S02.E13: Daylight

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

Callie and Jamie’s relationship is tested when they are on opposite sides of a case. Mariana’s job is threatened, and she has to decide how far she’ll go to keep it. Malika has a new opportunity that could be jeopardized by her legal issues. Davia faces the unintended consequences of her behavior. Alice balances her friendships with Lindsay and Sumi.

 

[possibilities]

Why is Alice friends with Sumi at all? I felt bad for Meera, being used that way. It was actually kind of cruel of Alice to do that to her.

I am tired of Gael's hotness being used as an actual plot point. He can be hot, but that's not a storyline. Develop his character and give him something interesting to do, and his hotness can just be there.

Raj pegging Evan as horrible was stunning. I had thought of Evan as inept, but it really was more than that. I also liked that Mariana called him (Evan) out, even before Raj gave voice to it. I'm glad Evan seems to be actually improving. I don't enjoy the storyline of Raj being jealous of him, though, and I really don't want a triangle. I'd rather they all just get along. We have enough conflict already on this show.

Davia, get a clue!!!!

Callie did good this week. I wonder where she'll live now that Mariana doesn't need a roommate. I don't want her going back to living with Jamie.

So much happened in this episode!

I liked that Mariana's colleagues told her not to make a false accusation. I wish they had helped her find a way to handle the situation that would save her job, though. It kind of seems like they were willing to let her take the fall.

I also like that Kendra didn't turn out to be a total villain.

Malika's situation is such a mess. Maybe she'll be an activist in jail. I don't know.

[alexvillage]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I am tired of Gael's hotness being used as an actual plot point. He can be hot, but that's not a storyline. Develop his character and give him something interesting to do, and his hotness can just be there.

Haven't watched the episode yet but agree with this so much. The actor is not bad, it is not like they can't have him acting. 

[DearEvette]

Has the show always used the flashback to provide context within scene or the fakeout it didn't really happen scene?  Or are they over using it this season.  Seems like they are over using them.

Malika's dilemma is interesting.  I hope she doesn't go to jail.  I also hope after this storyline ends they give her something that isn't hyper-focused on activism.  It is in danger of becoming her one identity marker.

Davia, Davia, Davia.  This story feels clunky now.  On the one hand it absolutely is true that Davia is a bit clueless.  But otoh, it is unfair to try to somehow ascribe blame that the pile on of that student's  issues in on her.  She did what she should have done.  She sent a disruptive student to the principal.  Yeah, if she had better control of her class it would not have needed to get that far.  But the student was an actor in his own downfall.  He knew he was riding a fine line already and he chose to be an asshole and not do his work.  He could have just sat there and filled out the paper.  They can't on the one hadn't try to make him out to be some classroom sage who exists to show Davia her shortcomings and privilege and on the other literally make him a obstreperous classroom presence that should somehow be excused from a fair consequence because he is black.  It puts Davia in a no win situation, is patronizing to the larger issue and undermines their own storytelling.

Feels like the show doesn't know what to do with Gael.

Mariana's office stuff gets interesting again this week.  I hate to say because it is just wrong, but she and Evan have crack tons more chemistry than she and Raj.  Raj just seems so ...  needy.  The IPO stuff has a lot of possibility if done right.  And for once, I found Mariana's insufferable office mates kinda funny.  While she is looking through her phone after they drop the tidbit about the IPO, they are busy talking about who would sexually harass them.  She isn't listening and the camera is focused in her, but the conversation going on in the background was a bit funny.

Edited January 30, 2020 by DearEvette

[dmc]

I like this show but I am not into the flashback sequences.  I don't get why they use them.  

 

Jamie and Callie always seemed DOA to me.  They don't have chemistry and Jamie seems to be missing a personality.

 

Davia's story misses the mark for me.  I view her issue as she teaching a bunch of students that aren't interested in learning. I am not sure why race is this much of a factor.  My school had a class just like this full of white students who didn't want to do the work.  It would be one thing if a racial incident happened, but really it didn't.  I am not saying she should give up on finding ways to get them interested in learning but the idea that she's missing the mark because she's a white teacher seems ridiculous.  I think a black teacher would get the same reaction from this class.  The issue is one of motivation.  There are lot of kids in high school who don't see education as a path.  They see it an immediate necessity.  Good teachers find a way to let students know that its useful to them in the long run or ways to tie it into the future they want.

 

I agree with Malika's dad.  I mean there should be ways to help out your community without being arrested.  Her arrest in the long run didn't change anything.  She needs to find a legal way to be an activist.  

Marianna and Raj are also DOA.  Marianna and Evan have better chemistry.  This show has too many DOA relationships.

 

Agree with whoever said Gael needs a plot passed taking off his shirt.  Like why can't he get a solid story line...

[KaveDweller]

Mariana is in a toxic workplace environment. She should look for a new job and quit before the salary thing comes back as an issue later. That place is not going to change. Plus then she could date Raj or Evan and there would be no drama or impact on her career.

I like Jamie, and I think he is a good match for Callie. It looks like they are setting up their end, but I wish they wouldn't. I also hope they aren't doing a story where Callie gets too involved in the case and fails the bar again.

The Malika storyline is depressing. A year in jail for a protest seems pretty ridiculous.

Why does Mariana need a roommate? We know from the salary info last season she is making $100K a year. I know that LA is expensive, but the communal living thing is supposed to be a cheap place. Malika is a bartender, Davia is a Teach for America teacher, Dennis doesn't really do anything, and they all can afford their own rooms. They must be making a lot less than Mariana.  I get that some people like having people around, but she has that. Does she really need someone sharing her bedroom?

[Scarlett45]

Oh Malika. I wish she had listened to her Dad and taken the plea deal. No one is saying she can’t do activism any more, she just cannot attend protests. 
 

I have to say, I am on Jaime’s side regarding the conflict of interest. Jaime DOES have more to lose than Callie in this case. He’s being paid ACTUAL US dollars based on representing his client, Callie hasn’t even passed the bar yet, she’s a research assistant (again nothing wrong with that). These legal plot lines drive me nuts (I’m a lawyer)😣. 

[dmc]

21 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Oh Malika. I wish she had listened to her Dad and taken the plea deal. No one is saying she can’t do activism any more, she just cannot attend protests. 
 

I have to say, I am on Jaime’s side regarding the conflict of interest. Jaime DOES have more to loose than Callie in this case. He’s being paid ACTUAL US dollars based on representing his client, Callie hasn’t even passed the bar yet, she’s a research assistant (again nothing wrong with that). These legal plot lines drive me nuts (I’m a lawyer)😣. 

Yeah agreed.  This is a big client for him.
 

lol actual US dollars  

[DearEvette]

3 hours ago, dmc said:

Davia's story misses the mark for me.  I view her issue as she teaching a bunch of students that aren't interested in learning. I am not sure why race is this much of a factor. 

My take is that the Davia story is trying to conflate two things and make them connected.   One thing has nothing to do with race at all and the other has everything to do with race.

The first thing is a more universal concept and isn't about race specifically.  How to get kids who are not responding to your teaching style and get them interested and invested in what they have to learn.  This doesn't necessarily mean that kids just  aren't interested in learning.  It is just that they aren't invested in the material being presented to them.  If Davia isn't a real certified teacher and instead is doing a Teach for America thing, that would explain it.  A Teacher ed program that prepares you for state certification has an intense pedagogical core that trains teachers in different teaching methodologies. Not all students learn the same way so teachers are trained to use different techniques.

She was on the right track with trying to get them interested in a book that she thought they could relate to.  Her mistake was in assuming what they'd relate to.  Her 'I don't see color' in her classroom was a dead lie because her actions show that is all she sees. Kaffir Boy is all about race and disenfranchisement.  Maybe they don't want to read about something that deals in race based tragedy porn.  Unless they were doing a unit on Apartheid, then it is rather patronizing to assume they'd feel a connection to a system that existed on another continent and ended a good 20 years before any of them were even born  just because it affected other black people.  It would have been smarter to pick some popular YA book that dealt in something universal that all teens deal with. 

The second story it is trying to tell is actually race based but again clunky about it.  Black students will be punished more swiftly and with harsher punishments for relatively minor infractions than their white classmates.  There are reams of scholarly data about this. 

Davia trying to connect with her class is rich enough fodder on its own, it didn't need all the extra added to it.

[dmc]

5 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

My take is that the Davia story is trying to conflate two things and make them connected.   One thing has nothing to do with race at all and the other has everything to do with race.

The first thing is a more universal concept and isn't about race specifically.  How to get kids who are not responding to your teaching style and get them interested and invested in what they have to learn.  This doesn't necessarily mean that kids just  aren't interested in learning.  It is just that they aren't invested in the material being presented to them.  If Davia isn't a real certified teacher and instead is doing a Teach for America thing, that would explain it.  A Teacher ed program that prepares you for state certification has an intense pedagogical core that trains teachers in different teaching methodologies. Not all students learn the same way so teachers are trained to use different techniques.

She was on the right track with trying to get them interested in a book that she thought they could relate to.  Her mistake was in assuming what they'd relate to.  Her 'I don't see color' in her classroom was a dead lie because her actions show that is all she sees. Kaffir Boy is all about race and disenfranchisement.  Maybe they don't want to read about something that deals in race based tragedy porn.  Unless they were doing a unit on Apartheid, then it is rather patronizing to assume they'd feel a connection to a system that existed on another continent and ended a good 20 years before any of them were even born  just because it affected other black people.  It would have been smarter to pick some popular YA book that dealt in something universal that all teens deal with. 

The second story it is trying to tell is actually race based but again clunky about it.  Black students will be punished more swiftly and with harsher punishments for relatively minor infractions than their white classmates.  There are reams of scholarly data about this. 

Davia trying to connect with her class is rich enough fodder on its own, it didn't need all the extra added to it.

good point

[yourmomiseasy]

I feel like this show wants me to pay more attention than I want to with all he flash backs and fantasy scenes.  

I also just can't get behind Callie or Marianna.  I didn't come into this from watching the previous show, so everything I know about the characters comes from this show.  Callie is worse than Marianna because her defining personality trait seems to be sanctimony, whereas Marianna's just seems to be impulsivity. 

What was said above about Jamie being an actual lawyer and having more to lose is exactly what went through my head while watching.  Also, Callie is just so self-righteous and sanctimonious that I find it hard to side with her.

Regarding the roommate situation, I think they made a point of the fact that Marianna makes enough that she could carry Callie and cover all the expenses, but there was also a plot point where she had a money problem due to running her credit cards up buying clothes and going out.  So  🤷‍♀️

[Zima]

Is no one going to mention Gael's stalker? Did she really move to the cotarie (sp?) to be near Gael, or did he know that Mariana was lonely, and proposed the roommate idea to them both?  I was so creeped out for Gael when that woman took her clothes off! Imagine if the genders were reversed, and a man had done that! Yikes! 

[alexvillage]

7 hours ago, DearEvette said:

My take is that the Davia story is trying to conflate two things and make them connected.   One thing has nothing to do with race at all and the other has everything to do with race.

The first thing is a more universal concept and isn't about race specifically.  How to get kids who are not responding to your teaching style and get them interested and invested in what they have to learn.  This doesn't necessarily mean that kids just  aren't interested in learning.  It is just that they aren't invested in the material being presented to them.  If Davia isn't a real certified teacher and instead is doing a Teach for America thing, that would explain it.  A Teacher ed program that prepares you for state certification has an intense pedagogical core that trains teachers in different teaching methodologies. Not all students learn the same way so teachers are trained to use different techniques.

She was on the right track with trying to get them interested in a book that she thought they could relate to.  Her mistake was in assuming what they'd relate to.  Her 'I don't see color' in her classroom was a dead lie because her actions show that is all she sees. Kaffir Boy is all about race and disenfranchisement.  Maybe they don't want to read about something that deals in race based tragedy porn.  Unless they were doing a unit on Apartheid, then it is rather patronizing to assume they'd feel a connection to a system that existed on another continent and ended a good 20 years before any of them were even born  just because it affected other black people.  It would have been smarter to pick some popular YA book that dealt in something universal that all teens deal with. 

The second story it is trying to tell is actually race based but again clunky about it.  Black students will be punished more swiftly and with harsher punishments for relatively minor infractions than their white classmates.  There are reams of scholarly data about this. 

Davia trying to connect with her class is rich enough fodder on its own, it didn't need all the extra added to it.

I agree with what you said and I would add that they rushed on the racial thing and it came out shallow and unfair. Yes, white fragility exists. Yes, white privilege is a thing. But even as white people can be considered what I will call "passive racists", it doesn't mean they don't care and don't have good intentions. It takes some learning and educating, and self reflection. The school to prison pipeline could have been done better if they hadn't rushed into Davia's realization that she should read the book. And by the way, when someone who doesn't yet understand what white fragility means, giving that book without an introduction is counter productive. Davia's initial reaction was expect, even if proof of her own "fragility".

Malika should take the plea deal. Being in the frontlines is exciting but ultimately, it is also about ego. So many people do so much from behind the scenes, activism has many layers. Think disabled people and if you know the history that led to the passage of the ADA you know that there are may unsung heroes.

Why is Sumi living in the Coterie? Did I miss anything? 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, Zima said:

Is no one going to mention Gael's stalker? Did she really move to the cotarie (sp?) to be near Gael, or did he know that Mariana was lonely, and proposed the roommate idea to them both?  I was so creeped out for Gael when that woman took her clothes off! Imagine if the genders were reversed, and a man had done that! Yikes! 

Yes that was so intense. She did apologize if that made him uncomfortable (which was good), but she went from 0 to 100 in 5 seconds. If they had any sort of history or if she had INVITED HIM OVER (to hook up) that would be one thing, but he’s the handy man from the app.
 

Yes he thought she was attractive (she is beautiful), but every guy doesn’t want to have sex with every single woman he thinks is beautiful. Level 1-2 flirting (which is what their encounter looked like) doesn’t warrant removing all of your clothing for sex (at least in my mind). 

 

If she just moved in without chatting with Gael first that’s so stalkery. 

[yourmomiseasy]

Yikes!  I didn't realize that the new roommate was the chick that Weinseined Gael.

[KittenPokerCheater]

This episode felt very filler to me- they could have had these plot ones done in 10 minutes but they stretched it out to 42.  

I’m starting to really like Evan.

[KaveDweller]

21 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I have to say, I am on Jaime’s side regarding the conflict of interest. Jaime DOES have more to lose than Callie in this case. He’s being paid ACTUAL US dollars based on representing his client, Callie hasn’t even passed the bar yet, she’s a research assistant (again nothing wrong with that). These legal plot lines drive me nuts (I’m a lawyer)😣. 

I totally agree. Callie's job isn't even to work on this lawsuit. She volunteered to help on top of her actual job. She is excited about the case, but she'll have tons of cases over the course of her career that she decides are super important. Callie gets worked up about different causes every five minutes.

[SnarkEnthusiast]

On 1/30/2020 at 6:51 PM, dmc said:

I like this show but I am not into the flashback sequences.  I don't get why they use them.  

Jamie and Callie always seemed DOA to me.  They don't have chemistry and Jamie seems to be missing a personality.

Marianna and Raj are also DOA.  Marianna and Evan have better chemistry.  This show has too many DOA relationships.

Agree with whoever said Gael needs a plot passed taking off his shirt.  Like why can't he get a solid story line...

The flashbacks make me dizzy and are also confusing because they're always a scene we just saw plus or minus 5-10 seconds.

I've only ever seen Beau Mirchoff (Jamie) playing sexy, kind hearted lunkheads (in Awkward and Now Apocalypse), so I think he has trouble bringing depth to a high powered lawyer.

I wish Mariana and Evan could stay friends. I like her with Raj and the inevitable triangle will be painful, especially since the writers themselves can't seem to decide if Mariana and Evan are attracted to each other.

New Roommate is just there to bug Callie as her hotter obvious replacement - what a coincidence Mariana's new roommate is also hellbent on fucking Gael! Never saw that coming!

I'm sorry but Alice is just a cringey fake character with such tryhard dialogue and her actor being the weakest of the bunch makes it worse. I dread most of her scenes.

[tennisgurl]

Jamie and Callie have always had an expiration date, but it seems to be getting closer and closer. Its probably for the best really, Jamie has always been nothing but a decent guy while Callie has seemed to be one foot out for half their relationship. And as much as the show seemed to be going for a "women having to set aside their ambitions for a man because they cant handle a strong women" story, Jamie wasnt wrong that he had more to lose giving up that case than Callie. Callie is just volunteering on this case, a case she isnt even supposed to be working on, while Jamie needs to stay on this case to keep his career on track. As for Callie being so passionate about helping the tenets...Callie will find some new cause to be self ritious about in like three days anyway. 

That girl who was hitting on Gael seems super creepy so far, calling him for a job only to strip naked, and now apparently moving into his building? Is she a stalker?

Sumi is such a selfish jerk, I have no idea why Alice wants anything to do with her. Of course, Alice also used the girl that Sumi cruelly dumped to make some kind of point to Sumi, so that wasnt the best look either. 

This whole Davia plot just seems confused. Its like they're trying to do a story both about the school to prison pipeline and the problems that low income and minority students deal with, as well as getting Davia to connect with her students, and they really arent connected. Davia might make well meaning but unfortunate mistakes, but it seems unfair to blame this kids possible sad fate all on her for disciplining him for acting out seemingly every day constantly seems unfair. It also seems rather condescending towards these kids, like are teachers supposed to treat kids from marginalized backgrounds differently than kids from more privileged backgrounds? But then, isnt that wrong as well? Its setting Davia up to be a situation where she is the bad guy no matter what she does. If they want her to relate to the kids or help them learn, maybe have her assigning them a fun book with actions and romance but also more dramatic themes weaved into it? If they want to do the school to prison pipeline or how the school system is biased against some students, have her learn about the struggles of her students...or something I dont know. The two stories dont really mesh together. Honestly, the lesson Davia is supposed to be learning does seem like its "stay in your lane" because every time she does anything in that classroom, be it trying to relate to her students through step (cultural appropriation) or disciplining a student who causes disruptions (ruining students lives because she cant understand black kids) she is set up as being wrong.

Edited February 3, 2020 by tennisgurl

[possibilities]

Davia being wrong so far doesn't mean there's nothing she could do that would be right. She just hasn't figured it out yet.

I'm hoping they are leading to her finally figuring it out.

I like that when she asked one of the other teachers, the teacher said it takes time, and not to feel bad about not knowing how at first. I also liked that when she asked Malika, Malika pointed her in a direction that might help her, while not coddling her about her ignorance. I think Davia needs both those attitudes, because so far she's so busy feeling sorry for herself that she hasn't really gotten outside her own head.

 

Edited February 3, 2020 by possibilities

[alexvillage]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

This whole Davia plot just seems confused. Its like they're trying to do a story both about the school to prison pipeline and the problems that low income and minority students deal with, as well as getting Davia to connect with her students, and they really arent connected. Davia might make well meaning but unfortunate mistakes, but it seems unfair to blame this kids possible sad fate all on her for disciplining him for acting out seemingly every day constantly seems unfair. It also seems rather condescending towards these kids, like are teachers supposed to treat kids from marginalized backgrounds differently than kids from more privileged backgrounds? But then, isnt that wrong as well? Its setting Davia up to be a situation where she is the bad guy no matter what she does. If they want her to relate to the kids or help them learn, maybe have her assigning them a fun book with actions and romance but also more dramatic themes weaved into it? If they want to do the school to prison pipeline or how the school system is biased against some students, have her learn about the struggles of her students...or something I dont know. The two stories dont really mesh together. Honestly, the lesson Davia is supposed to be learning does seem like its "stay in your lane" because every time she does anything in that classroom, be it trying to relate to her students through step (cultural appropriation) or disciplining a student who causes disruptions (ruining students lives because she cant understand black kids) she is set up as being wrong.

Yes, there are two important issues - in the way freeform likes to introduce in their shows - but they were rushed. We know there are teachers who are fast to apply their biases and even bigotry when students are black or brown (or disabled). But the show never showed Davia as biased. Maybe a little clueless but she still needs to keep the discipline needed to teach. They rushed the whole thing, didn't show us any background on the kid, and kind of contradicted themselves becasue Davia seemed to be someone who is at least mild concerned about social issues, she knows all that happened to Malika and Malika's activism. It was messy writing.

[DearEvette]

On 1/31/2020 at 5:26 AM, Zima said:

Is no one going to mention Gael's stalker? Did she really move to the cotarie (sp?) to be near Gael, or did he know that Mariana was lonely, and proposed the roommate idea to them both?  I was so creeped out for Gael when that woman took her clothes off! Imagine if the genders were reversed, and a man had done that! Yikes! 

Sad to say, outside of his sister's storyline Gael's stuff hasn't been riveting to me.  So I admit I may have blanked on his storyline.  I just assumed he mentioned the vacancy?  But if he didn't  --- yikes!  She was bad enough macking on him in the way she did but insinuating herself in his place of residence.  Ick.

[possibilities]

The show put out this video as background for Davia's story:

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by possibilities
to fix link