S05.E11: The Guardian

[Harvey]

Quote

Katie and Greg secretly put Kathryn through a series of tests to see if she would make a good guardian for Anna-Kat in the unlikely event something should happen to them. Meanwhile, after tracking down J.D.’s potential egg donors, Tami and Katie scheme to learn more about them.

Air date: 2021, March 3.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Harvey

[Harvey]

The joke about Katie's parking ticket was pretty funny 😄

I liked the scene where Oliver and Taylor acknowledged the strangeness of their situation. It was a welcome bit of maturity in their behavior into the episode.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Harvey

[Kiddvideo]

I laughed when Kathryn was confused that Greg ran out of the house to get Anna-Kat. “Where is he going in such a hurry?” JD was funny, accidentally dating his egg donor. I’d forgotten about Greg’s half-family. Good episode, I thought.

[SoMuchTV]

2 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

I laughed when Kathryn was confused that Greg ran out of the house to get Anna-Kat. “Where is he going in such a hurry?” JD was funny, accidentally dating his egg donor. I’d forgotten about Greg’s half-family. Good episode, I thought.

I confess I haven't been paying the closest attention this season, but I can't remember - did JD already have a surrogate lined up?  Or was the egg donor also supposed to be the surrogate (doesn't seem likely)?  Or is there going to be a whole new set of wacky hijinks when he realizes all he has is an egg...?

[jmonique]

Anyone else weirded out about how the show has just completely swapped out Doris and Angela? 

Edited March 4, 2021 by jmonique

[DanaK]

I'm not sure I understand why Katie and Greg didn't think of the older kids first and discuss it with them when deciding who should get Anna-Kat if they died

1 hour ago, jmonique said:

Anyone else weirded out about how the show has just completely swapped out Doris and Angela? 

Not if you knew what went on behind the scenes. But on-screen, it would look like the usual kind of change for a show after several seasons

[joanne3482]

5 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

I laughed when Kathryn was confused that Greg ran out of the house to get Anna-Kat. “Where is he going in such a hurry?”

That did bug me a little bit because it isn't like Anna-Kat is 5. Isn't she somewhere between 10 & 12? I know times are different and blah blah blah, but we rode our bikes to the park, played by ourselves and rode home all without issue and needing constant supervision. I guess you could argue that the optics in Westport wouldn't be great if she were there alone, but I can't imagine Westport has a high crime area. 

I really like the addition of JD, but I am weirded out by the baby mama story. I'm less happy about the addition of Tammy. I could do without Jim Rash as well. 

[iMonrey]

I get a kick out of Wendy Malik as Katie's mother, telling Ana-Kat to "just cut her brakes then." I'm not sure Taylor and Oliver are much better choices as guardians, frankly, if they're still fighting like a couple of kids (Oliver slamming the lid to the trash can was uncharacteristically childish), but since Ana-Kat seems more mature than either of them I'm assuming she'd be able to take care of herself.

Quote

did JD already have a surrogate lined up?  Or was the egg donor also supposed to be the surrogate (doesn't seem likely)?  Or is there going to be a whole new set of wacky hijinks when he realizes all he has is an egg...?

I don't think they've gotten into that part of it yet. I actually thought Katie and Tammy were doing him a favor trying to point out how hard it will be as a single parent, and that they capitulated too soon and just went along with it. 

[possibilities]

6 hours ago, jmonique said:

Anyone else weirded out about how the show has just completely swapped out Doris and Angela? 

One Black, one Asian, one is gay-- it's like they are checking the boxes so blatantly, it's hard not to notice.

Franklin and AnaKat should be guardians over Taylor and Oliver, given how things went this episode.

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

That did bug me a little bit because it isn't like Anna-Kat is 5. Isn't she somewhere between 10 & 12? I know times are different and blah blah blah, but we rode our bikes to the park, played by ourselves and rode home all without issue and needing constant supervision. I guess you could argue that the optics in Westport wouldn't be great if she were there alone, but I can't imagine Westport has a high crime area. 

They even had a whole plot (S1, I think) about letting her walk to the library by herself when she was 8.

[Yeah No]

Yeah I didn't love this episode.  I love Wendy Malick but not in this role.  It's too one-note like they keep playing the same joke with her over and over again and it's getting old.

Greg freaking out at Ana Kat being left at the park was ridiculous.  Westport, CT is ranked as one of the 100 safest places in America.  It's ranked safer than 75% of cities and towns in the U.S.  Plus as others have pointed out, Ana Kat is not so little anymore and there was already an episode about letting her walk to school.

I'm not loving this new second breakfast club.  This new guy is so self absorbed and the stuff surrounding his quest for an egg donor is not funny to me plus unethical.  At least if it was funny I might be able to get past the unethical part.

 

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, Yeah No said:

I'm not loving this new second breakfast club.  This new guy is so self absorbed and the stuff surrounding his quest for an egg donor is not funny to me plus unethical.  At least if it was funny I might be able to get past the unethical part.

I'm guessing we're not going to see a follow up on Katie's arrest. Somehow I doubt the clinic would just drop it.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

I'm guessing we're not going to see a follow up on Katie's arrest. Somehow I doubt the clinic would just drop it.

Like a lot of shows these days this one seems to have ADD.  It can't pick a direction and stick with it.  It jumps around and sets us up and doesn't drop the other shoe with a lot of things.  And this is one of those things.  But you never know, one day Katie may walk out of her house and find herself arrested months later.  Of course they'll make up some lame reason why it was happening so much after the fact.

[Kiddvideo]

11 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

That did bug me a little bit because it isn't like Anna-Kat is 5. Isn't she somewhere between 10 & 12? I know times are different and blah blah blah, but we rode our bikes to the park, played by ourselves and rode home all without issue and needing constant supervision. I guess you could argue that the optics in Westport wouldn't be great if she were there alone, but I can't imagine Westport has a high crime area.

I liked it based off her previous comment, when she said Greg’s tone of voice made her think he disagreed with her decision. Personally, I think Anna-Kat is too old to even want to go to the park unless it’s after dark to sneak beer. (Or Cristal, being Westport.)

[SnarkySheep]

On 3/4/2021 at 2:15 PM, joanne3482 said:

That did bug me a little bit because it isn't like Anna-Kat is 5. Isn't she somewhere between 10 & 12? I know times are different and blah blah blah, but we rode our bikes to the park, played by ourselves and rode home all without issue and needing constant supervision.

Not to mention, how the heck could Kathryn just walk/drive away without Anna-Kat noticing??

On 3/4/2021 at 11:16 PM, Yeah No said:

Greg freaking out at Ana Kat being left at the park was ridiculous.  Westport, CT is ranked as one of the 100 safest places in America.  It's ranked safer than 75% of cities and towns in the U.S.  Plus as others have pointed out, Ana Kat is not so little anymore and there was already an episode about letting her walk to school.

And Sandy Hook, CT is rated safer than 95% of US cities and towns, yet unspeakable tragedy did occur. Unfortunately we live in a time when you really can't consider ANY place safe, and a lot of parents react accordingly. 

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

Not to mention, how the heck could Kathryn just walk/drive away without Anna-Kat noticing??

And Sandy Hook, CT is rated safer than 95% of US cities and towns, yet unspeakable tragedy did occur. Unfortunately we live in a time when you really can't consider ANY place safe, and a lot of parents react accordingly. 

Sure, tragedy occurred in Sandy Hook ONCE.  Total crime in Newtown, CT (the greater town) is 91% below the national average.  Violent crime is 94% below national average.  That's why people go there to raise kids in the first place.  ONE incident a decade ago is not enough to not consider the place safe.

The World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorism ONCE.  And yet even THAT didn't stop the world from realizing it was a one-off and rebuilding from the bottom up. 

Should a person stay home in fear because of ONE Covid case in their town ten years ago?  No, that would be an overreaction.  But everything is an overreaction these days.  That's the reason kids are being treated like porcelain dolls that might break and denied the healthy experiences that they should have growing up.  It's out of control today. 

I grew up in the Bronx.  If my parents had been that neurotic about my safety they would have locked me up and refused to let me out of the house, and believe me there were plenty more reasons to be worried about my safety in the Bronx even decades ago.  But will wonders ever cease?  I managed to survive.

[readster]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

 

Should a person stay home in fear because of ONE Covid case in their town ten years ago?  No, that would be an overreaction.  But everything is an overreaction these days.  That's the reason kids are being treated like porcelain dolls that might break and denied the healthy experiences that they should have growing up.  It's out of control today. 

 

I agree, I'm a teacher and some parents or guardians you just look at them going: "So, you are going to live forever and solve all their problems right?" However, then you get the other end where they are: "The world is a cold hard place and if you live to 18, good, maybe you might make it to 30." 

[SnarkySheep]

15 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Sure, tragedy occurred in Sandy Hook ONCE.  Total crime in Newtown, CT (the greater town) is 91% below the national average.  Violent crime is 94% below national average.  That's why people go there to raise kids in the first place.  ONE incident a decade ago is not enough to not consider the place safe.

If it's your kid, you don't want even that "once", and it can happen literally any time, any place. So if a parent is protective, it's understandable.

Aside from major tragedies, sometimes people just don't want their kid to get into potential problems with older kids hanging around, whatever. You can't tell me nobody in a ritzy community is into drugs or other things they shouldn't be.

That said, this is a freakin' sitcom. I'm not about to get into any lengthy serious world discussions. You can have your opinion, I can have mine.

[Neiman]

I’m sort of missing the Westport housewives this season. 
 

Sad they trust Taylor to watch Anna Kat. That whole scene over the tape in the boutique spoke volumes about her maturity level. 
 

I keep waiting for Katie’s mom to announce she’s decided to try that relationship with her wealthy high school guy, the cat lover.  
 

 

[Cowgirl]

I kept wondering why they didn't think of English Greg.  To me, he seems like the best Guardian for Ana-Kat.  It wouldn't be funny though, I guess.