S01.E01: Run

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

On a regular Tuesday morning, Ruby Richardson is shaken out of her humdrum suburban life when she receives an urgent text that prompts her to fly to New York and board a cross-country train, where she reunites with college ex Billy Johnson. As their adventure begins, Ruby and Billy fight the tension that still exists between them while attempting to root out each other's secrets.

Airing Sunday, April 12, 2020.

[scrb]

Lawrence, she’s just not that into you.

It took just one word for her to bail on yoga, two kids and hubby.

Ruby leaves the car in airport parking, saddling her now ex husband with the bill.  Probably charged the hair spray and the lipstick she didn’t wear for him on Lawrence’s card too.

Billy and Ruby must have great sexual chemistry or something?  At least more than them separately going to the train bathroom to relieve the tension?

 

They’re going to show that Ruby isn’t this impulsive, irresponsible person probably?

Because instead of ditching her life and affecting other people, she could have just snuck around and meet a Billy a few times in hotel rooms, without blowing things up, at least not right away.

Then decide if she still wanted to break up her family.  

Now if she has second thoughts and misses her kids for instance, that would be conventional.  If she has no second thoughts, even if she decides Billy isn’t all that, but she still doesn’t try to see her kids again, then it would be interesting to see where PWB is going with this.

That’s assuming she’s creatively involved on this show, not just helped create the show and has already moved on to other projects.

 

This is the first time I’ve seen Merrit Weaver in a lead role.  Seems to have lost some weight since Nurse Jackie.

 

 

[SHD]

I’m not sure where this show is heading, but I really hated everything about the Ruby character based on this episode.

[qtpye]

I usually like MV but her character in the first episode seemed incredibly annoying.

The poop thing was embarrassing.

I will still give it a chance...it definitely can get better.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

HBO has posted the season premiere on their youtube channel:

 

[MrWhyt]

love Merrit Weaver and the chemistry between her and Gleason was great. I'm in.

[preeya]

Can't see (yet) why this is categorized as a comedy as I didn't see anything worthy of a laugh in this first episode. Don't get me wrong, I love Merritt Weaver, but I got nothing from this one. Hopefully, it'll get better or I'm out.

 

[Blakeston]

I enjoyed this a lot while I watched it, but now that I've had some time to reflect I don't feel as positively about it.

I didn't buy that they were so turned on that they both needed to run to the bathroom to self-pleasure.

Even though we've barely heard from him, I feel like Rich Sommer is playing the same doofus/lackluster husband role he's played multiple times before.

Could Ruby or Billy be terminally ill?

And unless Ruby has some sort of extreme extenuating circumstances (like an abusive marriage, or hitmen trying to hunt her down), then her decision to abandon her family without warning is just vile. I really hope the show doesn't try to pretend that it's anything other than vile.

[preeya]

26 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

Could Ruby or Billy be terminally ill?

And unless Ruby has some sort of extreme extenuating circumstances (like an abusive marriage, or hitmen trying to hunt her down), then her decision to abandon her family without warning is just vile. I really hope the show doesn't try to pretend that it's anything other than vile.

This↑ is the reason I can't see this as a comedy.

[cpcathy]

Did not like this at all. I loved Merritt in Unbelievable, but something about her in this is off for me. No second episode for me.

[qtpye]

44 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

I enjoyed this a lot while I watched it, but now that I've had some time to reflect I don't feel as positively about it.

I didn't buy that they were so turned on that they both needed to run to the bathroom to self-pleasure.

Even though we've barely heard from him, I feel like Rich Sommer is playing the same doofus/lackluster husband role he's played multiple times before.

Could Ruby or Billy be terminally ill?

And unless Ruby has some sort of extreme extenuating circumstances (like an abusive marriage, or hitmen trying to hunt her down), then her decision to abandon her family without warning is just vile. I really hope the show doesn't try to pretend that it's anything other than vile.

 

15 minutes ago, preeya said:

This↑ is the reason I can't see this as a comedy.

I hope we get more backstory on her life. Even if her husband is abusive ( which he might not be) it is horrible to abandon her kids.

She seemed a fairly privileged woman who can afford not to work. She also seemed not to think twice about last minute travel  expenses.
Also, the guy seems exciting now but if she divorces her husband and married him, their life will eventually also become humdrum. I mention this because all the descriptions say it is a woman running away from an ordinary life.

 

[scrb]

They want to keep details about their private lives from each other, at least for the first 24 hours.

He seems to want to know more about her than vice versa.

How much influence did PWB have on this show and is there consistency in the characters she creates?

For instance Fleabag isn't married, doesn't seem likely to settle into conventional married life any time soon.

Eve was married but she was ready to become consumed with Villanelle.  Maybe she goes back to her husband in the end but she was ready to drop the happily married wife role, at least for a time.

All we know about Ruby is that she looked blasé, about to enter Target and go to yoga.  She seemed to dread looking at her phone when it buzzed.  Lawrence seems a little needy, both with all the texts about the goddamn speakers and then later when he's frantically trying to reach her.

So maybe she was headed for divorce or suffer more years of a joyless marriage.  

But of course she has kids, a fact that they hid until the end of the episode.  Of course it's hard for her character to be sympathetic given that she was ready to leave without saying goodbye to him -- she did compose a goodbye, I'm never coming back text to her husband but it's not clear she ever sent it?

So after Succession, the rule is that characters don't have to be likable, just interesting.  

For now, I just have to assume there is more than meets the eye, more than a bored mother  with a good career just immedately abandoning everything, for no good reason. 

Edited April 13, 2020 by scrb

[whiporee]

i didn't pick up that she had kids. I didn't even know for sure she was married. Laurence could have been a boyfriend, but I might have missed it. 

I found it very entertaining, and a wonderful premise. A much better viewing for me last night than Westworld or Killing Eve. So I'm glad to have something to look forward to. 

[InsertWordHere]

I found Ruby to be unlikable as well, but I’m a bit confused by the money comments above. She works in an architecture firm based on what she said to Billy and seems to make her own schedule/have time to be at Target early in the day. I’m not sure why some comments seem to imply she’s using her husband’s money or saddling him with the parking bill. 

But yeah, if this is a cheating story, as it appears right now, I’m not interested. 

Edited April 14, 2020 by InsertWordHere

[SHD]

2 hours ago, InsertWordHere said:

I found Ruby to be unlikable as well, but I’m a bit confused by the money comments above. She works in an architecture firm based on what she said to Billy and seems to make her own schedule/have time to be at Target early in the day. I’m not sure why some comments seem to imply she’s using her husband’s money or saddling him with the parking bill. 

I kind of assumed that she was lying about her job. Only because didn't he say something like “So you just walked out of your office in the middle of the day when you got my text?” and she nodded or said yeah, and we know that’s not what happened. Unless I misunderstood something.

9 hours ago, whiporee said:

i didn't pick up that she had kids. I didn't even know for sure she was married. Laurence could have been a boyfriend, but I might have missed it. 

When she dropped her phone at the end and he picked it up he saw her screen photo, which was a family photo of her with a guy and kids. So they’re not necessarily married but seem to be a family unit, whatever the relationship. Unless that’s a red herring.

[CarpeFelis]

Hmmm... I suppose they could be step kids, though it would still suck to just walk out on them.

[Lamima]

I'm in. Intrigued as a married mom who had many thoughts of just bagging it all and running away. Never would have, but just had that fleeting contemplation every now and again. If a married mom says she's NEVER had that thought, she'd be lying. 

But it is vile to leave your kids. Unless it's a planned getaway where you say you need time to yourself. Like a ladies trip to the beach or something many moms do. But to just RUN like Ruby did. Not decent. 

However, I am thinking that maybe they aren't her kids. Maybe she's with a divorced guy who has kids from previous marriage. Actually, maybe he's a widower and uses her to fill the role of dead mommy. Hmmm, that seems fitting. In the beginning, in Target parking lot, she did seem deflated and empty. As if she was just going through motions of a life not hers. I've had those feelings so it could be a married mom feeling dead/numb who has lost view of herself...but I am guessing this isn't like that and the kids aren't hers and she really isn't all that into this guy. Just maybe felt sorry for him and got sucked in. 

So I am all in to see what plays out here. I like the chemistry too. 

 

She could also be a nanny to this guy. He's a single dad. Maybe she had been the nanny and the wife died and she still is but way more is expected of her. I am going with that. She is too embarrassed to tell Billy that she didn't make it in her career and is just a nanny.

Though why did Billy smile when he saw that photo? You'd think he'd feel guilt and regret and be sad faced, not happy faced?

Edited April 14, 2020 by Lamima

[CarpeFelis]

19 minutes ago, Lamima said:

She could also be a nanny to this guy. He's a single dad. Maybe she had been the nanny and the wife died and she still is but way more is expected of her. I am going with that. She is too embarrassed to tell Billy that she didn't make it in her career and is just a nanny.

Though why did Billy smile when he saw that photo? You'd think he'd feel guilt and regret and be sad faced, not happy faced?

Good theory, but I doubt she’s just a nanny since that sure looked like a family picture. Though she could be the stereotypical nanny who married a widower or divorced guy...

[msrachelj]

WTF is this nonsense that we are supposed to believe. It's more friggin fantasy than a comedy. Unlikeable leads, ridiculous premise. Of course I will watch episode two but this is very weird.

[Irlandesa]

23 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I loved Merritt in Unbelievable, but something about her in this is off for me.

I think it kind of feels like she's playing her character here the same way she played her character in Unbelievable but she's written far less nobley. 

It feels jarring so far but it might make more sense the more this goes on.

It's supposed to be a comedic thriller.  I imagine the thriller part will develop in the upcoming episodes.

[arc]

I'm so in. The leads have great chemistry. I'm sure the writers gave Ruby kids so that there is some conflict and consequences from her running. (I assume Fiona really is Billy's PA but there's probably a romantic relationship there too.)

Some New Yorkers have made mention of the factual error of taking a Chicago-bound train from Grand Central, but OTOH the show got to film in Grand Central rather than Penn Station. Hell, if we can accept an elevated train in Manhattan in the Spider-Man films we can deal with this.

[scrb]

If they're drawn in part by burning loins, why not get a hotel room first?

Scared of NYC hotel bed bugs?

Or the train is some timing thing, where something has to have happened by the end of the trip for them to take it further?

Looks like this train journey ranges from 19 to 22 hours.  So time for some sleep, a couple of meals.

Or maybe lets either of them bail at one of the stops.

[The Solution]

On 4/13/2020 at 1:25 AM, scrb said:

This is the first time I’ve seen Merrit Weaver in a lead role.  Seems to have lost some weight since Nurse Jackie.

Is THAT who she is? Madonn'

 

[DrSpaceman73]

On ‎4‎/‎13‎/‎2020 at 11:54 AM, Blakeston said:

Even though we've barely heard from him, I feel like Rich Sommer is playing the same doofus/lackluster husband role he's played multiple times before.

No kidding.  Man is that guy typecast now.  Mad Men, GLOW and now this.  You'd think he or his agent would point out maybe he wants to expand his roles beyond this role narrow married middle aged douche husband, though I am just assuming that about him in this show based on the prior ones. 

I think I may have even been picturing him as the husband even before they showed his picture on the phone

[taanja]

On 4/13/2020 at 1:19 PM, whiporee said:

i didn't pick up that she had kids. I didn't even know for sure she was married. Laurence could have been a boyfriend, but I might have missed it. 

I found it very entertaining, and a wonderful premise. A much better viewing for me last night than Westworld or Killing Eve. So I'm glad to have something to look forward to. 

I seriously just discovered this show so i got to watch several eps in a row. Really liking the premise. Really liking the characters. It most def gets better as it goes on.

I actually like the way it is unfolding and each ep we find out a little more about Billy and Ruby and what motivates them.