In my most favorite Bar Rescue episode ever, Jon takes on the formidable challenge of liberating John Reed from the clutches of his obstinate, antagonistic mother, Mimi, at The Blue Frog 22 in Chicago, Illinois. Despite being co-owners, the establishment is under Mimi’s domineering control. John allows his mother to have the final say, and everyone who works there is confused about the chain of command. Mimi, in her misguided approach to market positioning, adorned the bar with children’s toys and games. Jon quickly discerns, “I’m guessing Mimi controls and dominates, and nobody has the courage to go up against her. That’s why we have a bar filled with kids’ toys.”

From the beginning, we see Mimi is used to having authority. In a scene marked by awkwardness, Jon walks in on Mimi and John having an argument about finances in the kitchen. They stop talking and stare at Jon until he says hello and introduces himself. He then asks if he is interrupting an argument, and Mimi says, “No, we can continue it,” as if Jon will be threatened by her words and leave. Her power play is disrupted, though, when Jon calmly wonders, “Would you like to continue it now while I’m here, or wait till later?” Mimi looks a bit surprised and says no, and John sums up the crux of the episode when he essentially tells us he thinks Jon is tough, hopefully tough enough to tame Mimi into listening to him.

In the first night’s business meeting with the owners, Mimi’s disposition further unfolds. Jon asks John if, as a man, he would be excited to go to a bar decorated with children’s toys, and Mimi answers for him. She gets defensive about the bar décor saying that the toys make the place unique, claims their financial woes are because the bar is new not because of the poor concept she chose, and then tells Jon people don’t pay attention to the décor details like he thinks they do. At one point she claims Jon doesn’t want to talk to her because she’s a woman. Jon continually reminds her that they are in a professional meeting, he is trying to get everyone’s perspective, and he is on her side trying to make her money.

Jon says he could tell in 30 seconds that Mimi was drunk, so he asks her if she’s been drinking. She snidely responds, “Absolutely I’ve been drinking. It’s a bar,” her condescending facial expressions calling him stupid. Jon explains the establishment is a bar to the patrons, but it is a place of business to Mimi since she is an owner not a customer. He tries to reason with her about the dangers of being drunk at work and orders her to quit drinking and to remain sober. She claims she is sober, so Jon outplays her by asking her how many drinks she’s had. If she says any number he will nail her for drinking on the job, so she tries to outsmart him by saying she doesn’t know. Wrong answer, Mimi, because, as Jon adeptly indicates, if she was sober like she claims, she would know how many drinks she’s had. It’s clear that Jon can outwit Mimi no matter what approach she takes, and it’s glorious to me because I absolutely hate her.

Mimi’s retirement and John’s house are on the line. They are $400,000 in debt. The tension between Mimi and John’s wife, Kelly, is palpable. No employees, including the two managers and co-owner John, know who is actually in charge because no matter the chain of command, John lets Mimi make the final decisions because she’s his mother and he’s caught in the child half of a parent-child dynamic. Jon tells us that’s going to change tomorrow.

To fix the situation, Jon informs everyone he’s going to have absolute authority over the business for the next five days and with no time to play around he will be very direct and very honest. When Mimi finally acquiesces to Jon taking over the bar, she tells the viewers, “He’ll have to prove it to me. I will challenge him.” Then she reinforces her words by ordering another drink and winking at the camera.

Jon brings in his experts, including an interior designer, to work his magic on The Blue Frog. He has the employees pack up all the toys, and most of them seem to enjoy purging the bar of its childish decor. In addition to the regular market analysis and bar remodel aspects of the show, Jon has to fix the situation between mother and son co-owners. He makes Mimi agree to the role of owner and to turn the GM role over to John. He has her introduce John as the GM in front of all the staff in order to ensure they know it came from her and to also make it harder for her to renege on the decision. During the soft opening, Jon tells Mimi her job is to trust him and to go home for the night so John can run the business without her looking over his shoulder.

While I cannot stand Mimi and abhor her more than most owners on Bar Rescue, I softened a little because Jon was wonderfully tolerant and empathetic toward her. I wanted him to throat punch her but he stays steadfastly professional and just calls her out on her behavior, tells her how to act professionally, outwits her arguments against him, and even accepts her challenge to prove her right in deciding to trust him. Then he tells us, “Mimi is very defensive about the place, doesn’t like being told she’s wrong. I can understand that, but she still has to hear it.” Later, he can tell that Mimi is hurt when she gives up the reigns to John. She says to us, “So, I’m the old nag that gets put out to pasture, especially in front of my employees. What are they to think now? Am I useless?” Jon empathizes with Mimi and asks her to trust him while reinforcing that what he’s doing is going to make her happy and help them recover financially.

At the end of the show, we are introduced to the new bar, The Local. Mimi admits that, although it’s been a rollercoaster experience, Jon gave her a gift and now it’s up to her to do something with it. Jon says he believes “This one is going to make it. We have good management. They’re not lazy. They pay attention to detail. They’ve got a great concept. They’ve got a great beginning. I believe this one’s going to be a big success.”

I invite you to consider and share your answers in the Comments: Would you ever co-own a bar with your mother? Why or why not?