(S02E10) Where are the Jim Andersons and Steve Douglases of the world? In TV's yesteryear, you could count on the Father Knows Best and My Three Sons patriarchs to be there as positive role models and responsible parents. You can't say that about either Sarah's dad or Chuck's father, although at least in this the former showed up to visit his daughter.

Jack Burton would never win a father of the year award, but he might qualify as a fun dad. Starting with a flashback (which reminded me of Shawn's memories on Psych), we quickly learned that Sarah was a grifter-child, lead astray by her charming, conman rogue of a dad, Gary Cole. Well, better a rogue con artist than another rogue spy.

It would not be a stretch to say that fathers and sons have complicated relationships, Yes, I know, so do mothers and daughters and fathers and daughters and mothers and sons. For the purposes of this discussion, let's agree to accept that first premise.

As we've seen during the season, Earl Hickey's past has disappointed many people, not too mention his parents, especially his father Carl (played by the great Beau Bridges). We saw in an earlier episode the many times Carl had to bail his son out of jail for his petty crimes, so it would be fair to say that Carl is not that enamored of his oldest son. (Randy isn't exactly the star of the family either, but he seems to have a longer leash than Earl.)