Memphis Beat, “Polk Salad Annie”
Originally Aired July 13, 2010
I’m taking the baton from previous Memphis Beat re-capper Greg Akers this week. We’ll probably be alternating — or something close to it — the rest of the way.
- DJ Qualls in the spotlight this week.
Episode Named After: The signature song from Louisiana swamp-rocker Tony Joe White, “Polk Salad Annie” was originally released in 1969 and almost immediately picked up by Elvis Presley, who made it a concert staple throughout the ’70s. A food-themed song for a food-themed episode.
Rowdy Memphis (Plot Synopsis): Detective Dwight Hendricks (Jason Lee) and fellow officers Whitehead (Sam Hennings), Lightfoot (Abraham Benrubi), and Greenback (Leonard Earl Howze) chow down on several platters of ribs at Fat Red’s Barbecue, where Greenback draws a standing ovation for his rousing takedown of a man attempting to rob the restaurant.
Back at the station, Lt. Rice (Alfre Woodard) readies her charges for the influx of tourists at the annual “Beale Street Barbecue Festival.” This week’s mystery gets underway when Fat Red ends up stabbed in the stomach during the contest. The initial suspect is hog farmer Bryce Harper, a former supplier with whom Red had severed ties. It turns out Harper has made an attempt on Fat Red’s life, but not this time. A dispute between Fat Red and his sister Analise (Sing All Kinds favorite Melanie Lynskey guest stars) over a $20,000 order from Harper puts Analise under suspicion, and officer Sutton (DJ Qualls) is mic’ed-up and sent undercover to romance Analise at a Beale Street club in search of information. After revealing a conflict over the future of the restaurant, Analise hires Sutton to finish the job on her brother and, with Fat Red’s help, Dwight and crew attempt to ensnare Analise in the murder plot. But Fat Red breaks character, leading to comic sibling-rivalry hijinks, a car chase, and Sutton having to use his downhome wisdom to talk the volatile couple down. Meanwhile, Lt. Rice is having trouble with one of her sons, who finds himself down at the police station for all the wrong reasons, and Dwight has decided to let his smokin’ hot ex-wife Alex (Sunny Mabry) “stand on her own two feet.”
