By Kofi Outlaw
Taking a cue from critics like yours truly perhaps, CANE thankfully kept it all in the family this week.
Alex bestowed the formal position of driver/bodyguard upon hired-thug Santo, a move that had his family furrowing their brows. Answering some long-standing questions of his own, Alex happened upon brother-in-law Frank making out in the sugar-cane fields with secret lover (and family nemesis) Ellis Samuels. When Alex tried to go to Pancho for guidance, the old patriarch told Alex that a good CEO knew everyone else’s secrets while protecting his own. Alex took the advice to heart and used Frank’s loose lips to spread disinformation amongst the Samuels, leading them to make a foolish business deal while Alex poised himself to make larger profits down the line.
Club-owner Henry came (literally) to an agreement (with the world’s hottest architect) about plans for an exclusive V.I.P. room for his club. All he needed was $500 thousand to build it. Henry approached Alex, who was too unsure about the investment to allot company funds for it. Henry then complained to Frank, who told him to “grow a set” and secure some outside funding. Henry did just that, though his new partners were of the shady “How much you need? That much? No problem.” type. When Alex offered to have these new partners checked out, Henry foolishly refused, seeing the offer as an insult to his competence.
On the peripheral side of things: Alex and his youngest son had the honor of introducing the Miami Dolphins at their season opener. Pancho (who is secretly dying of a cancer relapse,) decided that after forty years he wanted to die an American, studying in secret for a citizenship test, until wife Amalia finally demanded to know what he’d been up to. Being the old lovebirds that they are, Amalia decided to join her husband and become an American citizen. Finally, at family dinner, Alex’s eldest son Jamie popped the question to gringo-girlfriend Rebecca—much to the chagrin of mother Isabel. During this milestone Alex and Frank stole away for a heated argument where Alex confronted his brother-in-law with the betrayal he had done by spying for the enemy. Frank countered that he wasn’t a murderer like Alex, leaving things in a tenuous Cuban-standoff. The episode ended with Isabel (who is becoming more suspicious of her husband,) going to stash Rebecca’s engagement ring in a safe, only to find Alex’s gun inside.
While I like the format CANE is starting to follow (keeping the story tightly focused on Alex juggling the various aspects of his life,) again I must stress that the show loses steam whenever it leaves Alex and tries to focus on the secondary characters. Thankfully Paola Turbay is there to bring the steam right back (muy caliente!) because extraneous plotlines like Pancho trying for his citizenship just waste precious viewing time. However the show is getting leaner, meaner and more focused, and for now that will do just fine.