S01.E05: Cake

[radiochik]

Am I the only one who thinks that Max's dream at the end is going to have them turn the tables on his relationship with Kat moving forward? Meaning that he will now be pining after her and she has moved on?

I really disliked this show when it started but I dare say it's growing on me.  I even liked the waving at the end on this ep.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, radiochik said:

Am I the only one who thinks that Max's dream at the end is going to have them turn the tables on his relationship with Kat moving forward? Meaning that he will now be pining after her and she has moved on?

I definitely think that no matter when the show ends they will make him have a change of heart on Kat even if they have to force-fit him into it because I suspect that the end goal of the show is ultimately for them to end up romantically involved and also

Spoiler

because that's how Miranda ended.

 

[possibilities]

Does that ever happen in real life? That someone is just not into you, even once they get to know you and enjoy your company on other levels,  and then changes their mind in a serious way? Happily ever after? I can't think of any examples.

[ctlady]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Am I the only one who thinks that Max's dream at the end is going to have them turn the tables on his relationship with Kat moving forward? Meaning that he will now be pining after her and she has moved on?

Ah.....the 'don't know what you got till it's gone' route.  I do like that Kat put him on the spot by having him tell the truth about not wanting to go to the monster truck ralley (that he couldn't get the shift off) rather than being honest citing' that's what real friends would do'.  I'm glad they put it all out on the table.

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I definitely think that no matter when the show ends they will make him have a change of heart on Kat even if they have to force-fit him into it because I suspect that the end goal of the show is ultimately for them to end up romantically involved

I hope they don't (regardless of what Miranda did - because, IMO, this show needs to stand on it's own rather than be constantly compared to Miranda)  Max made it very clear that he just wants to be friends, that he doesn't think of Kat in a romantic way and, given his relationship scorecard, he would make a better friend than boyfriend.  There would have to be a very slow buildup of events that would make his change of heart towards kat believable after have said all those things to her.  And, in a way, I don't want Kat to fall for it.  But, I can see the show going for this contrived route because it will open up drama should Brizheeeeet return from Paris

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

So, if I understand it correctly, all of the cats at the cafe cafe can be adopted, right?   If someone walked in there and wanted to adopt one of the cats I assume they could do so.

I'm more concerned about health codes with cats freely wandering and getting hair everywhere - especially in a place where food is sold. Restaurants won't let people without shirts and shoes in stores, but hairy, possibly flea-riddled cats who are allowed to roam everywhere (even in dust and cobweb filled air vents)  It can also put off potential customers who are allergic to cats (such as myself)

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, ctlady said:

I'm more concerned about health codes with cats freely wandering and getting hair everywhere - especially in a place where food is sold. Restaurants won't let people without shirts and shoes in stores, but hairy, possibly flea-riddled cats who are allowed to roam everywhere (even in dust and cobweb filled air vents)  It can also put off potential customers who are allergic to cats (such as myself)

I think cat cafes in general are marketing to a very specific demographic that doesn't include people who are allergic to cats.  (Or on second thought, maybe it does - those who love cats but can only tolerate the allergens for a brief period so can't have them as pets.)  Anyway, I will hand-wave that they have a separate kitchen area that's health-inspector friendly, and the portion with the cats is actually separate.

But I have to say I'm bummed that @ctlady you are apparently not actually a Cat Lady, but maybe just a Connecticut Lady or a Charlize Theron or a Clarence Thomas fan, or...?)

[ctlady]

4 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

but maybe just a Connecticut Lady

Bingo!

And I'm a 'big dog' lady too :)

[Cherpumple]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

Does that ever happen in real life? That someone is just not into you, even once they get to know you and enjoy your company on other levels,  and then changes their mind in a serious way? Happily ever after? I can't think of any examples.

I'm that way sometimes. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I prefer to really get to know someone before wanting to date them. The last time it happened was with a guy I knew as co-worker/acquaintance for six years. I knew he had a crush on me for a while, so I considered the possibility of dating him, but I wasn't interested and his crush faded. Then I moved away and about two years later I happened to catch a facebook post he made and it made me laugh, so the next time I was in town I asked him to hang out. We clicked immediately in a new way and ended up dating for five years. I eventually broke it off due to incompatible longterm goals, but it was great while it lasted and I wish him nothing but happiness. Long story short, it can happen but I don't know how common it is.

7 hours ago, radiochik said:

Am I the only one who thinks that Max's dream at the end is going to have them turn the tables on his relationship with Kat moving forward? Meaning that he will now be pining after her and she has moved on?

That's definitely a possibility. If this show is allowed to play out as planned, I have no doubt that Kat and Max are the endgame couple, even it takes many twists and turns to get there. Some people may find that too predictable or boring, but I simply see it as adhering to genre standards. This is primarily a rom-com, and the main expectation of that genre is that the lead couple gets a "happily ever after." 

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

Does that ever happen in real life? That someone is just not into you, even once they get to know you and enjoy your company on other levels,  and then changes their mind in a serious way? Happily ever after? I can't think of any examples.

I insisted on being friends with my husband to be first.  I didn't feel "that way" about him initially.  He grew on me, LOL.  I think it's probably more likely statistically speaking for that to happen in women than in men.  Men seem to know who they have a romantic interest in immediately and if it's a "no" it usually never changes.  And how many seasons of "Married at First Sight" have only confirmed that for me?  I've lost count.  But I see this show as a bit of fluff and in the business of fulfilling girlish female fantasies, so why not?

30 minutes ago, Cherpumple said:

If this show is allowed to play out as planned, I have no doubt that Kat and Max are the endgame couple, even it takes many twists and turns to get there. Some people may find that too predictable or boring, but I simply see it as adhering to genre standards. This is primarily a rom-com, and the main expectation of that genre is that the lead couple gets a "happily ever after." 

Yup, I agree, it's basically a rom com.  This show is not "ground breaking" enough to end with a different scenario in which Kat ends up without her "true love" in the end.  

[Johannah]

This show has, a few times, said, this is what usually happens in a sitcom, but we're going to change it up.  I'm hopeful that they change this up, too.  I hope Kat realizes that any 'sexual' attraction she has for Max is merely physical and a deeper relationship develops as friendship.  Best buds... A better friend than whatever her name was.  Then Kat meets and falls in love with someone who loves her back.

it could happen.

 

[possibilities]

I get the friends before lovers thing. But Max is already her friend. He knows her really well over a long period of time.

I guess we wait and see what happens with the show.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I get the friends before lovers thing. But Max is already her friend. He knows her really well over a long period of time.

Does he though? In the first episode I got the impression they were friends in college but had no contact since. He had no clue if she was married or not and she didn’t know that he was moving back to Louisville. Then when talking to Kat’s friend he was “Max from college”. Since they’re 39 they probably haven’t seen each other for 10-15 years. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Guest

[CarpeFelis]

I kept expecting a twist that never happened but would have been funny... if it turned out the guy who wanted the wedding cake had already moved on from Phil’s ex and was actually marrying someone else.

[SmithW6079]

11 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

I kept expecting a twist that never happened but would have been funny... if it turned out the guy who wanted the wedding cake had already moved on from Phil’s ex and was actually marrying someone else.

Yes, that was my thinking too, especially since the guy looked half Phil's age (and presumably, half his ex's age too). Either way, Phil should have just made the damn cake.

[Ms Lark]

What bothered me was that Phil was willing to let the whole shop fold on a lie because he was too much of a weenie to say, "I'm the baker and I'm gay. I'm happy to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, but when it's my ex's wedding, that's where I draw the line."

I don't think anyone would have faulted him for that.

[Cherpumple]

2 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

What bothered me was that Phil was willing to let the whole shop fold on a lie because he was too much of a weenie to say, "I'm the baker and I'm gay. I'm happy to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, but when it's my ex's wedding, that's where I draw the line."

I don't think anyone would have faulted him for that.

I agree, especially because the cafe doesn't normally offer wedding cakes. This was a special request that would take a lot of time and effort, likely outside Phil's normal work hours, and I wouldn't blame him one bit for refusing to do all that extra work for someone who had treated him badly. It wasn't his decisions that bothered me, but the way he didn't stand up for himself and his friend's business.

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

What bothered me was that Phil was willing to let the whole shop fold on a lie because he was too much of a weenie to say, "I'm the baker and I'm gay. I'm happy to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, but when it's my ex's wedding, that's where I draw the line."

I don't think anyone would have faulted him for that.

But he wasn’t. He was about to do just that when Kat stopped him. I don’t blame Phil for anything that happened it was all Kat’s bad business decisions. I really don’t even blame her because the writers had the characters act like the only options were to make the cake, lie or admit Phil wasn’t over his ex. 

[possibilities]

Bad writing. There were lots of ways this could have worked out better. But they seemed to want to make everyone unreasonably stupid.

[Johannah]

17 hours ago, possibilities said:

Bad writing. There were lots of ways this could have worked out better. But they seemed to want to make everyone unreasonably stupid.

I've stopped watching a lot of sitcoms because they are based on people being stupid or small misunderstandings that snowball into circumstances that some people think are hilarious.  I don't think this show has fallen into unwatchable territory.  I actually think it pulls itself back from the edge.  If that makes sense.  I don't like stupid people and don't find them funny.  But sometimes smart/average people do stupid/silly stuff and that can be amusing.  So far, I think this show falls in that category.

I'm not sure why I find myself defending this show so much.  It's not instant love like with Big Bang Theory.  For some reason, I find it endearing.  Or something.