Breaking Up Is Hard To Do



This was a riveting episode from start to finish. I am very well aware that Family Jewels is 95% staged and scripted from everyone involved. Having watched pretty much the entire run of the series, I have been able to distinguish what is staged and what is real within the show. That brings me to this episode: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. We all know the history of Gene and his live in girlfriend Shannon of 27 years, the mother of his 2 kids and all the stuff she has to deal with regarding his infidelity. 

This episode finally addresses her problem with him and his cheating ways and forces him to go to a shrink and start working on himself and his relationship with Shannon. As I said before, I can pick out what is staged and what is real. Or so I thought. Shannon's emotional break down is definitely real and it's all captured on camera. But there are a couple of instances that scream Red Flags with the legitimacy of what is going on. Case in point, Gene is asked by his therapist that he should invite Shannon to his next session so that they can begin to work on their problems as a couple. Fast forward to Gene at home asking Shannon to join him at his next session.

Fast forward to Gene's next session with Shannon sitting by his side. Here's the problem: Gene and the Therapist are wearing the exact same clothes as before, with sunglasses in his breast pocket. Hmmm.....Still not convinced? Another instance is when Gene comes home to find that Shannon has finally moved out of the house and he goes into their bedroom looking for her. The camera is positioned in such a way so that Gene initially walks pass the bed with the letter on the edge...stops....does a slooooooow turn and then picks up the note and discovers it to be her goodbye letter. This screams staged in that he is hitting his "mark".

So, if this is in fact staged I will endorse Shannon Tweed to get an Emmy nomination this year as she pulls out all the stops. But I do think her end of it is legit. Real or fake, this is still a fun show to watch.

KISS Your Family Goodbye



Watching this episode and more specifically, watching Nick, you get the sense that he really is having a hard time with his parents splitting up. There are a couple of times that you can see that he is trying so hard to keep it together because he is definitely on the verge of crying whenever he brings up the topic of his Mom, which made this a bit harder to watch than the last episode. So, with his reaction to what is going on, I will say for this particular incident, it's definitely real. This is good, addictive TV at its finest.

You Always Hurt The Ones You Love



Staged or not, this is pretty damn entertaining and addictive. But I will say this, they editors of the show make it appear that Shannon left Gene, stayed with her sister Tracy, and then goes back to Gene to reunite. And then after that, Shannon and Gene are back in the Therapist office willing to work on the things that need to be worked on to go forward. The problem is, they are using the same footage from the previous time the two of them were in the office. You know, the one where she gets fed up with his ways and walks out of the meeting and then him all together. So yeah, the bulk of it is scripted IMO.

Anyway, somewhere during the middle of Episode 1 I got to thinking how they would end the show and it's a no brainer if you ask me. What's the one thing that everyone thinks Gene would never do? Yep. Get married. Mark my words, that's how they will end the series with Gene and Shannon finally tying the knot.

Blood Is Thicker Than Hummus



That was about the coolest episode of the series ever, which takes place entirely in Israel as Gene, Shannon and Nick head back to his hometown for the first time in 51 years when he left as a kid to go to America. Having read KISS and Make-Up, I had a pretty good understanding of how he felt about his hometown and what it was like growing up and also about how he didn't really know his Father and the resentment he had for him for feeling abandoned.

So, this episode opened up a floodgate of feelings that Gene had repressed for years and when he finally came face to face with the knowledge that he had a Half-Brother and 3 Half-Sisters and countless nieces and nephews, it hit him hard. I've never seen Gene weep like that....ever. It was surreal. Seeing him visit his Father's Grave site was absolutely heartbreaking. This episode didn't feel like a typical episode, but more like an hour long documentary with countless photos from his days as a child back home. This was 100% real. What a fantastic episode.

The Demon Does The Holy Land



The family sticks around for a few more days in Israel to site see and Gene gives Shannon and Nick the guided tour. Compared to the last episode, this is a bit more lighter in tone with the exception of when they visit the Holocaust Museum, where Gene sees for the first time the official statement of his Mother being a former occupant of the labor camp. Pretty deep stuff.

The Demon Salutes



This episode is basically a "Thank You" to the Military as Gene and Shannon head to Fort Hood to entertain and talk with the troops and see them deployed as they head off to Iraq to serve their tours. I like episodes like this and Family Jewels has done a few like these before.

Mr. Tweed Goes To Canada



Oh Gene, when the hell are you ever going to grow up and learn? So, Gene and Shannon head up to Canada to visit with Shannon's Mother and Sisters and she him around town where she lived, grew up, went to school, etc...In the process Shannon was getting the heroes welcome back home. She was clearly the star and this didn't sit well with Gene. At every turn he always tried to make it about himself. And the tipping point was at the Hockey game where Shannon got to drop the puck before the game and along the way, when she left her seat, a couple of groupies made a beeline for Gene for a photo op, which he gladly hammed up and did his "Gene thing". The kicker is that he did this in front of Shannon's Mother and Sisters who were also attending the game. Not cool.

Also noticeable was that whenever Shannon would talk....or try to talk, Gene's facial expression spoke volumes. He couldn't have been more disinterested in what she had to say. Tsk tsk. Your skating on thin ice boy-o.