#eamon cunningham too

[bepractical]

Kin Season 1 Superlatives 

I'm just about ready to reignite my Daredevil obsession, but before my page becomes flooded with pics of my favorite vigilante in black pjs… 

I thought I’d do one last Kin post to close out my recaps, at least until Season 2. Here are my superlatives for season 1 of Kin. It was much harder than I expected.

Favorite Character: Michael Kinsella.

You won’t believe it but I really had to think this one through. How much of my love for Michael has to do with Charlie Cox? Have I been blinded by those sad, puppy-dog eyes? Amanda is my close second and her storyline and development is just as satisfying. In the end there are a few things that put Michael in the top spot. The first is Anna. Michael and Anna’s relationship is one of my favorite things about the series. More on that in a minute. Second, I love how Michael is portrayed. It’s a conscious decision to make the family hitman a quiet, grieving man, who is soft and shy on the outside but a stone cold killer who struggles with expressing himself and with detachment on the inside. His health problems provided some of the most intense moments of the series and he has wonderful, multidimensional relationships with Anna, Jimmy, Amanda, Birdy, Jamie and Frank. He’s a good character who is well acted and I cannot wait to see what happens with him next season. 

Least Favorite Character: It’s Frank.

Of course it is. I’ve said it before and I stand firm in the assertion, rewatching is not kind to Frank. It’s not that Frank is uninteresting or poorly written. He has a great story arc and Aidan Gillen does a wonderful job with a pretty thankless character. Frank is written as a man who worked hard to secure his place in the family. He kept them well respected and relevant, but failed to provide the might needed to survive. Even before the events at the beginning of the season he had a fraught relationship with Eamon. Once the shit hit the fan, Frank reacted in the worst way possible. He panicked, stopped looking for solutions, and took out his frustration on the people around him. He was pathetic, sexist and incompetent, and a terrible, emotionally abusive dad to Eric. 

Favorite Villain: Eamon Cunningham.

Eamon is frustrating, foolish, stubborn and full of hubris. He’s entirely dependent on his ability to intimidate and outright murder his enemies. The minute someone bites back he’s floundering, with no choice but more force. He’s the Goliath to the Kinsella’s David. He’s also a sucker for his ex wife and his little son in Spain. Eamon is a great antagonist and Ciarán Hinds plays him well.

Character Who Benefited Most from the Recaps: Jimmy Kinsella.

The slow watch I did for the recaps, where I paid special attention to details and wasn’t doing ten other things while I watched, was so good for Jimmy. There are a lot of small details to his performance, and most often they involve him loving and reaching out to his loved ones. He’s an incredibly emotional character and the dichotomy between him and Michael is fascinating. 

Biggest Fuck Up: Eric Kinsella.

Character or plot point, it’s all about Eric. He’s a loveable fuck up, but a fuck up all the same. His horribly planned, anger fueled drive by was undoubtedly the biggest fuck up of the season. 

Character Who Made the Largest Impact in the Least Amount of Screentime: Bren Kinsella.

His appearance answered so many questions I didn’t even know I had concerning Michael, Jimmy and Frank. He’s the missing piece in the Kinsella crime family and I cannot wait to see more of him.

Character I Want to See More Of: Birdy Goggins nee Kinsella

Birdy played a supporting role in most of her relationships this series, whether she was subtly manipulating Michael or bolstering Frank. My favorite scenes of hers, though, were her conversations with Eamon. First at Jamie’s funeral, when she outright asks him to give the Kinsellas Caolan Moore and second, when she approaches him in the parking garage and tries to broker a peace. I want to see more of Birdy when she’s not propping up other characters. I am also dying to see her, Frank and Bren. 

Favorite Ship: Michael/Amanda/Jimmy.

Aka my favorite slow moving disaster. Every combination of these three is a delightful mess.  

Favorite Family Relationship: Michael and Anna.

This is a show about family, so the options are many. In the end I have to go with Michael and Anna. They are the same flavor of awkward ducks and seeing them circle each other and try to carve out a relationship is stressful and endearing. Big props to Hannah Adeogun for mirroring some of Charlie’s mannerisms for Michael, right down to his awkward smile. 

Most Shocking Death: Jamie Kinsella.

In retrospect there’s enough foreshadowing packed in that first episode that his death should have been visible from the moon, but on first watch I found it truly shocking. 

Favorite Storyline: The Kinsellas do a robbery.

From Frank’s mischievous smile when the idea is first brought up, to Eric and Jimmy’s delight at Michael’s participation, to Michael’s dry delivery when threatening Con, to the family celebration when the job is done, this was a delight all around. Was it a good idea? Probably not. But everybody loves a heist and I love that this one hinged on Con Doyle loving his son more than he cares about Eamon’s drugs. 

Least Favorite Storyline: Eamon and Angela go to an ayahuasca ceremony.

I love Angela and the hold she has on Eamon. I even love getting to see more of Eamon’s life outside of him terrorizing the Kinsellas. It’s the muddy symbolism, man. 

Saddest Scene: Jimmy's eulogy.

This is a sad, sad series. After much contemplation, I’m gonna go with Jimmy’s eulogy at Jamie’s funeral for the saddest scene. It is a certified tearjerker. Emmett J Scanlan does a tremendous job in his portrayal of grief, with his strained, tearfilled smiles as he struggles to talk about his dead son. We also get a brief recognition of the pain Michael has caused his own daughter (which leads to another sad scene). The scene ends with a cut to Amanda with a crying Jimmy beside her, who has finally surfaced long enough from her own grief to see how painful this is for Jimmy.  

Most Satisfying Scene: Amanda ferrets out the mole.

Everything about this plan is immensely satisfying to me. The minute Amanda suspects someone is working against the family, she uses her deductive reasoning to figure it out. She confronts Kem at her house, with Jimmy unknowingly on standby, and weasels the truth out of him. Look at that shot. Awesome. 

Most Stressful Scene: Michael freaks out during the hit on Caolan Moore.

So many options and almost all of them have to do with Michael. I’m going with the first scene to truly stress me out in the series, Michael trapped in the bar after he kills Caolan Moore. It ends with him face-to-face with Mini Michael, the hitman who killed Jamie, but he can't focus his eyes to shoot. So stressful.

Most Cathartic Scene: Michael yells at Amanda after the cafe shootout.

If you’re looking for catharsis, this may not be the series for you. There is, however, one scene that really brings it home. You know the one. It’s Michael screaming out his feelings after the shooting at the cafe. If ever a character needed a moment to release his emotions, it’s Michael. 

And that's all she wrote. Feel free to post our own, or say if you agree or disagree. The list I used is below. Hope to see you next season!

Favorite Character

Least Favorite Character

Favorite Villain

Character Who Benefited Most from the Recaps

Biggest Fuck Up

Character Who Made the Largest Impact in the Least Amount of Screentime

Character I Want to See More Of 

Favorite Ship

Favorite Family Relationship

Most Shocking Death

Favorite Storyline

Least Favorite Storyline

Saddest Scene

Most Satisfying Scene

Most Stressful Scene

Most Cathartic Scene

[emergncymed]

new oc tag for tafts girlfriend her most dangerous game name is madison but i need her actual name !!! and im going to name taft some obnoxious irish name

name ideas though

guinevere

odette

mirielle

winifred

wilhelmina

amato - beloved

fiore - flower

marchetti - warlike

valentina - strong

vinci - conqueror

winifred juliette marchetti

taft last names

brady - spirited

casey - vigilant

collins - young warrior

coffey - victorious

cunningham - leader

ferguson - man of vigor

kearny - warrior of the group

taft first names

finnegan / finn

eamon

angus

im partial to finn/finneagan and eamon but his familys from boston. so. i like angus too because it fits him. ok finneagan/finn angus eamon last name

taft name final:

finnegan / finn eamon brady

[aidansplaguewind]

I had an inkling that Bren was a pedo. I have no idea how I guessed it but I was right. They’re making him a bit too unlikeable though. Its way to easy to root for the rest of the family when he’s a creepy predator. Episode 2 was good, I’m liking this season a lot better. What are your thoughts?

I'm not sure we're supposed to like him honestly. I find him repulsive.

I mean, only being two episodes in I don't really feel totally safe saying I like it better than season one. I feel like it's too soon to make an overall judgment, but I think it's shaping up to be better so far. I didn’t dislike the first season as much as other people seem to, but I had to watch it a second time to feel that way.

And as much as I don't like Amanda, I did find it kind of cool to see her and Frank kind of on the same team, even if neither of them likes it. (Because despite my distaste for her, i can't stand a man telling a woman to basically stay in her place like Brenden is doing) My first thought tho, was watch Frank start to like her and get behind her and then find out she's lying about Eamon Cunningham(now I remember his name) letting her choose the Kinsella to kill.

I do kinda like seeing that Frank is the softy of his siblings. When Birdy says to Amanda, "He's not Frank. He will hurt you" about Brenden, I'm just like awww Frank is baby. But I also love it when Aidan plays ruthless characters, so I wouldn't mind too much if we see Frank toughen up a bit.

And am I the only one who can't stand Viking? Like, okay I get it, he's a lost little boy seeking his daddy's love and affirmation blah blah but he's hot headed and doesn't think before he acts and that's why he's not given more of a leadership role. He thinks he's entitled to it but obviously the family doesn't want someone that reckless to have any authority over them.

Those are my thoughts. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

Ugh THIS. 

She is seriously playing a dangerous game with Michael’s life. 😬 

She’s wagering that the prospect of 90 mil will keep the Batuk family at bay for four months, time that she and the Kinsellas can use to figure something else out. Because she’s surely not dumb enough to think that the Batuk family isn’t capable of taking the money and then still being out for Michael’s head anyway. 

They have a massive advantage on the Kinsellas in terms of power and money already, and bleeding themselves of 90 mil will only further weaken the Kinsellas’s power base over time. Yep, the whole situation’s one big nail-biter - we can only wait and see what will happen.😬

(Things between Amanda and Eric are already tip-of-the-iceberg tense, and Bren’s not going to be bloody well pleased about anything that’s been happening since Jamie’s death. Heck, even before that. If Frank had been able to keep Eric in check in the first place, he wouldn’t have gone out and started this whole mess.

If there’s to be a fissure in the family, Michael and Jimmy’s loyalty will obviously be to Amanda. She’s already got Frank and Eric on her bad side, and no doubt Bren, too. I can’t imagine Birdy will be well pleased about her having usurped the power in the family either, but she still loves Michael and Jimmy so she’ll be the one in middle of all this. 

Aaaahh, waiting two months to see all this dysfunctional family drama unfold is going to be so hard!!! T_T I’ve totally been spoiled by Nexflix just dropping whole seasons at once. lol)

(Also, this isn’t even the first time Amanda’s played fast and loose with the Kinsellas’s affairs. I don’t think Michael was wrong to be angry with her that time in the car after he was nearly shot when he went to meet Anna at the cafe. Yeah, I get that she was afraid for Anthony’s life, but the moment she suspected they had a mole she should have told someone. 

A whole 24 hours of leaving everyone else out of the loop just left them all open to greater danger, by her own choice, because (as usual) she presumed she knew better than anyone else. (And let’s be honest, she usually does. LOL) But it’s the principle of the thing. Not telling the hot-heads in the family that she suspected Kem was a mole was a perfectly reasonable thing to do - after all, as she said, Kem wasn’t worth anyone in the family going to prison for. But why didn’t she at least tell Michael???

Michael’s the least hot-headed of any of the men in the family - even when he was furious about Anna’s attempted abduction, when Jimmy demanded know why he wasn’t doing anything about it, and wasn’t he angry? Michael answered that of course he was, but he was waiting until he wasn’t angry anymore before deciding what to do. So yeah, cooler heads would’ve prevailed had Amanda told Michael what was going on. She ought to have put her trust in him. 

As I said, it’s the principle of the thing. The Kinsellas are at their strongest when they’re united. One person taking it upon themselves to unilaterally make decisions that affect the whole (when they’re not even in the position of leadership to be making those decisions in the first place) only weakens them in the long run by sowing discord...which is what we’re already seeing the beginning of in S2. 

That said, the women are pretty much the brains in the Kinsella family. lol Frank has shown himself to be too weak to run the show, and Bren is much like Eamon Cunningham in that he rules by ruthlessness first and foremost. Jimmy’s a follower by nature, not a leader. Michael is pretty self-possessed and he commands respect across the board, both within and without the family, but we all know he doesn’t want the job. And Eric is...Eric. xd They need someone with a cool head for business and a deft hand at manipulation, who isn’t afraid of exercising measured ruthlessness when called for. 

That’s definitely Amanda. Or Birdy. Between Frank, Bren, and Birdy, I’d definitely vote for Birdy. And she commands more respect and affection in the family as a whole. She could bring unity to them far more easily than Amanda ever could. Not to mention she has a far defter hand at emotional manipulation as well. lol The person who’s really getting their position most usurped by Amanda in the family is Birdy, I swear. I hate feeling like I have to choose between two queens. lol Just get it together and unify your strengths please, ladies. <3 )

So when are we going to talk about the fact that amanda went behind everyone's back to meet the daughter of the Batuk family and not only did she offer an extra 20 mil - even though they would have a lot of trouble paying 70 mil already - but she later lied and said that they agreed to take the bounty off of Michael's head when in fact no such thing happened??

Batuk literally emphasized this with several statements!! She said "he will not be part of any deal" and that her father would rather have her "go home empty handed" than spare Michael. When amanda tries to play the tough card saying that Michael is good at getting away, she even shrugs it off by saying "we only need to be successful once"

Amanda even threatens that if they kill Michael, they will not pay off anything (surely to result in another gang war) and yet... the Batuk family NEVER AGREED to actually sparing Michael and then she went and basically told just that to everyone??

So Birdy's now off picking up Michael like all's fine and dandy???

Also, I'm sorry, but Birdy KNEW Eamon and yet believes that Eamon lied about not wanting a specific Kinsella and as much as an idiot Eric is, at least he sees through her bullshit. All I can honestly hope for is Bren getting out of prison and tearing this whole family a new one...

[celtic-cd-releases]

You can order the CD on https://shop.walthertreyz.com/.../mckee-walther-jones.../

and find it on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/album/7k0IKCWVHD5IRwCzT46art?highlight=spotify:track:4HiaZ3JKqmmYdX8DevZr1V

[bepractical]

Kin: Season 1, Episode 8, Part 2

Hello! Sorry for the very long wait! I went on vacation, then I was catching up with work, then the holidays happened, etc, etc. I highly recommend a trip to Madrid, by the way. Beautiful city, great food, good people. 

This is part two of the episode 8 recap for the first season of Kin. See the masterlist here. The end’s not near, it’s here (and full of spoilers).

In part 1: Amanda and Michael kicked off their plan to murder Eamon, Jimmy was thoroughly cuckolded and sad about it, Frank got sidelined and no one was sad about it, Eric got his first taste of prison life, and Michael met a cute pharmacist. I ended right after their meeting but forgot that immediately thereafter there’s a scene of Michael staring soulfully at his meds back home, so that’s where we’ll start. Here’s some thirsty pharmacist to take us into the cut! 

At the compound, Jimmy’s revving up his bike.

Amanda is grabbing something from the floor safe while Michael takes his pills.

That done, he stares for a minute at his screen saver of Anna, presumably to remind himself of his motivation for all the upcoming murder. He leaves his phone on the table and he’s out of there, breezing right past his bullet proof vest.

Michael meets Jimmy and Amanda in their drive, where he and Amanda have a super awkward goodbye. She obviously wants to say or do more but Jimmy is watching them both like a thoroughly cuckolded hawk.

The best part is Michael’s little smile when Amanda tells him to be careful. He's a confident assassin.

The men drive away to parts unknown while Amanda goes back inside to find Anthony playing video games. She offers to make him any meal he wants. He asks for Thai chicken curry, which we soon find out was Jamie’s favorite.

Seeing Anthony there playing by himself when the series started with him and Jamie playing together is sad. I wonder if he’s guessed what’s going on. I say yes, and we already know he’s down for murder.

Over at Birdy’s, Nikki’s worried about Eric going into the protection unit. Everyone knows Eric will lose his mind if he’s isolated for that long. She asks if there’s anything else Frank can do for him and Frank snaps at her like the enormous impotent manchild he is. 

At the jail, Eric works out shirtless. Thanks, buddy.

I don’t mention it often but damn, this cast is good looking. Once again I lament my inability to make gifs.

Turns out Eric’s psyching himself up for a painful plan, which involves slamming his head and fists against the cell door until he’s injured enough to get sent to the infirmary.

Why? You’ll see! It’s a good plan! Genuinely!

Back at the compound, Jimmy comes home to Amanda cooking dinner. He recognizes what she’s making, which is very sweet and sad. She asks after Michael, providing a perfect segue for Jimmy to enact his own plan, that is, winning his wife back by offering to do anything, literally ANYTHING to make her happy. He agrees to miss Jamie’s month’s mind mass in order to do it (it’s killing Con, that’s what he’s doing). See how excited he looks about that?

Can you believe it’s been a month since Jamie died? 

Sitting by his lap pool, which looks very warm and cozy, Eamon chats with his adorable son in Spain. Nice to see he appreciates one of his children. And it’s the boy, would you look at that!

Kem rolls up with Con Doyle and seriously, let’s take a minute to appreciate the balls on this dude.

Eamon wants Kem to set up one of the Kinsellas, Michael for preference. Kem gives a little song and dance about how hard it is to get any of them alone but promises to contact Con when he has a plan. The trap is set!

At the compound, Frank snorts some coke alone while looking destroyed and I don’t feel bad for him at all. 

Across the street, Amanda gets out of bed with Jimmy and makes her way to Jamie’s bed. She lays her head on his pillow and inhales, trying to catch some of his scent. It’s really sad. 

The next morning everyone’s up and ready to get down to business. Eamon’s heading to the airport, Amanda’s ruminating over the flyer for Jamie’s mass, Jimmy’s steeling himself to kill Con. Amanda assures him he doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to, but he claims he wants to. “Good,” she says. Jimmy does not look reassured.

Amanda starts to leave for the airport and is stopped by a disheveled Frank.

Dude is grasping for authority with both hands. Unfortunately any respect Amanda had for him is long gone. His posturing just makes him look more pathetic. Damn it, Frank. She should have run him over.

At the airport Amanda meets Eamon in a lounge to talk, along with a special guest: Angela’s mystery gift. 

I love this scene. It’s such a stark contrast to the last time they met, when Eamon threatened Anthony and backed Amanda into her car door. I have some thoughts about how Amanda got to this point, but they are super lengthy so I’ll toss them in a separate post. Short story: The past month has shown Amanda how pell-mell and incompetent the criminal underworld is, giving her the confidence to face Eamon and make these huge decisions for the family. I love that she’s wearing all black, very formal and intimidating, and that the reason behind her wardrobe is that she’s headed to a service to mourn her son. It’s a nice and tidy circle.

Eamon gets right to threatening. Give him the drugs or he’ll make sure Anthony has a bounty double anyone else.

Amanda responds, cool as a cucumber: Right now it’s half a million for anyone who kills Jimmy, Michael, Frank or Viking. But that’s not the real cost of killing a Kinsella. That figure would be closer to 50 million. Cause if any of them are killed, I will burn your drugs, all of it at once. 

Eamon is not pleased but Amanda assures him she’s only negotiating. She points out that someone must be waiting for their cut of the drugs, a fact we’ll get into later. 

Eamon has finally cottoned on that he won’t be steamrolling Amanda anymore. She offers a deal- he can have his drugs in exchange for peace. Eamon balks at that and Amanda reasonably points out that Eamon’s had five of their people killed and her son is dead, so it’s not like he’s walking away with nothing. Eamon pulls out that old routine, that Jamie’s death was wrong, it was an accident, but that means less than nothing to Amanda. 

Eamon: Everything I am, everything I’ve built- all of it- is dependent on one thing, that people know I’m fucking ruthless. Without that it all comes tumbling down. Agreeing to your offer, even if it’s fair, makes me look weak. So I can’t accept. I just can’t. 

Amanda asks what Eamon can accept. He tells her he wants his drugs and one Kinsella. She asks which one he wants and he tells her to choose.

With that he gets up and starts to walk away until Amanda calls him back to ask permission to go to Jamie’s mass. Eamon agrees to spread the word through his criminal pipeline that it’s over. 

The final part is here!  

If you had to choose one of the Kinsella men to die, who would it be?