S02.E05: Difficult Conversations

[formerlyfreedom]

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Judd is shocked at the latest victim of an emergency call, Grace and Carlos must save a woman literally trapped in a domestic abuse situation and the 126 arrive at a horrific highway crash that threatens the lives of a father and daughter. Meanwhile, Owen and Gwyneth face a difficult decision in their relationship and Mateo regrets his new tattoo.

Airing Monday, February 15, 2021.

 

[anna0852]

Nothing I couldn't see coming but still a decent episode.

The writers have to be messing with us right? Last season we have Lord of the Rings jokes and Liv referencing Bruce Willis and now House mentions when LE is guest starring? Just waiting for  West Wing reference now...

Edited February 16, 2021 by anna0852

[Court]

Dang it, show. It made me cry more than once. It was a good episode. Grace is awesome as always even if that lady jumping from the window is incredibly unrealistic. I also adore Judd.

I don't care about the baby storyline at all.

 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Court said:

even if that lady jumping from the window is incredibly unrealistic

Yes, but those unrealistic moments of ladies being directed to escape by jumping out the window are the best
--especially because they gave her agency in both sticking with the phone call and literally "making the leap."

[possibilities]

That pizza thing is real. It's actually a recommended strategy. Sad.

 

[GodsBeloved]

Yikes! I felt so uncomfortable. My level of second hand embarrassment was high during Grace's father's scenes. He didn't seem to have any shame and all he did was make excuses. I'm betting this wasn't the first and won't be the last time he's cheated. It was interesting the learn that Judd's dad cheated too.

I was surprised that it was Tommy who we first see noticing Judd isn't acting right and I actually said how is Grace missing this. But I was glad that we find out later that she did miss the way Judd was acting. Maybe her concern over her father pushed Judd's behavior to the side.

I liked seeing Judd's struggle with what he discovered and was glad he articulated why he was having difficultly. When he came to the 9 1 1 center I thought really Judd, you're going to tell Grace while she's at work? But then he just couldn't do it.

And Grace, when she finally acknowledged Judd's behavior to herself and discovered the truth boy that was sad. I just knew she was going to tell her mom and mom was going to admit that she knew Mr. Williams was cheating on her. But alas Grace just couldn't do it.

I'm glad Judd was finally going to tell Grace and that she was able to tell him she appreciated why he hadn't told her. She couldn't tell her mom. She didn't confront her dad and she wasn't ready to talk to her husband. Oh Gracie, it's going to get better I promise.

The 9 1 1 call didn't end the way I expected. I initially thought the young lady would get her distance from the guy but when she jumped off her balcony I thought she's not going to kill herself! Then I immediately thought she would land in a pool but surprise! The rescue team were waiting with that ... what is that thing called? A bouncer maybe?

[Chaos Theory]

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, but those unrealistic moments of ladies being directed to escape by jumping out the window are the best
--especially because they gave her agency in both sticking with the phone call and literally "making the leap."

That is what I really liked about the scene.  It was ENTIRELY about two women communicating and the woman jumping out the window getting back her agency and not needing to be rescued by a man. Which is how this always goes.    Who cares if it’s unrealistic the scene was amazing.   Plus them talking about pizza was fun.

And yeah don’t care about the baby plot.

Also yeah Judd and Grace are the best.  I really love the pairing so it’s only a matter of time before the show messes with them.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[shapeshifter]

I hate this baby plot as much as any rapidly-aging, star-child, scifi baby plot. Which is a Lot.

And I dread finding out Cheating Dad has Alzheimer's making him cheat, AIDS from cheating, or a Love Child. 
But kudos for the camera work, acting, directing, lighting, props, etc. in making the look on Grace's face in bed look like that of a child whose world is falling apart.

[Lady Calypso]

I was hoping for more Grace/Judd, but this ISN'T what I wanted, show! I can't imagine the pain Grace felt when she found out her father was cheating and that's how he had his medical emergency. I can't blame Judd for being torn on how to handle this. He looked visibly sick all episode and it was easy to tell that he really was having a hard time with this secret. I'm glad he waited until after his shift to tell Grace, even though she had already figured it out at that point. But I can tell that this is going to change Grace moving forward. Her not being able to tell her own mother, as Judd couldn't with Grace at first, was a good way for Grace to hopefully not have marital issues where she blames him. 

Baby plot is so stupid. I just assume it'll result in someone dying, either the baby or Gwen or both. I wouldn't care if either happened, to be honest, just because they've hit on WHY this pregnancy is so dangerous and how likely it is to not be successful and I would appreciate the show much more if they followed through with the warnings. 

The tattoo plot was also really stupid. Just tell the kid that he screwed up with the tattoo and be done with it! I get Matteo has dyslexia and it must suck to be laughed at and used like that, but goddamn, watching him not being able to read the room was frustrating. Good on Marjan for being honest, since nobody else could. 

The pizza storyline has been done before and I've seen the real life stories where this cover story had to be used in an abusive situation, but it was done well here. I don't mind the part where the woman jumped out of the window to escape.

[tennisgurl]

Look, I wanted more stories for Grace and Judd, but not like this! Oh that was so uncomfortable, especially when Grace's dad started making all of these ridiculous excuses and was clearly trying to cover his ass right away, what a terrible situation for Judd to be put into. I totally understand why Judd was dragging his feet about telling Grace, she clearly had a very high opinion of her dad, but I am glad that he was going to. She's his wife after all, his partner, and you cant hide something like that from your partner. Of course Grace figured it out on her own, because Grace is awesome, I just hope this doesn't cause any issues between her and Judd. 

I usually like the theme episodes, this time the theme being having uncomfortable conversations, which ranged from the silly, with everyone trying to tell Mateo that his new tattoo is misspelled, to the tragic, with the father dying on the highway. That was just terribly sad, that poor guy and his poor daughter, at least he managed to give her some encouraging last words. Its been awhile since we had a downer ending for a regular call (besides the EMT who died) so I was actually surprised that the dad died. 

The baby plot is still silly, I have no idea what the point of it is other than giving Owen some reason to be dealing with medical stuff now that his cancer is gone? To keep his ex around? Of course with all the talk about how high risk the pregnancy is, I wonder if she or the baby will die to really maximize the drama. 

The women jumping off the balcony onto a balloon was a bit of a "wait, what?" moment, but it was really awesome to see her and Grace outsmart that creep and the women saving herself so I'm cool with it. Leap of faith indeed.  

[iMonrey]

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Who cares if it’s unrealistic the scene was amazing.   Plus them talking about pizza was fun.

I care. I really liked that storyline overall but it was implausible that a rescue team would have gotten there in time and had the blow-up thing all ready so quickly. Especially without either one of them hearing them. They could easily have dropped that part of it and just had the cops bust in in time to save her.

The tattoo mistake looked like it was easily correctable. You can turn the L into an E and the E into an L pretty easily. Especially with the gothic script lettering because both letters already look very similar. If the tattoo parlor knew he wanted "angel," though, and deliberately let him get "angle," I hope he gives them a terrible rating on Yelp.

[DearEvette]

Since the show is called 9-1-1 I am glad we are getting some good scenes of Grace doing calls.  I would actually swap out the tiresome and absolutely unwelcome late in life baby plot for more scenes in the 9-1-1 call center and meet some of her co-workers,  a la Josh from the OG 9-1-1.

I actually like the Judd/Grace plot. It is giving the two actors something nice and meaty to work with.  It isn't a direct threat to their relationship but they are having to deal with the collateral affects of it.  Given what the show has shown of their marriage I think it  is strong enough for it.  I mean, when we first met them, Judd was sunk in such deep despair about the loss of his co-workers, I got the impression that that had put a sort of strain on their marriage then (I think it was implied they weren't having sex) but Grace was super supportive.

In this case, I think Grace did understand why Judd didn't tell her about her dad but she simply could not process it at that time with him and wanted to just grieve the loss of her illusions about her dad on her own.  I will say Jim Parrack did some good work in this ep. His reaction when he first realized that was his FIL and his tenseness the whole time was very well done.

Meanwhile, Grace's dad is a piece of work.  He had such a sly look on his face.  This is not a man who is racked with guilt.  I mean, Judd was more guilty about it than he was and Judd isn't even the one that cheated.  This is mos def not the first time the man has done this.  He lied with a quickness and a slickness!

I didn't mind the tattoo storyline.  It was a nice bit of comic filler and showed the younger firefighters all gelling together as a unit and as friends. Nice call back to Mateo's dyslexia and a reminder that people can be ableist fucks (the tattoo parlor people who didn't even question him about the spelling).

Hate, hate, hate the geriatric baby storyline. Just. Hate. It.

Also, kudos on embracing Gina's Afro-Latina roots and having Tommy be Afro-Latina as well. Too many shows would have had her be one (usually AA) but not both.

[possibilities]

I wonder if Grace's parents have an understanding, i.e. and open marriage, and dad's lack of guilt is for that reason. And he didn't tell Judd that's why, because neither parent wants Grace to know. If so, it will fit really well with how no one wanted to tell Mateo about the spelling problem, and how Gwen and I-Forget-Lowe's-Character-Name weren't being honest about what they both really wanted to do, either. Difficult conversations, things held back out of love. 

It's probably just that dad's a scoundrel but I would like it if it turns out that actually no one's a villain here, they're just not being open enough with each other to head off misunderstandings that cause distress.

 

[SnoGirl]

Wow, the actor playing Judd really made me feel how uncomfortable and sick to his stomach he was over the whole situation with Grace’s father. I loved their whole storyline. I really love Grace and Judd. I hope they keep getting storylines together. Not that every couple needs kids, but after seeing Grace at dinner with the twins, I wonder if they couldn’t get pregnant. Or they were trying when the fire department was wiped out at the beginning of this show.

I guess I’m the only one who likes the baby storyline. I can’t imagine it actually going to term but I like they both want the baby and both are looking forward to rebuilding their family together. I think its sweet.

[anna0852]

10 minutes ago, SnoGirl said:

Wow, the actor playing Judd really made me feel how uncomfortable and sick to his stomach he was over the whole situation with Grace’s father. I loved their whole storyline. I really love Grace and Judd. I hope they keep getting storylines together. Not that every couple needs kids, but after seeing Grace at dinner with the twins, I wonder if they couldn’t get pregnant. Or they were trying when the fire department was wiped out at the beginning of this show.

I guess I’m the only one who likes the baby storyline. I can’t imagine it actually going to term but I like they both want the baby and both are looking forward to rebuilding their family together. I think its sweet.

You're not the only one. It's cheesy but sweet. 

[Jadzia]

Maybe I missed something, but what exactly did Marsan do to the tattoo that said it would sting? They only showed it quickly at the end and I couldn’t tell what was done to it and she said something about going back to the tattoo parlor to have them fix it later? I was confused and wondered why he didn’t just go back to the tattoo parlor in the first place?

This show is so much better this season. I am enjoying it so much more since Liv Tyler left. 

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, Jadzia said:

Maybe I missed something, but what exactly did Marsan do to the tattoo that said it would sting? They only showed it quickly at the end and I couldn’t tell what was done to it and she said something about going back to the tattoo parlor to have them fix it later? I was confused and wondered why he didn’t just go back to the tattoo parlor in the first place?

Although my niece is covered with tattoos and my sister has full "sleeves" and more, and my bil has a few, I have never entered a tattoo establishment, so I don't know, but perhaps having the flames done on the already still-tender skin would hurt even more, that is, "sting"?
Marjan saying it would "sting" to get the tattoo fixed also seemed to possibly be some sort of double entendre, in that it would "sting" (or hurt like hell) to have it re-inked, but maybe she also was talking about the egos at the tattoo parlor? IDK. It seems no accident that we didn't see how she managed to shame or intimidate the tattooists into fixing it. Exactly how did she do that?
Anyway, one of the characters mentioned that the word "Angle" was covered with flames, and I think that the word "Angel" would be added later. 

[iMonrey]

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They only showed it quickly at the end and I couldn’t tell what was done to it and she said something about going back to the tattoo parlor to have them fix it later? I was confused and wondered why he didn’t just go back to the tattoo parlor in the first place?

She covered the entire word "angle" with flames. Which, if he's going to have the spelling corrected, is counter-productive. How can they fix the word now that it's covered in flames? Or did she just use magic marker or something?

[anna0852]

Once he's healed the word Angel will go under the flames.

[Moose135]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

She covered the entire word "angle" with flames. Which, if he's going to have the spelling corrected, is counter-productive. How can they fix the word now that it's covered in flames? Or did she just use magic marker or something?

I think he just got the flames tattooed over the letters to hide the mistake and he isn't going to get the spelling corrected.

[Trillian]

On 2/15/2021 at 10:07 PM, anna0852 said:

Nothing I couldn't see coming but still a decent episode.

The writers have to be messing with us right? Last season we have Lord of the Rings jokes and Liv referencing Bruce Willis and now House mentions when LE is guest starring? Just waiting for  West Wing reference now...

I’m waiting for: “Its nice when we can do something for prostitutes once in a while, isnt it?".  One of the best tv lines ever.

 

[DragonFlyzz]

On 2/18/2021 at 12:51 AM, Moose135 said:

I think he just got the flames tattooed over the letters to hide the mistake and he isn't going to get the spelling corrected.

@anna0852 is correct.  Marjan said after the tattoo heals Mateo would go back and get the word Angel added.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 2/16/2021 at 1:54 PM, DearEvette said:

Hate, hate, hate the geriatric baby storyline. Just. Hate. It.

I don't understand where they plan to go with this story. Will the baby get delivered at the end of the season and then next season we will get a bunch of stupid plotlines about how Rob Lowe is tired from late night feedings and diaper changes. Depending on how long this show goes will season 5 be the one where Rob Lowe has to try and get his kid into Austin's best preschool?

[Bruinsfan]

That's if the baby isn't born as a teenager ready for high school...