S01.E13: Cat-A-Versary

[Door County Cherry]

Airs March 25, 2021

Quote

Season Finale: When one of the oldest cats in the café dies unexpectedly, Kat decides to turn the one-year anniversary of the Cat Café into his funeral. Meanwhile, Kat, Randi and Oscar all try to make amends for mistakes they made.

 

[Aulty]

Quick question: If Max wasn't quite sure what his relationship status with Brigitte was before Kat sent the email, what was he on about during the onion relish scene a few episodes back? Sure he came over to confess his feelings for her?

The cat cafe and singing are their hip angle, but apart from this it is a very early 00s show with the same comedy platitudes and trope-y stories (oh, someone left the cat's ashes in a taxi you say?). And the same old style cast structure with the white lead couple (where the hot guy was picked from a Ralph Lauren ad) plus some gay supporting characters (a mamma's boy, much fresh, such new) and the black best friends (Randi is the bossy one of course), who hook up. There are so many variations they could've gone for with the casting - not that that would've made up for the lazy ass writing. At least they shoe-horned some highly academic background in for Kat, because that was so relevant to Mayim's brand the story.

I don't expect this to be cancelled, so they better use the break to work on improving the show. Get some decent writers in and hand out a few vouchers for acting lessons. Find some chemistry somewhere.

I quite warmed to Sheila, she is great in group scenes and the bit with her finding her cat soulmate at the prawn cocktails was actually quite cute. Oscar is great too - he would've made a great (male) Kat.

Edited March 26, 2021 by Aulty

[Harvey]

Of course the show is heading there...but I hate that Kat will have to break up with Oscar to be with Max. Oscar is so handsome and sweet and attentive and he was really trying hard once he recognized he said the wrong thing. If Kat doesn't want him, I'll take him 🥺

[Seelouis]

Kat and Max have zero chemistry. The story just doesn’t work because the actors aren’t selling it. 

[sugarbaker design]

31 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I like it when they wave, but it does stop me from getting invested in the characters.

When I see a Broadway show, and the actors come out for their curtain call (BC, of course), it doesn't stop me from getting invested in the characters.  This is the actors' (and producers') way of saying thanks for watching.  And it's one of the only vestiges from the original source material Miranda left.  For me, it's been the high point of every episode.

What does stop me from getting invested in the characters besides Kat, Oscar and Phil, are the mediocre acting, and the less than mediocre scripts.  I'll watch if it gets renewed, all the while hoping the show gets a Stevie, a Tillie and a Penny.

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Was Miranda a half hour show?

Yup, thirty minute BritCom.

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

That is at the end of a Broadway show, not a series that goes on week after week with developing characters.

Still doesn't stop me from getting invested in the characters.

[possibilities]

More cats this episode was a good thing. 

[brokenwing29]

If they were going to have Max decide he wanted to date Kat after all, I feel the writers rushed it. Just last episode he was pissed off at Kat for ruining his chances with Brigette, whom he doesn't appear to be over. Max said that the reason he and Brigette didn't work was because he wasn't "all in" and the friendship aspect of their relationship was missing. But how does he know he would be all in with Kat? They have a friendship, sure, but what about everything else? He seemed pretty adamant a few episodes ago that he could never date Kat or think of her that way. So the romance/chemistry aspect of that relationship would be lacking (unless the writers are going to have him change his mind about that too). I was kind of surprised they went there already.

I didn't like the missing ashes storyline because Randi had no reason to bring them to Carter's apartment. She gave some convoluted reasons that I don't even remember because it was obviously storyline dictated and only something that would happen on tv. 

[joanne3482]

48 minutes ago, brokenwing29 said:

I didn't like the missing ashes storyline because Randi had no reason to bring them to Carter's apartment. She gave some convoluted reasons that I don't even remember because it was obviously storyline dictated and only something that would happen on tv. 

I was okay with her reasoning. The vet's office was near his place and she didn't want to leave the ashes in the car due to cat ghosts. For some reason I thought that was kind of funny. 

I really like Mayiam, but I'm not 100% certain I've ever seen her in something where she had romantic chemistry with her chemistry partner. Here. Big Bang Theory. (Well, ok these are the only things I've seen her in as an adult.) That being said I like her better with Oscar even though I know he's not endgame.  If the series were to be cancelled I thought this was a decent series finale. 

[CrystalBlue]

Randi's convoluted reasoning for bringing the box of Mr. Mousekers' ashes to Carter's apt. was so stupid that it makes her look so stupid.  It's like that saying:  "You had one job."  But of course the hilarity wouldn't have ensued.  Really, girl, you're so horny for your new BF that you have to intercept a funeral-related task to drop by for a quickie?  It's not like you rarely see him at the cafe and his bar.  I know they didn't show a quickie per se, but what?  A polite social call?  You had one job.

Oscar was the MVP for saving the day.  Sheila looked cute in her Cats costume and makeup.

As I have and many others have already said, Kat + Max = No Chemistry.  They need to break free of this Miranda-inspired storyline and move on if there's a S02.

I loved the waving, again, and was left happy that the Real Mr. Mousekers was alive and well and being cradled in Mayim's arms.

That's all until and unless there's a renewal!

[Cherpumple]

I don't mind Max changing his mind about Kat, even if it's a bit sudden, but I want to have a clearer idea of what caused it (aside from jealousy and alcohol). I think they were going for him being surprised and touched about what she wrote about him in her drug-induced email to Brigette, but that didn't really come through for me.

I thought Swoosie looked great in her costume, and loved that it was a tribute to Mr. Mousekers.

I really liked the idea of the communal pet memorial, and the celebratory nature of it. I lost both of my geriatric kitties within a few months of each right before the lockdown last year, and would have loved a chance to go to an event like this to deal with some of my grief. It's really hard to convey the emotional impact of losing a pet to someone who's never had one, and I thought this show did a really good job with the scenes focusing on the memorial (excepting the dumb caper with the ashes). I definitely teared up a little bit when Kat read her poem, and I've always loved the song they sung too.

This show isn't groundbreaking or hilarious (as other have said, it's loaded with some pretty old-fashioned tropes), but it's cozy and sweet, and funny enough to get me to come back if it's renewed. I wouldn't mind some minor retooling to make it fresher (did her snooty friend completely disappear?), but I'm happy enough with the set-up to go with it for now.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Cherpumple

[Lone Wolf]

20 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

When I see a Broadway show, and the actors come out for their curtain call (BC, of course), it doesn't stop me from getting invested in the characters.  This is the actors' (and producers') way of saying thanks for watching.  And it's one of the only vestiges from the original source material Miranda left.  For me, it's been the high point of every episode.

 

Yeah, it is.  There was only one interaction between Kat and the audience, at the end of the show, and there could have been more, especially after Kat got past her grief.  Makes me think that TPTB are trying to establish the show's own identity apart from Miranda, which is fine, but I don't think Call Me Kat is strong enough to stand on its own.  I'm curious to know whether it'll come back next year.

I had a feeling that Mr. Mousekers had gone to That Great Litter Box In The Sky as soon as we saw him on Sheila's lap.  Her hand was on him and he never budged - I thought, That one's stuffed.  

I think I may have had a problem with my screen during Kat's poem - it went all blurry.  Also, my eyes leaked a little and I had to blow my nose.  Weird.

Awkward (to me) that they kept saying "car service" when they were clearly talking about Uber or Lyft.  Makes me think there was some copyright/trademark/product mention/clearance issue behind it.

In case anyone else caught the "In Loving Memory Of" during the closing credits, here's a link to Terrel M. Richmond:

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2564662/the-conners-honored-crew-late-member-with-season-3-finale

"Sometimes I think animals are better than people."  Line of the night.  Actually, line of the season.

I wonder if Mr. Mousekers looked liked this when he was a kitten:

 

    

[Johannah]

So, if the show is renewed, Mr. Mousekers is out of a job.  Do you think it was contract negotiations?  Maybe he can come back as his evil twin.  Evil kitty.  Always sneaking back for more treats.

I hope this show gets renewed.  It might not have been hilarious, but it was sweet, amused me, and took me away from all that is going on in the world.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Johann
There is no I in job

[JAYJAY1979]

I love when the performers wake at the end..and seeing what action they stop to do the wave.

I think if the show is renewed..that Kat reacts to the crazy around her.  She's 'quirky' yet could be the most rational person in the room.  Yet because she's rational and lateral...she's considered 'odd'.

[JenLily]

I can't say that I warmed up to the show so much as I got used to it. And as others have said, if it's renewed I'll continue to watch it. But I'd really like it if they dialed back the breaking the fourth wall thing in the second season. They seemed like they were headed down that path the last couple of episodes and I appreciated it as I didn't care for it in the original and I don't care for it here. If they limited it to the beginning, where Kat catches up the audience with what's been going on and where her headspace is (like a live-action "here's where we are now" like Miranda did), and did the occasional side-eye (when someone else says/does something ridiculous) or facepalm (when she says/does something ridiculous) then I'd probably be okay with it. I just don't like being chattered to by the main character as if I'm some imaginary friend. It always makes me wonder what the other characters think she's doing when she's talking to us.

I'll miss seeing the cats though. They were so sweet.

[Callietwo]

On 3/26/2021 at 5:31 PM, joanne3482 said:

I really like Mayiam, but I'm not 100% certain I've ever seen her in something where she had romantic chemistry with her chemistry partner. Here. Big Bang Theory. (Well, ok these are the only things I've seen her in as an adult.) That being said I like her better with Oscar even though I know he's not endgame.  If the series were to be cancelled I thought this was a decent series finale. 

She had decent chemistry with Ryan McPartlin in her christmas movie "Flight Before Christmas".

I did feel they pushed the Max/Kat thing a bit due to it not having a renewal as of yet.  It seems a tad early in the show run if it's not over for good.

On 3/27/2021 at 12:05 PM, Johann said:

I hope this show gets renewed.  It might not have been hilarious, but it was sweet, amused me, and took me away from all that is going on in the world.

I agree for the most part but this week's episode with the cat dying, the ashes and all that hit too damn close to home for me, as my mom's funeral was last Tuesday. 

They gave each of us siblings a small baggie of my mom's cremains for us to use to have a momento made (I'm trying to decide between a ring or a glass rooster made in her honor as she collected rooster & hen figures herself)   

So right now my Mom's ashes are in my purse and I had a thought last night that if I'm not careful and lost my purse I might lose mom.  Which sounds kind of funny when put that way.  

[tennisgurl]

More cats always make any episode better, so I was happy that this was a kitty cat filled finale. I really felt for Kat losing cute cuddly Mr. Mousekers, losing a pet is such an awful sad thing, the communal pet funeral was really sweet. That was a really nice thing to do, and it even let us get some Bluegrass music in at last, appropriate for a show set in Louisville. Maybe Mr. Mousekers returns next season as Kat;s spirit animal?

Max changing his mind about Kat seems pretty quick, but I can buy it well enough even if its clearly just to add more to the love triangle. I really like Oscar and he and Kat seem to work so well, its going to be really sad when they inevitably split so Kat can get with Max. Sucks to be the one in the love triangle who isn't in the opening credits. 

This show isn't a classic or anything, but it has a sweet charm that I enjoy. Its not even that funny or well written, but it has a warm easy watching feeling that keeps me coming back. Plus, kitty cats. I will always come back for more kitty cats. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by tennisgurl

[kirkola]

1 hour ago, Callietwo said:

She had decent chemistry with Ryan McPartlin in her christmas movie "Flight Before Christmas".

I did feel they pushed the Max/Kat thing a bit due to it not having a renewal as of yet.  It seems a tad early in the show run if it's not over for good.

I agree for the most part but this week's episode with the cat dying, the ashes and all that hit too damn close to home for me, as my mom's funeral was last Tuesday. 

They gave each of us siblings a small baggie of my mom's cremains for us to use to have a momento made (I'm trying to decide between a ring or a glass rooster made in her honor as she collected rooster & hen figures herself)   

So right now my Mom's ashes are in my purse and I had a thought last night that if I'm not careful and lost my purse I might lose mom.  Which sounds kind of funny when put that way.  

Just wanted to add, I think a brick wall would have "decent chemistry with Ryan McPartlin".  Dude just sort drips charm from his pores.  There's a reason my family still calls him "Cap'n Awesome"...even though Chuck is long gone.

[Door County Cherry]

On 3/26/2021 at 1:05 PM, icemiser69 said:

Was Miranda a half hour show?

Yes.  But it was on the BBC so there were no ads.  30 minutes could actually be 30 minutes as opposed to 20-22 with ads. 

My issue with Max changing his mind was my same issue I expressed when they had him firmly state that it was never going to happen.  In the original, the "just friends" felt like a decision each made but there was always the implication that both had thought about it, at least independently, before.  Their reasons for not going for it were due to timing and not wanting to screw up their friendship. 

Here, they had Max approach it as a "never thought of her in that way/not attracted" tactic which I think presents a harder hurtle to overcome given their life experiences, how long they've known each other and their ages.  The dream didn't do the work they needed it to.  It was a dumb choice considering the cliffhanger they wanted to write at the end of episode 13.  

It's taking the tropes that have worked in past sitcoms but doing them badly.   

[Yeah No]

I've been pretty critical about this series, but I really liked this episode.  It's very subtle, but I noticed that Kat is softer around the edges now, as if this episode was filmed after some of the criticism about Mayim's over-energetic performance.  I do think the way Max is changing his mind about Kat is pretty clunky, though.  He's not convincing in his "bold move" plus the reasoning isn't consistent with earlier episodes.  The actor could at least put some emotion into it to make us believe that he's really coming around, but no, not even a hint at a spark.  So it seems completely unbelievable.  But at this point I really don't care.  I think the show is setting up the next season (and I do think there will be one) for a love triangle.  I think if it continues in the direction of this episode it will be more tolerable and perhaps even fun.