Thursday, November 8, 2012

Farm Kings Episodes 5 & 6

OK my blogging vacay meant a slight delay in my episode recaps and thoughts for the Farm Kings.  Never fear you're getting a 2 for 1 today.  Episode 5 is mostly dealing with the hail storm, damage and after shocks.  Episode 6 is mostly about the car wash for Special Olympics and some more about issues stemming from the hail and the New Kent market.

Episode 5 was really heartbreaking in that the drought had done its own share of damage.  After praying for rain the King family gets hit again by a major hail storm.  This is pretty much their worse case scenario.  The brothers try to salvage as much product they can but they've still endured a big loss.  The numbers for the projected loss kept on going higher and higher.  First number mentioned (I think) was 20k and then 50k and then the possibility that they are looking at possibly more than 100k in damages.  I loved when mama bear Lisa said that it would make the boys stronger and hopefully closer.  What a wonderful way of putting a positive spin on a really bad situation.  Although Joe's personality rubs me the wrong way at times I felt so bad for him when he was talking about it being worse case scenario.  He laughed and you knew that it was coming from a place of complete panic and hysteria.  It was kind of a God sent favor that Lily was with Joe when he went to check out the damage I think.  He probably didn't want to react in a way that would scare her and that in turn probably helped in the long run.  So in that aspect I give him props in the good Daddy department.  He also pointed out that when things get tough the Kings get working.  As always it just reiterates that that family is never lacking in work ethic or the ability to get their hands dirty to help the greater good.  You realize the magnitude of everything when Tim talks about the fact that the farm supports the entire family.  That's Lisa and her 10 kids and Joe's two kids counting on the farm being successful.  It's then when you realize why Lisa doesn't even like saying the word failure.  The whole family is very aware of the fact that their local community will be more supportive of the hail damaged veggies.  Dan comes up with the idea of having a hail damage table.  The end of the show also delves into the working relationship that Tim is developing with Sam.  It's kind of like Sam is his apprentice.  Tim is basically showing all the tricks of the trade to Sam so if Tim is needed elsewhere Sam knows the ropes and things can continue without a hitch.  Tim appears so quiet and laid back that it would probably be easy to over look him.  I think that would probably be a mistake.  The man obviously knows  a whole heck of a lot about growing veggies.  It's one thing to have the knowledge and another to successfully put it to successful use.  He's evidently also a thinker and planner as shown in his dedication to making sure he shares his knowledge with his brothers.  Ok last note on this episode- Tim is clean shaven at the end of it.  This is so hot so use that bic buddy! :)

Episode 6 is a bit of a hodge podge of things such as coming back from the hail damage, training issues at the New Kent store and the car wash for  Special Olympics.  An issue is the fact that Joe wants to get 10 cattle ASAP and Tim and Pete think they're already stretched too thin.  Joe thinks that his brothers are just making excuses and they just need to commit.  In this instance you actually feel for all the people involved.  You can recognize that Joe wants to get the pastures in use and make money on cattle.  Can't see any fault with that.  You can also see that Tim & Pete are spread pretty thin as it is and cows are living things that need reliable care.  They aren't saying no not now to be jerks or nasty they just want to be squared away before taking on even more responsibility.  At the weekly meeting Joe says something about how they did so much better when they were better organized and then it looks like they disband.  Now that could just be editing.  I hope so.  I hope they did some planning on how to become more organized.  There is a mention about Lisa always having things squared away and it makes one wonder if the boys will ever find anyone as good as mom.  Hopefully they are wise enough not to compare the women in their life to Lisa.  Oh don't get me wrong- I'm not saying she's bad.  Quite the opposite actually.  I want to be more like her.  I want to have just some of her energy and wherewithal.  I did like it when you see her having a death grip on her coffee during the car wash!  One of the ramifications of the storm is that money is now a huge issue for the farm and it's entities.  Joe decides to extend the Farm Market hours.  Dan's niche seems to be running the Farm Market and it looks like he's doing a fabulous job.  When Joe is talking to Dan about extending the hours the only thing Dan says is that it probably means less hours in the field.  You have to feel bad for him.  It's pretty clear that he would rather be in the field.  That with the fact that he is doing such a good job in the Farm Market probably means that there will be less and less time in the fields for Dan.  A complete bummer for him.  Again a King shows that there is always a silver lining when Dan talks about dealing with it and finding happiness within it.  He's a pretty young guy still and that kind of thinking is indicative of what an awesome man he's likely to become.  There is also time spent on the relationship between Tim and Ben.  It's been a pretty consistent theme throughout the show.  I just wonder how it is that Tim became the father figure (Lisa's words) for Ben.  It also makes one wonder just what in the hell happened between the family and the father.  It's pretty clear that this isn't going to be explained though so no time putting much thought into it.  It is what it is and it's none of our (the publics) damn business.  Bitty noticed that the girls working at New Kent really didn't have a lot of knowledge about the veggies.  It's always much easier to sell something when you know about it.  Joe goes up to the market to talk to Amanda (the New Kent manager) about it and he decides that the girls should help at the Farmers Market with Pete.  Lexi is the first up and it was kind of cute watching her work and Pete trying to teacher her.  It was beyond adorable when Pete told Lexi that she had a nice smile and that she should do it more.  Also where did that drawl come from?  The Kings did a car wash at the Farm Market for Special Olympics.  Earlier in the show was a baseball game with Ben's Special Olympics team.  Lisa & Bitty are there to cheer him on.  As always its so clear that the Kings love and cherish Ben just as he is.  They truly could be a great motivation for so many families with special needs kids.  The day of the car wash starts out raining and things aren't looking so good.  Thankfully it clears up and things go well.  Lisa does put in a call to see where the boys are.  They were out in the field and get there as soon as they can.  That leads to Pete standing shirtless on the curb trying to attract more customers.  A very wise use of available marketing!  Tim makes a comment about it being a good thing but I'm pretty much thinking any King could be up there shirtless and they would attract lots of customers.  It's so awesome to see the family working together and having fun.  At the end of the day the car wash brought in just over $500 and the King's matched that.  Again just one more way of showing what a great giving family this is.  They're facing their worse case scenario and they still give back to the community.  Pretty awesome.  It was absolutely a gag when Lisa was talking and Ben started teasing about her talking too much.  I loved when she tried brushing his hair back and he wanted nothing to do with it. 

So there you have it.  I'm caught up until tonight!  I have no idea when I'll recap tonight's episode since Princess Bear is home sick and feeling a bit clingy. 

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