The decision to focus on Lydia and Ben this season made for tighter storytelling and more focus. Many of the character in the ensemble were mostly left alone, and I was fine with that since I didn't care about them in the first place. Lydia was absent in "What Makes Sammy Run?" and Ben was shown a few times doing patrol work.
The main character of the episode, as the title suggests, was Sammy, a good hearted guy with an freakishly annoying wife. In the episode we see his wife again act crazy, which I have no sympathy for since Sammy married her and puts up with her crap, and Casper. The troubled teen is very smart, but the culture he's in holds him down. Sammy tries to help him, they go to a movie, and eat lunch. But in the end, when Sammy's gone, there's nothing to protect Casper. He's beaten up while riding his bike and retaliates in the only way he knows how--with a gun. Sammy rushes to Casper in anguish, but it's too late. All Sammy can do is buy books for the now incarcerated Casper.
The Trinny Day wasn't a particularly big part of the show, so I didn't care much for the resolution. I loved seeing Wood Harris though.
I thought the cross promotion for Where the Wild Things Are was pretty funny, because it was about 6 months too late and airing on TNT, a subsidiary of Time Warner.
Score: 8.8/10
