S02.E08: It Had To Be You

[Aethera]

Quote

Jen feels conflicted over a real estate deal. The damage from Charlie's joyride piles up. Judy reaches out to Michelle and runs into Detective Perez.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I like that things are finally starting to fall apart for Judy and Jen, although I am not sure how this season ends without Jen going to jail. Because even if the person is being an asshole to you it is still murder if you kill them.

And as far as things falling apart go I thought the end montage was super effective. Although what was the point of Jen checking herself out naked in the bathroom mirror?

[Nordly Beaumont]

10 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Although what was the point of Jen checking herself out naked in the bathroom mirror?

She was looking at her mastectomy scars. She told Ben his scars mean he's been through something hard and survived, so she was looking at her own.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Nordly Beaumont

[Ashforth]

On 5/12/2020 at 7:44 AM, Nordly Beaumont said:

She was looking at her mastectomy scars. She told Ben his scars mean he's been through something hard and survived, so she was looking at her own.

And her husband had rejected her physically after her double mastectomy. I thought that she was in conflict about being sexually active again and her self-doubt had her questioning why anyone would find her desirable. 

Even though it seemed as if Ben was supposed to be Mr. Wonderful, I thought that his over the top declarations of devotion were a creepy too-much-too-soon.

[Ellaria]

The Laguna Beach PD should hire Charlie because he is clearly a better investigator than anyone on the payroll.

The last phone call sequence was well done but I’m not the least bit interested in meeting Judy’s mother.

One request to all shows: when we are watching characters scroll thru names on a mobile phone, can it move a bit slower so I don’t have to replay the scene a few times to read what is on the phone’s screen?

Edited May 31, 2020 by Ellaria Sand

[Stats Queen]

On 5/25/2020 at 7:39 PM, Ellaria Sand said:

The Laguna Beach PD should hire Charlie because he is clearly a better investigator than anyone on the payroll.

The last phone call sequence was well done but I’m not the least bit interested in meeting Judy’s mother. One request: when we are watching characters scroll thru names on a mobile phone, can it move a bit slower so I don’t have to replay the scene a few times to read what is on the phone’s screen. 

Right, not all of us have ginormous TV screens and perfect eyesight. Bugs me about so many shows....

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Perez getting indignant about Judy showing up at the hospital made me roll my eyes. She framed it as being protective but she's really just being territorial. The fact that she brought up Steve being missing was also pretty weak. She has nothing to connect Judy to Steve's disappearance so using that as a reason as to why her ex shouldn't be seeing her seemed desperate to me.

I liked that even though Jen clearly did not like Parker, she still told Charlie not to be a jerk to her. I get that he's a hormonal fickle teenager but in the previous episode, he told Judy he didn't even know if he liked Parker. If you're going to steal a car and drive it illegally to impress a girl, you should at least like her!

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Perez getting indignant about Judy showing up at the hospital made me roll my eyes. She framed it as being protective but she's really just being territorial. The fact that she brought up Steve being missing was also pretty weak. She has nothing to connect Judy to Steve's disappearance so using that as a reason as to why her ex shouldn't be seeing her seemed desperate to me.

I liked that even though Jen clearly did not like Parker, she still told Charlie not to be a jerk to her. I get that he's a hormonal fickle teenager but in the previous episode, he told Judy he didn't even know if he liked Parker. If you're going to steal a car and drive it illegally to impress a girl, you should at least like her!

It's been so long since I watched this that I don't remember why Judy and Perez were at the hospital, but I agree that this love triangle was some weak writing.

My take on Charlie and Parker is that she is a popular and influential girl at school and Charlie was caught up in finally being one of the cool kids and having a girl want to make out (and more) with him, even though he was realizing that she wasn't a nice person. He did want to impress her. I think it's an understandable teenage decision. Hell, a lot of us make bad decisions based on social status and sex well beyond our teen years.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 7/25/2020 at 7:05 AM, Ashforth said:

It's been so long since I watched this that I don't remember why Judy and Perez were at the hospital, but I agree that this love triangle was some weak writing.

My take on Charlie and Parker is that she is a popular and influential girl at school and Charlie was caught up in finally being one of the cool kids and having a girl want to make out (and more) with him, even though he was realizing that she wasn't a nice person. He did want to impress her. I think it's an understandable teenage decision. Hell, a lot of us make bad decisions based on social status and sex well beyond our teen years.

Judy's girlfriend's grandmother had a stroke so she was in ICU.

I don't think Charlie was as calculating as dating Parker to be cool (I never got the impression that he was uncool or trying to climb the social ladder). I think that, like many teen crushes, a lot of it was based on "she's pretty" + general proximity, and once he spent more time with her, he realized that he wasn't actually that interested in her. Crushes come and go very quickly at that age, which is often facilitated by simply having your head turned by someone else. I remember having multiple crushes on people at the same time when I was in high school so it's not surprising to me when teenagers like someone on Monday and have no interest in them on Tuesday. But the fact that Charlie told Judy the day after their joy ride that he didn't even know if he liked her was what made me roll my eyes. If you're going to potentially get arrested or grounded, at least make sure it's for someone you like!