S02.E03: Episode 3

[OtterMommy]

Quote

One her way to surprise Maeve, Aimee gets a horrible shock on the bus.  Rahim connects with Eric as a Milburn family dinner gets seriously awkward.

Netflix drop date: January 17, 2020

[Garden Wafers]

I'm honestly surprised Ola didn't break up with Otis after dinner. I mean, I make fun of my parents all the time, but if a boyfriend pulled off that assholish behavior during dinner, you'd bet I'd dump him at the first opportunity. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Just carrying around the cake everywhere is killing me.

[DoctorAtomic]

7 hours ago, Garden Wafers said:

I'm honestly surprised Ola didn't break up with Otis after dinner. I mean, I make fun of my parents all the time, but if a boyfriend pulled off that assholish behavior during dinner, you'd bet I'd dump him at the first opportunity. 

This is true, but Jean can be a bit much. Between this whole dating situation and her being at school and characteristically ignoring his feeling about both of these, any teenager is going to eventually blow up.

To be fair, it's clear Otis was having a problem with Jakob being at their house so much. They showed him waiting for a shower before school and not having hot water left.

Jean should be smart enough to have dealt with this by now. She's saying 'why can't you be happy for me' and it's her typical lack of boundaries that's always been a problem. 

[Chaos Theory]

For someone who makes a living listening to people’s problems Jean has always been exceptionally tone deaf to Otis and his needs.   

[ahisma]

On 1/19/2020 at 7:06 AM, Chaos Theory said:

For someone who makes a living listening to people’s problems Jean has always been exceptionally tone deaf to Otis and his needs.   

This could be the tagline for the show. 

She did admit before she doesn’t have experience counseling teenagers, and it shows. Really well done contrast between her immediately getting academically excited over the possibility of a fetish versus Otis really listening to the girl’s feelings. 

[Zima]

Poor Amy! 

Jean and Jacob are so annoying, I would hate him if I was Otis too. Touch my food. Fuck outta here.

[beeemkcl]

* Aimee Gibbs seemingly assumes Otis Milburn would dump Ola Nyman for Maeve Wiley if he merely knew Maeve liked him and wanted to date him.

 

 

* It’s great Lily Iglehart has a great storyline for Season 2. She’s becoming a ‘film’ writer, director, and producer. Moordale seems to encourage the talent of its talented students.

 

I wonder why we haven’t seen any business classes at the school?

 

 

* I don’t have a problem with Otis’s behavior at the dinner table nor at monopoly. His mother is dating his girlfriend’s father and that father is very annoying: using all the hot water, making smoothies when Otis is trying to have an important conversation with his mother, etc.

 

In addition, Otis doesn’t exactly want a new father figure and wouldn’t consider Jakob Nyman comparable to Remi Milburn. Despite all of Remi’s faults, Remi is a professional, well-respected, and rich. And Remi is Otis’s actual father and Remi isn’t dating (or example) Maeve’s mother.

 

 

* I wonder if Otis hadn’t ‘ruined’ ‘the moment’ in Season 1 when Maeve and he were about to kiss if Maeve would have dumped Jackson Marchetti and been with Otis. Maybe in Season 2 Maeve considered that Otis would distance himself from Ola and get closer to Maeve after Otis/Maeve restarted the Clinic. And that when Otis instead got closer to Ola that that meant to Maeve that maybe Otis was no longer as ‘into’ Maeve? Otherwise, I’m not sure why Maeve would consider Otis maybe doesn’t like her ‘that way’ anymore.

 

 

* It’s nice that Jackson is still in love with Maeve.

 

 

* The Seasons are 8 episodes and less than 1 hour per episode and yet it manages to have several characters with compelling stories and storylines. I’m actually surprised Season 2 has such focus on the non-Main 4 characters (and really even Jane Milburn has more of a storyline this Season than last). Aimee’s such a ‘helper’ and ‘good friend’ she couldn’t express her actual reaction to Maeve regarding the bus assault.

 

 

* Otis’s shows some darkness when he tells Jakob, “I already have a dad.”

 

 

* That ending scene is Asa Butterfield’s best acting the entire series (meaning series not Season) so far. Otis knows Maeve’s into him. What he doesn’t know is if she actually wants to and/or is ready to date him i.e. have sexual relations with him. He certainly doesn’t know she’s in love with him.

 

I’m not sure why Maeve ‘chicken’s out’, but it’s likely she knows Otis hasn’t had sex with Ola yet. Maeve isn’t at the point of risking ‘letting her heart out’ in case Otis rejects Maeve and stays with Ola. And Maeve doesn’t yet consider Otis is lost to her.

 

Emma Mackey is PHENOMENAL in this role. Her eyes are watery when she decides to not express her feelings to Otis.

 

 

 

 

RESPONSES TO THE THREAD:

 

 

* Aimee baked a cake for Maeve. It shows how much Aimee likes/(loves?) Maeve.

 

 

* Ola is still likely very concerned about Otis/Maeve. Ola deals with that. Otis’s behavior toward her father wouldn’t be enough for hers to dump Otis. And if Ola did dump Otis, she knows that’d simply result in Otis/Maeve. Ola still likes Otis and still wants to continue their sexual relations.

 

 

* There’s also clearly a class thing regarding Jane’s and Otis’s reaction to Jakob. Jakob doesn’t act in a refined way and doesn’t eat in the civilized way Jane and Otis eat.

 

And Otis very likely looks down on Jakob’s profession.

 

It’s interesting and perhaps telling that it doesn’t seem Otis ever visited Maeve at the mall when Maeve was working at that ‘pretzel shop’.

[Danny Franks]

Okay, I feel bad for Aimee. She did a good job of hiding how upset she was, because she clearly wants to be an optimist at all times. But Maeve inadvertently forced her to acknowledge and react to the fact she'd been assaulted and it was serious.

You could see how hopeful Otis was that Maeve was going to tell him she liked him. He doesn't quite believe she could, so it's obvious why he needs her to say it first. He's much better at attracting women than he thinks, though - Somehow, with Maeve, he is confident and playful and he does and says the right things. It's easy to see why she's so into him.

But she, of course, is scared of allowing someone beneath her armour, and of being rejected or hurt. It's not surprising that she couldn't tell Otis how she feels. I guess this is all very 'will they, won't they', but it had better progress considerably by the end of the season.

I understand why Otis is acting out over Jakob. It's a big change in his home life, just as the rest of his life is also changing, then throw in the fact his mother is at his school now too. Still doesn't mean he wasn't an arse to everyone. Having said that Jakob doesn't seem too interested in making allowances either, and he's the adult in the room, which makes him a bigger arse. Ola was the only blameless one there.

Still don't care about Adam's storyline. It's going to be a shame if Rahim is there only to be an obstacle to the abusive, non-romantic 'romance' of Eric and Adam. Rahim seems nice and polite and genuinely interested, and he did something he hated because Eric wanted him to. Plus, he hasn't threatened to beat Eric up even once!

I'm pleased to see a bit more character development for Olivia. She was a little more sympathetic than Ruby and Anwar in season 1. I like that what presents to Jean as a fetish is just the insecurity of a teenage girl. This is where she's really overqualified, and perhaps less likely to give useful advice than Otis.

Lily's directness still cracks me up. What a great, deadpan performance.

[Bastet]

I adore Otis and Eric's friendship, and the two of them squealing and jumping in the hall because Eric got kissed by the hot French guy is one of the many reasons why.

But this episode was all about Aimee's storyline for me.  First, I love that the joke about her thinking banker was baker wasn't just a throwaway; believing that's what she's supposed to be, she's going for it, and her first attempt is baking a birthday cake for her best friend who hates birthdays.  And of course she screws it up, but I like that she's not just a punchline; it's a sweet gesture, and is treated as such.

Most of all, I love the trajectory of her reaction to the assault on the bus.  That she keeps apologizing for wasting everyone's time at the police station is heartbreakingly real, as is the transformation at home when it really sinks in that it was, indeed, assault.  And then when she can't get on the bus the next day?  Ugh, so painfully good.

But I don't give a shit about Adam's "the tortured soul under the bully" storyline, especially as any sort of redemption angle with respect to Eric.  That "twist" at the end of last season was a big fat NO in what was otherwise a thoroughly charming viewing experience, and I'm not any more open to it now.

[supposebly]

It's striking how Jean picked up on Maureen and subtly encouraged her to come back when she's ready to ask her question. While she barely listened to Malek.

Oh Aimee.