‘The Kids Are Alright’ Season 1, Episode 5 ‘Boxing’ Recap: Fighting For Dad’s Attention

With everything that’s wrong with the Cleary family, there’s one thing that they get right—that they love their kids no matter how hard they try to hide it. It’s a typical show of tough love, and tonight, Timmy (Jack Gore) grows tired of that and fights for his dad, Mike’s (Michael Cudlitz), attention. The Kids Are Alright yet again delivers another episode worthy of looking at how a parent’s love and care can translate into so many ways of expression. Meanwhile, the first two Cleary brothers, Lawrence (Sam Straley) and Eddie (Caleb Foote), try to navigate their way through the rules of dating—uncovering resentment in the end.

The Boxer

Timmy is obviously the Cleary’s sanest child. I mean, yeah, he does stuff a little bit odd, but compared to all his brothers, he appears to be the only “average” one. And so, after countless nights of him acting as an understudy to the children’s play’s main star, Timmy has enough. He only wants his dad to show up and at least see him act in front of the stage.

Timmy tries to get Mike’s attention, to no avail. His dad is too caught up in things that matter more than the Broadway performance. During lunch, Frank (Sawyer Barth) proudly announces that he decided to join the Church’s recreational boxing team. This makes Mike happy, leading him to train Frank for it. Timmy watches in the sidelines and is disappointed that Frank is getting more attention despite being a dumb cuck.

ABC/Richard Cartwright

During Frank’s match, he loses sight of everything that Mike taught him and loses. Timmy, in an effort to get Mike’s attention, pretends to stroll into the boxing gym casually. And since Frank lost, Mike lost interest in him. Timmy takes advantage of this by offering to join the team too. Reluctantly, Mike trains him. Thanks to Timmy’s knowledge of choreography and acting, he was able to use those abilities into boxing, turning him into Mike’s star kid.

Timmy eventually gains Mike’s full attention when he sees Timmy’s potential to be a star boxer—something that Mike wanted to be as a kid. Timmy shares the news to his brother, Joey (Christopher Paul Richards), as they lounge in their vacationing neighbor’s sauna tub.

ABC/Richard Cartwright

The next day, Timmy prepares for his play but is caught in the middle when the boxing fight with his dad happens to be at the same time as the show. Timmy chooses to go to his show, which disappoints Mike (although he doesn’t show it). Riddled with guilt, Timmy decides to skip the show (since he’s only just an understudy) and attend the boxing fight. Timmy arrives at the boxing gym, but Mike then gets a call from Peggy (Mary McCormack) about the vacated lead role for Timmy’s play. It’s what he always wanted, so he changes his mind and chooses the show over boxing. Surprisingly, Mike offers to drive him.

It turns out that the vacated role is an elaborate plan by the kid lead star to mock Timmy. Overwhelmed with anger, Timmy’s boxing training kicks in, causing him to punch the bully kid in the face. The show’s director then has Timmy replace the kid. That’s when Mike admits that although he may not understand why Timmy loves to act in front of people, Mike recognizes Timmy’s passion for it.

ABC/Richard Cartwright

So Timmy finally gets his dad’s full attention in his own terms (even though Mike slept through the entire performance), and Peggy even tucks him in before bed—reminding Timmy that what Mike did will never happen again.

Brotherly Spat

Elsewhere in the episode, Lawrence asks for Eddie’s help with the rules of dating. He’s been in the seminary for too long that his dating skills appear to be rusty. So Eddie proposes a genius plan—they do it together on a test date. Lawrence takes Eddie to a high-brow Swedish movie, which Eddie says is not the way to turn on a girl. Despite Eddie’s advice, Lawrence still treats him as the dumb brother (“having no interest in being smart,” according to Lawrence)—despite him needing Eddie’s “wisdom” on dating. Lawrence injects socialism and activist ideals into every aspect of his dream date, which Eddie sees as something that would bore a date. Lawrence still wouldn’t let on, and passive-aggressively one-ups Eddie. This causes Eddie to walk out, tired of being treated as “the dumb one.”

Lawrence then gets schooled by an eavesdropping old lady and is compelled to apologize for his actions towards Eddie. He goes over to Eddie’s girlfriend, Wendy’s (Kennedy Lea Slocum), house and takes responsibility for his actions. Eddie might not be so dumb after all. And when it comes to dating? Social issues and capitalism isn’t always a good place to pick up from.

‘The Kids Are Alright: Boxing’ Overall Verdict

“Boxing” has such a simple premise, but it was executed in a way that seeps into you subconsciously. Timmy’s desire for his parents’ attention is something that was prevalent in the ’70s but largely seen as taboo now. A kid’s development depends on the nurturing from one’s parents. Tonight’s episode builds on that matter. Again, The Kids Are Alright is a good show to spend a Tuesday night watching. It never reaches the levels of Malcolm in the Middle, but it’s a decent show that has full of potential. Here’s to hoping this won’t be a short-lived pilot season.

The Kids Are Alright continues next Tuesday, November 27th, with “Behind the Counter” at 8:30/9:30c on ABC.