S01.E02: Clubs and Cliques

[paulvdb]

Quote

Aisha challenges Jamie's spot on the football team. Daisy and Mac butt heads over an assignment.

 

[memememe76]

I already really enjoy Daisy and Aisha‘a friendship. Love their gift bag! I also like Jesse and Slater. 

[Lili]

That Dr. Mario joke was great, because Slater is played by someone named Mario. Yeah, that was the highlight of the episode for me.

[Aileen]

5 hours ago, Lili said:

That Dr. Mario joke was great, because Slater is played by someone named Mario. Yeah, that was the highlight of the episode for me.

I think it referenced Dr Mario, the video game that was popular during the original series run.

[Lili]

16 hours ago, Aileen said:

I think it referenced Dr Mario, the video game that was popular during the original series run.

Yes, I know that. I am a gamer, after all. But it still seemed intentional because of Slater.

[Kel Varnsen]

This episode went a bit to heavy on the heartwarming speeches for me. I want less that and more funny.

Plus I am not sure if it is the writing or the actor but Mack really sucks. He is probably the least interesting character in the show.

[Kromm]

On 11/29/2020 at 2:22 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

This episode went a bit to heavy on the heartwarming speeches for me. I want less that and more funny.

Plus I am not sure if it is the writing or the actor but Mack really sucks. He is probably the least interesting character in the show.

I won't say he gets better later, because he doesn't really, but I will champion the fact that the show for the most part realizes he sucks and crafts the narrative around that.  I also am of the opinion that when we eventually get to see more of Zack, HE sucks even more. I'll probably post more about that in the actual episode thread where that happens though.  

[Kel Varnsen]

2 hours ago, Kromm said:

I won't say he gets better later, because he doesn't really, but I will champion the fact that the show for the most part realizes he sucks and crafts the narrative around that.  I also am of the opinion that when we eventually get to see more of Zack, HE sucks even more. I'll probably post more about that in the actual episode thread where that happens though.  

Even though actual Zack sucked at least Mark Paul Gosselaar had a decent amount of screen presence and charisma making him kind of interesting the guy playing Mack has none of that which mean he just kills the scenes he is in for me. It is like Mack was the last person they cast at the end of a long week, just found the first person who looked kind of like Zack (but not really), and then went home.

Edited December 1, 2020 by Kel Varnsen

[Kromm]

10 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Even though actual Zack sucked at least Mark Paul Gosselaar had a decent amount of screen presence and charisma making him kind of interesting the guy playing Mack has none of that which mean he just kills the scenes he is in for me. It is like Mack was the last person they cast at the end of a long week, just found the first person who looked kind of like Zack (but not really), and then went home.

I don't disagree with your analysis of the actor, but I do think they didn't place much of a priority on Mack being charming because they clearly knew from Day 1 that unlike Zack he wasn't the main protagonist.  And in fact was meant to be a target of mockery by both the show itself AND the actual main protagonist (Daisy).  She's the one who breaks the fourth wall to talk to us, after all, not Mack.  Does the character even stand a chance of having the appeal of Zack, even if he WAS more charming, without that?  But if he was allowed to do that, it would betray the clear intentional premise of this new version.  That the old guys and their spawn kind of suck.  That they're unrelatable and unsympathetic.  

So it's kind of both. He sucked because he's not charming, but he also sucks because he was meant to suck.

[Aileen]

After finishing the series, I binged some OG SBTB, and Zack really was the worst. I felt like the revival had a duty to be real about Zack and Slater, who was unbelievably sexist.

I really like the character of Mack and thought he was used perfectly. A little goes a long way and the writers know this. I actually like all of the characters very much. No one is a stereotype and they have a lot of layers as the episodes progress.

 

[Kromm]

I'm a bit skeptical on Mack having layers. The show talks up the potential of him having them, but pulls back on that.  I mean what's his contribution in the end? 

Spoiler

To get his slimeball Dad to show up to something once as a publicity stunt?  Yeah. thanks Mack.

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by Kromm

[Lazlo]

On 12/1/2020 at 11:36 PM, Aileen said:

After finishing the series, I binged some OG SBTB, and Zack really was the worst. I felt like the revival had a duty to be real about Zack and Slater, who was unbelievably sexist.

I really like the character of Mack and thought he was used perfectly. A little goes a long way and the writers know this. I actually like all of the characters very much. No one is a stereotype and they have a lot of layers as the episodes progress.

 

By the standards of 2020 Zack and Slater are definitely sexist. By the standards of 1989, especially teen characters, they were sort of normal.

Which I think is part of my frustration with the show, even though I mostly like it. Values have changed a lot since the original yes and Mac sucks more not just because the actor isn't as charming or because the show wants to mock him but because Zack fit pretty comfortably in his 1989 zeitgeist while Mac is intentionally ridiculous in 2020.