Dads & Grads 2023

With Father’s Day approaching and graduation season upon us, I’m devoting this column to Dads & Grads this week and next. Below are some ideas for Papa. For gift ideas for both, circle back with us next week.

1.) Get ahead of the pack and take your father to a car show Saturday. The Spring Car Show at Rabbit Hole Pub (3237 White Settlement Rd, Fort Worth, 817-744-7160) is from 9am to noon. At 12:30pm, prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place. The proceeds from car registrations ($20 per vehicle at the door) and from the charity raffle will go to the Jordan Foundation, a children’s nonprofit. Along with drink specials and food truck snacks available for purchase, there will be a Bloody Mary Bar sponsored by Vegas Baby Vodka.

2.) I know I said we’re highlighting gifts next week, but Alamo Drafthouse (3220 Town Center Tr, Denton, 940-441-4233) has an offer that is snacks, gifts, and events all rolled into one. When you purchase $50+ in gift cards online from AlamoDrafhouse.com now thru Mon, Jun 18, you will also receive a compli-

mentary $10 Snack Pass that can be spent on burgers or bottomless popcorn (with real clarified butter), for example. Take Dad to see a summer blockbuster. He’ll love it! For ideas on what movies to see, check out our reviews under Film at FWWeekly.com.

3.) With the reopening of Dog Haus Biergarten (4000 Bagpiper Way, Ste 110, Arlington, 817-678-4287), give Dad a break from the grill. In celebration of its comeback at the Arlington Highlands outdoor mall, Dog Haus is hosting a Charity Weekend Sat-Sun, with 20% of proceeds going to the Arlington Professional Fire Fighters Association. Then from Mon, Jun 19, to Sun, Jun 25, it’s free Haus Dog Week. In the meanwhile, you can text “WIN ARLINGTON” to 833-4401110 for a chance to win a complimentary monthly hot dog for the rest of the year.

4). The evening before Father’s Day, Padre might enjoy a summer bash at this hidden-pub gem. River Bottoms Pub (7920 Randol Mill Rd, Ste 2012, Fort Worth, 817860-3270) hosts its inaugural Summer Bash Festival from noon to midnight on Sat, June 17. There will be music on the hour every hour from 12 bands, including Beyond Destiny, The Flatbed Trailers, Shattered Bones, and more. Along with drink specials, there will be food trucks on hand for meal purchases. All-day wristbands are $20.

5.) In honor of Dads, grads, and National Picnic Day, head to Whiskey Ranch from noon to 5pm on Sat, Jun 17, for Picnic Day. For $65 for two people, enjoy picnic snack boxes, two drinks tickets, and a commemorative TX Whiskey picnic blanket. A food truck will also be on-site for additional food purchases. Air Style Art will be on hand to engrave bottles should you choose to buy one for the person you are celebrating. Reserve your tickets now at FRDistilling.com.

6.) With plenty of TVs, all-day happy hour pricing, daily drink specials, and a laid-back environment that’s great for friends and families, consider spending Father’s Day at BoomerJack’s (various locations) on Sun, June 18. There are also $6 small bites 2pm6pm and 10pm-close Mon-Fri. Meanwhile, sister bar Bedford Ice House (2250 Airport Fwy, 817-864-9898) has similar specials but

also offers live music from local and national acts. If your dad likes karaoke, take him there on Thursday instead, and he can sing his heart out on the inside stage.

7.) Trinity River Distillery (1734 East El Paso St, Ste 130, Fort Worth, 817-841-2837), home of Silver Star Spirits, offers a Dads Tour Free event 1pm-7pm Sun, Jun 18. Along with the free tour, there will be live music by the Grass Fight Band, complimentary brunch from Hot Box Biscuit Club (HotBoxBiscuitCo.com) while supplies last, and specials on Silver Star 1849 Bourbon Old Fashioneds. A cigar master roller will also be on-site from 3pm to 5pm.

8.) Shops at Clearfork’s CRU (5188 Marathon Av, Fort Worth, 817-737-9463) is hon-

oring Dads on Sun, Jun 18, with a special brunch menu 11am-3pm and dinner specials featuring PlumpJack wine pairings 4pm-9:30pm. Brunch will be a three-course meal with a la carte pricing and will feature smoked salmon deviled egg toast, spinach and artichoke gratin, steak and eggs, Crab Cake Benedict, goat cheese beignets, and more. Mimosas and bellinis are $6 each. Dinner service will include chile-rubbed jumbo scallops with sweet corn risotto and cilantro lime butter, plus a filet mignon with chimichurri for $45 per person. PlumpJack Reserve Chardonnay and Adaptation Cabernet Sauvignon are available for $25 per bottle. Call for reservations.

By Jennifer Bovee

Give Dad a break from the grill at Dog Haus in Arlington Highlands.

Courtesy Facebook

Sat, Jun 17, is Picnic Day at Whiskey Ranch, just in time for Father’s Day.

Courtesy Facebook

Trinity River Distillery offers free tours Sun, Jun 18.

Courtesy Facebook

Steak and eggs is among the many options at CRU for Father’s Day.

Robert Tsai

SCREEN

Joan of Waystar Succession explores

success for none but entertainment for all.

BY JESSICA WALLER

A timely rumination on the plight of siblings affected by the black hole that substituting wealth for love creates in families, Succession was recently called “the new Seinfeld” by MSNBC. As in, a new show about nothing. Clearly, MSNBC is feeling neglected (hey, remember Seinfeld?!) amid the buzz around the Murdoch family dynasty. The show’s inspiration was so often said to be the patriarch of Fox “News” that many critics claimed the writers must be working with a mole. Also: The show was about so many things and not just the fictional Waystar Royco empire! The newly completed hit HBO series limned the evils of capitalism, sexism, narcissism … basically enough isms to base an entire cultural studies class on.

I almost cried at the end, not because it was sad, though it was — but only hilariously. (Except the funeral scene. You’re a straight-up psycho if you didn’t cry at that.) I was teary-eyed because I couldn’t bear to see it go. No other show has offered this much by way of intellectual stimulation, with its unbendable plotlines and fly-on-the-wall dialogue in such hushed tones that I had to watch it on 100% volume so the subtitles wouldn’t ruin the comedic timing.

These two notes — plot and dialogue — are rarely found sustained in harmony over the course of one season let alone four. The show’s genius was the abject unpredictabili-

ty of the storyline working in time with the gallows-humor donkey laughs (at least from me — my poor dog). Only four measly seasons of gut-wrenching bait and switch bolstered by a labyrinth of psychological complexity and acerbic wit — it was not enough. And showrunner Jesse Armstrong seemed almost sadistic in his trickery of his audience’s I-can-predict-all-endings smugness.

(I’m the problem. It’s me.) Four seasons were all we got. Let’s reminisce.

These actors were the most typecast any audience has ever seen. Perhaps because the actors were mostly unknown in America or previously typecast. Either way, this must have factored into casting as the creation of an illusion that seemed paramount at all times.

Truly, these people must be in therapy. Brian Cox as Logan Roy, the sociopathic magnate? Nobody will ever not be petrified by this man’s voice again. Domineering, entitled big brother Kendall? I would agree with critics who say Jeremy Strong will forever be Kendall if I didn’t religiously believe in his acting skills now as my new skies to watch for the next big wet dream of high art in the medium.

As far as character arcs go, vile/hilarious baby brother Roman was everyone’s archnemesis. Kieran Culkin had the most succulent lines to live out. He should easily win the Best Actor Emmy.

And overlooked middle-child Siobhan “Shiv” Roy (Sarah Snook)? Obviously, the new antihero of ambitchiousness that feminists were all secretly rooting for despite her frigid treatment of her husband, poor toadie Tom. But come on! Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) made everyone wince and cringe more than any other character, which is high praise among this despicable cast. Tom’s ending was unusual but not necessarily unexpected — unless you could have predicted Logan’s anticlimactic and thus all-consumingly climactic/uncomfortably realistic death midseason. And that’s nobody.

The show’s true climax, however, comes in the form of a clear message from the mouth of Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), the most disgusting character of all, who in this brutally honest sendup of capitalism was the biggest winner in the end. Over bland fish with Tom, the Eurotrashy tech bro backs off his promise to Shiv.

“And I thought,” Matsson says, “ ‘If I could get anyone in the world, why don’t I get the guy who put the baby inside [Shiv] instead of the baby lady?’ ”

And that gave “pain sponge” Tom only one incredibly good option.

This scene is a visceral reflection of pregnancy as the No. 1 reason why women have been held back from equal success in this patriarchy (thanks, Texas). Oh, and the

main problem with Shiv gaining control? “I want to fuck her,” Matsson says nervously.

This is the second most common reason women have not achieved equality. Ultimately, the backroom dealings of cowardly men would be Shiv’s undoing, and why not?

The underestimation of women is rivaled only by our underestimation of the calculations of cowardly men in power to stab you in the back while kissing your ass. As the impenetrable female version of her father but who fatally lacked any psychopathic qualities (upheld proudly by Matsson, the “killer” Logan chose), she could not foresee her gender as her undoing.

The secondary colors of Succession, and another Sisyphean trope to unpack, were the brilliant ways in which Logan’s struggle — that built his empire — was portrayed as the golden briefcase (I prefer Pulp Fiction to Greek mythology), the only thing unattainable to Kendall and the entire 1% in modern America: grit. However, in Logan’s funeral scene in the penultimate episode, Kendall finally achieved something his father never could: grace.

This profound scene shone a soft but illuminating light on one of the most valuable lessons in this explicitly didactic series: the modern male’s exchange of grit for grace. Kendall’s profound, impromptu funeral speech spoke of and embodied the thesis of the entire show, the dawning of a new age where we are no longer forced to abide these tyrants, oppressing women, minorities, and children under the pressures of building a country or a thriving economy. We — yes, we — have built it. It’s here. Now, the only pressure on men is to help rebuild what was lost in their paths of destruction, this modern allowance of grace under pressure instead of grit.

Most critics say Kendall will crash and burn, but I think he’ll be OK. If he was to get what he wanted, the crown of a corrupt kingdom, he never would have had the stomach for it. Because Logan promised it to him at 7, he built his identity around it. Now he can find out who he really is, outside the pull of the black hole.

Or maybe I’m seeing something where I shouldn’t. Maybe it’s the American (woman?) in me that sees hope where most see nothing but shit for miles. Much like Shiv, I will always want to trust in something, even when I probably shouldn’t. But I have a feeling Shiv’s going to be alright, too. Not Tom, though. And that’s OK. l

Some critics say Kendall (Jeremy Strong) will go down now that he’s out, but hasn’t he learned grace?

SHOPPING LOCAL

Top Ways to Keep It Local for Dads & Grads

FWW Marketing Feature

There are many, many gift options to consider. We know. As long as you spoil your Dads and Grads this month with locally-sourced gift items, no one will hassle you. #ImSailing

Beer (Duh)

Fort Brewery (2737 Tillar St, Fort Worth, 817-923-8000) has a great promotion this weekend. Buy one six-pack of beer for your dad and get the second one for a penny. Shop online at FortBrewery.com.

DVDs from Movie Trading Company

With nine locations in the North Texas area, Movie Trading Co is a great place to find that perfect Bill Murray film for your father or the newly graduated future film maker in your like. (Who loves you, Don?) Check out the inventory at MovieTradingCompany.com.

Pancakes (Have Some or Make Some)

Cigars (Smoke ‘Em if You’ve Got ‘Em)

Gift Certificates to Underground Cigars (6409 E Lancaster Av, Fort Worth, 817-5073640) is a great way to move yourself higher up the will list. While you’re there, sit a spell and enjoy the inside cigar lounge and outside patio. Ask for owner Don Wiggins and see if he’s still offering that bounty to meet Bill Murray. Can you say obsession? Check out the shop at UnderGroundCigars.com.

You’ve really got three choices here. You can take your people to Ol’ South Pancake House in Fort Worth (1509 S University Dr, 817336-0311) or Burleson (225 E Renfro St, 817989-9090) for a nice meal, buy them a gift card for future enjoyment, or get a gift box of items to create the experience at home. I’m not sure we’d tackle German Pancakes in my own kitchens, but oh they are yummy. Shop online at OlSouthPancakeHouse.com/Store.

Courtesy