This past Sunday we had another episode of "Bar Rescue", and I'm here to review it today. This time around, Taffer only brought one "expert" with him because this place was only a bar. He brought along Phil Wills, who may be one of two "experts" that I can tolerate, because he is a "mixology" expert. He knows his drinks inside and out.

The crew traveled to a bar called The Blacklight District in Long Beach. This bar was a simple bar, but they also doubled as a punk rock, and only punk rock, music venue. The owner is a huge punk rock fan, and he figure, if I'm opening a bar, I may as well make it a music venue as well.

The beginning of this episode was a bit different than most. Most of the time the owner is talking about all the problems with the staff and the fact that they can't make money after they were raking it in when they first opened. This time around though, the owner wasn't really complaining, although he was 200,000 dollars plus in debt, he owed a friend of his 17,000 dollars on a loan, he was losing money and his bar would be gone in less than 2 months. He acted blasé and just seemed disinterested in his bar being rescued. He assumed that the show would give him the upgrades his bar needed, and build him an entire new kitchen because he wanted to start selling food. He must have thought that "Bar Rescue" was a hand out and not a reality show, that only fixes up bars, not completely refurnish and build new areas in the bar. The owner was also a total dickhead. He was making homophobic slurs towards his staff. He yelled at everyone that disagreed with him. He told people they were phonies if they didn't like punk rock.

When Taffer and crew came in to first talk to the owner of The Blacklight District, Taffer invited the bass player from an all time great punk band, The Vandals, to be one of his spies. When the owner of Blacklight District was told that this person played bass in a real life, successful punk band, he demeaned and insulted him. He told him he wasn't a real punk rocker because he didn't like his bar and because he was wearing a sweater. This guy was a real piece of work. He also constantly laughed in Taffer's and Wills' face at any suggestion they gave him. The staff all seemed willing, able and wanted to change so they could make money, but the owner, this was all a joke to him.

During the stress test, Taffer packed the place, as he always does, and while the staff was keeping up, and actually, doing a very good job, the owner, he was loafing around and when the band that "Bar Rescue" hired to play that night, he paid more attention to them than anything else, and the band was terrible. The acoustics in his bar where terrible too. The band sounded muffled and grumbly, and I know that I've said on this site more than once that I'm not a big punk rock fan, but this band was absolute and utter garbage. They sounded even worse when you put into account the very terrible sound quality the bar offered. Oh, and prior to the stress test, we got our second dead mouse of the season that the camera crew continued to keep the shot on for an uncomfortably long time. They kept showing it and making the staff look at it. It was gross and that is 2 of the 4 episodes so far that have shown a dead mouse. It never gets any easier to look it. It's still gross.

Anyway, after the stress test debacle, Taffer and Wills started to devise their plan to upgrade the bar and make the drinks more accessible to the community. They also had the idea to turn the place into a rock bar, not just punk rock. This episode was one of the few were I sided one hundred percent with everything Taffer and his "experts" wanted to do. Everything they talked about, for this particular bar, sounded perfect and money making. When Wills was training the staff on the new drink menu, they abandoned the kitchen idea early on, everyone was in, except for the owner. He laughed at the proposed new drink menu. He kept making more homophobic slurs regarding the drinks and directed some of them at Wills himself. The owner, as I have stated before, was a real piece of human garbage. He seemed to think that being "punk rock" meant to be an asshole. There was nothing likable about him at all. He was degrading, mean, ugly on the inside and out, a thief, a bad friend, an idiot and quite possibly the most stubborn person I've seen on "Bar Rescue".

This episode was different than most in that it is only the second time that I've seen where Taffer elected to not "rescue" the bar. He said, and I agree one hundred and ten percent with him, that this owner did not deserve their help. The owner didn't deserve help from anyone because he is a selfish douchebag. The staff at the end seemed to be quitting on him, and I hope they stuck with that decision. This guy is a shitty person who does not deserve success because of the way he treats people. I'm glad Taffer and crew walked out and didn't do anything to help out. I'm pretty sure that Blacklight District is out of business, and that is what that owner deserves. This was one of the few times that I have felt bad for Taffer, but he did the right thing by not helping this guy out. That is why he is the founding, and first, member of the late night hall of fame. Come back next week when I review the next episode.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He would definately go to a punk rock bar before one that specialized in easy listening soft rock of the 1970s. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.