S01.E11: When Doves Cry

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

In the wake of the Challenger tragedy, Rainbow and her family handle their grief in different ways. Denise realizes that life is too short, so she vows to right all the wrongs she's done in her life (and she's done a lot of bad).

Original air date: 1/7/20

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Requisite music video:

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[kazza]

This show continues to knock it out of the park. It captures that day so well yet so sweetly.

Deedee and Harrison were gold. Paul trying to cheer up his kids. (MPG continues to get easier on the eyes for me in this role.) Rainbow not plugging in headphones to the boom box. "I saw a raccoon give birth." Time After Time. More than any other episode, I was back in the 80s for just 30 minutes. It was blissful. 

Did we ever find out what was on that mixtape? 

[tennisgurl]

That was really good, I had no idea this episode would deal with the Challenger explosion, so as soon as I saw the teacher showing the Challenger on TV, I was very "oh god!" knowing that bad was about to follow. I also thought they did a good job at showing that weird feeling when there is a huge tragic news event, and people are struggling with how to react, and also kind of dealing with their regular life stuff on top of this. 

Bows kind of boyfriend seems like a sweet kid, and he clearly knows how to treat a girl. I mean, a mixtape! Thats some prime possible future boyfriend stuff right there!

Deedee and Harrison were great together, their scene at his office was funny and surprisingly quite sweet and poignant. I also continue to like the interaction between Harrison and Alicia a lot. "I wasnt like those rich kids who knew who their fathers were." 

[meatball77]

Also shows the innocence of our graduation.  That this was the big tragedy of our childhood.  Even our war in the Gulf only lasted a couple months.  My husband joined the Military thinking that he'd never have to fight in a war, there hadn't been one since our parents were in college.  That didn't happen. . . .

Not Columbine or Sandy Hook or 9-11 that the millennials dealt with.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, kazza said:

Did we ever find out what was on that mixtape? 

Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, which just made me like Bryce even more. I seriously awwwwwed when he said he'd been carrying it around for three weeks. I'm glad that they gave Rainbow a nice sweet guy as her first boyfriend.

[bybrandy]

We didn't watch the initial launch in class.  We were in recess when the teacher came out screaming, "the challenger exploded, the challenger exploded."  And then she brought us all in to watch the coverage for the rest of the day.   I doubt that is how it would be handled today, though.  

What I was struck with watching this though is how much less my generations "big thing" than the shows 10/20 years from now of kids remembering where they were for 9-11, or the school shootings.   

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, bybrandy said:

What I was struck with watching this though is how much less my generations "big thing" than the shows 10/20 years from now of kids remembering where they were for 9-11, or the school shootings.   

There were fewer channels and fewer TVs. One big TV in the living room connected to a cable company. You watched something the whole family could watch together. It was very easy to get everybody watching the same thing at the same time.

[jmonique]

I'm a year younger than Bow; I was in sixth grade and coming back from lunch, headed for Science class when, like bybrandy, my teacher came rushing out, ushered me into the classroom and told my friend to get to her class. 

And much like Bow, I was a tween who just didn't fully grasp what had happened. My teacher was obviously shaken up by it and I knew it was serious, but I just wasn't as shaken as the grown-ups. So this episode was very real to me and right on target.

[Darian]

They did a great job with the Challenger disaster. I was at work, in South Florida, and I remember people driving home in daylight with their lights on to honor the crew. That small gesture of communal mourning.

In 1999, I worked for NASA on Canaveral and when they had a launch, we'd all go out to watch. We got stand much closer than the press, so close your clothes would ruffle and you could feel the power. There were always big crowds. At the point when Challenger exploded, you feel every single person around you tense up and hold their breath. It's automatic. I've never felt anything like it. 



 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

18 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Bows kind of boyfriend seems like a sweet kid, and he clearly knows how to treat a girl. I mean, a mixtape! Thats some prime possible future boyfriend stuff right there!

 

16 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, which just made me like Bryce even more. I seriously awwwwwed when he said he'd been carrying it around for three weeks. I'm glad that they gave Rainbow a nice sweet guy as her first boyfriend.

Kind of a shame that her future husband is such a downer.

 

[biakbiak]

We watched it in class while we made a quick cranberry bread. It was a huge deal because my teacher at the time was one of the finalists and actually did some training at NASA and met the crew. 

I enjoyed this episode a lot which is good because I was sort of on the fence about continuing to watch it but this episode was solid.

[Lifesabeach]

Good episode.  In a way I wish Bow had stuck with the school BF instead of marrying MrDBagsometimes.  .

[TiffanyNichelle]

18 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

 

Kind of a shame that her future husband is such a downer.

 

I would really like to see a grown up Bryce guest star on Blackish.

[DearEvette]

This was a great episode.  Hit just the right tone and there were some great one liners. 

Were the fish Betas?  I remember having a similar -- "Uh did Fred just eat Barney?" moment when we bought two Beta fish and put them in a bowl together.  Poor Barney.

Count me in as one who wishes Bo had ended up with Bryce, well...unless he becomes a total loser later in life too. 

I am ashamed to admit that the yellow plaid pattern on Bo's teacher's dress was the exact yellow laid pattern I had on a skirt in the 80s.  It was a pleated skirt.  I loved that skirt.  I Just knew I was stylin' and proflin' whenever I wore that skirt.  But now I look back at that pattern and it just looks soooo obnoxious.  LOL.

[possibilities]

The pet store should have told them not to house betas together!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm not a fish person and even I know not to put two betas together!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This episode reminded me what a HUGE deal mix tapes were back before streaming was available. You only had so many minutes per side so you had to plan carefully so that you maximized the number of songs you had without cutting off a song right in the middle. And of course there was planning the entire story that you were telling with your mix tape. You couldn't just end side 1 with the wrong song!

And if someone you liked made you a mix tape, it was suuuuuuch a huge deal. It was basically a declaration of love. If you were still in the "just friends" phase, you could sneak in a song that had some lyrics about secretly liking someone.

One year when I went home for Christmas, I found some old mix tapes that had been given to me and I recreated them as playlists on my ipod for when I'm feeling nostalgic.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Of course Santamonica named her fish after herself. I like the work they've done to fix that character. I like her a lot now.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

15 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Of course Santamonica named her fish after herself. I like the work they've done to fix that character. I like her a lot now.

It feels like they're finally striking the right balance with her.