S01.E04: Rallying to Keep the Game Alive

[OtterMommy]

Quote

"We rallied, not with the adrenaline-pumping determination to win at all costs, but with the patience and control that came with not wanting it to be over: not the summer, not our son's childhood, not this game, ever."

[BobH]

I'm not sure why I just watched this. Why am I supposed to care about this couple? Is it that important to know that boring people have have lives too? Also, there is a massive acting level disparity between Tina Fey and John Slattery. I'll be polite and not specify who's on which side of the gap, but I think you can guess. I did get a few laughs in the middle with a few scenes involving the kids, but other than that, yawn.  Even the goddamn tennis metaphor title of the episode annoys me. This is all the stuff I hate about rom-coms distilled into 30 minutes.

Stopping for now. If a night's sleep has me remembering more about what I liked in the first three than hated in this one I might finish up the show over the weekend.

[Kenz]

I read the Modern Love column every Sunday in the New York Times. Those stories are usually interesting. So far, this series is a dud for me, and this one is the worst.This episode was so boring and went on for so long that I almost went to sleep. I don't know why Tina Fey and John Slattery signed up for this snooze fest.

[EdnasEdibles]

What's interesting about this column is that it was written by Denis Leary's wife. So John Slattery was Denis Leary.  I was honestly surprised that the wife wrote this because the wife was such a damn humorless nagging difficult shrew the whole 30 minutes that I thought for sure that this was the husband's side of things. When she told that woman off at the family dinner. Damn, lady. I know you're angry at your husband but it's not that stranger's fault. 

[Jillybean]

I loved the first three episodes but it was tough to get invested in this couple. There wasn't enough there that it seemed plausible that they would stay together.

[loki310]

11 hours ago, EdnasEdibles said:

What's interesting about this column is that it was written by Denis Leary's wife. So John Slattery was Denis Leary.  I was honestly surprised that the wife wrote this because the wife was such a damn humorless nagging difficult shrew the whole 30 minutes that I thought for sure that this was the husband's side of things. When she told that woman off at the family dinner. Damn, lady. I know you're angry at your husband but it's not that stranger's fault. 

Huh. I’d think Denis Leary’s fans would skew younger than 50. He’s kinda hot. lol 

[Corgi-ears]

...Whereas I found this episode interesting and thought-provoking. Ep 1 and Ep 2 were very generic and entirely devoid of actual detail; they seemed more like stories about archetypes and archetypal love. What exactly as so attractive about Andy Garcia's character? Oh, we don't need to tell you, dear audience: you just need to know that Catherine Keener met him in a foreign land. You know the story! Why did Dev Patel and his girlfriend break up? She cheated on him: you can fill in the gaps! There was just so much "you know the story" story-telling in those first two episodes. (And Ep 1 was in my view super patronising. YMMV, but I myself don't need any more stories where a fatherly figure ends up knowing a young woman better than she knows herself.)

In contrast, Sharon Horgan wrote a more specific story for this episode: about a woman married to a semi-famous actor, and who thus faces some very particular, yet generalizable problems. (For what it's worth, I did not find her a "shrew," and would have told off both Dennis and his fan the way she did.) And I love how the story turned out: contrary to the easy advice of the therapist, the relationship was not saved by the couple finding something in common that they could do. It was actually saved by, shocker, the couple actually having an honest, grown-up conversation in which they talked about their needs, their fears. The tennis matches turned out to improve (no more sniping) because of this emotional honesty; they were not the cause of the honesty. It was an honest, unflinching look at what it actually takes for relationships to work, not some rom-com bullshit.

Edited October 22, 2019 by Corgi-ears

[BusyOctober]

I liked this one, but maybe because I love Tina Fey & John Slattery so much.  I can also kinda relate to this couple's relationship.  I worry sometimes that our daughter is one of the few things my husband & I still have in common.  It was a good peek at (warning?) what a long term marriage could look like if the spouses don't keep looking for ways to stay connected to each other, beyond the kids. 

I've only watched 4 episodes, but I'm 'meh' over this series.  It's something to watch when I have the TV to myself late at night.  But it certainly isn't something I NEED to watch.  Most of the people featured are unrelatable IMO.  They are all wealthy, urbane and... smug?  entitled? self absorbed?  I don't know what "it" is exactly, but the air of NYC superiority is a turnoff in general.

[TheOtherOne]

For those interested, the original column:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/style/modern-love-rallying-to-keep-the-game-alive.html

[Crs97]

I love Tina and John, but this one fell flat for me.  I found myself not caring about the characters or their story.  Pretty disappointing.

[Kel Varnsen]

I have been watching a lot of 30 Rock lately so it was hard not to see this one as John Slattery being married to Liz Lemon. I was a little disappointed that when she said the marriage was done she didn't say "shut it down".

[tennisgurl]

When I first watched this episode I found it rather dull, despite my love of both Tina Fey & John Slattery, but when I thought about it more I found it a lot more interesting. The whole issue of being married to someone who is decently famous but not huge, so dealing with both "normal" people problems as well as famous people ones is specific enough to stand out, and the whole thing with the couple wondering if all they have left are their kids in common is something I have heard about a lot. Glad that they worked it out by talking to each other and being honest, without sniping at each other. I mean, having common interests are great, but you also need to talk. 

I thought that Tina Feys character was way too harsh on the lady who asked for a picture with her husband. I mean, yeah he was with his family and thats not normally considered a polite time to talk to a celebrity, but basically calling her a pathetic loser for being a fan seemed shitty.

[chitowngirl]

When she pulled up the chair to sit and chat...  I could see where Tina Fey would be annoyed even with the photo. They were clearly on a family outing. 

Edited November 5, 2019 by chitowngirl

[Marcya23]

This one hit close to home for me. I am living a version of this currently, so I could relate to a lot of it. But if not for that, I can see where it fell flat for many.  Knowing the actors, I expected this episode to deliver more.  I’ll keep going with the series, but it’s not a binge-worthy one for me. 

[Avabelle]

The biggest issue with this episode was there was not an ounce of chemistry between Faye and Slattery. By the end I didn’t even understand why they stayed together. They just seemed to fill the silence with tennis.