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AMC's 'Lodge 49': Everything you need to know about the light-hearted modern fable about the fraternity life

The series tries to show the other side of sunny California - the more realistic, day to day lives of people who cannot afford the dreamboat life. 

By Priyam Chhetri
Published on : 02:53 PST, Jul 26, 2018
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AMC's 'Lodge 49': Everything you need to know about the light-hearted modern fable about the fraternity life

AMC's 'Lodge 49' is set to make its debut this August, and from the first looks, the show seems like it will be a ball! Think humor involving misfits who are frustrated with life, a lot of "oh damn!" moments and plentiful mishaps. The show stars Wyatt Russell, Brent Jennings, Sonya Cassidy, Linda Emond, David Pasquesi and Eric Allen Kramer. The series tries to show the other side of sunny California - the more realistic, day to day lives of people who cannot afford the dreamboat life. 

The significance, says showrunner Peter Ocko is its insignificance. The curiosity involving these lodges and fraternities have existed for the longest time, but no one really knows what goes on inside. 'Lodge 49' tries to spin a story of reinvention by breathing life into what looks like an old battered building on the outside. In reality, it is a thriving organism of some serious self-realization. Everyone on the show is caught in their own time periods and chaos. This show helps the characters look outside of their own lives, with a generous dose of humor. 

 

The plotline

The light-hearted modern fable is set in Long Beach, California and follows a disarmingly optimistic local ex-surfer, Dud (Wyatt Russell), who’s drifting after the death of his father and collapse of the family business. Dud serendipitously finds himself on the doorstep of a rundown fraternal lodge, where a middle-aged plumbing salesman and 'Luminous Knight' of the order, Ernie ( Brent Jennings), welcomes him into a world of cheap beer, easy camaraderie and the promise of "Alchemical mysteries" that may — or may not — put Dud on the path to recover the idyllic life he’s lost.

Watch the trailer here.

The characters

Sean 'Dud' Dudley 

 

 

Portrayed by Wyatt Russell, Dud's got the typical has been surfer look - a black eye here and there, dirty (but breezy) clothes and an attitude that refuses to acknowledge the problem that he clearly has. His life is going downhill to such an extent that he's happy to see quarters - from having old money to being broke, he's really down in the dumps. He's out of control, has no idea what he's doing and is in a tussle to come to terms with reality. 


Ernie Fontaine

 

 

Ermie is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in the show. Portrayed by Brent Jennings, Ernie is a middle-aged guy who is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he's aging and his window of opportunity in life is slowly yet steadily closing. He and Dud share a special friendship, and their troubled lives help them unite to reinvent themselves. He represents something we all want from life - the desire to be happy. He's super chill on the outside and from the looks of the trailer, quite body positive as well. 


Liz Dudley

 

You can't help but love Liz. Played by Sonya Cassidy, she's a feisty, fiery, go-getter who is the long-estranged twin to Dud. She's a strong-willed, resilient young woman who doesn't believe in complaining. At times, Dud and Liz are like fire and water - complete opposites who manage to come together to enrich each other's lives. She's got a plan for who she wants to be and how to get control of her situation. She is struggling in her own way and tries stress eating her way through it. 

The concept 

While there is a lot of negativity surrounding the topic of fraternities, this show aims to take a different turn. Created, written and executively produced by Jim Gavin ('Author,' 'Middle Men') alongside showrunner Peter Ocko ('The Office'), this show tries to gives us a peep into a community that many call home. The lodge is like as a refuge for people, very flawed people, who often are doing the wrong thing but do care about each other on some level or the other. 

 

Knowing that the idea of the show came to Gavin when he was working as a plumber, the show definitely has the sting of an actual story. it is also the meeting point of experiences merging, especially in the relationship that Ernie and Dud share. The themes of living in the moment, letting go of the past, introspection and the value of real friendships appear to be clearly woven into the story.

The humor too isn't cheap - it's very real, well timed and extremely funny, bordering on nihilism at times. In a previous interview, Gavin said, "This is a personal story for me, as far as kind of losing everything, watching my family lose everything, so that’s where it starts. I think if we were trying to knowingly make something along those lines, it wouldn’t be what it is. It was more just an expression of some inner need that we maybe didn’t even know we had."

'Lodge 49' premieres Monday, August 6 at 10 pm on AMC.

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