S01.E07: November Surprise

[Perfect Xero]

3 hours ago, sinkwriter said:

I think the big issue for the 15-year-old kid is that his life would never be his own again. In this day and age, he would never escape being in the news, being hounded, and being known as the kid whose real dad is a gay politician who once had an affair with his student.  They always say, be careful what you put out there online. The media certainly wouldn't be willing to leave him alone, and even after it died down in immediate news, it would be forever viewable as info on the internet. The kid's 15. That would be pretty damn awful, and I had no problem with Dex trying to find a way to protect his identity.

I would agree if he'd been running for the US senate, but on the state level? I doubt that most people even know the name of their state senators outside of maybe the one from their district, much less pay attention to their scandals that come out during a campaign.

The family also seemed to live well outside of the city/district, it's hard to imagine the whole thing being more than a minor thing in the local media that would go away after the election.

The kid finding out his mother lied to him about his father his entire life would have the bigger impact, but he deserves to know the truth and have the chance to know his father.

[vibeology]

When your 15, you tend to have a pretty small circle. Sure, it's just state senate, but you can bet the kids in his school will know. He's got a few years of high school left. That's a long time when you're 15. Protecting him was the right thing to do.

[shapeshifter]

On 12/2/2019 at 9:56 PM, vibeology said:

When your 15, you tend to have a pretty small circle. Sure, it's just state senate, but you can bet the kids in his school will know. He's got a few years of high school left. That's a long time when you're 15. Protecting him was the right thing to do.

The motivations to keep the secret seemed convoluted to me, but, now that y'all are discussing it, I think the mom was scapegoating her 15-year-old son because she didn't want to be outed (especially not outed to her son) for keeping the "secret."
Even though I didn't keep my first-born's absent father's identity a secret, she still managed to resent me when she was 21 because I did not tell her how he had refused all of my attempts to involve him in her life.
In other words: It's tricky.
ETA: But the Mom did think she was protecting her son. 

Edited December 4, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Johnny Dollar]

What a quaint story line where a child out of wedlock can torpedo a political career. I miss the 2000’s. 

[Perfect Xero]

On 12/2/2019 at 10:56 PM, vibeology said:

When your 15, you tend to have a pretty small circle. Sure, it's just state senate, but you can bet the kids in his school will know. He's got a few years of high school left. That's a long time when you're 15. Protecting him was the right thing to do.

I just can't imagine that I would have cared if this story broke about one of my classmates when I was a teen. Especially since the person he thought was his father has been out of the picture for his entire life.

Honestly given the long term home situation we were presented with I'm more surprised that this kid hasn't been dealing with all sort of questions and rumors about his Mom and Uncle and wouldn't welcome everyone knowing he has a father out there.

[Emily Thrace]

On 11/20/2019 at 11:05 PM, phalange said:

I like that other PI, Carol. I was hoping she’d stick around. It’s good that Dex did the right thing, and I think she would’ve done so even without her talk with Carol. The brother who sold out his own sister is a total asshole, wow. Obviously the politician who wanted the info is too, but it takes a special kind of awful to do that to your own family. 

I definitely feel like something is up with Liz, though I can’t say what. Her asking for a job at the bar was a little weird. She’s not wrong about Grey and Dex, though. 

Another two week break? You’re gonna leave me hanging after that promo? 

I feel like Dex's suggestion about her being "very happy" was meant to hint that she's manic. Which was actually quite subtly and well done actually. I just thought they were going overboard on the whole quirky girl thing until Dex said it. The rapidly changing jobs, sudden intense relationship and hobbies and wild back story all fit pretty well in with bi-polar or borderline personality disorder. I wonder if Dex picked up on it so quickly because one of her parents had manic episodes. It would certainly help explain why they named their daughter after an anti depressant. It also means Dex's reaction to her wasn't necessarily jealousy and more her spidey sense kicking in.

[Anela]

I'm just catching up with it all. I liked the detective and Ansel, too. That was cute. 

I also hate love triangles, so am not looking forward to anything associated with that. 

[screengem]

On 11/21/2019 at 10:31 AM, sempervivum said:

I took exception to the idea that a gay man couldn't claim to be 'real' or true to his nature (or whatever ) unless he recognized and acknowledged his orientation from the beginning. All the nasty husband's hysteria about how the campaign jingle didn't fit any more! The vast majority of the electorate is straight, so how much would the 'purity' of his gayness matter in terms of politics to them? I would think it would make him more relatable.

I totally agree.  This whole subplot  bothered me as well.  

I love Stumptown.  I affectionately call it "pretty gritty" entertainment. 

It took the writers seven episodes to finally devote time to Dex being a PI and having her first case.  I call that real storytelling.

From all the previews of the show over the summer, I thought the series would have started with this episode.  Not having read the graphic novel on which the series is based, that would have seem logical to me.

This is a refreshing prime time network TV series that is breaking sexual boundaries where the lead is a tough bi female character who while having symptoms of post traumatic stress, is interesting to watch, as she juggles live and caring for her younger brother.  I am two episodes behind, so I will be binge watching them this weekend.