PinkRibbons

Show returns Wednesday, June 23:

I wish they had just used subtitles. I get they wanted us to see the emotion of the moment that transcends language, but this was just annoying. I don't speak Spanish but I know enough to automatically hear Freddie Highmore was speaking with a European Spanish accent (as opposed to a Latin American one), and it's only here where I find the full explanation for Shaun speaking it that way. I've often heard that the difference between the dialects is like in English one having a British accent and the other having an American accent, and it is really weird for an American kid to learn European Spanish.

It's funny (and when you're younger, kind of alienating) to be the one person in your group who isn't anti-parents. Like the friend group assuming they'd ditch Bob as soon as they got to the theater and dismissing the fact that he and Tina were clearly very into the show. I remember being a kid and my parents deliberately making some distance so I could hang out with other kids and I would be thinking, "man I wish I could go back to Mama and Papa. These people are boring!" Then later in college I remember an actual conversation along the lines of "my mom is so crazy-" "no MY mom is so crazy" and eventually the conversation got to me and I hope I said it but probably just thought "I'm sorry, I like my parents." Speaking of which, in a few minutes it'll be their 37th wedding anniversary. I can't wait to see how long it takes either of them to remember it.

I am so not looking forward to yet another episode of everyone telling Shaun how he should feel, or deciding that whatever his grieving process is, it's wrong.

Is it weird that I feel like Mayim Bialik's Breakdown getting 1 Million Subscribers recently may have had something to do with this? Because even if the show is iffy I think it's very clear that Mayim herself has a lot of love from the public, enough to hang a show on. I know I never would have watched without her.

There is no way Tina's fox-crush wasn't a shout-out to Disney's Robin Hood. Because let's be real here, that fox was sexy af and I am far from the only one who thought so.

Blood transfusions have to be screened, otherwise the person getting the blood could get HIV, Hep C, etc. If it was as simple as making an announcement in the area they could have made an announcement in the hospital itself, hospitals are huge and everyone in them has blood. This was pure storytelling exception. (This does remind me, I still remember some of the most striking images post 9/11 were pictures of the lines of people waiting to donate blood all over the country. There was confusion over the fact was they were donating to replenish local supplies, as all the blood that could be spared had been sent to New York and DC. The misconception was that the blood needed was for Ground Zero. Now I think about it, it's been a long time since I've seen a really serious blood drive, even before COVID.) Lea's not a doctor and she had been watching the coverage of the shooting on TV, which mentioned that the boys were brought to their hospital. She didn't read any files or get information on them from the hospital. The most she maybe did was eavesdrop. I think pretty much anyone in that situation would have put two and two together on the mothers, considering they were both covered in blood and clearly in shock.

...is it not common knowledge that pooping while giving birth is super normal? I've never met a mother who cared at that point. The lady teaching that birthing class without telling her students something that matter-of-fact is an idiot. Forget preparing these women for a "journey", skip to telling them what's normal and not to freak out about. (That being said it was a little contrived, Shaun should have just brought up the standard that they don't want you to eat in case you have to have an emergency c-section.) I did love Shaun's telling off that doctor who didn't chart correctly, the way I love that Shaun's character is always open to hearing womens' opinions. It's like the orgasm episode, where Lim just sat down and told him to put in the work. She saw that he was sincere and truly cared about what the women he knew thought, so she skipped the bullshit of being outraged or offended. Although I hope Glassman made it clear that the one time you shouldn't be asking a woman's opinion is literally while she's pushing a baby out.

I laughed so hard I almost plotzed. Gotta love a show that brings in Molly Shannon for maybe two lines that still kill. I did not see the Gene revelation coming, I figured Mr. Frond just followed Tina into the boiler room. Hopefully a Louise-centric episode is coming up, we've haven't really had one this season. All her storylines have been shared with her siblings.

I was surprised they didn't go with what I personally thought would be Shaun's problem with thinking of the fetus as a baby: just because this fetus is wanted and expected to become a baby doesn't make it physically any different from a fetus that will be terminated. Shaun is extremely literal-minded. If Lea insists on him changing his mindset to think of the fetus as a baby, can he ever feel right performing an abortion again? Also, this: And finally, it's not unheard of for men not to feel a connection to a an unborn child. Sometimes they have to see it to feel it. A (male) doctor whose books my mom quoted was a strong proponent of not having fathers in the delivery room because birth itself could be so difficult for them to process. The idea that there is suddenly a person in the world that was not quite there before was apparently something the doctor saw blow too many fathers' minds and sent them reeling. (I guess that was annoying for the doctors to have to manage while helping a lady who was busy giving birth.)

I kept waiting to see the next kid who used the tapes after Tina listening to the "new" version. 😂

I actually think the Gene alone at home story was a really smart move on the writers' part, because Gene is exactly the age when many kids start being trusted to stay at home alone. I know a lot of us (myself included) were younger than 11, but for Gene it is generally speaking a perfectly appropriate time to start. Most people agree kids can start babysitting at 12, like Tina is trusted to do for her siblings. So all in all this was a very age-appropriate development for Gene.

She was in the bushes (so clearly trying to find privacy) and a cursory glance would show the arresting officer that the nearest toilet was out of order. Which makes me think said officer was being a dick. Let Linda off with a warning, we're all human. Shit (literally) happens.

It seems pretty simple to me: Brigitte probably has a professional web page for her patients (she's a therapist, right? Am I misremembering?) to make appointments on, fill out forms, etc. Most likely she has a contact email listed there.

Hmm. You know, if a girl responds to a weird message from someone she doesn't know by telling you she never wants you to contact her again, it's probably not the entirely the fault of the weird message. I'm just saying that if that relationship didn't have serious problems already, letting Kat write a heartfelt apology explaining the situation would probably fix it. If someone tells me they did something weird on sleeping pills, I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt. A friend of mine woke up after trying one to discover she had confessed to her mother that she had converted to another religion, they'd had a deep and meaningful conversation about it, come to a happy acceptance and to this day that friend doesn't remember a moment of it.

I'd like to give props to Mayim where the white kitty is concerned because if you don't know how to hold a cat and appreciate the fact that they are deigning to allow you, a lowly human to hold them, they are not going to cooperate, much less adore you. I can't remember seeing an actor ever have such chemistry with more than one cat; usually the cat is drugged up or is stiff and nervous next to a stranger. I'm just saying, I think Mayim might be a cat whisperer. That rare individual that cats just adore. My mother is like that. Good news @tennisgurl, you are exactly the customer cat cafes are meant for!

There was a line reading Mayim gave in this episode, I think it was the word "warm" (in response to how Oscar makes Kat feel) that felt very Amy Farrah Fowler to me and had the exact same charm. I'd like to see Kat be a little more deadpan, which is very in Mayim's wheelhouse.

The fact that the Big Bang Theory never once went for a Blossom joke (after Mayim was cast anyway) makes me hope so hard to see a reference on Call Me Kat. And I would especially love a Blossom/Six reunion.

I say recast Nicholas Hoult as Potemkin and keep the laughs coming.

There is no such thing as fool-proof birth control. It's entirely possible that Shaun and Lea took all precautions and got pregnant anyway. Also, to clear up a misconception I run into almost every time a TV character gets pregnant: you cannot assume every woman is on hormonal birth control. It's medication like any other, it can have side effects or be a bad pairing with a pre-existing condition like hypertension. A friend of mine tried every single hormonal birth control on the market and had a different bad side effect with each one until her gynecologist told her that she'd be just as well served using condoms and spermicide. Lea didn't have to forget anything, Shaun didn't have to be careless. If you have sex, you risk conception even if you do everything right.

If everyone waited until it was the right time to have babies, the human race would die out. Also, babies aren't nearly as expensive as they seem - there's an entire industry trying to sell us on a high-end baby lifestyle when really you can get by on hand-me-downs, coupons and a lot of love and attention. My parents had my sister about fifteen minutes after they arrived in the US and they did fine. My mother breastfed (which at the time was shocking) and since she was born in July in California, she didn't wear much more than a diaper for the first three months. Said sister is now a highly paid medical professional, as is her husband, and they both have massive debt. Doesn't stop them from giving their young children a wonderful life. The most expensive part is daycare while both parents work, but it's attached to the hospital they work for. Yes, every second of the storyline. Not only was I surprised by Shaun not being in the running, I was honestly kind of horrified that they didn't have him in the room just in case during surgery. The man has an uncanny understanding of body structure and the patient was practically a jigsaw puzzle.

I think Randi is in her late twenties. We millennials are just perpetually adolescent.

I know they probably don't want to be gimmicky but they missed such an opportunity for Mayim wearing a Blossom Hat in the flashback.

The problem with Shaun is that he asks inappropriate questions in a genuine bid to understand the situation around him. Some people actually seem fine with answering his questions and I imagine are relieved to have someone ask outright so they can explain as opposed to everyone dancing around a subject. I actually do agree on Shaun needing serious training on which subjects to avoid, but I wonder if there's a program anywhere that can cover all possible questions he could have, not knowing where they will fall on the offensive meter. And it's not like he can or should stop asking questions. None of us should stop asking questions or we'll never learn about the world. The problem is that Shaun can't utilize tact. Maybe they should just train him to say before any question not directly related to his medical training "I have been told that I have a tendency to ask questions that are inappropriate. I ask that you regard them as the genuine curiosity they are without assuming any judgement behind them. I apologize if I offend you, it is not intentional, and I understand if you don't wish to answer." Of course that is a hell of a long disclaimer to use every time you're curious...

The reason Lim divulged her medication use at that moment was that you aren't supposed to mix sertraline with alcohol. Andrews bringing in a bottle of booze just happened to give her the opening she needed to say it.