Necessary Roughness 02.11 ‘All The King’s Horses’ recap: Delay of Game… Pills, Pot and Pittman

“Is that the secret agent that bugged your office?”
Last week, we left TK barreling down the highway, popping pills and not paying attention to the small child in the road.   If you were worried she was going to be road kill (or that TK would injure himself and be back in the ER), you worried for nothing.  Thankfully, TK managed to wreck his car and not the child.  His neck hurts, but everyone lives.  Yay. 

At Hawks Central, Nico meets with Marshall’s lawyer and demands he produce the Hawks’ troubled owner.  Not to worry, Marshall’s due to be back in town for the first game tomorrow.  I hope he’s worked on his coping skills because Nico is super pissed about the bugs and being blacked mailed.  Not to mention is ire due to Dr. Danni blaming him for the entire thing.

Speaking of, Dr. Danni has decided the best way to deal with her patients privacy being violated is to take some time off.  Weird.  Doesn’t she have a huge tax bill to pay?

I guess she does because the tax guy has those exact questions when she goes to try to get him to lower her bill.  Good luck, Dr. D.  The IRS isn’t the easiest institution to work with. 

After crashing his car, TK calls Nico to come clean it up.  Nico does, but not quite in the way TK would like.  He takes our favorite bad boy receiver home to an intervention starring Dr. Danni, Matty D and Coach.  They want TK to go to rehab, but TK worries about missing the first game and the first month of the season.  Matty D lays it out; rehab now or you’re cut.  They’re better at this than Dr. Drew is with the Teen Moms.

TK takes them up on rehab.  The GM is pissed that TK is in rehab and they have a new receiver they call Slow Mo.  He wants a flashy, speedy receiver like yesterday. He threatens Matty D’s job if he doesn’t get it.

“Group time — yeah….TK does not do group.  Well he does do groups, but normally in the privacy of his own home.”

In rehab, TK meets up with Jimmy Folks, a music producer/Hollywood type; he’s met at a few parties.  During a group session, TK learns that Jimmy checked himself into rehab because his ex won’t let him see his son if he doesn’t get his addiction together.

Speaking of ultimatums, the GM of the Hawks gave one to Matty D.  He needs to find a TK caliber replacement or else.  Matty D wants a receiver named Toes who is repped by TK’s former agent.  You know the one who swore to get even with Matty D last week. Yeah, he’s still a d-bag.  After refusing to take the offer to Toes, Matty D gets Agent Guy to admit he’s not doing what’s best for his client as a payback.  I hope Matty D was recording that conversation because I think that’s against league rules.

Shockingly, Matty D has a better plan!  I know, I shouldn’t be surprised, but Matty D isn’t really the plan guy so I was.  Matty D decides to bring in Noelle, the sports reporter from a few weeks ago who got a private sit down with TK after threatening harassment.  He gives Noelle the exclusive that TK is in rehab in exchange for her leaking the Hawks’ interest in Toes.

Matty D also gives Ray Jay some Fantasy Football Draft advice after Ray Jay shows up at Hawks Stadium.  Ray Jay is still hoping that this gamble will pay off, now that he’s let his friend start growing “herbs” in his mom’s backyard in order to pay for his share of the draft entry fee.  Unfortunately for Ray Jay (and Ray Jay’s friend who is counting on Hawks insider knowledge to score them the win), Ray Jay doesn’t get a chance to confirm picking TK for wide receiver before Matty D gets an ominous text and has to leave.

 It couldn’t be more ominous than having to meet with the IRS right?  That’s where Dr. Danni is when she finds out she no longer owes Uncle Sam because Marshall settled her bill. While most of us would be thrilled to find out that someone has paid off our debt, Dr. Danni is pissed.  Instead of going to buy a celebratory pair of shoes or a nice bottle of wine, Dr. Danni stalks off to Hawks Stadium to give Marshall a piece of her mind.  She’s going to have to wait because that ominous text Matty D received was news that Marshall (and his plane) have gone missing.   While Matty D, Coach and the GM deal with the public relations, Nico and Dr. Danni go off to investigate what happened to Marshall.

“I’m the chocolate nugget at the center of this tootsie pop.”
In addition to group, TK’s rehab is a big believer in hard labor.  Yup, that’s right, instead of Pilates or yoga, Jimmy and TK are cleaning out horse stalls!  Wow.  I thought they only did that at like Betty Ford, not at the posh celeb rehabs.  Without the pills, TK’s injury is hurting.  In fairness, he was shot four months ago. I can’t imagine shoveling horse shit was part of the healing from gun shot wound recovery plan.  Jimmy offers TK something to get him through it and we’re all like, huh?  Didn’t he just extol the benefits of clean living and cucumber water in group?  Jimmy admits he’s on the apology tour, not the clean and sober tour, and tells TK he better get with the program if he wants to get out of rehab anytime soon.   Don’t they drug and alcohol test at these places? I feel like this is a rehab Lindsey Lohan would have attended.

Because what better advice to take than that from the guy who has been to rehab EIGHT times, TK goes back to group and apologizes for it all.  Well, we can cross actor off the list of careers TK should pursue after he retires from football.  No one buys it, but he gets a “pass” from a particularly riled up group member due to Marshall’s “death.”   Without his phone for information, this is the first TK’s heard of Marshall’s disappearance.  He decides it’s a sign that he should peace out of rehab, but TK’s got no ride and he knows no one will pick him up (apparently TK has no friends other than Matty D, Coach, Dr. Danni and Nico).  Never fear, Jimmy says he has a plan.  Are you really letting the guy who is in rehab for the EIGHTH time plan your getaway?  It’s like TK’s still on drugs.

Nico and Dr. Danni show up at the safe house Nico has for Marshall.  I love that Nico has a safe house.  Marshall’s not there, but all his emergency cash, credit cards and passports are.  Nico is very upset; Marshall took a bullet for him once upon a time and Nico owes him.  So much that he broke up with Gabrielle (whom he really loved) so that Marshall could have her.  Dr. Danni gets all melty, now that Nico is sharing his secrets and private pain, but her cell phone breaks up their romantic moment.  TK has escaped rehab on a horse.

I can see the People magazine cover now.

You know who can’t? TK.  After scoring some free convenience store swag (junk food and liquor), TK is having a heart to heart with Jimmy.  Because he has the emotional maturity of a teenager (or a professional football player), TK whines that everyone is mean to him and life is unfair.  Jimmy takes this moment to tell TK the story of Odysseus and compares their journeys (Homer’s rolling over in his grave).  They ditch their horses – maybe you guys should hire a publicist to deal with the PETA fallout on this one — and continue on their “journey” to get TK to Hawks Stadium for the first game even though it’s not game day.  Somehow they make it there in one piece.  Despite the Hawks warnings to TK that it’s rehab or being cut, TK is shocked when Nico has security escort them off the property.

Noelle’s exclusive on TK’s rehab stint breaks (despite the fact TK has broken out of rehab) and Ray Jay is understandably upset.   His mother doesn’t really understand what the big deal is, TK’s personal problems aren’t any of Ray Jay’s business, and despite every stupid thing Ray Jay has done this season to prove otherwise, Ray Jay knows when to play it smart and doesn’t let on about his gambling pool or the pot growing in the backyard to pay for it.  Before she can investigate further, Lindsay walks in with the fishbowl.  Mr. Fishy’s sick.  How does one even tell a fish is sick? Dr. Danni freaks out.  Fishy, if you recall, is the only sane person she can talk to in that house.

“I need this for the T-hab — you know, tweeting from rehab.”
Still on a bender, TK goes to Dr. Danni’s to get her help.  Not help in getting back to rehab, help in getting the Hawks to let him play.  He brings along Jimmy who pees in her yard.  Classy.  Dr. Danni tells TK to go back to rehab.  TK is furious.  Dr. Danni promised her door would always be open to him.  His fury wakes up the kids and Dr. Danni is surprisingly calm about that.  She plays it tough while TK continues to beg her to just let him play in the first game.  Oh TK.  Ray Jay and I are willing to cave and tell Dr. Danni to help TK.  Instead, she shuts off the lights and hustles the kids upstairs.  I get tough love, but man, Dr. Danni that was rough.

Dr. Danni thought so too.  She calls Matty D to pour her heart out.  Matty D listens for a few minutes, but Noelle is in his bed, so he wants to call her back in the morning.  Dr. Danni is annoyed, though not as annoyed as she’d be if she knew Noelle was in bed with Matty D, I bet.  Matty D really likes to mix business with pleasure: he dated that PR chick, Dr. Danni and now a sports reporter.  He makes for a healthy work environment, doesn’t he?

Despite this, Matty D’s scheme pays off.  Toes signs with the Hawks and Matty D’s officially part of the management team.  He even earns TK’s ex-agent’s respect by being manipulative and forcing his hand.

After last night, Ray Jay just wants TK to get better.  Ray Jay’s friend isn’t so sympathetic.  As far as he’s concerned, Ray Jay just cost him $2,000.  Ray Jay doesn’t really care and just wants out, threatening to pull out the pot plants himself and dump them if his friend doesn’t get them out of his mom’s yard.  His friend goes all wanna be mobster and breaks Ray Jay’s taillight.  This kid really should be more menacing.  I’m not intimidated.  Neither is Ray Jay.  He decides to follow through with the plant removal.  His friend has the last laugh though.  When Ray Jay’s pulled over for the broken taillight, the cop spots the pot.  Dude, your mom should have given you Nico’s number.  I don’t think your dad can get you out of this.  Nico’s been dragging Marshall’s daughter Juliet’s butt out of the fire for a good long while.

Instead of going back to rehab, TK and Jimmy decide to celebrate at home.  Sadness hits TK like sobriety as he watches Toes score a touchdown, but Jimmy insists it’s all for the best.  He offers to let TK lay down some tracks for an album and TK’s thrilled.  I hope you’re singing is better than you’re acting, TK.

Sadly, we won’t get the chance to find out.  TK finds Jimmy on the bathroom floor.   He calls 911, but it’s too late for Jimmy.

We all thought Jimmy overdosed, but TK tells Dr. Danni that Jimmy’s heart was weak from all his past partying.  TK feels guilty, but Dr. Danni assures him he did all he could do and he checks himself back into rehab.  Am I the only one who thinks maybe TK should have tried a different rehab?  One that didn’t have drugs floating around and that he hadn’t already escaped?

As if Dr. Danni hadn’t been though enough, Mr. Fishy doesn’t recover from his illness.  Dr. Danni is crying over the loss of her fishy friend when Nico shows up.  They’ve found a body, Marshall is dead.   Maybe I watch too many soap operas, but if you haven’t seen the body, don’t believe it Nico!  Marshall could still be alive.

Nico apparently doesn’t watch soaps.  He admits to Dr. Danni that he’s lost his only friend, the only person he’s trusted, except for her.  Dr. Danni wastes no time in laying a kiss on Nico after that and who can blame her! She’s lost a fish, he’s lost a friend and everyone deserves a little comfort.

I should feel bad for Matty D, and maybe it’s just that he hooked up with Noelle, but I find myself rooting for Nico here.  Plus, even if Dr. Danni decides Matty D is the man for her, she should date around a bit.  Experience some Nico sexy time.

So Necessary Roughness fans, that’s our summer season.  Are you team DaNico?  Or do you want to see Dr. Danni back with Matty D?   How much trouble do you think Ray Jay is in? Should TK have looked for a new rehab?  Will TK make a return to the Hawks in time for a playoff run?