S02.E04: Chapter 12 - A Libido Sits in the Fridge

[OtterMommy]

Quote

Interactions with two women have Sandy contemplating his changing libido. Norman tries to reconcile with both Phoebe and Madelyn.

 

[shapeshifter]

Five star episode.  
This is a post-#MeToo script with a surprisingly light—even delicate—touch.

Sandy with his acting student continues to be heartwarming (for lack of a less cheesy word).
I wonder if the writers consciously decided to emphasize the difference between Sandy’s classes and those of the more washed-up Gene (Henry Winkler) on Barry.

——

The bits with the cops and the Cialas were also given a light, less clichéd, post-#MeToo and post-policing-in-the-news treatment. Instead of getting hauled off to the station to get fingerprinted, Sandy and the cops part ways with friendly banter. And instead of dwelling on issues of consent, he just tucks her in bed.

———

I’m still wondering if Madelyn has dealt with her own or a loved one’s substance abuse in the past. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by shapeshifter
Typos! 😱

[debraran]

I am liking this second series but I feel some of the shows are "fillers" and not that long to begin with. The "Lets be friends" by Lisa was a believable but for 10 minutes? I wasn't sure what the heavy drinking until she vomited was about either? She is old enough to know her limits.  That to me didn't play well. I never thought Sandy would take advantage of her, since he was never portrayed that way.

I'm enjoying it but just didn't get this episode really.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

I am liking this second series but I feel some of the shows are "fillers" and not that long to begin with. The "Lets be friends" by Lisa was a believable but for 10 minutes? I wasn't sure what the heavy drinking until she vomited was about either? She is old enough to know her limits.  That to me didn't play well. I never thought Sandy would take advantage of her, since he was never portrayed that way.

I'm enjoying it but just didn't get this episode really.

I see this as a #MeToo/casting couch episode.
I think the point of this episode was to show how easy it can be for someone like Sandy to unintentionally violate boundaries, and that he likely did when he was younger, and probably without any remorse. 
Does that make him a bad person? And, if so, how bad?

He’s not really doing any enlightened handwringing about his past. 
And Lisa doesn’t seem to think it would be so bad if he had had sex with her when she was drunk and likely (I guess she thinks it’s likely ?) to have gone back on her own “line in the sand” regarding sex. 

So this is a slightly serious #MeToo episode in a comedy series.
The scene with the student hints at past abuses of relationship power, but, ultimately, Sandy is not and never was an evil monster with a casting couch. His sins were more of the #WhyNot variety. He admits them in the voiceover of his inner dialogue —which he is reflecting upon while tuning out the advances of the vulnerable, attractive, young acting student. Is tuning her out disrespectful? 

I’m not sure what to think about Sandy doing the right thing in this instance by ignoring her —which is another issue (men of power ignoring women).

Similarly, as a single mom, that was how I treated flirtatious men to protect my own family unit rather than out of any concern for them.  

Edited October 28, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Paloma]

3 hours ago, debraran said:

I am liking this second series but I feel some of the shows are "fillers" and not that long to begin with. The "Lets be friends" by Lisa was a believable but for 10 minutes? I wasn't sure what the heavy drinking until she vomited was about either? She is old enough to know her limits.  That to me didn't play well. I never thought Sandy would take advantage of her, since he was never portrayed that way.

I'm enjoying it but just didn't get this episode really.

I didn't get it either--in the first season Lisa didn't seem like the type to drink that excessively. It seemed like a dumb and cliched plot to give the writers an excuse for the Cialis jokes. 

Also, can someone remind me why Sandy and Lisa stopped seeing each other last season? 

[debraran]

9 hours ago, Paloma said:

I didn't get it either--in the first season Lisa didn't seem like the type to drink that excessively. It seemed like a dumb and cliched plot to give the writers an excuse for the Cialis jokes. 

Also, can someone remind me why Sandy and Lisa stopped seeing each other last season? 

I didn't think they did. She chooses to be his student when he says he feels uncomfortable with dating someone in his class. It seems she is teasing him, goes in the bathroom if I remember and Norman calls him. He's left his house, didn't want to be with people.  In the last sweet scene, they are in Norman's bedroom and Sandy wants to keep him company because he misses his wife. He says he should go to Lisa but he says "she's ok, it's fine". Norman says he is glad he found her, he shouldn't be alone, he says, he isn't alone, he has him.   : )

So, it was ambiguous because Lisa always seemed to be secure but then flirty. This season though, I didn't recognize her and didn't like her as much.

[Blakeston]

I think Lisa got so drunk because she didn't realize how much the muscle relaxers would enhance the alcohol. (She knew she wasn't supposed to drink while taking them, but she figured a few glasses of wine wouldn't be that big a deal.)

The thing with Darshani in class was very strange to me. Were we supposed to think that she was trying to shit all over the Apocalypse Now monologue by doing it ironically? It seemed more like she was dumb enough to think that she was delivering it properly - as opposed to doing it as an ironic performance art piece.