S06.E02: College

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Y2K is on the horizon. While Grandma Jenny, Emery, and Evan look to the future, Louis and Jessica take a trip down memory lane. Eddie, on the other hand, is stuck trying to navigate the present after his first college visit doesn't exactly go according to plan.

Original air date: 10/4/19

[DrSparkles]

I still love this show! Grandma FTW!!

[rmontro]

Wow, not many comments on this one.  And honestly, I felt very apathetic watching it.  There wasn't much interesting going, other than grandma mistaking that imitator for Danny DeVito.  Interesting in itself that she had a thing for Danny DeVito - not enough of a thing to avoid dumping him, apparently.

[Koalagirl]

I found this episode in reply boring. 

[Robert Lynch]

I liked the Matrix shoutout, though.

[fishcakes]

I liked the Matrix stuff too. I wish it had been solely a Y2K episode instead of having that be a subplot to the college visit. As a concept and potential event, Y2K was nutty; it had a huge presence in the media and in people's conversations for months, and in retrospect (by which I mean, early in the day on January 1, 2000), it all seemed so ridiculous. (My only Y2K story is that on December 30, 1999, I was in line at Safeway buying two bottles of Tanqueray, two bottles of Patron, and a 12-pack of bottled water, and the tiny ancient lady in line behind me pointed at my basket and adorably asked, "Y2K?" Heh.)

[helpmerhonda]

She can't seriously think Eddie is getting into Harvard, right?

[Robert Lynch]

41 minutes ago, helpmerhonda said:

She can't seriously think Eddie is getting into Harvard, right?

I can't express how much that makes my eyes roll at that concept. Are his friends finished because all I see is the red-headed one instead...strange.

[Camera One]

This episode was alright, but not great.  I agree there wasn't much to say about it.  The lines they give the actors on this show are just not funny.  I almost felt badly for the actor who played Evan having to memorize all those political lines to say at the gym.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Camera One

[rmontro]

8 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I wish it had been solely a Y2K episode instead of having that be a subplot to the college visit.

I don't know why the college stuff was so boring.  That had to be the most boring college based story I had ever seen.  The Middle's college scenes were far superior, and even the Goldbergs did it better.

[Snow Apple]

8 hours ago, helpmerhonda said:

She can't seriously think Eddie is getting into Harvard, right?

Yeah that was strange. I can see her pinning that hope on Evan and even Emory, but Eddie?! I think they've shown he's improved in school, but I can't believe even pushy Jessica thinks Eddie had any hope for Harvard.

Is Eddie a Junior or Senior at high school now? I was thinking he should have already taken the PSAT and moving on to the SAT this year, but maybe I'm not remembering their ages correctly.

[Robert Lynch]

19 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Yeah that was strange. I can see her pinning that hope on Evan and even Emory, but Eddie?! I think they've shown he's improved in school, but I can't believe even pushy Jessica thinks Eddie had any hope for Harvard.

Is Eddie a Junior or Senior at high school now? I was thinking he should have already taken the PSAT and moving on to the SAT this year, but maybe I'm not remembering their ages correctly.

That part didn't ring true to me. Probably a regular college, but not Harvard!

[dmmetler]

You take the PSAT for National Merit in October of your Junior year. A lot of the more academic minded kids have already taken the SAT by then for summer programs, like governor's schools, but still take the PSAT (many schools have everyone take it) because of scholarship opportunities. And junior year is the big "push for college" year since application deadlines are in the fall (for most competitive schools, you're looking at November), and there are students getting acceptances for rolling admission schools even in October. Especially if you want merit aid (and I imagine Jessica wants scholarships just to be able to rub it in Connie's face, although Harvard is need based only), junior year is the College year. 

Now, I am surprised Jessica is doing PSAT prep-any tiger mom knows that you prep for the SAT, because the PSAT is just an easier version of the SAT. If you can get 750+ on each section of the SAT, you will probably ace the PSAT. 

[msrachelj]

This show has run it's course. Should not have been renewed. And I swear, Jessica had more of an accent in previous seasons.

[Robert Lynch]

Constance Wu and Randall Park don't really need this show now. Their careers are set. Not sure about the kids. Usually, they become type cast as they get older. So much you could do for a Jessica-like clone, an awkward teen, and a rap poet kid spewing lyrics to get to the point of the story. So much for a Y2K plot.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Robert Lynch

[biakbiak]

The Evan/Arnold story felt off. There were some rumors that he might be interested in politics (basically because of who he was married to) but in 1999 he hadn’t run for anything so his being Evan’s political hero made no sense.

[Robert Lynch]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

The Evan/Arnold story felt off. There were some rumors that he might be interested in politics (basically because of who he was married to) but in 1999 he hadn’t run for anything so his being Evan’s political hero made no sense.

That was just nonsense. No way in 1999 anybody would have guessed he be governor of California. All I can think in the late 90s-early 00s is Wil Sasso portraying him on Mad TV.

[tennisgurl]

Just what I know we all wanted more of, Jessica being mean and then explaining herself and learning a lesson, only to inevitably forget by next week! I will say, normally Jessica isnt really stupid, but how could she both not know that UCLA is a good school (and not a "dumb dumb", classy Jess) and have any hope that Eddie could get into Harvard?! Eddie isnt stupid or anything, but school has never been his thing, no way is he getting in no matter how much college prep he does. 

I spent most of the episode really pumped because of the Ballstate shout-out, where I used to work! Its the first time I have ever heard it mentioned on TV, maybe someone on staff is an alumni? 

The Y2K plot was kind of funnier, and Y2K is such a weird and specific thing that took over the national conversation so much and now looks so ridiculous, that it really could have carried a whole episode. 

[Snow Apple]

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The Y2K plot was kind of funnier, and Y2K is such a weird and specific thing that took over the national conversation so much and now looks so ridiculous, that it really could have carried a whole episode. 

Yeah, it would have been a better episode if Eddie and friends planning some scheme regarding Y2k.

At the same time, the rest of the family plotting how to survive/celebrate Y2k. I'd like to see the family working as a team. I'm tired of Jessica bullying everybody else. She even battles Evan nowadays!

I also miss the side characters from the restaurant and around town. 

The college plot bored me. Even the Y2k plot wasn't as fun as it could have been.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Snow Apple

[floridamom]

Why don't they know that you don't go to college to study to 'be a principal'. You go to college to major in education , TEACH FOR YEARS, then work your way up the administration TO BEING A PRINCIPAL. This show indicates that Jessica will graduate from college and apply for a job in the school system as a principal. I also think that no one would keep her after they have hired her for he awful 'non team member' personality. The staff at school would hate her. Bad sub plot and totally unbelievable.

[CurlyATX]

I grew up in CA and have vivid y2K memories since I'm old.  Heck, the law firm I worked at had a y2k practice group.  We were basically ambulance chasers who scared board of directors to think that they will get sued if they don't do y2K "stuff".  And I do remember partying on NYE and worrying a little that I'd be stuck without BART.

And Arnold fever was not in 99 to this extent.  It was when EVERYONE ran for Governor in 02.  It became a total joke (poor Gray Davis). 

I had to cringe at this road trip- similar to the recent one in The Goldbergs.  No one is this awful and expects the cousin to house 3 adults, 2 teens, and a kid in a dorm room.  Though I will say that I grew up with a Tiger Dad and he only saw value in the Ivy's (we were too poor to apply) or whatever school a family friend's kid went to (so mostly UC Berkeley). I remember him thinking all other schools were "low class".  Some of Jessica's arbitrary ranking of schools rings true.  

Maybe this would happen if they did a show about me, but I wish Eddie would just have a final breakdown with his mom's pushing... where he finally stopped caring since she would never be satisfied.  He hinted at that in 8th grade and I think the younger boys have had something similar (where they became bad for an episode).  

[SanDiegoInExile]

They seemed to have *slowed* down the show timeline.  The opening credits cite a 1995 move.  The sixth season appears to have begun in Summer 1999, so we may have more episodes dealing with Y2K craziness.

I am presuming this is just a 13-episode season.  That could put a Series Finale around the end of the year, to perhaps coincide with Y2K?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 10/5/2019 at 11:05 PM, helpmerhonda said:

She can't seriously think Eddie is getting into Harvard, right?

I never understood why a parent would set up a kid to fail by helping him get into a college or position where he'd be mediocre at best.  I would think the bragging at the beginning would be outweighed by the disaster that would follow. (And no, Eddie's not getting into a "tier one" college, and I have my doubts about "tier two."

On 10/6/2019 at 7:58 AM, Snow Apple said:

Is Eddie a Junior or Senior at high school now? I was thinking he should have already taken the PSAT and moving on to the SAT this year, but maybe I'm not remembering their ages correctly.

If he hasn't taken the PSAT's yet, he's at most a rising junior.

On 10/6/2019 at 6:03 AM, rmontro said:

I don't know why the college stuff was so boring.  That had to be the most boring college based story I had ever seen.  The Middle's college scenes were far superior, and even the Goldbergs did it better.

I would think a summer college session would lack the shenanigans that supposedly make college "fun" during the regular school year. 

Florida public school summer vacation had just started.  The summer college session probably didn't start until after Memorial Day.  No way was anyone take midterms yet.

It also would have been more realistic for cousin Justin or his roommate to be taking summer courses because they had been "only" achieving B grades in their freshman year, and their parents were willing to pay extra for them to take a course or 2 over the summer so they could take reduced course loads their sophomore year and hopefully do better; or they wanted to concentrate on Orgo over the summer, rather than to imply that either of these previously straight A/high SAT/valedictorian/over-achievers were failing midterms.  Jessica could still extrapolate that UCLA would be way too tough for Eddie.

On 10/7/2019 at 12:47 AM, tennisgurl said:

Just what I know we all wanted more of, Jessica being mean and then explaining herself and learning a lesson, only to inevitably forget by next week!

Swap Jessica for Dre, and we have a typical episode of Blackish,

On 10/8/2019 at 3:30 PM, CurlyATX said:

No one is this awful and expects the cousin to house 3 adults, 2 teens, and a kid in a dorm room.

Grandma Jenny isn't even Justin's grandma.  Is he supposed to let her sleep in his bed?

Finally, what was the original 10th school on Jessica's list, SSTC? A school in Singapore?