Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... The Real O'Neals (S02E14) The Real Heartbreak Airdate: February 28, 2017 @abcnetwork Ratings: 3.580 Million :: 1.10 18-49 Demo Share Score: 7.75/10 **********SPOILERS BELOW********** All season 'The Real O'Nesls' has been struggling to find the footing it seemed to have lost after a stellar first round. One of the main issues seemed to derive from the question of how to sort of split them up and set them all on their own path as well as a lack of growth in its star, Kenny (Noah Galvin). The LGBTQ community can be finicky when it comes to how they see themselves played back on television, I think the majority is open to all types, but we want to see 'types' transcended. And even if Kenny is Kenny, we still want growth. 'The Real Heartbreak' found a nice medium for all of that. Kenny kicks off the episode with his very own fantasy rendition of Roxette's 'It Must've Been Love'. First off, this was probably my favorite of Kenny's fantasies and a prime of example of why they must hit a certain emotional note to really be effective. Noah Gavin was hilarious here, he captured Kenny's heartbreak and the essence of who Kenny is in the most comedic, over-the-top, yet earnest ways we've seen yet. Seriously, great job with this entire episode, Noah. Sometimes I'm hard on you within my reviews, but you can tell that you've not only grown as an actor throughout the process of this series, but we've seen you make mistakes and own up to them in real life and I think that's something to be commended. You're turning into a real life role model and Im proud of you. The next issue the show takes on is how to exactly to split up the family and divide the storyline... Kenny's heartbreak isn't slowing anytime soon and the two other O'Neal men use him as their 'sad gay puppy' on their Valentine's Day outing. They lose track of Kenny while soaking up all the spoils from his sadness and meanwhile Eileen has a Valentine's Day crisis, ends up playing 'The Game Of Life' with Shannon and her dorky friend... Then she finally sets off on her journey to Costco (ABC & Costco must be really good friends, this is the third show this season they've used Costco as a setting). She runs into VP Murray after she has the realization that she's wasting away her chances at true love, it's cute how he listens to her and shows up to shop for the deals and they bump buggies. Talk about romantic! ā¤ļø Everything is tied together as the two straight O'Neal (possibly sexually fluid... Matt Shively? Jay R Ferguson? Just saying, I would) set off to track down Kenny, they use Shannon as a bit of a go-between and it gives Bebe Wood a bit of extra screen time, which is good because even though this episode is fantastic it's unfortunately Shannon-Lite... Something that they shouldn't attempt too much as she's a huge anchor for the series. They finally find the lovesick Kenny where he and Bret first met and have a famous, tender O'Neal male-bonding moment. I absolutely adore the true love these characters feel for each other, you can tell that they feel that love for each other on set too. The chemistry is real. I hate talking numbers, especially since they have been so polarizing this season, but it's a MUST here. 'The Real O'Neals' became almost a certain cancel after a rocky 2nd season creatively and it reflected in the numbers, as well as the news earlier this year that they wouldn't get a full 22-23 episode season. So seeing an episode this great and seeing how that 8:30 time slot really boosted their numbers, 27.91% in the 18-49 demo share & 22.39% in overall viewers from the last episode... Putting them at a much more comfortable 3.58 Million Viewers w/a 1.1 18-49 Demo... Seeing that, it's almost surreal. There's a lot of life in this television series, and if used correctly, it can do a lot of good. ABC wants diversity, they've got it here. They just need to make sure the correct writers are on the job and know that 9:30 isn't a good time slot for the series. Could this episode bring back 'The Real O'Neals' into renewal consideration, maybe a shortened season? Let's hope so!
