S01.E02: I'm Not Fine

[formerlyfreedom]

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Robin grapples with how a "Council of Dads" could really function in their day-to-day life as Larry takes on his responsibilities with passion. Luly has an unexpected meeting with her birth mom and learns about her early life with Scott.

Airing Thursday, April 30, 2020.

 

[alexa]

Is it just me or does the mom seem more like an aunt to all of the kids instead of a mom?  She just doesn’t seem very close to any of them.  

[gsnrocks92]

Boy a lot has changed in the world since the previous episode of this aired over a month ago. Back when it seemed like things would be back to at least somewhat normal at least by May. 
 

I assume Scott has a large life insurance policy. It’s obvious the family was quite wealthy, they have this big party thrown because Luly (?) was going to New York except now she’s not. Being in a 200 square foot apartment in NYC seems like one of these worst places to be right now (I know this was shot before quarantine but still) but I guess she’s just going to continue to work at the restaurant while she writes a book about her dad? Does she have a college degree? It’s also clear that the young couple got married too quickly.

And Anthony being her father with the birth mom was a dumb, pointless twist that we’ve seen on other shows. This did not need the melodrama of “A Million Little Things”, but it seems like something they felt they needed to add to sell to the network.

Larry is the most interesting character here, and based on his backstory it seems like a show centered around him would be more interesting than this. I assume his plot will involve trying to reconnect with his own family. 

I still will probably watch every episode of this (unless the world miraculously recovers soon) as it is a fairly pleasant show, a distraction from the real world and I love how they embrace the location when it could have just been a generic Hollywood backdrop. Still it will probably just air out it’s order and then be canceled afterwards, but maybe they got a bunch of Parks and Rec fans to watch this tonight (lol probably not).

[formerlyfreedom]

And OH SHIT. I thought that might be a possibility, but yeah...Luly's biological father might be Anthony? AWKWARD.

Loved Larry finding his 'niche' -  yeah, he's going to grate on them, and he did overstep getting in touch with teachers without checking with the mom. But he's looking out for them and he's truly coming from a good place. Robin just needs to figure out to direct his energy.

How long until Anthony sells his Atlanta restaurant and moves full time to Savannah?

I have siblings who are adopted, so watching the show address that is fascinating. I like that Luly and Robin have such a true mother/daughter relationship. Being biologically related is not a fix - and you don't often get a magical connection. And it ties into multiple stories on the show at this point - Luly/Robin, Charlotte and her genology search, the 'mystery' of Luly's biological father, and even just the entire Council of Dads. Family CAN be chosen.

I lived in Georgia for seven years, and the Savannah area was my favorite place to visit. Loving the scenery.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Luly was 8 when her father met Robin. Theo must be close to17. Therefore, Luly must be about 26? What did she do between college and her dad getting sick? Why didn't she go to NY after college?

It's sad that Charlotte didn't think she could rely on her married older sister to keep the family together if their mom died. Sure, it would be a Party of 5 situation, but there certainly should be sufficient insurance to enable it to happen, and Robin should have asked Luly to be the guardian of any minor siblings in the event of her death (and drawn up a will) shortly after their dad died. That wouldn't mean Luly couldn't still have moved away.

Larry should stop trying to be a "dad" and tell the kids, especially Theo, to consider him as a granddad. He's old enough and they don't appear to have one in their lives. A granddad can give advice without seeming to be a dad replacement.

Even if Oliver could ride a bike like a pro, Robin had no right to expect him to immediately agree to the father/son bike ride just because he's her friend, no matter how upset she is.  Sometimes JJ will have to deal with disappointment.  And here is a venue where Theo could be helpful as the older brother.

Robin's life might be easier if she had some female friends to rely on, but she doesn't appear to have any.

Edited May 1, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[gsnrocks92]

3 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Luly was 8 when her father met Robin. The must be about 17. Therefore, Luly must be about 26? What did she do between college and her dad getting sick? Why didn't she go to NY after college?

It's sad that Charlotte didn't think she could rely on her married older sister to keep the family together if their mom died. Sure, it would be a party of 5 situation, but there certainly should be sufficient insurance to enable it to happen, and Robin should have asked Luly to be the guardian of any minor siblings in the event of her death (and drawn up a will) shortly after their dad died. That wouldn't mean Luly couldn't still have moved away.

Larry should stop trying to be a "dad" and tell the kids, especially  Theo, to consider him as a granddad. He's old enough and they don't appear to have one in their lives. A granddad can give advice without seeming to be a dad replacement.

Even if Oliver could ride a bike like a pro, Robin had no right to expect him to immediately agree to the father/son bike ride just because he's her friend, no matter how upset she is.  Sometimes JJ will have to deal with disappointment.  And here is a venue where Theo could be helpful as the older brother.

Robin's life might be easier if she had some female friends to rely on, but she doesn't appear to have any.

Yeah I don’t know why they didn’t give Robin at least one female friend. They also don’t appear to have any other relatives aside from the grandma shown in the pilot, but not sure if that was Robin’s mom or Scott’s.

[chabelisaywow]

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How long until Anthony sells his Atlanta restaurant and moves full time to Savannah?

and he will take over the Krusty Krab.  I knew that Luly was Anthony's when the mom mentioned him in the pictures.

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

7 hours ago, gsnrocks92 said:

Yeah I don’t know why they didn’t give Robin at least one female friend. They also don’t appear to have any other relatives aside from the grandma shown in the pilot, but not sure if that was Robin’s mom or Scott’s.

Robin called her "mom" and talked to her as though she was her own mother. 

[Diana Berry]

The second episode didn’t do much for me. 

[DearEvette]

I like that they decided to give the nascent council some growing pains.  I think personally if I were Robin I don't know if I would immediately slide right into being comfortable with partitioning out dad duties.  I am hyper sensitive to people having their own life so this would have not been an easy thing for me to fall in with. 

I also like the that men had very different comfort levels of involvements.   Larry was over involved to the point of being suffocating with it.  Anthony was under-involved to the point of seeming like he was practically ghosting them.  And Ollie was wrapped up in his own insecurities to and guilt to be able to even start to get involved. Also, they are not really friends with each other so they don't have even that to fall back on. 

I don't at all feel the relationship between Luly and her husband.  It feels like a got married in the aftermath of grief thing.  That is the sort of big life decision they say you shouldn't make while grieving.  Also they just don't seem like they know each other too well.  It is a weird dynamic.

I can only imagine the show decided to re-consider the relationship between Michelle, Luly and everyone else between the pilot episode and this one.  I was sooo confused because Luly wondered how Michelle knew she was married, Anthony said he'd hadn't seen her in years,  and Robin had never met her before, so obviously she's never been part of Luly's life since she gave her up.  But Sharon Leal was at the wedding in the pilot episode.  LOL.

Anyway, I love soapy plot twists and I am all over the idea that Anthony might be Luly's bio dad.

[OtterMommy]

On 4/30/2020 at 8:00 PM, alexa said:

Is it just me or does the mom seem more like an aunt to all of the kids instead of a mom?  She just doesn’t seem very close to any of them.  

Just spitballing here, but I'm guessing that Scott was the parent who handled all the day to day nuts and bolts of parenting and Robin was the parent who was away from the house for long hours (I'm trying hard not to say that Scott filled the "mom" role and Robin filled the "dad" role).  Now that Scott is gone and has enlisted these three other men to fill the socially accepted "dad" role, Robin now has to step into what many would consider the mom role.  I will say that Robin's relationship with Luly doesn't seem parental, but Luly is older and spent the first part of her life with just Scott.

On 4/30/2020 at 8:22 PM, gsnrocks92 said:

And Anthony being her father with the birth mom was a dumb, pointless twist that we’ve seen on other shows. This did not need the melodrama of “A Million Little Things”, but it seems like something they felt they needed to add to sell to the network.

I saw it coming from the pilot (it's been so long, I can't remember what it was that clued me in to it in that episode), but it doesn't seem overly melodramatic here.  What little we know about Michelle and what we know about Anthony so far, it is in the realm of possibility.  But, speaking of AMLT---even though that show came before this one, this one feels like the original and AMLT feels (or felt, up to the point where I washed my hand of it) like the knock off of this show.

On 4/30/2020 at 8:22 PM, gsnrocks92 said:

I assume Scott has a large life insurance policy. It’s obvious the family was quite wealthy, they have this big party thrown because Luly (?) was going to New York except now she’s not. Being in a 200 square foot apartment in NYC seems like one of these worst places to be right now (I know this was shot before quarantine but still) but I guess she’s just going to continue to work at the restaurant while she writes a book about her dad? Does she have a college degree? It’s also clear that the young couple got married too quickly.

I was going to say that this family certainly knows how to party!  Both episodes now have ended in some sort of fete and I'm wondering if this is going the be the show's "thing."

About Luly and Evan--I'm here for Luly, but I couldn't care less about her marriage or about Evan as a character.  I'm not also not excited with the possibility of Michelle being a frequent, if not regular, fixture of this show.  It just seems like a bit too much.

I really appreciated how this show is handling grief with ALL of the characters.  Everyone grieves differently and this show is taking the time to give each character their own feelings.  It also didn't feel like know that everyone had their moment of being sad, the world is all fine and dandy again.

I guess I never put the pieces together, even when Anthony made a comment that he was calling Charlotte's mom and Tess's dads, that Tess was Oliver's daughter.  While that is all nice in good, it does make this family a bit more insular, which I'm not sure I like.

But so far I'm enjoying this show...which is saying something as the family drama genre is something that hasn't been working for me lately.

 

[chabelisaywow]

I feel like the Council of Dad is just another set of people to add to this family quilt.  Luly grew up with Scott, they added Robin, Scott + Robin had angsty brother (can't remember his name), they adopted an Asian girl, JJ? (he is introduced by Luly as "there's my brother") is he adopted too? Then like when you eat all your leftovers for dinner one night and add a plate of scrambled eggs to fill in the crack - Robin + Scott had an oops baby.

People have posted that the show is filmed in Savannah - but has it said that they are located in Savannah? Savannah is 200+ miles away from Atlanta!

Edited May 2, 2020 by chabelisaywow

[ItCouldBeWorse]

20 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

I guess I never put the pieces together, even when Anthony made a comment that he was calling Charlotte's mom and Tess's dads, that Tess was Oliver's daughter.  While that is all nice in good, it does make this family a bit more insular, which I'm not sure I like.

If you rewatch the pilot, when Oliver brings Scott home from the hospital earlier than his family expected him, Tess is with Charlotte on the couch and begs to stay for cake even though Oliver says "papa" is waiting for them. Then, before the funeral, when Oliver coaxes Charlotte out of her closet, he talks about how he reread The Diary of Anne Frank with Tess. It probably adds to Robin and Oliver's closeness that they have girls the same age (who appear to be best friends.)

[DearEvette]

22 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

But, speaking of AMLT---even though that show came before this one, this one feels like the original and AMLT feels (or felt, up to the point where I washed my hand of it) like the knock off of this show.

I know exactly what you mean.  The relationships in this show feels more "natural" than AMLT.  The characters & the writing for them in that show seem like they were put together by committee.  None of those people feel like they are as good a friends as they tell us they are. 

But the web of relationships in this one feels more naturally put together.  Oliver is Robin's best friend and I think the writing for them makes us feel that.  Meanwhile, Anthony was Scott's best friend and we have gotten to know a little bit of their deep history.  Again, i think the writing does a good job of showing over telling, so you believe it.  And of course Larry was Scott's AA sponsor, so he doesn't feel as comfortably close to the family as the other two men. 

I also like the bit about the two girls being BFFs.  I don't remember is we are told that Tess was an adopted or a surrogate baby, but I headwank that Robin and Oliver went through the adoption process at the same time and since they were BFFs made a point of making sure their girls were too.

[possibilities]

I want to see Oliver's husband more involved. He ought to be around more, and participating more, in the family get togethers-- and especially should have been there when Tess and Charlotte were delivered home after their stealth trip to Atlanta.

I think Scott was Larry's sponsor, not the other way around.

I think a single parent of 5 children (or any children) who rejects help from friends is insane. But I wish she had female friends, as well.

I agree that Lu and her husband got married too fast. From what we've seen of their relationship, he dotes on her and she takes him for granted. Not a great recipe.

 

[Aliconehead]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

 

I want to see Oliver's husband more involved. He ought to be around more, and participating more, in the family get togethers-- and especially should have been there when Tess and Charlotte were delivered home after their stealth trip to Atlanta

 

He was there.  He was the one that said that Anthony had texted.  
Yes Scott was Larry’s sponsor.  Larry told Theo the story.  

[Whimsy]

I kept waiting for the big reveal that Anthony was just trying to avoid his duties since Atlanta does not have Michelin stars. Only five cities are eligible for them New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco. That’s the main reason my daughter (who is a professional pastry chef) chose to move to San Francisco. 
 

Otherwise, this show is just meh to me. I’ll keep watching because new shows are getting scarce.