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S04.E01: The Minivan

zoey1996

By zoey1996
in American Housewife [V]

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zoey1996

zoey1996

From the ABC website:  As the Otto family ushers in a new era, Katie and Greg make the emotional decision to sell the family minivan; Daniel suffers a setback that forces him to rethink how to accomplish his goals.

Daniel? Who the heck is Daniel?  OK, the actor's name is Daniel, but the character's name is Oliver!  

Anna-Kat and Franklin plotting together was cute.  Taylor was pretty obnoxious.  I felt bad for Oliver, but he's young and has a lot of potential when he has his head on straight.

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readster

readster

30 minutes ago, Harvey said:

I liked this episode. Poor Taylor with the eggs. It was a super easy task to cook them...

I've pretty have HAD it with Taylor is so stupid she can't do anything. She has never been portrayed as someone who is: "I could be watching this youtube video on how to make a grilled cheese, but I'll watch the video of a dog having their head caught for 10 minutes and laughing about it even after I have seen it for the 100th time." Season 1 Taylor not book smart, but street smart was fine. Since season 2 she has been: "act first or... I'm so stupid I should have an aid with me all the time." 

 It's like Daniel... I mean Oliver with: "I'm so poor, I want to do another get rich quick scheme that ALWAYS backfires on me." "Because I'm Oliver who is so smart, but yet so stupid at times on common sense and learning from my mistakes." 

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Keywestclubkid

Keywestclubkid

(edited)
1 hour ago, readster said:

I've pretty have HAD it with Taylor is so stupid she can't do anything. She has never been portrayed as someone who is: "I could be watching this youtube video on how to make a grilled cheese, but I'll watch the video of a dog having their head caught for 10 minutes and laughing about it even after I have seen it for the 100th time." Season 1 Taylor not book smart, but street smart was fine. Since season 2 she has been: "act first or... I'm so stupid I should have an aid with me all the time." 

 It's like Daniel... I mean Oliver with: "I'm so poor, I want to do another get rich quick scheme that ALWAYS backfires on me." "Because I'm Oliver who is so smart, but yet so stupid at times on common sense and learning from my mistakes." 

I see your point totally but they do this on a lot of shows tho. Look at Jackie on Roseanne she started out semi intelligent then slowly morphed into “wacky” “Barney piffe” Jacky I mean you could say that about the whole show tho really the tone shifted from more realism to more “outlandish “.  Or with Lucy in I love Lucy never learning her lesson and repeating the same thing multiple episodes. It’s a staple and troop of the sit/com to exaggerate certain traits even it it makes no sense to the “real” world. I think this show is Going for more satire then realism. Some writers navigate this better then others. 

Edited by Keywestclubkid
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MaryMitch

MaryMitch

I know it's a sitcom, but I'm also tired of Taylor being so stupid she couldn't function in the real world.

I liked the plots with Anna-Kat - being so happy to have graduated out of the special class, and messing with her mom over the spy watch. She's turning into my favorite character.

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Harvey

Harvey

1 hour ago, readster said:

 It's like Daniel... I mean Oliver with: "I'm so poor, I want to do another get rich quick scheme that ALWAYS backfires on me." "Because I'm Oliver who is so smart, but yet so stupid at times on common sense and learning from my mistakes." 

From what I remember, when Oliver plots to get money in creative ways, his plans actually always work out. It's just that when his parents discover what he has been up to, he is forced to return / give up the money or stop the project. Like, he successfully made friends with Spencer, he had that fake phone location business, and selling the off-brand shirts. All were successes to a point until the parents interfered.

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readster

readster

35 minutes ago, Harvey said:

From what I remember, when Oliver plots to get money in creative ways, his plans actually always work out. It's just that when his parents discover what he has been up to, he is forced to return / give up the money or stop the project. Like, he successfully made friends with Spencer, he had that fake phone location business, and selling the off-brand shirts. All were successes to a point until the parents interfered.

That's my point. It's not that his schemes are successful, but he is ALWAYS found out. If they had it where Oliver was taking steps to keep it from happening, then that's learning from his mistakes. Instead its: "This will work, and hopefully no one will find out." Yet he does things in such a public fashion, it gets back to his parents with a big: "Well, duh!" 

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Bobbin

Bobbin

Is the show walking away from Oliver's ballet aspirations after having Daniel DiMaggio take ballet lessons for two years? Well, at least Daniel learned he's good at it.  That was a nice nod to the college admission scandals -- and the real hurdles in getting accepted.

Anna-Kat always steals the show, and now Franklin does, too. Two peas in a pod:  both of them quirky and now functional, too.

On Modern Family, as Luke grew up he developed street smarts. Taylor is losing hers. She at least needs a redeeming value.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

I liked this episode too.  I hope they continue with episodes that don't involve Katie doing ridiculous things and/or engaging in nastiness with other women.  I love it that the kids are growing up and the show is trying to grow with them.  Maybe it was just me but I am seeing more of a resemblance between Oliver and his father now.  Ana-Kat is going to grow up into a beautiful and smart woman.  I love that they're moving her away from being a creepy kid to being a smart one.  I wonder what they have in store for Oliver now without ballet.  It might just be temporary while he heals but it will free him up to get into something else for a while, which might be interesting. 

Add me to the list that is beyond tired of Taylor's stupidity.  They really need to include her in the growth trend.  I did sympathize with her over the eggs, though.  They're really not that easy to cook and even chefs mess them up on a regular basis on cooking competition shows, maybe not as badly as Taylor but I've seen some doozies.  I don't know why, but I am still amused by the sight of the minivan in flames.  I know so many people that hated theirs by the time their kids grew up and probably fantasized setting it ablaze, LOL. 

In all, a hopeful start considering how down I still am about the shows I watched that either ended or got cancelled at the end of last season, including "Big Bang" and "The Kids are Alright".

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readster

readster

6 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Add me to the list that is beyond tired of Taylor's stupidity.  They really need to include her in the growth trend.  I did sympathize with her over the eggs, though.  They're really not that easy to cook and even chefs mess them up on a regular basis on cooking competition shows, maybe not as badly as Taylor but I've seen some doozies.  I don't know why, but I am still amused by the sight of the minivan in flames.  I know so many people that hated theirs by the time their kids grew up and probably fantasized setting it ablaze, LOL. 

Trust me, when my wife and I got rid of ours 3 years ago. I was waving goodbye with a: "I hope you burst into flames you money sucking vehicle." 

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Eataton

Eataton

Taylor's ditziness doesn't bother me at all. Sometimes it's the funniest part of the show. Those of you that think her stupidity is too much would probably enjoy the show more if you remember that much of it's comedy is supposed to be ridiculous or over the top.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

1 hour ago, Eataton said:

Taylor's ditziness doesn't bother me at all. Sometimes it's the funniest part of the show. Those of you that think her stupidity is too much would probably enjoy the show more if you remember that much of it's comedy is supposed to be ridiculous or over the top.

I know that its comedy is supposed to be ridiculous, but I am old enough to remember when OTT ditziness was done right, as in "I Love Lucy" or Georgette on "Mary Tyler Moore".  They were supposed to be ridiculous and it was very funny.  It's the way this show is handling it that fails with a lot of people, in my opinion.  

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readster

readster

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

I know that its comedy is supposed to be ridiculous, but I am old enough to remember when OTT ditziness was done right, as in "I Love Lucy" or Georgette on "Mary Tyler Moore".  They were supposed to be ridiculous and it was very funny.  It's the way this show is handling it that fails with a lot of people, in my opinion.  

Right, I get that eggs can get screwed up. Been there myself, but this... was just beyond sad to the point, how does Taylor even know how to put her clothes on?

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AnnaRose

AnnaRose

7 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Now that Anna Kat doesn't need SpEd, why are they staying in a town Katie hates?

Well, they have a great deal on the house they're renting.  Katie's two best friends live there.  I think it's supposed to be convenient for Greg's work, as far as I can tell.  And the kids all have friends there, including Anna-Kat's best friend Franklin. 

I do not see them upending their lives to move out of Westport.  Besides, Katie probably secretly likes it because she gets to complain about the other housewives/moms and feel superior. 😉

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readster

readster

2 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Well, they have a great deal on the house they're renting.  Katie's two best friends live there.  I think it's supposed to be convenient for Greg's work, as far as I can tell.  And the kids all have friends there, including Anna-Kat's best friend Franklin. 

I do not see them upending their lives to move out of Westport.  Besides, Katie probably secretly likes it because she gets to complain about the other housewives/moms and feel superior.

Yeah, Katie HAS reasons to stay now. Plus, if Taylor can continue to Forest Gump her way through her senior year. Why leave?

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Aryanna

Aryanna

I really want to like Taylor. But the stupid character trope is so tiring whether it's this show or Modern Family. They go from not being book smart to being mentally handicapped. 

Anna Kat is my fave and has been for a while now. 

Since my shows have started back up this fall, this is the one I enjoyed the most. I didn't laugh a bit at my other shows this fall. 

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JenLily

JenLily

On 9/29/2019 at 2:42 AM, Yeah No said:

I did sympathize with her over the eggs, though.  They're really not that easy to cook and even chefs mess them up on a regular basis on cooking competition shows, maybe not as badly as Taylor but I've seen some doozies.

I can't cook an egg either but I can certainly boil them. Her list only stipulated they be cooked; she didn't have to attempt to get fancy with them. I don't mind her being a flake or even not that bright but even flakes and not-that-brightses have some semblance of common sense (see Phoebe and Joey on Friends). I know a lot of shows have the unfortunate habit of turning some of their characters into caricatures of themselves, but this is getting ridiculous. No one leaves lit candles in a car. NO ONE.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

1 minute ago, JenLily said:

I know a lot of shows have the unfortunate habit of turning some of their characters into caricatures of themselves, but this is getting ridiculous. No one leaves lit candles in a car. NO ONE.

I think you nailed it here as to why a lot of us feel this way about Taylor.  The writers take it a step too far.  It's funny as long as her behavior might be believable, but this is an example of where it is not.  

1 hour ago, SnarkySheep said:

Doris, dear...you go to Mohegan Sun, not THE Mohegan Sun.

I really can't understand why the writers bothered to Google the name of a CT casino, but couldn't take the extra millisecond to figure out how people reference it.

Hah, I live in CT and went there on Labor Day weekend so you'd think I would have caught that but I didn't.  Must have been dozing off, LOL.  😉

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Keywestclubkid

Keywestclubkid

(edited)
1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

I think you nailed it here as to why a lot of us feel this way about Taylor.  The writers take it a step too far.  It's funny as long as her behavior might be believable, but this is an example of where it is not.  

Hah, I live in CT and went there on Labor Day weekend so you'd think I would have caught that but I didn't.  Must have been dozing off, LOL.  😉

I think the “the” was added because lady’s like that add the to things that normally don’t have it. Like they call it for lack of a better example ‘the’ cancer instead of just saying cancer or going to the wal mart. But I also could be completely wrong 🙂 

Edited by Keywestclubkid
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theatremouse

theatremouse

The list for Taylor really pissed me off because so many of the things were subjective. She has no way of knowing if the thing she's doing actually accomplishes the list item. They know she's got zero common sense. They should've spelled it out for her. There's a difference between "kid is lazy and it doesn't occur to them to do things for themselves" and "kid does not know many simple tasks one should know in order to be a functional adult human". Taylor's the latter. She needed specifics.

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msrachelj

msrachelj

On 9/28/2019 at 10:26 AM, Harvey said:

I liked this episode. Poor Taylor with the eggs. It was a super easy task to cook them...

They should be a lot more worried about her then they even are. I think she needs to be in a extra help class, don't know what they are called but she is not able to perform or understand simple every day chores or situations. IQ?

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readster

readster

21 hours ago, msrachelj said:

They should be a lot more worried about her then they even are. I think she needs to be in a extra help class, don't know what they are called but she is not able to perform or understand simple every day chores or situations. IQ?

You mean a student aid, and yes. She has been shown she can't function without one.

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Bobbin

Bobbin

48 minutes ago, readster said:

You mean a student aid, and yes. She has been shown she can't function without one.

I think you mean Special Ed like Anna-Kat was in, or remedial classes in high school.

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msrachelj

msrachelj

On 10/22/2019 at 9:09 AM, readster said:

You mean a student aid, and yes. She has been shown she can't function without one.

No. I mean she doesn't know the basics of school or life. She needs remedial classes. Very low IQ going there.

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