S02.E17: Truth and Dares

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

Jamie tries to protect Callie-but is that what she wants? Mariana gets to the bottom of who wrote the anti-woman manifesto at work and is surprised by the answer. Malika has an unplanned family reunion. Alice has some success onstage and off. After a day of bonding, Dennis asks Gael for help.

 

[KaveDweller]

I'm on Jamie's side again.  

I knew Evan was going to say Raj sent the manifesto. But I don't believe he really sent it. 

[Aliconehead]

7 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I'm on Jamie's side again.  

I knew Evan was going to say Raj sent the manifesto. But I don't believe he really sent it. 

Nope i think it was Isabella 

[dmc]

2 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

Nope i think it was Isabella 

Agreed Evan has enough know how to track down where it came from, but maybe she used his device 

[politichick]

My recording cut off the ending. What was in the documents Callie was reading from Jamie's briefcase?

[bybrandy]

I've always been on Jamie's side but her reading his work documents was pretty gross.  

And I don't think there is any way Raj sent that manifesto.

Edited February 27, 2020 by bybrandy

[DearEvette]

This episode may as well have been subtitled: Everyone is shady.  LOL.

So the show has decided to go Fatal Attraction-lite with Isabella?  Sigh.  Just... sigh. Also is Raj really worth it? 

Between this development and the escalating tensions with Callie & Jaime, I am guessing Isabella won't be long for the coterie and Callie won't be long with Jamie.

Wow, the women at Spekulate can't be supportive of each other for ten minutes straight can they?  I don't know what to think about the manifesto, but given how quickly that blonde one is to try to step on Mariana's neck, I would not be surprised if it was her.  Doesn't seem like Raj at all.

Don't know how I am feeling about Malika's dad.  At first I thought he was a welcome addition to her circle, gave her some perspective and seemed to have gotten his shit together. But now, I kinda agree with her brother a bit.  The dad just seems... shady.

The minute I saw Callie prop open the door with her bag, I was like 'Girl, haven't you watched any Lifetime movies? That is when the serial killer comes in right behind you."  and Lo and behold.  LOL.  

The police came in guns ablazing and then complain that person was't complying?  Yikes. Anyone would take a minute to be like WTF in a situation like that, let alone a person who is in the middle of a mental crisis.

Alice's ex stealing her material.  Shady.  The scout sleeping with Alice and offering both the opportunity to audition.  Shady.

About the only thing didn't feel shady was Gael and Dennis' team up.  It  was fun.  I realize I can't recall any interaction the two of them ever had.  Like with his earlier bonding with Malika, I am glad the show seems to acknowledge that Dennis needs to interact meaningfully with more people than just Davia.

 

[yourmomiseasy]

How is Callie so certain her unhoused neighbor wasn't going to hurt her after the fact?  She sure seemed concerned about it during the incident.  Going on to the chat at Malika's office, that was a lot of half truths and disinformation -- at least when viewed in the lens of real life, not sure if this show is supposed to be real life or not.  Then the fight between Callie and Jamie.  Better wages and affordable housing wasn't going to help that guy.  Then she flip flops to "what are we supposed to do force them into subsidized housing?"  Is letting these people live on the streets the compassionate thing to do?  Is that what she is advocating for?  Then she's advocating for mental health help, but pissed that Jamie's client is building a mental health facility and calls it a mental health jail.  Does she know for a fact that qualified mental health professionals are not going to be hired?  It is what she heard at Malika's office, but that doesn't make it fact.  The aim for new facilities, at least in my understanding, is for them to have appropriate staff to provide services and help rather than house.  I spend a lot of my time involved with city government, but homelessness isn't my area of passion, so I'm not an expert, but it is such a big issue that it does bleed into a lot of topics.

[tennisgurl]

No way do I think that Raj wrote the manifesto, this all screams of an evil soap opera plot by an evil soap opera villain...named Isabella! She must have done this to further break up Raj and Mariana, for what reason I have no idea. She is super hot for Raj? Trying to take over Marianas life? Is she just looking for drama? We know she is super thirsty (its how she met Gael) but this all seems to be a bit much for one guy! 

I did love how Marianas one real take away from the fake broken mirror story was asking if the "bird" was alright. 

How convenient that a mentally unstable man followed Callie into her apartment and that become her new cause, that it just so happens that the evil corporation that Jamie's firm represents happens to be using the land they are trying to get to build a jail for mentally ill people! You could almost call it contrived! Callie, how do you just leave your door open like that?! Come on Callie, you should know better than that! I suppose this is going to be the real final end to Callie and Jamie, and while maybe Jamie sounded a bit callus talking about people in tent cities, he didn't just get a lecture from Malikas group about all the issues surrounding them, and...an unstable and possibly violent man just broke into his apartment and confronted his girlfriend while she was alone! He might not be super objective about this, it JUST happened! 

Those cops did really come in guns a blazzing and were way too rough on the guy, who was clearly having a full on mental break, so I dont blame Callie for telling the cops not to hurt him, as he clearly wasn't resisting, but...how does she know he wasn't going to hurt her? She seemed pretty freaked out when he got there, and she has no idea if he was going to escalate things in his delusion. He looked like he was going to lunge at her for a second, before she started playing along, but what if she didn't play along? But its certainly in character for Callie to experience this whole traumatic event and turn it into the next Callie Crusade, even one that could end her relationship.  

Such shadiness all around Alice, the poor woman just has the worst luck with people in her life, so many people that treat her badly, other than the people in her building, and even they can all be a real pain sometimes. 

Nice to see Dennis and Gael hanging out, I dont think they have ever had a real plot together, and I am glad that Dennis is getting out of his room and opening up more, and letting people know whats going on with him. Its a lot healthier than only having Davia to talk to. 

I want to give Malikas father the benefit of the doubt, but I still dont know about him...

[yourmomiseasy]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Those cops did really come in guns a blazzing and were way too rough on the guy, who was clearly having a full on mental break, so I dont blame Callie for telling the cops not to hurt him, as he clearly wasn't resisting

I'm assuming Jamie is the one that called 911.  All he knew is what he could hear and that was that there was someone in their apartment threatening Callie.  The call to 911 probably reported a home invasion with a female resident in danger.  The police are going to take that seriously.  

[possibilities]

Callie knew he wasn't going to hurt her by the time they arrived, because she had gotten him to lie down and sleep, and to trust her. I am not saying she wasn't scared before, and I get why Jamie panicked.

I was outraged by her stupidity in leaving the door ajar, but then later it turned out the building has security and I guess if you live in a fancy schmance place like that, you get lax about situational awareness. I confess that I live in an extremely low crime rural neighborhood and I often leave my door open in the summer, when I'm in the yard, so I don't have to lock and unlock it over and over again when I'm going in and out with stuff.

I tend to be on Callie's side in her analysis of most issues, but what I find problematic is that she doesn't try to talk with Jamie about things before she goes into rage mode. He may or may not be wrong about various topics, but it's possible that he would be receptive to new information if she presented it to him in a way that was in keeping with their supposedly loving relationship.

Mentor taking Alice's joke, and hook up being the recruiter, is just a shitshow all around. And Sumi is, as usual, self-absorbed and useless.

Gael's shirtlessness is becoming its own plotline at this point. I was shocked-- SHOCKED-- when he actually put a shirt on halfway through the episode.

Evan continuing to not deal with problems until Mariana pushes him to do so, is starting to make me dislike him.

[KaveDweller]

11 hours ago, politichick said:

My recording cut off the ending. What was in the documents Callie was reading from Jamie's briefcase?

It showed that the company he represents is going to build a mental health facility over the building that they are kicking Callie's clients (or her boss's clients) out of. 

Reading Jamie's work files seems wrong on a personal level, but also not appropriate for any lawyer to do to another lawyer.

[alexvillage]

I hate the stand up comedy stuff so I fast forward through it.

I also hated the Gael/Dennis day of play. 

This show is relying heavily in social justice issues and I don't have a problem with that, mostly I like it but the way they introduced us to this story was clumsy. There is no way that guy would have pitched a tent in that area for a long time. Callie was right to complain about police brutality. There is a "cry" in the disabled community: never call the cops when someone needs mental health intervention. Apparently it was Jamie who did it, something totally reasonable. But I would have liked to see the writers explore the way the cops dealt with a man who was clearly having a breakdown and wasn't a danger to anyone at that point.

I would like to have seen the details. Did Jamie mentioned it was a mental health issue? Did the police was trained? Where was his sent? In so many cases like this, we see an excessive use of force and an excessive use of tasers, that would be a good start. Then the issue of him being in the streets again and have lost all his belongings. People still, to this day, think that homeless just collect trash. It is absurd, they are people, they have personal, cherished stuff. 

But they just brushed on those subjects and jump right into Callie trying to the a super spy hero who cannot really do much in this situation. But she is right. What they are trying to build is prison for people with mental illness that benefit corporations, just like private prisons.

[DearEvette]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

Evan continuing to not deal with problems until Mariana pushes him to do so, is starting to make me dislike him.

Yeah, I find the make up of Spekulate confusing.  Is it a small tech firm where the CEO would be involved in hands-on day-to-day problem solving and  hobnobs with the heads down coders?  Or it is a bigger concern where there would be a layer or several layers between Evan and the workers, one of which would deal with workplace issues?  Most Executive level folks don't deal with in-the-weeds stuff, they are the big picture people.  That is what VP of so-and-so is for or an actual fully staffed HR dept. In a bigger office, the head person doesn't typically get involved until something gets marched up the chain or is potentially harmful enough to the entire company to get them involved.

 

 

[SnarkEnthusiast]

Well, at least Gael wasn't trying to seduce Dennis? Lol. The writers still don't know what to do with him beyond eye candy.

It's obviously not a coincidence that Isabella is unraveling while Jaime and Callie are on the rocks. Isabella clearly only has a shelf life of however long Callie is away from the Coterie. Imo, it's boring to make her replacement unhinged. What if she was just a really nice person who happened to be super horny for Raj. Dealing with that betrayal is more true to life than this soapy Single White Female melodrama. Also Mariana fucked Callie's ex-boyfriend for years (?) after they broke up and Callie never cared so....double standard no?

Speaking of which, every once and a while I remember that this takes place in the same universe as The Fosters and their whole family is just cool with the fact Callie had sex with her (adopted) brother for years and yet everyone acts like nothing ever happened? 

When Mariana and Evan finally bang, it better be hot. We've watched dreams and fantasy sequences for months!

I appreciate Alice's plots solely for the accuracy of having a queer friend group where everyone has dated or hooked up with everyone else.

[KaveDweller]

13 hours ago, alexvillage said:

I would like to have seen the details. Did Jamie mentioned it was a mental health issue? Did the police was trained? Where was his sent? In so many cases like this, we see an excessive use of force and an excessive use of tasers, that would be a good start. Then the issue of him being in the streets again and have lost all his belongings. People still, to this day, think that homeless just collect trash. It is absurd, they are people, they have personal, cherished stuff. 

It sounds like Jamie just called the police based on hearing a frightened Callie saying someone was in her home. 

2 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

It's obviously not a coincidence that Isabella is unraveling while Jaime and Callie are on the rocks. Isabella clearly only has a shelf life of however long Callie is away from the Coterie. Imo, it's boring to make her replacement unhinged. What if she was just a really nice person who happened to be super horny for Raj. Dealing with that betrayal is more true to life than this soapy Single White Female melodrama. Also Mariana fucked Callie's ex-boyfriend for years (?) after they broke up and Callie never cared so....double standard no?

Speaking of which, every once and a while I remember that this takes place in the same universe as The Fosters and their whole family is just cool with the fact Callie had sex with her (adopted) brother for years and yet everyone acts like nothing ever happened? 

Just because I have too good a memory, Mariana lost her virginity to Callie's ex-boyfriend, but I think it was just a one off, or at least very brief. She may have hung out with him a couple of times after the initial hook up, but then she got back with her own ex. Callie was pissed about it, she just got over it. I don't really think that is a parallel to dating someone else's current boyfriend though.

Callie only had sex with her foster brother once too, when she thought the adoption was not happening. It is still super weird, but I feel like everyone involved has to pretend it never happened or they could never look at each other. Remember, the entire series of The Fosters took place in a two year period, or maybe less.  So nothing on that show was long term in the scheme of things.

Isabella is pretty much a cliche though. I think they want to make Mariana look better for being attracted to Evan.

Edited February 29, 2020 by KaveDweller

[possibilities]

I actually think Mariana has been making good choices lately. She's not perfect, but she's been much more level-headed and responsible lately, compared to her past and also quite a few of the others on the show.

7 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

I appreciate Alice's plots solely for the accuracy of having a queer friend group where everyone has dated or hooked up with everyone else.

LOL. So true.

[Zima]

I'm kind of uncomfortable with so many people  blaming Callie for the actions of the man wandering into her apartment. Is leaving the door ajar careless? Sure, but I've left my own door ajar to bring groceries in, and I would still be shocked if someone came into my house. I don't think it's something that happens so often that it should be expected. And even if it did, that doesn't mean that the victim in the situation should be blamed. 

I'm disappointed in the direction in which the Isabella storyline is going, but I'm still interested.

Gael and Dennis were cute. I still can't get over how much better Gael looked with long hair though. Dennis better not cut his!

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Zima

[politichick]

On 2/29/2020 at 5:13 AM, Zima said:

I'm kind of uncomfortable with so many people  blaming Callie for the actions of the man wandering into her apartment. Is leaving the door ajar careless? Sure, but I've left my own door ajar to bring groceries in, and I would still be shocked if someone came into my house. I don't think it's something that happens so often that it should be expected. And even if it did, that doesn't mean that the victim in the situation should be blamed. 

I'm disappointed in the direction in which the Isabella storyline is going, but I'm still interested.

Gael and Dennis were cute. I still can't get over how much better Gael looked with long hair though. Dennis better not cut his!

 

Plus, the dude had to enter the lobby and an elevator.

Gael definitely needs to grow out his locks.

[Samwise979]

Ok be honest. Would you prefer to lick the hair out of the drain or drink brown water out of the fountain? 😂😂😂

Raj is totally being framed. My first thought was Isabella too but, idk... I think we might be surprised by who it really was. 

Ugh. Callie. 🙄🙄🙄. Firstly it's not right to go through your boyfriend's confidential work documents, secondly it's illegal (I assume) as a lawyer (I know, she hasn't passed the bar yet) to go through another lawyer's confidential work documents.