The Black Drop

The Black Drop is the twelfth episode of Season 1 of NBC's The Black Donnellys.

Synopsis
Jimmy wants a bigger piece of the earnings and asks Dokey to do so, but first he must complete another job for him. Tommy, Kevin and Joey help reappraise Reilly’s diner while at the same time, Tommy tries to find out who murdered his father. Jenny finds closure concerning her missing husband.

Plot
Joey’s been stabbed in protective custody, caught in the shower. His attractive doctor asks him to tell her a story, so he confides that his friends have a contract out on him. Joey flashes back to the Donnelly boys’ bedroom, where Tommy announces his plan to find Lino, the engineer who condemned the diner. At this point, he doesn’t care so much about helping Reilly - he’s hot to learn the identity of his father’s murderers.

Helen forces Sean to buy a GED prep book. Jenny and her Dad are joking around, when Mr. Reilly spaces out in the middle of saying something, making Jenny think his Alzheimer’s is getting worse. But there’s more bad news - the cops have found a body that might be her husband, Teach. Frankie asks Jenny to identify some personal effects, but she maintains the stuff could belong to anybody. She tells her father that she doesn’t feel bad, in fact she doesn’t feel anything, but that soon wears off. Tommy, Kevin and Joey kidnap Lino and tie him up in the basement of the Firecracker for a violent shake down. Tommy demands that Lino un-condemn Reilly’s building - today - but Lino maintains it can’t be done in less than six to nine weeks. Kevin pulls out his lighter to be more convincing, burning a smiley face into Lino’s arm.

Jimmy climbs into Dokey’s car to initiate a renegotiation of the brothers’ deal. Seventy percent of four blocks is for chumps, Tommy screwed the deal and Jimmy wants to fix it. Claiming he can be trusted and doesn’t have any problem with drugs, Jimmy asks Dokey for a bigger piece of the pie. Dokey offers a test: Jimmy is to go to Ray’s bar, ask for Paddy, pick up a package and deliver it. Simple. After that, they’ll talk about renegotiation. Taking some initiative, Vinny prepares the trunk of Nicky’s Cadillac to contain Alo’s corpse. Nicky knows this is a bad idea. When they do it, they have to make it look like someone else did it. Jimmy finds Joanie strung out, and takes her to the apartment to clean up. Sean brings Nadine home for a tutoring session, but they leave after meeting Joanie. Jimmy tells her to shower, and get herself together. He loves her, but if she wants to be with him, she’ll have to stop acting like a crack whore.

Against Kevin’s objections, Tommy cuts the line at the Building Department to get the papers he needs. Joey holds a knife to Lino’s throat as the approval is called in, and the reappraisal inspector is scheduled to arrive at the diner that noon. Jimmy meets Paddy, a huge bruiser, at Ray’s bar. The package isn’t there yet, so Jimmy waits, giving into Paddy’s invitation to do a couple of shots. Jenny looks through Teach’s things, trying to find something to give the cops for DNA matching. She fingers a scarf, which was originally a gift for Tommy on the best birthday he ever had. The joy didn’t last long: Reilly waited for him on the street to tell him to stay away from Jenny. He thinks Tommy is scum just like his father, and threatens to show Jenny the scars he has to prove it. Then she’ll hate Tommy. The diner passes inspection easily, but inspector Fergus insists the papers will take six weeks to go through. Tommy wants to know what it will take to get it done today, and Fergus allows that it’s his kid’s birthday, and he’s been wanting a BMW. Tommy and Kevin go right out and steal one, and the deal is sealed. Kevin’s worried about Lino, and wants to kill him, but Tommy holds off. Upon meeting Nadine, Helen is her usual nasty self, only calming down when Sean tells her that she’s embarrassing him. Mr. Reilly comforts Jenny when she returns from dropping off Teach’s stuff for DNA sampling. He asks why she married sleazeball Teach in the first place, making Jenny laugh, then cry. She flashes back to the day Tommy returned the birthday scarf, saying that he should have told her that he met someone else.

By the time Dokey shows up at Ray’s bar, Jimmy is wasted. Dokey pulls out an electric razor and Jimmy’s first in line to have his head shaved, as the whole bar cheers him on. Sending Kevin to complete the paperwork with the city, Tommy starts to pistol whip Lino for information. Lino admits that he works for Alo, but warns that if Tommy takes on Alo, he’s taking on City Hall. He pleads with Tommy to let him go, promising to protect the diner. Tommy knows that Nicky needs to nail Alo, and offers him Lino in exchange for the truth about his father’s murder. It was Huey that called Helen, and she got Bobby to meet Sal at the diner, where Dokey killed Bobby, making his bones. A car screeches up, and Jimmy is dumped on the street at Tommy’s feet, laughing and crying hysterically in his underwear, half bald, and covered in motor oil. Dokey got him good. Meanwhile, Frankie comes by the diner to confirm that the corpse in question has been identified as Teach. Joey flashes back to the night Tommy told Reilly that he wouldn’t stop seeing Jenny. Only it’s too late. Tommy spies Jenny at the Firecracker, putting the birthday scarf around Teach’s neck. Having cleaned herself up, Joanie tenderly wipes the motor oil from Jimmy’s face, comforting him. Tommy, Kevin and Joey tear over to Ray’s bar with guns out. They pull Dokey off his stool and beat him to the floor, then drag him into the street. Tommy plants his boot on Dokey’s neck and aims his gun to his head. Dokey taunts Tommy to kill him, but Tommy doesn’t. The guys leave, as Dokey screams that they’re dead, then collapses in the street.

Main cast

 * Jonathan Tucker as Thomas "Tommy" Donnelly
 * Tom Guiry as James "Jimmy" Donnelly
 * Billy Lush as Kevin Donnelly
 * Michael Stahl-David as Sean "Seanny" Donnelly
 * Olivia Wilde as Jenny Reilly
 * Keith Nobbs as Joey Ice Cream
 * Kirk Acevedo as Nicky Cottero

Recurring Cast

 * Kate Mulgrew as Helen Donnelly
 * Michael Rispoli as Al "Alo" Onatero
 * Chris Bauer as Hugh "Huey" Farrell
 * Peter Greene as Derek "Dokey" Farrell
 * Molly Schaffer as Kate Farrell
 * Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Matthew Farrell
 * Betsy Beutler as Joanie
 * Kevin Conway as Ian Reilly
 * James Badge Dale as Samson Dawlish
 * Kevin Corrigan as Whitey
 * Jamie Bonelli as Nadine
 * Chris Kipiniak as Sharkey
 * Peter Gerety as Bob the Mouth
 * Brian Tarantina as Vinnie
 * Patrick Brennan as Earl
 * Lauren Bittner as Mary Ann Maxwell