S01.E06: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: An Oral History (Used), $11

[helenamonster]

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Connor invites the siblings to a party he’s throwing for his ex-wife, Emily. While he feels the need to prove that he is cool with their divorce, he is not the only one in the competitive spirit. Tom and Marina try to prove to each other that they still have game, while Sarah finds the perfect solution to the fact that she’s a bad gift-giver.

Original airdate: 5/12/21

[Aileen]

I'm loving this show. The only miss for me was Sara randomly stealing things from Connor's house at the very end. I liked Tom and his wife trying to show that they still had "it." I thought it was the first time they've really had chemistry as a couple. Topher is great, IMO.

[DanaK]

How Sarah and her wife got together and stay together is beyond me

[DearEvette]

On 5/13/2021 at 11:23 AM, DanaK said:

How Sarah and her wife got together and stay together is beyond me

Having now met Connor's ex-wife, I don't know how any of the siblings got together with their spouses.  Did the show do no chemistry tests?  None of the couples remotely seem like they would enjoy sex with each other.

Sarah just is uptight and over earnest and a little repressed.  Denise is snarky and always seems like she wants to cut loose.  I did like finding out that Sarah is a bad gift giver and basically gives gifts that she likes  rather than taking the time to find out what the person she is giving the gift would like or even outright ignoring them.  That is selfish and pretty worthy of snark.

Tom and Marina were giving off sibling vibes, tbh, until the very end where yeah I finally noticed a spark there.  But he is basically just like Sarah, uptight and pedantic.  While Marina is dry and sarcastic and always seems like she is drinking her feelings.

I did like the casting for Connor's ex, Emily especially since the actress looks a lot like the daughter.  But yeah, even they felt odd together.

And yet still... even with all the prickliness, I still like this show. Go figure.  I like their brunch conversations.  And I liked the commitment they had to showing how much shrimp he did order.  I think that shrimp tureen was in several shots and it was super full.  LOL.

[Johannah]

Mr Grammar before correcting the lady's further/farther error said, "Us brothers..."

 

[gesundheit]

On 5/13/2021 at 11:23 AM, DanaK said:

How Sarah and her wife got together and stay together is beyond me

I do wish they'd tone down Sarah's character a smidge. It might work if she had all these traits plus an ounce of self-awareness about them? It's just the stereotype dialed up to 1000 and it's like Denise is there to counter that stereotype, but it just makes me wonder why Sarah is so dim. 

I also don't believe for one second that Marina would've struck out like that. 

Emily seemed really miscast to me, she was nothing like she was described. That was supposed to be an uber-powerful, hyper-competitive woman? She just felt kind of sweet and slight. I expected a bad bitch. (It's as if they figured casting someone from Succession would be the perfect fit, except went with the person who the Roys can barely even see when she walks in a room.) (Not an actress criticism, that's just the way her character functions over there.) She seemed like a wisp of a presence opposite Tatro.

I seem to have nothing but complaints but I'm still having fun with this show! I feel like the pieces are there but they just need to give the archetypes a little more depth instead of defaulting to the stock character stuff.

[juno]

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

I do wish they'd tone down Sarah's character a smidge. It might work if she had all these traits plus an ounce of self-awareness about them? It's just the stereotype dialed up to 1000 and it's like Denise is there to counter that stereotype, but it just makes me wonder why Sarah is so dim. 

I also don't believe for one second that Marina would've struck out like that. 

If they don't change Sarah's behavior it may kill the show. They are only 6 shows in (with a renewal) and already she is annoying a lot of fans of the show. For me eventually it may get so bad that I start fast forwarding through her scenes and then I will probably shut it off.

I hope for the sake of the show they dial her down.

Marina is awesome and would have to do very little for me to fall for her.

[DearEvette]

On 5/15/2021 at 8:19 PM, gesundheit said:

Emily seemed really miscast to me, she was nothing like she was described. That was supposed to be an uber-powerful, hyper-competitive woman? She just felt kind of sweet and slight. I expected a bad bitch. 

I thought the physical casting was right on.  But you are right the personality did not live up to Denise' hype.  I was expecting a Constance Zimmer-esque bad bitch!

Although her utter dismissal of Tom came close.  I got suck a cackle out of her refusal to acknowledge his existence on the one hand and or disdain when she did on the other.

[WinnieWinkle]

I'm liking this show but it's still definitely finding it's way.  In this episode what stood out as a big positive for me is that Connor's wife wasn't set up as an avaricious bitch sucking her rich ex dry.  I liked that they referenced that she's from a wealthy family and has plenty of money of her own.  I'll be honest, based on most other sitcoms set in California I was fully expecting a whole series of episodes with the bitch ex wife endlessly upping the alimony and the child support.  

[ShellsandCheese]

I agree that the shows biggest problem is casting. I really enjoy Tom, Connor, and Denise and the parents but I really don’t care for Sarah or Marina and neither has real chemistry with their spouse. With Carla Souza there’s just something very unnatural about her line delivery; she annoyed me on HTGAWM too. I feel like the show should be and could be better than it is but is being harmed by some bad casting decisions. 

[kili]

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I'm liking this show but it's still definitely finding it's way.  In this episode what stood out as a big positive for me is that Connor's wife wasn't set up as an avaricious bitch sucking her rich ex dry.  I liked that they referenced that she's from a wealthy family and has plenty of money of her own.  I'll be honest, based on most other sitcoms set in California I was fully expecting a whole series of episodes with the bitch ex wife endlessly upping the alimony and the child support.  

I think they cleared that up in the Pilot. Tom asks Connor where Emily is and he said she had to work. Tom counters that Connor made $5M last year and Connor says "Yeah, but Em makes, like, real money." So, Connor is the significantly poorer one of the family (he himself considers the $5M trivial in comparison to what Emily makes and it doesn't bother him at all).