‘Black Rabbit’ Episode 2 Recap: “The Black Rabbits”

We knew Hurricane Vince blowing back into town was gonna be trouble for his brother Jake. We just didn’t think it would pop off so quick. Episode 2 of Black Rabbit (“The Black Rabbits”) introduces Troy Kotsur as Joe Mancuso, a loan shark who runs his operation out of a Russian bathhouse in the East Village. It’s Mancuso’s son Junior (Forrest Weber) who we already met, trying as he was to shake 140 grand out of Vince’s pockets. That wasn’t gonna work – we know Vin’s a deadbeat – but in Ep 2, the lengths he goes to further deadbeat his way out of the debt is actually impressive in its stupidity. First, Vince hits up Wes for $30,000. The musician, influencer, and Rabbits investor definitely has money, but he’s not just gonna hand over thirty stacks. Vince borrows a necktie instead and attends an off-the-books, high-number casino, and while he’s up for a minute, it soon goes badly. Mancuso told Junior to take the gloves off with Vin, and that’s exactly what happens. The better to get a good look at the pinky finger Junior’s cutting off as a penalty against what’s owed. 

This episode starts out in a better place. It’s a few years back, and what is now the Rabbit is just a rickety, abandoned bar that Vince wants to buy with Jake. “You’ve got the grind and I’ve got the vision – we do this right, we’d have the hottest door in town.” The place is ancient; it might even out-old NYC’s oldest, McSorley’s Old Ale House. But it’s two shakes from the Brooklyn Bridge, with a lived-in quality they recognize from growing up in their dad’s bar. Jake, still managing Wes’s music career at this time, and Vince, maybe not quite yet the deadbeat he will become, get excited about doing something big together.

Cut to now, and the Rabbit staff celebrating their three-star review in the New York Times. Chef Roxie is getting profiled in New York Magazine. Jake is already having to cover shifts for Vince, his temporary VIP bartender, but with the glowing review, he’s also jazzed to show Rox and Estelle, who designed the Rabbit, his ambitious potential level-up. It’s the Pool Room, a legendary Midtown room in the Mies van der Rohe-designed Seagram Building. Opening a spot there would legitimize all of them in NYC’s pressure-cooker restaurant scene, and maybe allow Jake to finally not be closing a bar every night. As he has said, it’s a young man’s game. He’s 50 now, and “I’ve gotta make some money without my sweat all over it.” Naveen, Jake’s money guy, is receptive, even if Wes, who’s with Estelle and wants her to focus on designing his mom’s house in the Hamptons, is not. But when Jake says “I didn’t ask what he wants – I asked you,” she feels seen, both for herself and her design work. Her home life with Wes involves him saying things like “I need my girl on my arm making me look handsome and stuff.”

Obviously all of this is contingent on financing, and with the closing on the Friedken brothers’ mom’s house falling through, Vince isn’t the only one hurting for cash. At a school event for Hunter, Jake pitches his ex-wife Val on chipping in as an investor. She’d get in early, get paid back first – it’s a sure thing. But we can tell she’s been down this road with him before. She encourages his dream. But that’s where it stops. “I can’t invest in you anymore, you know?” It’s as much a financial rejection as an indictment of their marriage.

Later, when Vince rolls up to Jake’s place with only nine fingers, it’s interesting how their argument falls into what are obviously well-worn patterns. Vin instantly goes older bro on J, pushing him to help him with Mancuso, even expecting him to (knowing he will), all while dismissing his own lies about squaring the debt and calling Jake needling names. It’s like Evil Bateman from his days as cartel money launderer Marty Byrd in Ozark.

“I’m holding on by the skin of my teeth. I didn’t budget for you.” Jake has a point; he’s out here telling Val “It’s a sure thing” while Vince is across town telling his debtors the same thing. In many ways, these brothers are not so different. Jake has just gotten better at showing up and doing the work. His “skin of my teeth” line is also what we knew he’d eventually have to say. It’s the spoken version of what his features suggested, the first time Vince called him in Black Rabbit Episode 1.     

There are still more problems to deal with. Vince has an adult tattoo artist daughter, Gen (Odessa Young), who wants absolutely nothing to do with her deadbeat dad. And for as much publicity as the Black Rabbit has been enjoying, Anna, the bartender Jake fired for no-call/no-shows, has posted a “BEWARE” TikTok about the restaurant-bar. When Roxie finally gets her face-to-face, Anna says Jules (John Ales), a regular in the VIP, may have roofied her drink. When Rox offers to help her investigate, press charges, Anna says it’s too late, and insinuates Roxie and Jake have not been proactive about protecting their staff.

Which brings us back to Vinnie getting fingered. When Jake goes to see Mancuso personally, Junior translates his dad’s sign language, and it’s a tough nut to swallow. Jake will pay them 20 grand a week, every week, until the 140 grand Vince owes is whole. Miss one payment, and Mancuso won’t just take a pinky finger. He’ll take the Black Rabbit itself.  

DJ Booth for Black Rabbit Episode 2 (“The Black Rabbits”):

• The second episode of Black Rabbit features the music of The Black Rabbits, complete with a black-and-white music video clip featuring Jason Bateman, drumming as Vince, and Jude Law, as Jake, singing in a blonde bob and fly-eye shades. From the visual aesthetic to its insistent guitar line and big vocal hook, it’s a spot-on approximation of early 2000s NYC indie sleaze. No wonder: Albert Hammond, Jr. of The Strokes helped them write the music.

• Black Rabbit (the place) features vinyl selections behind the bar, and we think we caught a shot of cassette tapes lined up near the DJ, so throughout the season, we’ll also highlight some of the music selections in Black Rabbit the series. Ep 2 includes the work of the terrific Senegalese group Orchestra Baobab (“Kelen Ati Leen”), “The Boys in the Better Land” by Fontaines DC, and “Alive” by Bakar.   

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.