S05.E18: Playdate

[Aulty]

Quote

When Amy has to bring her baby to the store, she grows frustrated with people's criticisms of her parenting and Glenn enlists Jerusha to help. Garrett helps Dina plan her first date with her veterinarian boyfriend, and Sandra and Cheyenne hatch a conspiracy theory.

Original Air Date: 03/19/2020

[EtheltoTillie]

That DNA test thing was just too creepy. Even Cheyenne was appalled. 

[Lois Sandborne]

Cheyenne hasn't made me laugh in a while, but I just cackled when she said, "Emma's nice, but she doesn't really pop." when they were talking about pacifiers. It was all in the delivery.

In other news, I spent the episode wanting to slap Glen and Jerusha, and I don't even have or want children. All of those Super Parent monsters are a scourge upon the Earth.

Baby Parker was so cute I wanted to smoosh his little cheeks.

I could've done without the paternity conspiracy theory plot, especially the DNA test bit at the end.

Garrett potentially catching feelings is ... interesting.

[Harvey]

I liked this episode and how Amy reacted to the others questioning her parenting abilities. If we are being honest Emma does high-key suck so she might want to change her approach compared to whatever she was doing with her.

I have to say I am a little tired of this extremely long and hard road the show takes into getting Dina and Garret together, when we all know it will happen in the end. Even in this episode they made Garret have that disillusioned expression after Dina went on her date with the vet guy.  I don't see that relationship lasting too long.

[Aulty]

'All moms are full time moms' - thats was a strong scene and I hope they don't loose those opportunities once America is gone.

Glenn is a prime example of someone so stuck up in their own beliefs that its a waste of time to try to argue with them. He was really annoying in this episode, and Jerusha too.

[Maya]

Can someone please fill me in - I’ve only been watching this show for a couple seasons. I’m confused about Glenn’s baby. Was Dena his surrogate or something? If so, why? 
 

[Harvey]

1 minute ago, Maya said:

Can someone please fill me in - I’ve only been watching this show for a couple seasons. I’m confused about Glenn’s baby. Was Dena his surrogate or something? If so, why? 
 

Yes. Dina gave birth to Glenn's baby because Jerusha (Glenn's wife) had reproductive problems. Dina did it purely for the money.

[Maya]

Got it, thanks!

[iMonrey]

7 hours ago, Aulty said:

'All moms are full time moms' - thats was a strong scene and I hope they don't loose those opportunities once America is gone.

Glenn is a prime example of someone so stuck up in their own beliefs that its a waste of time to try to argue with them. He was really annoying in this episode, and Jerusha too.

I thought this was a strong episode for a show that doesn't typically do "issues." Glenn and Jerusha were completely obnoxious about this. Most working mothers don't work because they want to, they work because they have to. Especially single mothers. And most of them probably feel guilty enough about it without someone making them feel less-than. 

I also thought it was a strong episode for Dena, showing how unprepared she is for a real relationship she actually cares about. 

And I got a kick out of Cheyenne and Sandra thinking Jonah might be Parker's father ("they have the same hands!"). Funny that Cheyenne ended up being the voice of reason when Sandra went too far. And after Sandra asks her not to tell Jonah and Amy she says "Yeah . . . I kind of think I'm gonna."

[Jacks-Son]

10 hours ago, Aulty said:

Glenn is a prime example of someone so stuck up in their own beliefs that its a waste of time to try to argue with them. He was really annoying in this episode, and Jerusha too.

I've actually only became interested in this show while channel hopping a couple of weeks ago and i thought the characters were well written.   So,  i binged the entire series up until this episode.   While i still love the show,  some of the characters are starting to irritate the fuck out of me.  My big four pain in the ass are Glen, Jerusha,  Mateo,  & Cheyenne.  The first two are just bonkers and the last two are sad excuses for human beings.  I don't know what the Hell is going to happen if America leaves.   Then she says she would like to see a crossover between her Amy and Betty characters???  How does that work when you're ready to leave? 

[tennisgurl]

Your making it weird Sandra! A DNA test is not only too weird, its WAY too expensive. 

Glenn and Jerusha were driving me up the wall, but it at least let Amy and Jonah be on the same team and showed them as a couple pretty well, even if it was them being jointly annoyed with the same people. Glenn is so caught up in his own ideals and his own beliefs, that he just cant contemplate any other beliefs or ideas. Not all moms can or want to stay at home all day with their kids, and that fine! Still moms damn it!

[chocolatine]

I wasn't a fan of the mom-shaming, not only because it was offensive but also because it wasn't terribly clever or original. Sandra and Cheyenne did crack me up though. I'm surprised both babies were so calm the entire time, I have many little cousins and none of them were like that at that age. They would try to crawl all over the place and get into everything.

[RoadFullOfPromise]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Most working mothers don't work because they want to, they work because they have to.

Eh...yes and no. When I had our daughter, I knew I was headed back to work not only for financial reasons (which are definitely legit) but also because I don’t want Little RoadFull’s Mom to be my only identity. I like my job, and I’m good at it. I work at a medical school attached to a teaching hospital, and Little RoadFull (age 4.5) goes to the child care center there. We are one of a handful of families without a clinical parent (I work in administration), and a bunch of the parents there are badass female doctors, and it is AWESOME.  
 

I am a full-time mom (hell yeah for saying that, Amy!!) and I love Little RoadFull to bits! Glenn and Jerusha would’ve had five passive-aggressive, self-righteous heart attacks with my kid, who was born via c-section, formula-fed, and attends daycare - it’s the triumvirate of mom-shame characteristics, and I am HERE FOR IT!

Edited March 21, 2020 by RoadFullOfPromise
Missing words cause confusion!

[Jacks-Son]

Someone should play back Glen's conversation with Amy back to him.  Maybe if he heard himself say to Amy, "You're doing the best you can, and it'll be good for Parker to have to overcome some disadvantages. Like Oscar the Grouch grew up in a garbage can, but he's still on "Sesame Street" just like all those other puppets who are friendly and clean". He may realize that he's expressing some ugly financial and ethnic prejudices.  Yet, amazingly, he was angered when Amy described Rose as being raised by an "Old school Marm"?  Really?  You rose up in anger for that????

Edited March 21, 2020 by Jacks-Son

[MisterGlass]

Glen is not the most self aware person.  While not mentioned, he and Jerusha were also foster parents to many children before having their own biological child.  They probably feel their experience entitles them to comment. 

I did smile at the complete anti-climax of the baby obstacle course.

I would kind of like it if Dina got to stay with the vet for a while - or if they gave up on her and Garrett entirely.  Though I suppose this is her trial run at a 'real' relationship that paves the way for appreciating a future with Garrett.

[possibilities]

I really liked the Dina-Vet first meeting, and was very invested in it right from the start, so I'm a little disappointed to see that they're ramping up the Garrett thing again. Why does TV think pining is fun and triangles are interesting? In real life they are the worst and I just find them tiring. They don't write it in a way that's snarky or cathartic, like how they write about annoying coworkers. They write it like they think it's noble and delicious or something. Shudder.

[joanne3482]

I'm kind of surprised Jerusha CAN be a stay at home mom. I'm not sure if they're still fostering, although the foster reimbursement is not nearly enough to cover everything the kid needs, but Glenn now working as an associate again means he's back to $10 or $15/hour (depending on if his years of experience there counts in his salary).  That's only $32k a year before taxes and any benefits they have are taken out. 

[possibilities]

I wondered about that, too. Maybe they have savings from when Glen was the manager?? They don't seem like they'd have done a lot of investing but you never know. Maybe one of them has a trust fund??

[Guest]

On 3/23/2020 at 12:58 AM, possibilities said:

I really liked the Dina-Vet first meeting, and was very invested in it right from the start, so I'm a little disappointed to see that they're ramping up the Garrett thing again. Why does TV think pining is fun and triangles are interesting? In real life they are the worst and I just find them tiring. They don't write it in a way that's snarky or cathartic, like how they write about annoying coworkers. They write it like they think it's noble and delicious or something. Shudder.

Especially given that they aren't even giving Dina/Vet a chance to be an established couple (literally 2 weeks off-screen) before diving into the triangle/Garrett pining. If they wanted to give Dina a placeholder boyfriend to make Garrett rediscover feelings for her and put them on the road to getting back together permanently, fine, but they shouldn't have made her alternative love interest basically her perfect match and given them such an adorable meet cute if they have instantaneously have an expiration date in the near future.

For example, Jonah/Kelly had an obvious eventual expiration date, but we at least saw them develop. And while they had good chemistry, there was nothing specific about Kelly that made her seem perfect for Jonah. She was just a nice woman who was emotionally available to Jonah before Amy was (and not an anal, dour rain cloud like Amy but I digress). In contrast, the vet shares Dina's main passion in life, birds, which Garrett is not only indifferent about, but actively ruined by letting her birds out on a whim. To top it off, he was more concerned about covering his own ass than the impact losing her birds would have on her. He only cared that she'd be mad at him. So it's been hard to root for them since then, especially when the writers plopped Dina's ideal mate in front of her. If they were going to do this, they should've just had her hooking up with the con from a few weeks ago.

[Jacks-Son]

I really don't see Garrett pining for Dina.  Why would he want to go back to her?  Garrett is an intelligent, if maybe too attached to sneakers, otherwise normal guy.  Why waste your time with Dina?  She's rude, crude, and WAY too bossy.  She thinks she's an ideal catch, and doesn't really have many normal human emotions. I'm surprised they got together in the first place, and I really don't see why Garrett would want to revisit that relationship.  If Garrett had any game, he would go after the cutie-pie Sarah (played by Selisha Shertick), who in the earlier seasons, they found a way to have her included in the background of nearly every single scene,  but now, not so much.

I think Dina, who obviously thinks all men are after her, is imagining Garrett still trying to get back with her.  With all things Dina, it's all in her head.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Jacks-Son

[OpalNightstream]

Sandra and the DNA test was stupid. It was like she was bored and had to find a way to insert herself into the situation. Her assumption was based on nothing. 

[Jacks-Son]

As I said, I'm new to this series, it's funny and I like the lead, even though I've never seen a single episode of "Ugly Betty" before.  Anyway, I decided to make the leap and watch America's previous work and while I was watching, I began to see some crucial direction changes that's making this show weird. 

in "Ugly Betty" everybody progressed forwards, whereas in "Superstore" nobody progresses forward, everybody goes backwards, (even Amy has gone backwards).

I think somebody upthread mentioned that nobody (or practically nobody) succeeded after they left this Cloud 9 branch; perhaps it's more of a hive-mind mentality that seems to slow everybody down from gaining anything in that dismal workplace.

If, you're so fucking lazy and twisted as to "rent" some suit and work him into the ground doing your job, then there's no hope for these people. The guy was complaining about his spine, and Garrett, who is in a wheelchair, was fine with that whole scenario?  That's not the Garrett I thought I knew. (But then again, the birds......)

Just thinking about this motley crew and I don't see much hope for mankind if this is what we're producing.  I don't think Marcus is even human.  The man stomps his shit down the shower drain, for fucks sake!  The man is either a product of excessing inbreeding, or "He ain't right in the head"; it's probably both. Judging by the major EWWW fact of him and Justine banging, as distant cousins. If Climate Change doesn't kill us, stupidity will, if these people were even real and not just the screwed up squawking of some weird writers.

[Aulty]

6 hours ago, OpalNightstream said:

Sandra and the DNA test was stupid. It was like she was bored and had to find a way to insert herself into the situation. Her assumption was based on nothing. 

That story was so weird considering Amy was already a few months into her pregancy and really showing.

[Empress1]

Was that America’s actual son? He’s adorable.

I forget the line exactly but the line Amy delivered after Glenn mentioned Oscar the Grouch was hilarious.