S02.E05: Austin

[doodlebug]

14 hours ago, debraran said:

Does anyone remember how Gary got Colin? I was thinking he might just go back to his owner, they do that if lost and Nash might have read about that online with all the "dog returning home" stories. Maybe he's hurt or maybe he just leaves the loony bin and goes home. lol

Early last season, Gary was walking through a park on the way to see his oncologist to see how his tests turned out.  Colin was in the park, looking hungry.  Gary fed him and he started following him with Gary insisting he wasn't getting a dog.  Finally, after the oncologist told him his tests were good, no signs of recurrence; Gary took Colin home with him.  

That is what I generally recall anyway.  I think the dog has more common sense than the rest of these people put together and, even if he can't find his original owner, he undoubtedly realizes that anywhere he goes will be better than his current situation.  Free Colin!

[cardigirl]

9 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Early last season, Gary was walking through a park on the way to see his oncologist to see how his tests turned out.  Colin was in the park, looking hungry.  Gary fed him and he started following him with Gary insisting he wasn't getting a dog.  Finally, after the oncologist told him his tests were good, no signs of recurrence; Gary took Colin home with him.  

That is what I generally recall anyway.  I think the dog has more common sense than the rest of these people put together and, even if he can't find his original owner, he undoubtedly realizes that anywhere he goes will be better than his current situation.  Free Colin!

And Gary wasn't going to keep him, but the only shelters he could find were kill shelters for some reason. Since he didn't want Colin to be put down, he adopted him, or took him in. They never showed whether he had him scanned for an id chip or anything, so I guess his previous owners could show up. Let's hope DJ Nash doesn't kill off the dog for drama.

Edited October 27, 2019 by cardigirl

[debraran]

9 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Early last season, Gary was walking through a park on the way to see his oncologist to see how his tests turned out.  Colin was in the park, looking hungry.  Gary fed him and he started following him with Gary insisting he wasn't getting a dog.  Finally, after the oncologist told him his tests were good, no signs of recurrence; Gary took Colin home with him.  

That is what I generally recall anyway.  I think the dog has more common sense than the rest of these people put together and, even if he can't find his original owner, he undoubtedly realizes that anywhere he goes will be better than his current situation.  Free Colin!

We aren't the writers but I like this. Nash who tells everyone hints etc said he thought of it on a hike and had no cell service but he couldn't wait to tell the writers. I hope against hope, he didn't hear about a dog dying in any way shape or form and thought, that will be a ratings booster. 😐 Lets' free Colin!  Dogs and babies are a lot of work on TV, maybe he wants to lessen the groups size a bit.

They need a boost, ratings slowly dropping every week since Sept but still higher than some.

Ratings for last week:

Once again, ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was the night’s no. 1 scripted show, with a 1.2 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.73 million viewers, down from its 1.4 and 6.09 million viewer audience from a week ago. “A Million Little Things” similarly ticked down from its previous 0.8 to a 0.7, while “How to Get Away with Murder” (0.5) stayed even.

Edited October 27, 2019 by debraran

[Clanstarling]

On 10/24/2019 at 8:38 PM, Amethyst said:

The fake house hunting thing was so pointless.  I understand Katherine and Eddie wanting to have some fun, but the problem with escapism is that you have to go back to reality.  Some goofy made up story and a quickie isn't going to undo Eddie's infidelity.  That cheesy "family photo" probably didn't help.

I got confused about the fake house hunting at first, thinking Eddie thought maybe they should move across the street for a new beginning (easy move, anyway). And then when the other couple came into the house, I was expecting it to be someone they knew, or just an introduction to their new neighbors who'd be some more of those million little pieces.

On 10/25/2019 at 6:22 AM, readster said:

Another thing is, Katherine just came up with Austin on a whim. Even saying: "I don't know anything about Austin, but I want to live there and escape everything." Umm... so you have no plan? Hope you get a house, get a job and then Eddie will get a "real job"? What about Theo, what about the fact you can get hit with flooding or possible hurricanes. How about the school systems? It just like Katherine in a depressed state saw some word on Austin and went: "What a great place to live." It made no sense  and her reasoning even made less sense. 

Austin is a music mecca, and has a lot of other attractive qualities (though I'd never move there), so I thought it was pretty thoughtful of Katherine to come up with a town that would have something for Eddie - even if it was a fantasy.

On 10/25/2019 at 6:35 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Damn, Rome's dad sucks. This cruise to Alaska is what your wife has been asking to do for years and when you finally give it to her, you make it clear that you don't want to go? I'm with Renee - why bother if you're just going to be a grump about it?

I got concerned when it seemed that the show was telling us that enduring 7 or 10 days on a cruise for the spouse you love was the equivalent of a lifelong commitment to a child you don't want.

On 10/25/2019 at 7:50 AM, mikem said:

And what's even wackier is that everyone else seems to be going along with it.  Given the current state of their relationship, there is no way Eddie would go along with putting Katherine into a situation where she has to pose for that photo. 

It'll be one of those pictures that they'll look back on and say - here we are, just before all hell broke loose.

On 10/25/2019 at 10:28 AM, gonzosgirrl said:

I even wondered if the singing was just in Maggie's imagination, because okay I can see the piano in her apartment, but a microphone and speakers, too?

I don't think she imagined the singing - just the lighting and mic. (I might have done that a time or two) But boy, it did confuse me for a minute.

On 10/25/2019 at 11:34 AM, Winston Wolfe said:

Maggie is threatening to surpass Delilah as this show's must un-likeable character.  She's Immature, whiny, and runs away from problems at the drop of a hat. Hey, you're beating Cancer! Get tougher. Maggie's quickly getting to the point where it's hard to find a single redeeming thing about her. She and Gary together is like Toxic Sludge in a Quicksand Bog.

Sadly, I think that's true. She was introduced as kind of fun and snarky - a match for Gary's personality. And now she's just a pity party on feet. I hope the story of her finding how to live without cancer improves her. Though, remission doesn't always stick, unfortunately.

I also thought Gary's characterization of what the support group said was wrong. My take on what they told Gary was that some people don't find support groups useful after remission - not that they were avoiding support groups.

On 10/25/2019 at 2:37 PM, LucyEth said:

Why would Katherine be a part of that picture.  She never really fit in, maybe she wanted Lady D to see her and Eddie back together. The whole Eddie/Katherine/Delilah storyline is ridiculous.  Eddie was so in love with Delilah, she had his child, she told crybaby Maggie that she felt Eddie needed to be in the picture.  Does she still have feelings for him?  He forgot her pretty quickly.  If Jon didn't kill himself Eddie and Delilah would be together right, that was their plan. 

Maggie is awful, you think she would be happy her brother's heart could help someone else live.  I was surprised that she ran into his Eric's shop and I guess she wanted to feel his heart beat and he pulled her hand away.  Sorry but finding out that in death your brother helped someone else live should not be a reason to carry on, run all over the place sobbing and crying on people's shoulders and acting like your life is over.  

Not sure why we got Rome's parents  fighting?  Didn't make Regina realize anything about her and Rome.  Regina is a PITA, starting not to like her either.  

Agree with a poster above, if any harm comes to Colin I am out!

Theo continues to go for that Emmy nomination.  

As I recall, it was really more Eddie's plan, and Delilah was kind of lukewarm about it. My takeaway back in season one was that Eddie was more a release valve and revenge sex, than someone she wanted to leave her very comfortable life for.

On 10/25/2019 at 6:53 PM, Bridget said:

A viable solution and for the birth announcement would have been to only photograph the kids

That's what I thought she'd do - probably because our youngest's birth announcement was a sweet shot of our pre-schooler proudly holding her tiny newborn sister. But no, they had to go with cringe.

On 10/26/2019 at 4:23 AM, alexvillage said:

What bothers me the most is how dismissive everyone is of the kids. They are lying and hoping that the truth about baby Charlie will never come out. It is very unlikely that they can keep up. someone will say too much, too loud, something will happen. Worse than the absurd belief that the truth will never come out is how disrespectful it is. Sophie is old enough to be granted the truth and so is Danny. He is being true to himself and coming out on his own but he cannot be trusted? Theo is much younger but there are ways to explain the whole thing to him, maybe even easier for him to accept and be happy.

Of course, no one wants to admit something bad about themselves, but deliberately telling your kids a lie about something that big is only going to bite you in the ass and make sure they'll never trust you again. Life can be harsh, but there are ways to tell the truth that are age appropriate and kind. Doesn't mean there won't be drama, but at least they'll know you are honest. And that's not a minor thing.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Clanstarling

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

Of course, no one wants to admit something bad about themselves, but deliberately telling your kids a lie about something that big is only going to bite you in the ass and make sure they'll never trust you again. Life can be harsh, but there are ways to tell the truth that are age appropriate and kind. Doesn't mean there won't be drama, but at least they'll know you are honest. And that's not a minor thing.

Especially when all of your friends know. Someone is bound to say something in the wrong place or at the wrong time. The kids aren't babies. They're gonna find out.

[smartymarty]

I found it hard to believe that a couple married 50 years had that much difficulty communicating. Rome's father could have said "you know that I am not as interested in this cruise, but I love you so whatever you want, I'll do."

Plot issues: How did Rome's father know that his wife was coming back to Rome's apartment rather than go home to him, as Rome and Regina suggested she do while they all were in the elevator? Was he standing in that hallway for hours while Rome, Regina and the mother were over at Delilah's? Why did Rome put the camera on a timer if his mother was there to snap the picture of the "family"?

Not a plot problem, per se, but why would Adam hang out with Maggie after she tried to put her hand on his chest? That's just creepy.

Couldn't Maggie and Delilah just get together for coffee/tea to have their conversation rather than the contrived "I must help D stage the apartment for sale"? Why does Delilah need sooo much help? Wasn't her role with the restaurant to design the interior? Yet she couldn't stage the apartment on her own? She could have brought Sophie instead if it involved moving furniture (and bring the baby with them, if Sophie was babysitting while D and Maggie did this).

When will Maggie's hair grow back? Does Hollywood really not have any short hair wigs? I'm guessing that she'll have long hair the beginning of next season (if they get one).

"Loved" Rome and Regina's conversation at the end about compromising over a baby. They had zero ideas. None. Neither threw out fostering or Big Brothers or teaching or anything. It's baby or bust.

Conclusion: The writers are all just out of college and just don't have the experience to write good, realistic scripts. (The "family" photo, for example, seems like what people who still hang out with their college friends would think of, rather than older writers who realize that life gets in the way of that kind of social life when people enter their 30s and 40s.)

[Lady Calypso]

23 minutes ago, smartymarty said:

Couldn't Maggie and Delilah just get together for coffee/tea to have their conversation rather than the contrived "I must help D stage the apartment for sale"? Why does Delilah need sooo much help? Wasn't her role with the restaurant to design the interior? Yet she couldn't stage the apartment on her own? She could have brought Sophie instead if it involved moving furniture (and bring the baby with them, if Sophie was babysitting while D and Maggie did this).

I just laugh, at this point, at Delilah's utter incompetence. I can't even find any reason to try to defend her. She literally can't do anything without help. She needs help taking care of all of her kids. She needs help with her role in the restaurant. She needs help staging her apartment. She needs help getting the baby's room together since she didn't bother buying anything beforehand. Next time, she'll need help dialling a phone number.

26 minutes ago, smartymarty said:

"Loved" Rome and Regina's conversation at the end about compromising over a baby. They had zero ideas. None. Neither threw out fostering or Big Brothers or teaching or anything. It's baby or bust.

Because there really IS no compromising, on this particular subject matter. Either they get a kid or they don't get a kid. There's no middle ground. 

So, either Rome goes into mentoring kids and is ok with not having one at home, or Regina needs to be on board with taking care of a kid, either a baby or an older kid through adoption. Those are the only two closest compromises. 

I would honestly be shocked and impressed if it was Rome who had to budge and decided to mentor kids instead. That is a "compromise" that would work for me. That way, Regina doesn't need to raise a child that she doesn't want, and Rome can be a mentor to all of the kids that his heart desires.

[smartymarty]

13 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Because there really IS no compromising, on this particular subject matter.

Oh, I agree. I just quibbled with them not even throwing any ideas out there. "How about this?" "No, that wouldn't work for me."

[KaveDweller]

6 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I just laugh, at this point, at Delilah's utter incompetence. I can't even find any reason to try to defend her. She literally can't do anything without help. She needs help taking care of all of her kids. She needs help with her role in the restaurant. She needs help staging her apartment. She needs help getting the baby's room together since she didn't bother buying anything beforehand. Next time, she'll need help dialling a phone number.

Not that I'm a fan of Delilah's, but it was Maggie's apartment they were staging. Wasn't Delilah the one helping Maggie in that case?

[Lady Calypso]

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Not that I'm a fan of Delilah's, but it was Maggie's apartment they were staging. Wasn't Delilah the one helping Maggie in that case?

I'm dumb; you're right. She was literally helping Maggie. Correction on that mistake.

[smartymarty]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Wasn't Delilah the one helping Maggie in that case?

I thought Maggie had said "I have to help Delilah stage the apartment," (thinking it was Jon's apartment) but I'll concede. So possibly Maggie purposely scheduled this at the same time as the support group.

On another Maggie note, I liked her character until this season's story line with her. Yes, we never forget or stop mourning someone we loved who died. But people learn to live with that grief. Someone bawling her eyes out six years later clearly needs help. It astounds me that the writers think a trained psychiatrist would not recognize this.

[MV713]

Ok glad I am not alone in hate watching this show!!

I just decided to watch the 5 episodes in a row that have aired.  My original goal was to watch one, and decide if I was done forever.  They lured me in with just enough to keep me interested, while still basically disliking everyone on the show (especially the kids! UGH).

This show needs some real shakeups to keep it going.  What every happened to Ashley (I mean Renn)?  And Barbara Morgan was such a big "mystery" last year to keep interest, but it seems like every time there is a good twist or plot point to move forward - they fizzle out.

Hoping for some good drama - and not a whole episode of a missing dog!

[tennisgurl]

The better not be setting up Eric/Maggie to be a thing, because as great as Eric is, its just...its weird, even by this shows standards. He has her dead brothers heart, its just weird, like some bizarre romantic comedy with a super weird gimmick. 

Rome making the commercial based on his kid conversation with Regina was so ridiculous and passive aggressive, even if it was subconscious. The crack Gary made about it was hilarious though. "Maybe you can wait awhile and make a commercial dealing with that exact situation!" The whole bit with Romes parents seemed engineered to, what, make Regina want to give in to Rome? Because a cruise is a whole let less of a commitment than having kids!!

Delilah is, as always, a barley holding it together fragile flower who everyone must drop everything for to attend to. At least her photographer left to enjoy Cozumel and didnt stick around! It is nice to see that the kids are still upset by Jons death, as everyone else seems fine now, it makes me wonder how they will react when they inevitably find out about Eddie and their mom. Maybe they will actually react like normal people?!

Maggie is just always with the drama and the whinning and while her brothers death is certainly something you might never get over, its so weird that everything is coming up now, and is leaking out everywhere. I wish Eric would say that he needs some of his own space, and isnt be used as a replacement son/brother/whatever for this dramatic as fuck family that is constantly leaking their stuff all over everyone. 

Eddie and Katherine are adorable and despite what Eddie did, and how weird this whole situation is, I still root for them. They clearly cant go to Austin, because they cant leave he show, but in any real world, them leaving for a fresh start would be a great idea. 

Theo dropping dinosaur facts sounded so much like a little me, I was cracking up. 

[OpalNightstream]

Have we ever seen Gary at work? They should just set the show to have all the scenes to occur on the weekends (which still isn’t enough time to somehow cram all they do) because it is so glaring that they all seem to have nothing but time on their hands to hang out. Don’t they have friends outside of this one group? Did they not have a life outside of each other before meeting in the elevator? At least Maggie has the “new in town” story to explain having no other friends. I realize Delilah has a lot going on but I’ve never seen friends so willing to drop EVERYTHING for one person before.  Everyone on this show has some major drama going on but, hey, let’s make sure Delilah is ok...all the time. 

They need to give Theo some friends. He’s so annoying.

[izabella]

12 hours ago, OpalNightstream said:

They need to give Theo some friends. He’s so annoying.

He has friends, though we don't see them.  He went to a sleepover recently so his mom and dad could go on a date, and they ended up having to pick him up early because he couldn't handle it.  He had night terrors in the past; guess he still has some that issue.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, OpalNightstream said:

Have we ever seen Gary at work?

Yes, they definitely showed Gary at work in S1.

[Gothish520]

On 10/25/2019 at 9:35 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Damn, Rome's dad sucks. This cruise to Alaska is what your wife has been asking to do for years and when you finally give it to her, you make it clear that you don't want to go? I'm with Renee - why bother if you're just going to be a grump about it?

To get her to shut the hell up about it!

I have the opposite opinion, I think Rome's mom sucks. She's apparently been hounding him about this for years, so much that her son and daughter-in-law knew about it and were terrified what her reaction would be if he didn't get it for her. A trip which he obviously has no interest in making. What a nag.

[Clanstarling]

6 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

To get her to shut the hell up about it!

I have the opposite opinion, I think Rome's mom sucks. She's apparently been hounding him about this for years, so much that her son and daughter-in-law knew about it and were terrified what her reaction would be if he didn't get it for her. A trip which he obviously has no interest in making. What a nag.

I know, right? I mean, why would a wife, over their years together, tell her loving husband about her dream vacation that involves the two of them and expect that he'd actually want to give his wife a gift he knows she'll love, even if he doesn't really want to do it. In 40 years (?), she's probably never done anything she didn't want to do to please him, right? And why should he bother to discuss it with her, if he really hates the idea so much, and try to find a mutually satisfactory compromise? After all, it's her job to do the heavy lifting in the relationship.

Instead, he decides to give the woman he loves the gift and spitefully undermine her happiness. Yep, everybody wins with that one.

[Natalie25]

On 10/27/2019 at 10:06 AM, Clanstarling said:

I got concerned when it seemed that the show was telling us that enduring 7 or 10 days on a cruise for the spouse you love was the equivalent of a lifelong commitment to a child you don't want.

This right here - Rome is asking Regina for something that will affect the rest of her life. His mother is asking his father for 10 days in Alaska. Not at all comparable!

[Gothish520]

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I know, right? I mean, why would a wife, over their years together, tell her loving husband about her dream vacation that involves the two of them and expect that he'd actually want to give his wife a gift he knows she'll love, even if he doesn't really want to do it. In 40 years (?), she's probably never done anything she didn't want to do to please him, right? And why should he bother to discuss it with her, if he really hates the idea so much, and try to find a mutually satisfactory compromise? After all, it's her job to do the heavy lifting in the relationship.

Instead, he decides to give the woman he loves the gift and spitefully undermine her happiness. Yep, everybody wins with that one.

If my husband doesn't want to do something, I'm not going to nag or force him, just as he wouldn't nag or force me to do something I don't want to do. A compromise would have been lovely,  and for all we know, he attempted compromise and she wasn't having it. Seems to me she was dead set on this trip, nothing else would have sufficed.

It's not the woman's job to do the heavy lifting alone, but neither is it the man's. It's an old trope to portray the woman as the wonderful, long-suffering spouse in a marriage, having to put up with the burden of being married to an awful man. Every marriage is different  - based on what we were shown here, the mom annoyed me much more than the dad did. The phrase high-maintenance comes to mind. 

And of course the show took the usual route of forcing the man to apologize to appease the wife.  Ugh.

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Gothish520 said:

If my husband doesn't want to do something, I'm not going to nag or force him, just as he wouldn't nag or force me to do something I don't want to do. A compromise would have been lovely,  and for all we know, he attempted compromise and she wasn't having it. Seems to me she was dead set on this trip, nothing else would have sufficed.

It's not the woman's job to do the heavy lifting alone, but neither is it the man's. It's an old trope to portray the woman as the wonderful, long-suffering spouse in a marriage, having to put up with the burden of being married to an awful man. Every marriage is different  - based on what we were shown here, the mom annoyed me much more than the dad did. The phrase high-maintenance comes to mind. 

And of course the show took the usual route of forcing the man to apologize to appease the wife.  Ugh.

Fair points.  I simply reacted differently to what we saw. To be fair, I don't like either parent- even though I have a fondness for the actress who plays the mother. But I do get tired of women being called nags when they speak up for what they want. One person's nag is another person's woman (or man) who hasn't been heard.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Rome’s mom seemed surprised when her husband was so negative about the cruise so it’s very possible that in all the years that she’s been telling him that she wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska, he never said he didn’t have any interest in going. 

It wasn’t clear from his initial outburst exactly what he objected to. Does he not like Alaska? Cold weather? Boats? If it’s just the destination, there are plenty of other places you can take a cruise. If it’s being stuck on a boat, they could fly to Alaska instead. But instead of telling his wife what he specifically didn’t like about her Alaska cruise dream vacation or offering an alternative that he would enjoy more, he was a wet blanket. 

[Gothish520]

The way Rome and Gina were acting, it seemed like there would be hell to pay if he didn't get her the trip - and the way she reacted when he handed her the bag, like she was upset that it might be clothes and NOT the trip - it just rubbed me the wrong way. 

[Toothbrush]

The "family" picture was cringe-inducing. And since it seems that the group in the picture is all any of them know, who would Delilah send the birth announcement to anyway? 

My oldest's birth announcement was just him, and when I had twins a little over 2 years later their announcement was just them. We thought about having all 3 in the twins' birth announcement pic, but ultimately decided just on the newborns. 

I love Jason Ritter, and he looks more & more like his dad as the years pass. 

On 10/25/2019 at 1:16 PM, ams1001 said:

(isn't he an actuary for an insurance company or something like that? Seems like the kind of job that would expect you to be in the office during regular business hours). 

I have been an actuary for 23 years, and yes, showing up to the office is an expectation. But then again, I don't have a made-for-TV job.

On 10/26/2019 at 6:21 PM, LisaM said:

Nice to see Richard Kind. 

Always a pleasure. 

[Miss Bones]

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 9:22 AM, readster said:

Another thing is, Katherine just came up with Austin on a whim. Even saying: "I don't know anything about Austin, but I want to live there and escape everything." Umm... so you have no plan? Hope you get a house, get a job and then Eddie will get a "real job"? What about Theo, what about the fact you can get hit with flooding or possible hurricanes. How about the school systems? It just like Katherine in a depressed state saw some word on Austin and went: "What a great place to live." It made no sense  and her reasoning even made less sense. 

I just assumed it was another way for the show to think they were being so cute, since Austin rhymes with Boston, where they actually live.  I'm still not convinced that isn't part of it.

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:16 PM, MV713 said:

Ok glad I am not alone in hate watching this show!!

I just decided to watch the 5 episodes in a row that have aired.  My original goal was to watch one, and decide if I was done forever.  They lured me in with just enough to keep me interested, while still basically disliking everyone on the show (especially the kids! UGH).

This show needs some real shakeups to keep it going.  What every happened to Ashley (I mean Renn)?  And Barbara Morgan was such a big "mystery" last year to keep interest, but it seems like every time there is a good twist or plot point to move forward - they fizzle out.

Hoping for some good drama - and not a whole episode of a missing dog!

Same!  I had 4 on my DVR, including this one, and the next which I haven't watched yet, and about 15mins into the 1st of 4, I thought I was going to be done forever.  They somehow, inexplicably, lured me back in, in a hate-watching kind of way, I guess?  I've never hate-watched a show in my life, before now.  ...And I don't think this is something the writers should be proud of.

[Thumper]

I just started watching this show, mid-season.  My husband has been watching it.  Found this forum and am relieved to see that others are hate-watching it, because several of the characters and plot lines (cringe-inducing behavior about heart of dead brother) are annoying me!  lol.  Sorry to say,  especially the child Theo.

Do they ever have fun?  I know it’s tv, but every week is so.much.drah-ma!  

The actors are very pretty, though.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Thumper