“The Weekend Warrior” sees the son of Zorn spending the weekend with his dad. Since he is staying with Zorn, things are bound to go off the rails and they do. Although, to be fair, this time it is more Alan’s fault than his father’s. Alan takes his dad’s lava launcher to impress his juvenile delinquent pal Jeff.
Before looking at the episode, let us take a moment to look at Jeff. The streetwise and somewhat threatening teenager is played by Gotham‘s own Jerome Valeska, aka Cameron Monaghan. Cameron is also well known for playing Ian Gallagher in Showtime’s Shameless. Looks like Monaghan specializes in playing lads who are not overly law abiding and doing it very well.
Zorn is worried that Alan will not enjoy his father/son experience over the weekend. Edie makes Zorn promise to abide by her rules. In Edie’s eyes it is safety first where Alan is concerned.
Meanwhile, Zorn quizzes his colleague Todd, who has a “greatest dad” coffee cup, about how to be fun. Todd reveals that he let his daughter ride her bicycle without a helmet and that as a result he is never allowed to have his child over again.
Zorn then calls a name from the bathroom stall, “For a good time call Eric” and asks the man advice about having his son over. Meanwhile Zorn really builds up the weekend visit and Alan invites Jeff over thinking that the weekend will really rock.
By the time Jeff shows up, Zorn has taken all the wild out of the warrior weekend and turned it into a bland, boring yawn fest. Alan decides to leave with Jeff and they take the lava launcher.
Meanwhile Craig and Edie have guests over for a party. After the guests leave, Craig wants to have sex on the sofa. Unfortunately Edie cannot stop worrying and texting her son and Zorn.
Finally they leave to check on the Zorn and Alan. She uses “find my phone” to track down her son. Later, Zorn uses her hacking Alan’s phone to his advantage.
It has to be said that Zorn may be odd compared to the rest of the people in the real world. But Craig and Edie are equally up to the task of being slightly off the rails.
Take their party prank on the couple they invite over. When Edie was married to Zorn and living in Zephyr she learned to stop her heart for a short period of time.
At the party, she collapses on the kitchen floor. Bill and Shirley are freaked out and when Bill finds that Edie has no pulse, he panics. Craig takes his picture and Edie gets back up.
Bill is stunned and confused. Craig continues laughing as Edie explains that she can stop her heart. In terms of practical jokes this is not normal.
Back at Zorn’s apartment, he is making a meat snack when he discovers that Alan took the lava launcher. Alan is in a parking lot with Jeff and his friends. Jeff tells Alan to shoot the launcher at a car and he refuses.
The two teens struggle over the weapon and shoot a load of lava onto the parking lot. Zorn arrives just as a security guard shows up. He smooths things over by giving the guard all his money and the launcher.
Edie arrives to tell Zorn off and Alan lies for his dad to keep him out of trouble.
Son of Zorn is still amusing and while it is good for a laugh or two, the live/animated show may not last for too long. The show does follow Edie and Craig enough to keep the focus off of Zorn and Alan which does allow for some non-animated comedy. This may help defray the issues that many have with a cartoon interacting with “real” people.
In terms of the “real” actors, Hines, Pemberton and Meadows consistently knock it out of the park by playing their roles perfectly straight. This sells the comedy even when Hines, as Edie, has to “play dead” on the kitchen floor.
The series airs Sundays on FOX. Tune in and listen to Sudeikis kill it as Zorn.
CAST:
- Jason Sudeikis – Zorn
- Cheryl Hines – Edie
- Johnny Pemberton – Alan
- Tim Meadows – Craig
- Artemis Pebdani – Linda
- Cameron Monaghan – Jeff
- Mark Proksch – Todd
- Cedric Yarbrough – Bill
- Nyima Funk – Shirley
Mikes Film Talk 