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S01.E15: At All Costs: The Conrad Costas Chronicles


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Dex and Grey venture to Los Angeles to help a client who believes her Hollywood script has been plagiarized by a former classmate. Reluctantly, Grey leaves Ansel and Tookie in charge of The Bad Alibi, and against his wishes, Tookie hosts a birthday party at the bar. Panic sets in when they discover a valuable is missing.

Airing Wednesday, February 19, 2020.

 

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I liked that much more than most of the episodes, despite Cobie looking high much of the episode. 

So, did Dex’s parents join WitSec? 

The actor playing Grey’s dad got *old*! I remember him playing a bar slut in a Rodrigo Garcia film.

None of the stuff happening back in Portland held my interest at all.

Spoiler

I’m wary of where this one time Grey screw is going to lead.

 

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I felt bad for Dex when it was clear her aunt didn't know it was her. I'm really curious about what justification her parents will have for leaving while she was gone and sending Ansel to a group home. Sounds like they were running from something.

It's good that Grey got closure with his father; he's more forgiving than I would have been. I love that he hid his family heirloom because he knew that Tookie would be throwing a party the minute he left.

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16 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Cobie "looking high"? Meaning Dex? Or...? 

Rewatch the first couple of scenes. Her pupils are *gigantic* and she’s doing weird shit with her mouth/jaw. She even gives her nose a coke check during the scene on Hollywood Blvd.

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8 hours ago, Elbow said:

Rewatch the first couple of scenes. Her pupils are *gigantic* and she’s doing weird shit with her mouth/jaw. She even gives her nose a coke check during the scene on Hollywood Blvd.

I thought something was odd about her, but, I thought it was due to her supposedly being preoccupied with her quest.  I'll have to rewatch it On demand. 

I bet that her parents either were in witness protection, or perhaps, hiding on their own from  the mob. Could they have robbed a bank and went underground?  I'm trying to think of something that would fit in with the show.  

I'm curious as to why a person with the degree of dementia that her aunt had would be allowed to sit alone on the porch.  That's pretty risky.  Her caregiver should have been close by.  People with that degree of progression can just get up and wander away with no idea where they are.  

Edited by SunnyBeBe
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I really liked this episode, with one exception...  what the hell are they doing to Tookie?  He started out as a really cool character, and now he's needy and whiney and doing stupid stuff.  And good for Miles, "It's Detective Hoffman." 

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I sort of understand Grey's reason for not wanting an 'event' at the bar (it would inconvenience the regulars), but he needs to make Bad Alibi pay, first of all. Lots of bars close for events.

He should be looking for investors to help expand that big building he owns- he could put a banquet hall in the back or on the second floor.

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3 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Does Grey own the whole building?  Maybe I missed something in an earlier episode, but how does an ex-con in debt to the mob manage to buy a huge commercial building? 

He stole either 250K or 512K from a criminal in jail not expected to get out. 

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21 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

He stole either 250K or 512K from a criminal in jail not expected to get out. 

He stole $250K, his gold-tooth friend also stole $250K. When gold-tooth got whacked, his debt was transferred to Grey. Luckily, Grey worked with Hoffman to send the boss back to jail before having to repay anything.

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Maybe I was just cranky but I wasn't a fan of this episode at all. I did like the house Grey's dad lives in though. I'd move in there in a heartbeat. Wonder what dad's job is now since he has the pre-requisite hot wife. So does Tookie. WTH is up with that. Dex better get some implants and wear tons of makeup if she ever decides to get married.

I did like the movie set stuff. Those scenes were fun.

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1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Maybe I was just cranky but I wasn't a fan of this episode at all. I did like the house Grey's dad lives in though. I'd move in there in a heartbeat. Wonder what dad's job is now since he has the pre-requisite hot wife. So does Tookie. WTH is up with that. Dex better get some implants and wear tons of makeup if she ever decides to get married.

I did like the movie set stuff. Those scenes were fun.

That house was clearly in the Valley. No one wants to drive there, much less live there. I did love that they gave Grey’s dad a plastic surgeried trophy wife, and all that tells us about his (lack of) character in one glance. But I guess if you find that look hot, the Kenny Rogers’ eye job included, you’re not joking about your belief that Dex needs to look like a porn casualty in order to find a partner.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Elbow said:

But I guess if you find that look hot, the Kenny Rogers’ eye job included, you’re not joking about your belief that Dex needs to look like a porn casualty in order to find a partner.

It does make me wonder what the show writers were thinking, two in the same episode. I totally did not "get" Tookie's wife or why Grey's step mom (!) had to be portrayed that way. A Stumptown/Modern Family cross over?

4 hours ago, Elbow said:

I did love that they gave Grey’s dad a plastic surgeried trophy wife, and all that tells us about his (lack of) character in one glance.

Except Grey now thinks his dad ended up just fine, that's what he told Dex at the beach. He's no longer a loser because great house, greater trophy wife. Eh.

As I posted earlier, not my favorite episode.

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11 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

It does make me wonder what the show writers were thinking, two in the same episode. I totally did not "get" Tookie's wife or why Grey's step mom (!) had to be portrayed that way. A Stumptown/Modern Family cross over?

Seriously, I zoned out so hard on the Portland scenes I didn’t even realize they’d introduced Tookie’s wife, lol. News to me! I get including people who look like that in the LA scenes, because they’re all over the place to the point that sometimes you forget what normal faces look like, but it doesn’t make much sense to put them in Oregon.

5 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Except Grey now thinks his dad ended up just fine, that's what he told Dex at the beach. He's no longer a loser because great house, greater trophy wife. Eh.

As I posted earlier, not my favorite episode.

I took that as being about how he seemed to be acting as a good father to his new son, but you’re right that it was more a commentary on the entire package. And it does say, not particularly flattering things, about how much alike Grey and his father may be.

Edited by Elbow
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2 minutes ago, Elbow said:

I get including people who look like that in the LA scenes, because they’re all over the place to the point that someone you forget what normal faces look like,

Oh, okay, now the plastic wife makes more sense. I overlooked they were in LA.

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4 minutes ago, Elbow said:

Seriously, I zoned out so hard on the Portland scenes I didn’t even realize they’d introduced Tookie’s wife, lol. News to me! I get including people who look like that in the LA scenes, because they’re all over the place to the point that someone you forget what normal faces look like, but it doesn’t make much sense to put them in Oregon.

I was listening to the show while working on a project and switching back and forth to the debates, hence all of my "useful" (gold colored light bulb icon) post "likes."
But AFAIK, you guys could just be making stuff up.

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His father taught him everything he knew about crime and stealing cars. So if his father ended up getting remarried and has a kid he clearly cares about in a decent home and is no longer a criminal or in jail that is a very good outcome.

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8 hours ago, chaifan said:

I really liked this episode, with one exception...  what the hell are they doing to Tookie?  He started out as a really cool character, and now he's needy and whiney and doing stupid stuff.

And he thinks his wife is stepping out on him.  "Book club" indeed.

Edited by ItCouldBeWorse
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3 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Oh, okay, now the plastic wife makes more sense. I overlooked they were in LA.

But it’s, also, a strange shift, production-wise, as casting choices. Ealy and Smulders aside, they really kind of went out of their way to not cast cookie cutter talent, even in teeny guest bits, and these choices swing so far in the other direction that it almost feels like a bird flipped to an exec note about ‘more pretty people’.

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1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Maybe I was just cranky but I wasn't a fan of this episode at all. I did like the house Grey's dad lives in though. I'd move in there in a heartbeat. Wonder what dad's job is now since he has the pre-requisite hot wife. So does Tookie. WTH is up with that. Dex better get some implants and wear tons of makeup if she ever decides to get married.

I did like the movie set stuff. Those scenes were fun.

I thought Tookie had called his wife there to perform because he realized that the Wino-Gram was going to be a bust. I guess Tookie needs to hire Dex to follow his wife.

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13 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I thought Tookie had called his wife there to perform because he realized that the Wino-Gram was going to be a bust. I guess Tookie needs to hire Dex to follow his wife.

Tookie just provides the venue and the food/drinks, the singer or whatever was booked by the cops cousin or brother whatever he was.

Tookies wife just came to drop of some food items and then go to "book club" which seems like it will be a PI case sooner or later,

26 minutes ago, Elbow said:

But it’s, also, a strange shift, production-wise, as casting choices. Ealy and Smulders aside, they really kind of went out of their way to not cast cookie cutter talent, even in teeny guest bits, and these choices swing so far in the other direction that it almost feels like a bird flipped to an exec note about ‘more pretty people’.

I didn't think the actors were ugly, but in an episode about Hollywood people it was probably a joke to show people who had classic Hollywood doctored looks.

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4 hours ago, UnknownK said:

I didn't think the actors were ugly, but in an episode about Hollywood people it was probably a joke to show people who had classic Hollywood doctored looks.

Oh, I didn't mean that I found them "ugly", just that the look is so Plastic LA that it reads to me as defying a directive while maintaining plausible deniability.

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Ouch. Grey meets up with his dad, who was apparently a loser of a career criminal who taught him to be a career criminal as well, then left when he was sixteen, only for the dad to clean up his act to have a storybook suburban life, where he has a brand new kid who gets all the baseball games and the cute family pictures, while apparently Grey got the lessons in how to steal cars. Like Grey was the trail run kid, while his half brother is the new and improved model. It must hurt to know that his dad did, on some level, have the capacity to be a good parent, but he just wasnt for him, but he is now for this other kid, who will probably never go to jail or have to have a gun pulled on him by gangsters or anything. Yeah, that would sure string, but at least he seemed to take something good away from it, that people can change. 

The movie set stuff was fun, especially Grey on the set spreading rumors about Dex, until he finds out he has to shave his beard to be in the movie, and then he just up and left.

So did Dexs parents actually have to leave them? Like they went into witness protection or they went on the run, and thought it would be safer for Ansel if he stayed where he was? The plot thickens! 

The two cars sitting next to each other was weirdly cute. Look at the car friends!

Edited by tennisgurl
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14 hours ago, UnknownK said:

His father taught him everything he knew about crime and stealing cars. So if his father ended up getting remarried and has a kid he clearly cares about in a decent home and is no longer a criminal or in jail that is a very good outcome.

Thank you! This was what I got from it, too. Even putting aside the idea that his wife was a trophy wife--I thought she seemed like a good mom and someone that Grey's dad clearly cared about, so calling her a trophy wife seems a little harsh to me--I didn't think Grey wanted an exact copy of his father's life, but simply saw that the man wasn't in jail and was happy, so maybe his own life trajectory wasn't as downward as he thought it was. I didn't get any sort of "look at this former criminal now trapped in a loveless marriage that's just for show" vibes from it at all, and I can't see Grey ever wanting a trophy wife regardless. He just realized that maybe he can let go of feeling doomed by his upbringing.

In any case, I have such mixed feelings about this show. I think that Dex, Grey, and Ansel are generally well-defined and well-acted characters, so their personal arcs and their relationships with each other make sense and hold my interest. I think I watch for them and their weird little family unit, which makes me feel like that asshole who only enjoys the white characters on a show, but I also just don't feel like Tookie and Miles are being written as well, and I genuinely want to care about them!

I also don't find the story-driven arcs very interesting, so even though I usually hate procedurals, I find that I'm enjoying the "case of the week" episodes more because they let the characters hang out and interact in a way that's more casual and engaging. That last arc with the car thieves had Miles act like a petty jerk to get the ball rolling, leading many viewers to believe that it might actually lead to something consequential that would bite Miles in the ass, but the only things we got out of it were Grey and Miles learning to tolerate each other--which makes no sense to me given how he got Grey to cooperate in the first place, but whatever--and seeing that Dex is willing to risk her life for Grey. I have to think there were other ways to accomplish those things without making Miles look like the kind of asshole who tries to get his romantic competition killed.

Edited by LaMatadita
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7 hours ago, LaMatadita said:

Even putting aside the idea that his wife was a trophy wife--I thought she seemed like a good mom and someone that Grey's dad clearly cared about, so calling her a trophy wife seems a little harsh to me--I didn't think Grey wanted an exact copy of his father's life, but simply saw that the man wasn't in jail and was happy, so maybe his own life trajectory wasn't as downward as he thought it was. I didn't get any sort of "look at this former criminal now trapped in a loveless marriage that's just for show" vibes from it at all, and I can't see Grey ever wanting a trophy wife regardless. He just realized that maybe he can let go of feeling doomed by his upbringing.

I didn't think of her as a trophy wife either.  And I thought it seemed that both she and the half brother knew about Grey so I have to give the Dad some props for that.  I fully expect the half bro to turn up at the Bad Alibi for some reason in a future episode.  

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15 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

So did Dexs parents actually have to leave them? Like they went into witness protection or they went on the run, and thought it would be safer for Ansel if he stayed where he was? The plot thickens!

For once, I'd like to see a show that has a main character with missing/dead parent(s) where there was no mystery about it.  Last week's ep was straight from Dead to Me, this week they're taking pages straight from Bones' script.  (And I know Bones recycled it from a million other shows.)  I have no idea if they're following the comic book plot on this or if it's new for the show, but it would have been so refreshing for Dex to just come out and say "My parents?  They left.  They're gone.  I don't care." and then truly drop it for the rest of the show. 

Now that I think about it, if this is a plot from the comic book that they wanted to stay true to, I'd rather have it be Ansel who is doing the looking.  It would give him something to do other than be Tookie's new sidekick. 

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On 2/20/2020 at 2:02 PM, Elbow said:

But it’s, also, a strange shift, production-wise, as casting choices. Ealy and Smulders aside, they really kind of went out of their way to not cast cookie cutter talent, even in teeny guest bits, and these choices swing so far in the other direction that it almost feels like a bird flipped to an exec note about ‘more pretty people’.

Interesting discussion here and in subsequent replies.  The actor who was originally cast as Grey was replaced after the initial pilot was shot last spring, and he publicly spoke about why - namely, that he wasn't deemed attractive enough for the role.  Obviously, the viewers didn't witness what actually happened, so it's "alleged," but he certainly wasn't vague about it and didn't mince words.  

https://deadline.com/2019/05/new-cobie-smulders-abc-series-recast-mark-webber-reaction-calls-treatment-degrading-1202612642/

In my opinion. Mark Webber is attractive.  And arguably, Jake Johnson wouldn't be considered handsome by any given executive.  (I think he is, too.)  Especially if they only know him from his New Girl character.

On another note - guys!!!  I'm fascinated by all of the posts about Grey's dad's wife / Grey's stepmom.  I recognized her immediately, but I'm in the right age range for that.  That's Josie Davis, who played Sarah Powell (sister of Nicole Eggert's character) on Charles in Charge!  She has quite a history of Lifetime movies and such, plus she's guested on a bunch of other shows.  I was simultaneously surprised and not surprised to see her in a network guest part that credits her at the end credits vs. the opening ones.

I assume the case of the week plot was pretty unrealistic - I don't think stolen work gets resolved that easily in Hollywood and people just shake on it.  But I don't mind flimsier procedural cases when the rest of the time goes towards good character moments.  I liked that the emotion from Dex when she cried with her aunt, and that Grey went back and bought that car after all.  And then after the end scene, his yellow car transformed into an Autobot to save the world from the evil Decepticons ...

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2 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

On another note - guys!!!  I'm fascinated by all of the posts about Grey's dad's wife / Grey's stepmom.  I recognized her immediately, but I'm in the right age range for that.  That's Josie Davis, who played Sarah Powell (sister of Nicole Eggert's character) on Charles in Charge! 

Yeah, I was cracking up about that, too. 😄 I recognized her right away, too. From mousy sister to "trophy wife" - what a journey! 🤣

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6 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

Interesting discussion here and in subsequent replies.  The actor who was originally cast as Grey was replaced after the initial pilot was shot last spring, and he publicly spoke about why - namely, that he wasn't deemed attractive enough for the role.  Obviously, the viewers didn't witness what actually happened, so it's "alleged," but he certainly wasn't vague about it and didn't mince words.

There are a lot of things that go into that sort of decision. To focus on just one aspect  of the person playing the part is very difficult. It would probably be hard to determine who in the process decided he wasn't the best fit for the role, let alone why he wasn't the best fit. Pilots for shopping a series are shot knowing that everything might have to drastically change to make it to air depending on the network that picks it up, the number of episodes, the tone of the series, and the budget that was assigned. They may have wanted a more comedic Grey and that guy doesn't seem like a barrel of laughs.

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10 hours ago, sweetandsour said:

And arguably, Jake Johnson wouldn't be considered handsome by any given executive.  (I think he is, too.)  Especially if they only know him from his New Girl character.

If Oscar Isaac, David Krumholtz and Jake Johnson are all doppelgangers for each other...then it follows that if any one of them is deemed "attractive", all of them must be so...

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Add me to the list of people tired of parents mysteriously disappearing on tv shows. 

I miss some of the humor of earlier episodes and the magical mix tape 😞

Last week Tookie talked about his (hitherto unheard of) wife and her success and this week we get to see her. How many episodes until she turns into a case? And how many episodes before we finally get some Cosgrove action again???

 

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12 hours ago, paigow said:

If Oscar Isaac, David Krumholtz and Jake Johnson are all doppelgangers for each other...then it follows that if any one of them is deemed "attractive", all of them must be so...

Sorry if I wasn't clear before.  When I said I think he is, too, I meant that I think Jake Johnson is attractive, not that he isn't.

16 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

There are a lot of things that go into that sort of decision. To focus on just one aspect  of the person playing the part is very difficult. It would probably be hard to determine who in the process decided he wasn't the best fit for the role, let alone why he wasn't the best fit. Pilots for shopping a series are shot knowing that everything might have to drastically change to make it to air depending on the network that picks it up, the number of episodes, the tone of the series, and the budget that was assigned. They may have wanted a more comedic Grey and that guy doesn't seem like a barrel of laughs.

Yes, I agree with all this and am familiar with the regular changes that happen after initial casting, whether the changes happen at the pilot read, while filming the pilot, after filming the pilot, etc.  Usually you hear stuff about going a different creative direction, general fit, aging up or down a character, etc, if you hear anything at all.  That's why it struck me as "hmm, whoa" to have the actor publicly speak about a particular reason outside of that, as though he was told exactly what it was.  Maybe he was speculating - as I said before, we don't know what happened and what was said and by whom - and maybe he wasn't.

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On 2/21/2020 at 10:45 AM, vteal said:

I fully expect the half bro to turn up at the Bad Alibi for some reason in a future episode.  

I'm expecting Dad to show up since he specifically asked for the name of Grey's bar. I mean, who cares about the name of a bar when your son who has been out of your life for a zillion years shows up unannounced and you have two minutes to "catch up."

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On 2/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, MissLucas said:

Last week Tookie talked about his (hitherto unheard of) wife 

When he and Cosgrove met at his food truck and exchanged recipes they also both discussed that they are both married.  So not unheard of, just not very important.

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I'm barely hanging in and may bail. The writing for this show is all over the map. Mainly with Grey and Miles- I don-t know from one week to the next what to expect.

It's still on my dvr but I may bail unless there's more consistency overall.

It's a shame- show has a lot of great elements and great cast but the writers just cant seem to put it together week after week.

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On 2/22/2020 at 10:36 AM, paigow said:

If Oscar Isaac, David Krumholtz and Jake Johnson are all doppelgangers for each other...then it follows that if any one of them is deemed "attractive", all of them must be so...

Well, I definitely consider all three paper-bag-worthy, though, Isaac has *slightly* more forgiving features than the other two. But it's not infrequent for male execs to short-list actors they identify with, rather than those who might be physically more realistic for a role (see: every sitcom with an obese, bald, braying husband and a charming, catalog model wife). I don't find Webber particularly attractive, either, but he's definitely easier on the eyes than Johnson. And this is why, when I first heard his complaint about the recast, that I found the whole situation perplexing. I prefer to think, in this instance, that there's someone making renegade casting decisions in passive aggressive protest to committee beauty demands.

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I think Jake Johnson is attractive. 

I haven't watched the whole episode yet. I'm also tired of parents disappearing. Also dead ones magically being alive after all, and being the sinister "big bad" behind really evil plots on TV shows (I don't miss "Scandal" at all, speaking of just one show). 

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On 2/20/2020 at 9:54 PM, tennisgurl said:

The movie set stuff was fun, especially Grey on the set spreading rumors about Dex, until he finds out he has to shave his beard to be in the movie, and then he just up and left.

I think that was my favorite part. LOL.

Actually, I half wondered if he was going to go through with the beard shave, especially as a passive aggressive act of defiance after his father complimented his beard.

Edited by sinkwriter
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On 2/20/2020 at 3:11 PM, saber5055 said:

Maybe I was just cranky but I wasn't a fan of this episode at all. I did like the house Grey's dad lives in though. I'd move in there in a heartbeat. Wonder what dad's job is now since he has the pre-requisite hot wife. So does Tookie. WTH is up with that. Dex better get some implants and wear tons of makeup if she ever decides to get married.

I did like the movie set stuff. Those scenes were fun.

OMG Cobie Smulders with breast implants would be tragic.

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On 2/20/2020 at 6:27 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

I'm curious as to why a person with the degree of dementia that her aunt had would be allowed to sit alone on the porch.  That's pretty risky.  Her caregiver should have been close by.  People with that degree of progression can just get up and wander away with no idea where they are.  

That's assuming she has a caregiver. If she doesn't have a family or had any serious incidents that led to someone calling Adult Protective Services or the cops,  she could go on for many years like that with no one noticing, or noticing and taking action.

On 2/20/2020 at 2:00 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

And he thinks his wife is stepping out on him.  "Book club" indeed.

Setting things up for Cosgrove in the future. Kind of looking forward to it, I'm ashamed to say.

 

On 2/21/2020 at 8:45 AM, vteal said:

I didn't think of her as a trophy wife either.  And I thought it seemed that both she and the half brother knew about Grey so I have to give the Dad some props for that.  I fully expect the half bro to turn up at the Bad Alibi for some reason in a future episode.  

Me neither. I think she knew about Grey, but I'm not sure the boy did. The only introduction he had was "this is Grey" and he didn't particularly respond, which I'd think you'd do after being introduced to your long lost half-brother.

As for the Marc Webber recasting - I found him attractive (as I do Jake and all the other supposed look a likes - they don't look alike to me). But then I never really responded to white bread pretty boys.

 

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