arc

I'm gonna hate time travel being used as a reset button to undo all the big moves they made this episode. Yes, time travel is a defining characteristic of the Flash, and yes, time travel only has a point if it rewinds over some big event, but stalling a series for a few episodes because characters making logical moves (more on this later) would eat too much story sucks, and this is ultimately just [probably] another stalling tactic. Absolutely. If Joe really thinks Iris might be in danger, she should be told. Keeping her ignorant doesn't make the dangers go away. OK, on to idiot plots. 1) Joe gets the anti-Weather-Wizard wand and he and Cisco collectively decide to leave it on the police station's lightsaber display stand. You have got to be kidding me. The one thing you need to defeat the supervillain of the week and you don't have it at hand at all times? Why? 2) The Flash arrives, uses the wand to sap Weather Wizard's powers, and then lets WW go free. Why, God, why? He is the "fastest man alive"!!! The whole point of being the Flash is you pretty much never have to let someone escape, because at top speed, you're moving so fast to you, they're basically frozen in time! Yes, even if Capt Singh was critically injured. 3) Joe goes hunting for WW again and he still doesn't take the wand with him. In fact, when he's searching that old Martin hideout, he's got his gun out instead of the wand. Why not both, one in each hand, the way cops use guns and flashlights? Or, once Eddie's involved, one of them can activate the wand at all times while the other points a gun at WW. 4) Barry goes to the waterfront with Iris at regular human speed, instead of running there in advance, finding WW (how? probably by using his super speed, I guess), saving Joe, and neutralizing the WW threat, then coming back to go with Iris to the waterfront after all that. 5) BTW, when Caitlyn was called about the tsunami threat, why didn't she say "hey, maybe you should stop him by using the magic wand that makes his powers useless"? ... I guess most of my gripes this episode were about not using the wand, #2 aside.

Yeah, but that's how this show has been: almost every episode has had significant time jumps over significant offscreen events that are barely mentioned in dialogue at all. Brett losing his job would be in line with that.

That sign killed me dead. And this part, every time, was my favorite of the whole series. Telegraphed all the way, but so perfectly executed that it had me on the floor each time.

Huh. I assumed it was a Cinderella soundalike cue, since so much of the rest of that plot referenced Cinderella. Also I have no idea what the Sleeping Beauty movie soundtrack sounds like.

I'd take him at face value on it. He was left alone by Eddie in line, he noticed it was after sundown, so he decided he might as well pay for the shirt himself and ditch Eddie. Crime of opportunity. Given his complete lack of shame about it, I feel like he would have confessed to planning it ahead of time if he had.

I assumed Jessica drove the boys to Les Mis. His bus ride home would still have been prohibited, but like purchasing the T-shirt, it also occurred after sundown so both were fine.

Fair points, it's more that rap is treated in this show like it's the late 80s rather than mid-90s. Aw, I love Paul Scheer. But yeah, Louis is crazy dumb to hire Mitch back when Wyatt was clearly good for the restaurant. You're right about where the specials should be; since I don't think they ever dealt with it before, it would have been better if Louis put them on the left and Wyatt moved them to the right.

Philip wasn't just selfish but also strategically dumb. Blowing off Eddie's concert may have maximized his happiness that one day, but keeping on Eddie's good side could have meant having a useful non-Jew friend around for future Sabbath excursions. (Would such an observant person really take a car ride to Les Mis, though? I think it's next to impossible it was walking distance...) What little we got of Evan and Emery was great. I think the Mitch/Louis plot was pretty weak. Finally, it's 1995. No mention of crossover hit Will Smith? He was on a hit show and his albums were popular at the time and even parent approved.

But also, y'know, she doesn't have to slog the crap of daily life alongside David. Right now he's just the guy she's building a charter school with. That's a big exciting project, not the tedious day-to-day stuff that's got her and Brett so down. It's kind of a mirror to the stuff about Brett that EdnasEdibles and BooBear just said. (Tangent: the show probably didn't mean it this way, but I think charter schools are a terrible idea for a host of reasons, mostly that they're the public abandoning the public school system, something which grifters rightly see as a huge gold mine, and ultimately the test results aren't even better than the public school system once you factor out issues like household income and not having to pay for/educate special needs kids. [edit: I'm really sorry, I forgot I already went on this rant in the ep 6 thread!] So anyways, I can't put the politics of the issue aside when I watch the Michelle/David story, and it's always got me on edge.) So much word. That was awful behavior on his part. Worse, you could see it coming a mile away, because he had to have biked quite a ways to get to Santa Monica, in literally shimmering heat. (Quibble: he wasn't nearly as sweaty as he probably should have been, given the heat and the exertion...) Also, even leaving aside that Larry could easily have gotten him fired off this life-changing gig, Tina's already been on Brett and Michelle's couch for more than a few months. How did Alex think his one month in New Orleans would be enough time for Tina to figure out her life? Given how little Sophie appeared in the rest of the season, I was surprised they gave her so many lines this ep. I was starting to think they were writing around her or something, but she turned out to be a pretty good child actor.

Paleyfest had a panel for Comedy Central shows: Broad City, Workaholics, Key & Peele, Kroll Show, Review. The recording's on Yahoo Screen.

I thought it was some other brand of hot sauce. It definitely had a yellow cap, not the iconic Huy Fong green squeeze top

Paul Downs (writer and plays Trey) interviewed by Vulture.

I'd assume it is tasty, but it just stuck out to me, the show mentioning a food issue for a guy who grew up to be a chef.

I was poking around there as background research for my reply in the food thread, but also, bringing Cattleman's Ranch to the forefront this ep made me think about the adult Eddie's career.Edit: and as a food nerd, that's why I'd heard of Huang before his memoir or this show.

Emery's the middle kid, the one who's effortlessly cool. His bus friends got him a breakfast burrito (with chorizo!) when they learned he'd be carpooling instead! Evan's the youngest, the one who's most definitely a teacher's pet. (BTW, I went to the Baohaus website today, and I learned that it was actually started by Eddie and Evan. Huh!)

No lie, the worst xiao long bao (soup dumplings) I've ever had were in a neighborhood restaurant in Shanghai. No soup, and they didn't even bring out vinegar to serve it with. Just a tremendous lack of care. Does Eddie Huang in real life have a weak stomach? I've never eaten at his restaurant, but in this era I don't see subtle (or "bland") food being a hit, and it doesn't seem like that would go with his personality.

Well, that's amazing, but it also seems like a big spoiler.

from the Anthony King interview: That is the best part about Bevers! But it's not enough to get me to stop hating Bevers. Honestly, as much as I like Marry Me, and I do a fair bit, I kinda hope it'd get renewed just to keep Bevers less in Broad City. Cause he's really awful, and not just cause he's gross. It was an interesting choice to underplay that Ilana (mostly it was Ilana, I think) talked Bevers out of proposing to Melody. Most sitcoms, Abbi would have been furious with Ilana for ruining her one chance to get rid of Bevers.

I think that was the other kids' food, not his?

I loved the Parks finale a lot, but shoot, Mad About You did time jumps (and did them right) in their series finale. Don't blame time jumps for HIMYM's terrible close. =)

Andrew's dad knew about Fletcher's abusive behavior, so maybe the other kid's family did too.

Yeah, I kept thinking that Hollywood jobs usually have union-mandated meal/rest breaks. And I think overall that the director being such a massive asshole on top of not even making good stuff is a bit implausible. He could be one or the other and I could see the producers keeping him on. Both, though? Isn't this thing that Brett's on a TV show? Most shows have a stable of rotating directors because the demands are too much for just one. But really, I don't get why Brett's boss is taking the director's side so much. All that said, Steenbergen's character didn't deserve Brett's blowup. Most of his rage was really directed back at work. This is kinda more political than the show probably intends, but I just don't trust David because I default to thinking charter schools are a con game designed to vacuum up public money and not produce better outcomes for students either. Tina does take advantage of Alex and even getting him that audition was hella oversold. That said, she did have some good points too: he can't expect to go from zero to leading man right away and live on Brett's couch until that happens. (... that said, I guess Steve Zissis was a fringe actor for a long time and then he got Togetherness, so...)

^ She's so smart and interesting.

I didn't get it until you wrote it out like that, theatremouse, but calling one of the last victory lap episodes of the show "JKSAMES" is a nice touch. Even if it was unintentional, I will take it.

It's impressive that all those parents could find babysitters on very short notice, then. At least Brett and Michelle had one because they had therapy scheduled.