The Philanthropist: Season 1, Episode 2 – Myanmar Recap

The Philanthropist opened last night on a very tense board meeting with Maidstone-Rist’s shareholders about Teddy’s debatable, erratic behavior. Now he’s off to Myanmar? What happened to Nigeria? Why would they have a clue? I had to put this in perspective at first; realizing that Teddy as we know him so far, is not how he used to be. All those shareholders see him as a flake and a playboy (which he was, and is slowly coming out of). That said, I still didn’t like the dude (we’ll call him Mr. DBag for obvious reasons) who wanted to call a vote to throw Teddy out of office. Later we find out that he’s just on a power trip looking to become the next CEO, and what better way than to convince the other shareholders that their current CEO is not fit to lead them anymore? Well, Philip (Teddy’s partner and best friend) won’t have any of it. He’s about to show them what’s up, and make them feel just a little bit guilty about voting to oust Teddy. He reminds them of the tragedy Teddy has gone through — his messy public divorce and the loss of his son. He’s also going to tell them the entire story of his trip to Myanmar and exactly what happened. (Follow along, audience!).

The directors didn’t waste time getting into the action of Teddy’s adventure in Myanmar at all! We see him trying to get he and another fellow (who we learn the identity of later) across a border of some sort. Obviously it doesn’t go so well, as Teddy is pulled out of the car and beaten. I loved the fact that he had a smile on his face though, as he watched his fellow friend break through the barricade and speed across the border. Success! Well, for that guy anyway. Poor Teddy takes a boot to the face as the screen fades to black, and the opening credits roll. All I could think of was the police officer from The Hangover (Rob Riggle) screaming ‘ohhhhh in the faaaaace!!!’

So just why is he going to Myanmar? Well, at his press conference for receiving the Man of the Year award, a feisty female reporter pushed his ‘˜philanthropy button’by calling him out on associations with the oppressive military regime in Myanmar. His corporation is about to be put on the ‘˜dirty list.’Probably not a good thing for a big corporation, but I work for an optometrist as the only employee, so that concept is a little foreign to me. Anyways, dirty list = bad! Teddy is a little unsure about what she’s referring to, because lets face it, keeping up with the company’s business ventures was a little less important than his usual decision: blond or brunette. She begins to explain further that they formed a multi-million dollar partnership with The Chang Company out of China, exploring Myanmar for oil and gas. That’s not too bad, right? Well it sure is if the company they’re in partnership with is known for forced labor camps, child exploitation, and mass rape by the military! At that point, Teddy gets tongue-tied and hastily exits stage left.

The next day, with guns blazing, Teddy meets with Lindy to go over what’s happening in Myanmar. She explains that the military juntas staged a coup in the 60’s led by General Ne Win, and overtook the civilian government. From then on, it was a strict government controlled country. In 1990, Lindy explains that they did have a democratic election in which a woman named Lim Wai won. (I was researching this and found that her real name was actually Aung San Suu Kyi , just a little FYI). The military junta must not have liked the fact that a very pro-democracy, Ghandi-influenced, estrogen-charged lady was going to be their leader, because they refused to hand over control. Then they did what any normal government would do, put her under house arrest for 20 years. Um, excuse me? Yes, house arrest. For 20 years. TWENTY! The crazy thing about this, is that the real Aung San Suu Kyi is actually still under house arrest in Rangoon despite many attempts at overturning the decision, and even attempting to escape; only to have her supporters and rescuers killed. Anyways, the people of Myanmar, the Burmese, consider her a hero, with a likeness to Ghandi. We learn that the country was renamed Myanmar after the military junta took over, and so Teddy decides to use Burma as the proper name. So will I. It’s a little easier to type.

Teddy confronts Philip about not knowing of the partnership with the Chang Company in Burma, and Philip shoots back at him with a, ‘well do you ever read anything I put on your desk?’Touché, Mr. Maidstone, Touché. Olivia assures Teddy that she will issue a statement saying that Maidstone-Rist didn’t know about any forced labor within the Chang Company, but Philip cuts her off saying that the company did know. Say what? Oh snap, here’s where Olivia blows her top and storms out of the office. (I think I saw a little bit of Sydney’s character in Scream coming through there!) The problem is that the contract with the Chang Company is a big one. They provide things like anti-corrosive chemicals to Detroit. So in a way, even our economy depends on it. Yikes, moral dilemma!

Teddy heads off to ask Olivia more about Lim Wai, and learns just how dedicated she is to Burma. So dedicated that she didn’t even attend her husband’s side when he was shot and killed by the military. Despite the hundreds of military guards around her house, and the importance of Lim Wai, Teddy decides to try and meet with her to see if she can help get their company’s image out of the crapper for the Chang deal. On to Rangoon!

So once in Burma, he decides to pay his taxi driver to put him as close to Lim Wai’s house as he can. The taxi driver knows this is a terrible idea, but Teddy agrees to pay him a LOT of money to get close. Along the way, we are shown how brutal the military in Burma is, and I was awestruck at how young all the soldiers looked! So, up to the gate struts Teddy, as Dax and the taxi driver watch in fear and amazement. Dax decides that waiting in the taxi is a bad idea, and gets out to help him. It reminded me a little of The Pink Panther and the assistant that is always watching out for him. Of course, Teddy is much more suave. As I thought would happen, the guards turned him away and threatened to hurt him. The taxi driver at this point is like, I’m so out of here! So with Teddy’s luggage and all, he drives away faster than lightning. Teddy snapped at that point, and internally decided he would do whatever it took to see Lim Wai. Just like John Locke, you don’t tell Teddy what he can’t do.

So Dax tracks down the taxi driver, who is beating up on his sister (I’m assuming he’s her pimp. That’s a whole other story in itself) and recruits him to help with the Lim Wai mission, or else. They go to see General Ne Win at the Myanmar Ruling Council who happens to have a tabloid with Teddy getting his freak on with some girl. Convenient. Anyway, Teddy tells the General that he wants to get rid of the sanctions, and invest further in Burma – even buying a property there. More specifically, a property on the street where Lim Wai is. This definitely peaks the General’s interest. He puts the kibosh on the visit to her street pretty quickly, and dismisses him out of the office. So that’s it, Teddy goes home and forgets all about Burma. Yeah, right. His next stop is the Red Cross, where Lim Wai’s doctor works. She gives her a physical twice a year, and Teddy figures she can help him get to Lim Way. No dice there, either. The junta have forbidden even the Red Cross to have access anymore.

While in the hospital, a little girl collapses and we find out she is in need of a kidney transplant immediately, but their family can’t afford the surgery, the hospital bed, or follow up care. Good thing Teddy has a never-ending wad of cash in his slick cream suit. He pays to have the girl prepped for surgery, for her stay, and follow up care. We flash back to Philip in New York explaining this part of the story, only to have Mr. DBag pipe up saying ‘you mean the company paid for it.’No, Mr. DB, Teddy paid for it out of his own pocket. See, he truly IS changing!

Still determined to see Lim Wai, he and Dax create a distraction at the gate which ends up getting Dax arrested and Teddy inside her house. I just have to say, I love Teddy’s sunglasses in this episode! I think they might be Ray-Bans, but that is beside the point, right?

So Teddy just climbs right in a window of the house and starts looking through rooms for her. She sees him and ever so gracefully says, ‘and you are?’I loved this because if that was me, and I had a stranger creeping around, he would have gotten a frying pan to the head! She and Teddy sit down for some tea, and just as we start to learn more about what happened with his son, they are interrupted by some guards. He hides until they go away, and then they resume their conversation. Teddy wants some guidance. He wants to know what to do about the sanctions which are hurting the Burmese people. He wants to know what the company should do at this point, but she tells him that it’s a choice he will have to make. The guards finally catch on to the fact that she’s definitely not having a conversation by herself, and they chase Teddy through a crowded market. He dives under a table and once again, is saved by a little boy who decides not to scream. I sense a theme here.

He checks up on the girl getting her kidney transplant, only to find out that her dad, the donor never showed up to the hospital. He works in a ruby mine, one of the forced labor camps, and they wouldn’t let him leave. Let me add that his supervisors knew full well that his daughter would die if he didn’t get there immediately.

Teddy goes to General Win once again for help getting Dax out of prison, and to get a free pass through to the ruby mine to get the girl’s father. Easy, right? Wrong. General Win decides that one favor is hard enough, but two favors is just not doable for a General. So Teddy decides that Dax is a big boy, and can hold his own in prison, so he goes for the free pass to the ruby mine. He gets the taxi drivers help once again by paying him to drive Teddy to the mine. At the ruby mine, we learn the dad’s name is Thaung, and they are just not going to release him. You’ve got to be pretty heartless to say no in a situation like that. Teddy gets the bright idea to trade the taxi driver for Thaung, and it works! Good, he deserved it anyway, pimping his sisters and all.

As they are walking away from the mine, Teddy is compelled to try and save just one of the hundreds of workers here, and gets kicked in the junk for it! He gets up and sheepishly walks away with Thaung saying ‘I’˜m sorry’to every worker he passed. This is the first time I believe Teddy realizes that his money and his power can’t help. I couldn’t believe the conditions of the mine. It reminded me of watching Schindler’s List, or any other movie about concentration camps. This is just one more reason that The Philanthropist is an amazing concept for a show. It moves people to think about their perspective. I just remember sitting there silent after the commercials came on, thinking of what I might support that also runs labor camps like these.

On the way to the hospital with Thaung, Teddy calls Olivia and tells her to break contract with the Chang Company. We flash back to the council meeting in New York, and even after all the situation is explained, Mr. DBag still wants a vote! What a snake. Philip calls a recess and invites Mr. DB into his office for a little chat. Phillip demands Mr. DBag let him finish his story about Burma to the rest of the council. He then gives him the most awesome death look I’ve ever seen, and Mr. DBag concedes. Good call.

As we go back to the action in Burma, we see the scene from the beginning of the episode play out. Teddy and Thaung (as we now know him) are at the border trying to get through. Teddy hands the border guard General Win’s pass, and he tears it up right in front of him. Teddy gets pulled out of the car, and Thaung speeds away for the hospital. Success! Oh wait, then there’s the boot to the face. Ouch. Why would General Win tear up the pass he gave him? He goes to see General Win, who isn’t General Win anymore. (Apparently he got ousted for taking Teddy’s bribe for the pass.) This new General says they picked up Thaung not far from the border, and put him in jail with Dax. Teddy’s bribe doesn’t work on this new guy, and so he grudgingly tells the General that Maidstone-Rist will increase their investment by $500,000 with the Chang company, and sign the contract with them again. This is the only way that Thaung and Dax can be released, and the little girl’s life can be spared.

We see that Thaung gets to the hospital and all is well with his daughter. A small victory in the scheme of a much larger problem for Burma. It is bittersweet for Teddy. The council finally takes a vote which we don’t see, but we learn from a conversation between Olivia and Teddy that he still has a job. Thank goodness, I hope we don’t see more of Mr. DBag from now on either. Unless it’s the episode devoted entirely to Phillip beating him up in a dark alley. Yes, that would be a good episode.

Continuing to reflect on his visit with Lim Wei, Teddy tells Olivia that she referred to him living a life of illusion, like a dog chasing a stick. He runs after the stick every time it is thrown, not ever turning around to face whoever tossed it. Teddy doesn’t see it this way. He sees the world exactly as it is, thinking that there is only one reality. ‘I miss my little boy,’he says, with the emotions finally starting to break him down.

This episode of The Philanthropist is even more heart-wrenching as we learn that the loss of his son is a huge influence in all his decisions. He chose the life of a little girl over an entire country’s wellbeing. This episode really makes me think about the products I buy, the luxuries I enjoy in America. It makes me want to find out ways that I can help, and I hope it does the same for you. If you haven’t done so already, please take an hour out of your Wednesday nights at 10/9c to watch The Philanthropist; a program that not only unearths the good in our nature as human beings, but also makes us want to do something about it by tugging at our deepest emotions, and sending a positive message out to viewers (what a nice change!).

Next week, tune in as Teddy, Philip and Olivia travel to Paris on business, where Olivia stumbles upon an old friend who is ensnared in a sex-trafficking ring. Teddy’s investigation uncovers a widespread operation, and he sets out to free the captive young women.

(If you are looking for ways to help, check out www.nbc.com/the-philanthropist and look at their resources page. You can also view full episodes, learn more about the cast, and find the music from The Philanthropist as well. Until next week, have a safe and happy Independence Day!)