[For Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll‘s “Don’t Wanna Die Anonymous” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]
FX Summary:
Don’t Wanna Die Anonymous. Watching a sold out Afghan Whigs reunion show leads Johnny to try and get his old band back together.
Denis Leary’s new TV show is a lighthearted romp into the land of debauchery with cool clothes, laughs, and hot peeps to boot. Leary plays Johnny Rock, has-been lead singer of the rock band The Heathens, who really never amounted to much because they broke up right after the release of their allegedly promising first album.
The show starts with Johnny at a particularly low point, snorting dishwashing soap and reminiscing about the days of yore, though they weren’t really worthy of remembering. Thing is, he’s got his hot backup singers by his side to this day and they continue to look amazing, even in leather pants. Though still willing to sleep with him, they’re understandably a bit fed up with his consistent failures. They poo poo the idea of Johnny taking a job as lead singer in a Jon Bon Jovi tribute band (which pays shockingly well, by the way). Do they really think he can do better? The unsaid but undeniable question dangles in the air above them when across the street they see Gigi. She’s the daughter Johnny never knew about, who looks like a cross between Susan Sarandon and Lindsey Lohan. Best of all she’s loaded and not with drugs or booze. Gigi’s got money and lots of it. Turns out she tracked Johnny down because she wants to be a lead singer and figures he’s the ticket for her ride to the big time.
John Colbert plays Flash, who can’t seem to forgive Johnny for ruining the band all those years ago… and Johnny sleeping with his wife didn’t help heal the wound either. He’s a hired gun lead guitarist now working for Lady Gaga and signing nineteen year old tits after the show. But when he gets a peek at Gigi’s booty on Johnny’s phone, Flash gets a Count of Monte Cristo look in his eye and says hell yeah he’ll get the band back together to play with HER. It’s a good thing too because Gigi really wants Flash to help jump start her music career.
The last scene is by far the best when Johnny spends an eternity explaining all the body parts on his daughter that the band isn’t allowed to mention, touch or look at in extraordinary detail only to have this all forgotten when she blows into the room and takes over. Gigi is a star. She enters, names her song, and then destroys with a whopping rendition that wakes everybody up. Oh yeah, that’s what these instruments are for and what we’ve always wanted… to be a rock band. But Johnny’s just standing back watching and thus we see the real story beginning to unfold. A Star is Born but this time it’s her Daddy not her husband by her side.
There’s a lot to love about this show with Dennis Leary in fine form, knockout jokes, and realistic dialogue, especially in a convo with a God Johnny doesn’t believe in. This is how people really talk and the story plows forward with fabulous ferocity. All the realism, funny, and rock chic fit together like a sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll puzzle – a learning toy that’s actually fun to play. Can’t wait for next week to see Flash start playing out his revenge fantasy while Johnny watches his daughter own his spot at the microphone again in front of the band he nearly destroyed.
–Katherine Recap
