otherwise, with Shelli and Bill heading to Lousville and the Cemetery there. The team also have a significant boost in living conditions in the Haverford Hotel, and Reg has problems to solve. His suitcases have gone missing, and in order to save time, the bus should cut through Cincinnati to reach their destination but that turns out to be a big mistake. For some reason, Cincinnati is the titular City of the episode, and its name should not be spoken.

The solution as always comes in with Phil who comes up with a fairly complex solution to break the curse. They've got to find elevens balloons and eleven eggs and then, after driving a hundred miles, play a song by The Who whilst releasing the balloons and breaking the eggs. I'll bear that in mind next time I fall victim to a curse, but it sounds to be a pretty neat solution. However the group have to find Rick first who didn't turn up at the hotel. This means that Bill and Shelli have to abandon their plans to go to the Cemetery to instead find him, taking them to a strip club where of course Bill is right at home. They find out from Milo in the end that a good starting point would be the crazy stripper known as Red Velvet (A name that reminded me of David Lynch's awesome Blue Velvet while watching the episode), and just like that Roadies turns into the music equivalent of a cop show.

It doesn't take Bill and Shelli long to find Red Velvet however only they discover that she doesn't go by that name anymore and is instead Roberta, who earned a real estate license. However, whilst these two are searching for Rick, the tour bus heads a hundred miles away to break the curse in order to find balloons and eggs. They find balloons in the form of both a house that's for sale, and from a set of condoms that Milo provides. And it turns out that apparently people are likely to leave houses unlocked in the middle of nowhere, so Kelly Ann and Reg manage to take a bunch of eggs in the fridge without any resistance whatsoever. Now if this was something like Supernatural and they were trying to stop the curse then this would no doubt be a trap for something bigger later down the line, but Roadies? I'm not so sure. Either way this gives Kelly-Ann and Reg a chance to be the "Will they, won't they?" would-be couple of the episode with some back and forth bickering. For those of you that are reading, who do you think will get together first, Kelly-Ann and Reg or Bill and Shelli? Start placing your bets. It turns out that both Kelly-Ann and Reg don't feel the same things that normal people do, never getting emotionally attached to anything, but they're still fairly awkward around each other.

Now that they have all the ingredients they're able to break the eggs and release the boons to The Who's They Are all in Love. However the harmony is interrupted by an all-too convenient storm, and during the overdue shower, Milo remembers that Rick will be in the Tassel Bar at the Rain Room. Shelli and Bill are arriving there at the same time and end up running into Rick who's slept with Natalie Shin, who seems to be like a cockroach that we can't seem to get rid of. She's easily the weakest character here, but that doesn't stop the three from reconnecting.

This then leaves us with a few questions at the end of the episode. Was the egg dropping accidental? Where is this storyline going? Will we see more focus going forward? Because right now everything just seems a bit too disconnected and there isn't that much forward momentum. It also seems like characters aren't the best as well, because although the actors are putting in good performances, they need breathing space.

I guess time will tell and we'll have to wait and see where this goes because there's still six episodes to go. And it also might be worth letting everyone know at this point that I'm going to be in France from Thursday until the first Saturday in August, so chances are the next review that I'll write will be a double one, covering both episodes five and six. It's something that I'll also be doing for Murder in the First and Preacher as well.

So with that said, did you enjoy the episode? Has the series passed your four episode test? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to stay tuned for next Sunday's episode at 10pm on Showtime.

Overall Episode Verdict: C+
Positives:
+The Curse & Resolution
+The Who
Negatives:
-Characters need work.
-Story needs focus.

Soundtrack:
1. 16 Days - Whiskeytown
2. Freeky Feedback Blues - Benji Hughes
3. Come on Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
4. Born to Lose - Jesus Sons
5. Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers & Jonathan Richman
6. Victims of Life - The Avett Brothers
7. Boston - Augustana
8. She Lit a Fire - Lord Huron
9. Jack - Breach
10. If I am a Stranger (Live in Porto) [Bonus Track] - Ryan Adams
11. Only Ghosts - Gregory Alan Isakov
12. 30 Bones - Fistful of Mercy
13. They Are All in Love - The Who
14. Money - Leaf
15. Actors - Still Parade
16. The First Time - My Morning Jacket

About the Author - Milo MJ

Milo is an Arsenal FC supporter and loves TV shows like Battlestar Galactica, Justified, The 100, The Americans and Person of Interest. He reviews Black Sails, Hell on Wheels, Murder in the First, Narcos, Preacher, Roadies, The Shannara Chronicles and Veep for Spoiler TV as well as books, films and games for his own blog The Fictional Hangout and contributes to comic reviews on a weekly basis for All-Comic.

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