Akron, Ohio: an All-American city and the home of the All-American Soap Box Derby. The announcer says these opening lines dripping with his usual sarcasm. This entertaining but ultra-Left wing-leaning TV show seems to hate patriotism, wholesomeness, conservatives, upper class and especially religious people. In this episode, we get the city made fun of for it's "All- American" status and we get family ties ripped apart, much apparently to the delight of narrator Paul Winfield.
This is a story of the Milo family, but it isn't the warm-and-fuzzy "Milo & Otis" movie. Instead, it's about an Armenian family who prospered after settling in Akron. In particular, older brother Dean Milo, who took over his father's fledgling beauty supply business and made it into a mega-chain and a very rich venture. Dean, however, thought this family was holding him back and so he made sure they had nothing to do with the business, either booting them out or offering to buy them out.
One day, Milo is found dead in his house, a victim of murder. His younger brother Fred is the prime suspect, but could this mousy, shy brother actually do this, or have someone do it for him? It doesn't fit......or does it?
Along the way, we get a thorough history of Akron and its surroundings and the several highs and lows of the area, thanks to the rise and fall of the rubber and tire business. This is the city which hosted big plants from Goodyear, Goodrich, Firestone and the like. The tire boom began in the 1910s after Henry Ford made automobiles affordable to the masses. From 1910-1920, they mention here, Akron went from 70,000 to 200,000 in population. "But by the late '70s, the tire town was running flat," City Confidential reports in its usual colorful vernacular. "The tire industry took the fast lane, rolled out of town and never looked back."
However, the outlying area of Bath - home to the Milo family - was doing just fine. Plus, Dean Milo took the family business from one supply store in 1970 to 92 in 17 states by 1980! "Where did he get the money to finance all this?" it was asked later in the program after Dean's murder. Was this a Mafia hit? Did Dean not pay off someone he owed?
Many questions arose when this murder took place. In a business that once was a family affair, it had been torn apart by Dean wanting to go his own way and ignore his mom, pop and brother but few people suspected the meek young brother of being behind it.
I won't spoil the ending, except that it had some surprises and there were a couple of trials in the whole mess.