S04.E11: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

[Harvey]

Quote

When Anna-Kat begins exhibiting past OCD behaviors, Katie and Greg worry their busy schedules are disrupting the family. Meanwhile, Oliver fields a call at the Teen Help Line center that rattles him. Also, Taylor and Trip attempt a trial run at being in a long-distance relationship.

 

[Harvey]

The Oliver teen helpline storyline is really amazing. I liked the rapport he had with his female supervisor. I want more! 

I knew all along that Anna Kat was faking her OCD behaviour. It was all too obvious. 

[Eataton]

I don't remember his name, but that new guy that Greg is writing about is really irritating to me. I hope they're not making him a regular character.

5 hours ago, Harvey said:

he Oliver teen helpline storyline is really amazing

I agree that was an interesting story and I like his supervisor but they never really explained what happened to the caller who was in crisis. Did I miss something?

[Harvey]

24 minutes ago, Eataton said:

I don't remember his name, but that new guy that Greg is writing about is really irritating to me. I hope they're not making him a regular character.

I agree that was an interesting story and I like his supervisor but they never really explained what happened to the caller who was in crisis. Did I miss something?

I agree completely. They keep giving Greg work partners who absolutely suck. First his assistant, now this. I don't understand why don't they see it does not work. 

 

There was no resolution for the Oliver storyline because it is part of a storyline that will develop across multiple upcoming episodes. 

[readster]

4 hours ago, Harvey said:

I agree completely. They keep giving Greg work partners who absolutely suck. First his assistant, now this. I don't understand why don't they see it does not work. 

 

There was no resolution for the Oliver storyline because it is part of a storyline that will develop across multiple upcoming episodes. 

Right, they dumped the assistant for a reason. The story was horrible, the actor wasn't funny, he played the character as someone who would have been sent to prison. now, here they go again? Just stop writers? It's not funny and who ever thinks is a great idea, needs to be fired. Go work on your own show on your "wacky character" and see how long that lasts.

[zoey1996]

I hadn’t heard the Oliver’s story line will be ongoing.  I was worried about the caller hanging up.  

I like Katie’s home business, but I want her hair pulled back when’s she making lasagne.  Also with Anna-Kat; she should have washed her hands before grabbing a handful of cheese to put on the lasagne.

Oh Trip!  Trust exercise! Never change!

[Bobbin]

Mental health issues and peer awareness are an ongoing theme on TV right now. I was afraid that Oliver was just faking his concern for the caller when he suddenly burst out laughing. It was a relief that he was laughing at the eyeball in the lasagna. Bad timing, writers. Also, the slapstick humor is just jarring, not funny, even with the back story. And, Katy and Greg, when your child says she needs more attention, don't tell her she doesn't just because you're too busy to give it. That's counter to the mental health theme, along with waiting for her to tell you what's wrong instead of asking her.

[readster]

1 hour ago, Bobbin said:

Mental health issues and peer awareness are an ongoing theme on TV right now. I was afraid that Oliver was just faking his concern for the caller when he suddenly burst out laughing. It was a relief that he was laughing at the eyeball in the lasagna. Bad timing, writers. Also, the slapstick humor is just jarring, not funny, even with the back story. And, Katy and Greg, when your child says she needs more attention, don't tell her she doesn't just because you're too busy to give it. That's counter to the mental health theme, along with waiting for her to tell you what's wrong instead of asking her.

Not to mention, sitting down with Anna-Kat and just trying to figure something out where they can give her that time she wants, but doesn't feel like they are uplifting everything into their needs. Something TV and even society want to focus on with the: "If you really care you will do this for your kids." You know constantly yelling at teachers or employers that they can't care to give criticism or a bad grade to their kid. When said kid doesn't want to do the work or feels it's beneath them. Or go the other way and be: "Oh get over yourself, we have busy lives, you'll understand someday." 

   There is no happy middle or trying to find ways to do things. It's one extreme or the other. Even worst when you play it for laughs and you just go: "If that was real, you be dead or in prison." 

[theatremouse]

It was also extremely bizarre to me that they kept talking about her having OCD "again", as if it were an ear infection or something. She might have progressed enough to no longer hit diagnosable on the scale (if so, yay her) but they know she had severe OCD for years. How they could act shocked (rather than merely dismayed) that it might ramp back up to full force is beyond me given their previously established thoughtful handling of it. They must have had some training in the past. Did they forget it all? This shit waxes and wanes. It's bizarre they wouldn't know that. So much of Greg and Katie's dialogue about the Anna-Kat sitch was hella cringey.

[Yeah No]

I was wondering how long those lasagnas were sitting out on the counter with everyone talking and hovering over them.  Or were those different lasagnas from scene to scene?  Somehow I just have to know.  Not a good advertisement for eating food that came from a home kitchen, especially when that useless, annoying guy dug a piece out of one and then put fake eyeballs in another.

[readster]

12 hours ago, theatremouse said:

It was also extremely bizarre to me that they kept talking about her having OCD "again", as if it were an ear infection or something. She might have progressed enough to no longer hit diagnosable on the scale (if so, yay her) but they know she had severe OCD for years. How they could act shocked (rather than merely dismayed) that it might ramp back up to full force is beyond me given their previously established thoughtful handling of it. They must have had some training in the past. Did they forget it all? This shit waxes and wanes. It's bizarre they wouldn't know that. So much of Greg and Katie's dialogue about the Anna-Kat sitch was hella cringey.

The whole point of the series was they moved to West port because of Anna-Kat's OCD. Then last year, they pretty much dropped any hints of it. With the occasional hints, but never focused on it. However, OCD, like ADHD doesn't just magically go away. Yes, bodies change and brain chemistry changes, but it's still there. Maybe just not as much, my son has ADHD and is on the autism spectrum. Extremely intelligent, but his hyper activity can drive the mrs and I crazy at times because all of a sudden, he just can't sit still. Then you get days where he is acting like the typical 9 year old. It's gotten much better in the last couple of years because of aging and focusing on boy scouts and bike riding where he then acts beyond his age because he has put out the extra energy.

 I get tired of shows acting like something like this is like the common cold or they ignore it completely and go: "We don't want to label the characters". I have an idea, how about you go to a REAL doctor or Occupational Therapist and take notes. 

[theatremouse]

2 hours ago, readster said:

However, OCD, like ADHD doesn't just magically go away.

That's exactly my complaint about Katie and Greg's dialogue.

[readster]

12 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

That's exactly my complaint about Katie and Greg's dialogue.

Right, it's just like when you have characters just magically start doing something again, which they moved way pass because someone on the staff went: "remember when this was the norm, let's bring it back because I SAY SO, instead of just addressing we've moved on." It was like on the prom episode of the last season of The Middle. Where they had a reunion with Brick's various "friends" from 6 years before and they all "magically" just outgrew their ticks and problems. Basically saying: "Well, I'm 17/18 now and attractive, I've just moved on being odd like that." Nope, doesn't work that way. 

[iMonrey]

I really like Matt Shively (RIP, The Real O'Neals) but Lonnie has to go. I know this is a sadly realistic portrayal of a social media star but he's just obnoxious.

I did get a kick out of all the spoiled rich kids calling the help line because their Porsche was the wrong color or whatever.

[Mountainair]

19 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I really like Matt Shively (RIP, The Real O'Neals) but Lonnie has to go. I know this is a sadly realistic portrayal of a social media star but he's just obnoxious.

I did get a kick out of all the spoiled rich kids calling the help line because their Porsche was the wrong color or whatever.

Thank you! Could not remember where I knew him from! Yea- certainly don't care for his character here. 

I haven't been watching this just because I have so many things to watch. I've been recording them and watched 7 episodes over the weekend. There aren't many sitcoms I watch but this one is still watchable for me. 

[JDAlexander]

I could be completely off base, but I'm thinking Lonnie is the crisis caller who hung up.

[Eataton]

On 1/20/2020 at 4:47 AM, JDAlexander said:

I could be completely off base, but I'm thinking Lonnie is the crisis caller who hung up.

Wow. Interesting theory I never would've though of.  If you're right they should make you a writer for the show.🙂 Maybe even if you're wrong cause that could make a good story out of a lame character.

Edited January 21, 2020 by Eataton

[SnarkySheep]

I don't claim to be super-knowledgeable about OCD; but would anyone with the disorder actually feel compelled to comb the lawn?? I get the "logic" behind things like compulsive handwashing, sorting things into categories or doing things in certain numbers. But that??

[Bobbin]

8 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

I don't claim to be super-knowledgeable about OCD; but would anyone with the disorder actually feel compelled to comb the lawn?? I get the "logic" behind things like compulsive handwashing, sorting things into categories or doing things in certain numbers. But that??

I guess you'd have to ask, would Adrian Monk do that? I would say, yes, he would.

[theatremouse]

@SnarkySheep the thing you need to know about OCD is it has its own internal logic. Often it's based in some real logic that then spirals out of control (such as contamination issues), but sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's just "this feels wrong and unless I do X, it won't feel right again". To not to the compulsion can feel like trying not to scratch an itch. My takeaway from the lawn bit was not that they're trying to suggest that's a common compulsion, but rather that it must've been one of Anna-Kat's previous, existing compulsions, which her parents would recognize. In the context of this episode, it's telling us just how bad she used to be. The show used to do a good job of showing realistic, specific, moderate OCD with Anna-Kat, but given how short the episodes are, it's really difficult to illustrate severe symptoms without going to something like this: where the average person would think "wait does anyone really do that?" (Because otherwise to illustrate severity we'd be looking at how much time of her day she spends doing the compulsions, which...I guess they could montage but since the point was to get the parents attention anyway, and not real symptoms, there wouldn't have been much point in that.)

I have OCD, but it's not severe, but I once watched a documentary (I do not recommend doing this) about some REALLY severe cases and anything you've ever seen in any fictional depiction comes nowhere near. TV tends to stick with the washing, and organizing, and counting in a very general sense, all of which are super common. But things can get super specific for an individual.

Long way of saying, something like combing the lawn is probably an extra severe flavor of "organizing", or "decontamination" depending on what her purpose was for doing it.

[knitorpurl]

The lasagna thing is making me twitchy. Most states allow selling of a small amount of home baked goods to the public (due to their more shelf stable and lower possibility of contamination) however other foods must be produced in a commercial kitchen that meets certain standards and is available for inspection. 

Of course, it happens all over the place that there are people selling small amounts of food from their homes. But the lack food safety on this show (no hair pulled back, no aprons or gloves , no hand washing, etc) when this food is being sold to other people is all sorts of wrong and shows why they attempt to regulate this stuff. Plus they still have a dog there, right?

And Katie keeps making lasagnas in those big glass pans and I keep wondering how many of those she has and how her clients get those back to her. I know I need to relax and just watch the comedy but these are the things that I can't help but notice.

[MaryMitch]

On 1/23/2020 at 3:33 AM, knitorpurl said:

The lasagna thing is making me twitchy. Most states allow selling of a small amount of home baked goods to the public (due to their more shelf stable and lower possibility of contamination) however other foods must be produced in a commercial kitchen that meets certain standards and is available for inspection. 

Of course, it happens all over the place that there are people selling small amounts of food from their homes. But the lack food safety on this show (no hair pulled back, no aprons or gloves , no hand washing, etc) when this food is being sold to other people is all sorts of wrong and shows why they attempt to regulate this stuff. Plus they still have a dog there, right?

And Katie keeps making lasagnas in those big glass pans and I keep wondering how many of those she has and how her clients get those back to her. I know I need to relax and just watch the comedy but these are the things that I can't help but notice.

Yeah, I feel it too.  She couldn't even get a license to work out of her kitchen with that setup, especially with a pet having access to the kitchen. So, I just force myself to relax and assume that no one in her town cares about it.

[Bali]

I think the "lasagna business" is really sort of a black market kind of thing. Katie makes lasagnas for Westport husbands who have wives who won't allow them to eat pasta or any carbs. 

[readster]

On 1/29/2020 at 12:49 PM, Bali said:

I think the "lasagna business" is really sort of a black market kind of thing. Katie makes lasagnas for Westport husbands who have wives who won't allow them to eat pasta or any carbs. 

Yet, if the Westport husbands just went: "Ok then, then I'll quick my job and we can be poor and you will have NOTHING." That would fix them REALLLY FAST! Instead they just throw money at them to go away and they rather just have "hot wives" to sleep with on occasion.