S01.E02: Ruin My Life

[OtterMommy]

Air date: April 20, 2020

Noa and Daniel’s relationship begins to flourish, and after an unwanted birthday party for Noa, Daniel discovers more about her past while a heartbroken Vanessa is not giving up so easily. Meanwhile, with Rafael’s Cuban Bakery booming, a food critic extraordinaire puts in an outrageous food order the Garcias cannot refuse to take.

[WendyCR72]

Still really liking this. Frothy with a dash of depth/seriousness.

But it makes me wonder: How freaking old is Lewis? The way he was talking, he worked with Noa's mother and is now Noa's agent, but if this is indeed the case, I think the actor is way too young.

Speaking of Noa's mom, when Noa first got the gift of her mom's first magazine cover, I assumed she was dead. To find out later she is actually mentally ill was bittersweet. But it certainly explains Noa's disdain for her birthday, after telling Daniel her mother had a bad episode at her 10th birthday party. But how sad to become cynical so young. Perfect rendition of "Poor Little Rich Girl". But it's nice to see Noa have some depth to her.

So, Noa also helped Mateo with his single. Not to mention got a food critic to further the family's exposure with regard to the bakery. No wonder the family has little problem with Daniel's folly (or so it seems now) so far. I'm sure that will come.

Natalie being attracted to a girl (even as her family thinks it is a boy), I have to say - and I don't know why - I had a feeling that twist was coming. Considering the family's closeness, I'd love for this to be a non issue. We'll see.

I do like Noa's friend, Harper. She really went to bat for Noa with Daniel. It's nice that Noa has a real friend that cares, and not just because she is famous.

But I still can't with Vanessa. I know she and Daniel had four years together and it is hard to move on. But, girl, find some damned dignity. The whole "fighting for your man" schtick is kind of pathetic when I think he has made it pretty plain by his actions, if not words, that he isn't as into you as he thought. It happens. Move on! I pity her roommate, whom she seems to treat more like an assistant than a real friend.

Noa/Daniel seemed to rev up fast. I think they are sweet/fun. Whether that can translate to something lasting, though? Who knows? But it's a nice thought.

Finally, I finally remember where I had seen Mama Garcia before: Playing Kerry Weaver's firefighter lover, Sandy Lopez, on ER. Nice to see Lisa Vidal again.

[Angeleyes]

I enjoyed tonight’s episode, but they did stray a bit from the original. This version was fine though. Although, I was hoping to see Noa’s cool house and having Daniel hanging around on a crane. 
The pacing of the American version is different since it is an hour show vs 1/2 hour and they seem to be emphasizing the romance more than the comedy. 
In this version, Vanessa is not as much of a ditzy psycho who pales in comparison to Noa. In the original, her craziness is played more for laughs and it is strangely endearing and in this version it’s played to make her more sympathetic to the audience. 

I like the casting of Daniel’s brother and sister. His brother is less of a Euro-trash d-bag in this one and the sister seems sweeter and less emo. I hate they missed the opportunity to have Vanessa as the older sister figure she could lean on in this one, but 4 year’s vs. 9 in being in the younger sister’s life makes a difference. 

I guess in this one Noa’s mom is still alive, but with some sort of dementia. It sounds like her dad will still be a distant jerk in order to feed into her poor little rich girl backstory. 
 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Angeleyes

[Trini]

So this is cute! I hope they can keep up this vibe for the rest of the show. I get a sort of a Ugly Betty feeling from this. Caught this episode first, but I will catch up on the first episode. But it was easy enough to jump in without it.

[possibilities]

I am finding the two main characters (and Vanessa) increasingly boring, and the rest of the characters increasingly interesting.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

So, Noa also helped Mateo with his single. Not to mention got a food critic to further the family's exposure with regard to the bakery. No wonder the family has little problem with Daniel's folly (or so it seems now) so far. I'm sure that will come

Sure, but it still bugged me that Daniel wouldn’t have gone home to help with the increased business. I mean, he’s supposed to be all about la familia, right?

 

 

[mikem]

I had trouble finding the forum because I thought that this would be under comedy.  But, now that I've thought about it, I think it's appropriately categorized in Primetimer as a drama.  It still feels like it should be a comedy, since it's generally like a movie romantic comedy, but, except for Mateo, it's not going for laughs.

I am liking the show.  Breezy, escapist fun.  I liked that Daniel didn't give mixed messages to Vanessa and just said he wasn't coming without any wiggle room or reason to give her hope.

But the writers are making things way too contrived.  Daniel doesn't get cell service in the middle of Miami?  He doesn't go upstairs and ask Piper or someone else if he can borrow their phone?  Noa Hamilton is a smart businesswoman who throws a work birthday party every year at her workplace -- she doesn't have enough valet service so her guests don't have to wait so long for their car?  Daniel waited long enough that it went from day to night!  The family couldn't get more then FOUR pastries baked in several hours?  They didn't ask their friends or neighbors to help?  And does a food critic order something off the menu using his real name, if he's planning on writing about it?

And the critic's order was supposed to be picked up at 7pm.  Daniel called Vanessa at 7:26pm by her phone, and then they showed Vanessa already at home eating ice cream before the critic came.  And Daniel didn't hear Mateo's song until after he returned to the party, which was after 7:26pm, so the critic was really late for pickup.  That seemed like an unforced error - why didn't the writers just have the critic pick up the order at 8?

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by mikem

[tennisgurl]

This show is light and breezy fun and I am really enjoying it. Some of it seems a bit contrived (like Daniel has no cell service in Miami?) but I am just enjoying the ride so far so I can let those things go. Daniel and Noa are cute and flirty, and I am interested in seeing where they go next. Its all heart to hearts and skinny dipping now, but how will they really integrate into each others worlds, and make a real relationship? 

So Natalie isn't interested in those cute boys her mom is always talking about, huh? I suspected that she was interested in girls last week when she was chatting with that girl at her dance and her reaction when her mom said how she "remembers what it was like with boys when she was a teen" but this week pretty much confirms it. That should be an interesting subplot, I figure that her family will be supportive, especially considering how close they all are. 

So now they get extra business, a famous columnist writes a rave, and Daniels brothers son gets exposure! This is all working out pretty well for them so far, but I feel like if this starts to become more "real" or if they start experiencing the downsides of fame, his family might be less happy about this. 

I like Noas friend Harper, she seems like a really good friend, and its nice that Noa has someone with her back, even if she has the sort of Lonely At the Top Poor Little Rich Girl stuff going on.

[Angeleyes]

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Sure, but it still bugged me that Daniel wouldn’t have gone home to help with the increased business. I mean, he’s supposed to be all about la familia, right?

 

 

If it’s anything like the original, Daniel will be skipping out on the regular to be with Noa. In the original, the family wants to encourage the relationship because of the perks and they tell him he has been working too hard and not taking any time for himself. Plus, his presence in the bakery becomes a distraction. 

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

This show is light and breezy fun and I am really enjoying it. Some of it seems a bit contrived (like Daniel has no cell service in Miami?)

And also in Miami: I was half expecting them to get attacked by sharks because they went swimming at night, but I kept telling myself: No, no shark attacks on this show.
Unless maybe it's Daniel's ex-girlfriend off-screen. 

[HerkyJerky]

11 hours ago, mikem said:

And the critic's order was supposed to be picked up at 7pm.  Daniel called Vanessa at 7:26pm by her phone, and then they showed Vanessa already at home eating ice cream before the critic came.  And Daniel didn't hear Mateo's song until after he returned to the party, which was after 7:26pm, so the critic was really late for pickup.  That seemed like an unforced error - why didn't the writers just have the critic pick up the order at 8?

If we're going to nitpick, here's my nit:  when the dad keeps opening up the oven to check on his Magnifico's, he keeps leaning on the oven.  OUCH!

And is Noa's girlfriend's name Harper or Piper?  I heard Piper?

Edited April 22, 2020 by HerkyJerky
spelling mistake

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, HerkyJerky said:

And is Noa's girlfriend's name Harper or Piper?  I heard Piper?

I checked IMDB. And while I definitely heard "Harper", it is Piper! Oh well, sorry! 🙂 Harper/Piper. Still a good friend to Noa.

[joanne3482]

On 4/20/2020 at 10:13 PM, WendyCR72 said:

But it makes me wonder: How freaking old is Lewis? The way he was talking, he worked with Noa's mother and is now Noa's agent, but if this is indeed the case, I think the actor is way too young.

Shockingly enough, the actor is 55 (he definitely doesn't look it).  If Noa is in her 20s theoretically her mom could be in her 40s which could work. If the mom got into the business in her late teens early 20s he would be in his 30s when he became her manager.

In the premiere Natalie was scrolling through something that said "lesbian" (either an app or an Instagram feed I can't recall) so to me it was obvious she's not straight. It's interesting, to me, that in 2 shows about Cuban families (this one and One Day at a Time reboot), there's a female character who is a lesbian and for whom coming out will be/was potentially an issue.   

[WendyCR72]

5 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Shockingly enough, the actor is 55 (he definitely doesn't look it). 

Holy crap. He definitely doesn't look 55! So, yeah, I guess the actor is not too young, after all. Who knew?

[mikem]

In the premiere, while Natalie was scrolling through the app that said "lesbian" at the top, Mateo came along and snatched her phone away and changed the app so he could look for Noa Hamilton.  They showed the app changing from the "lesbian" top to a Noa Hamilton view when Mateo put his fingers on the screen.  It was left unsaid, presumably on purpose, whether Mateo saw the word "lesbian" but already knew, or if he was oblivious and didn't notice it. 

I'm guessing the former because Natalie didn't seem particularly nervous when he did it, but I guess we'll find out for sure in a future episode.

ABC re-ran the pilot after the "One World" music special.  The total viewers for the second episode went up a hair compared to the original showing of the pilot, so I'm hoping the show's ratings will hold steady and we can have a second season!  The pilot's ratings were pretty borderline.

Edited April 23, 2020 by mikem