S01.E04: D’Jewelry

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

At DJ’s jewelry expo, Ava comes to better understand Deborah and DJ’s complicated mother-daughter relationship. Deborah receives an unexpected piece of ammunition against Marty.

Airs May 20th.

[Quickbeam]

The show is really growing on me. Jean Smart is just wonderful, not a wrong turn in any of the episodes. This one had a lot of heart and some insight into how aware Deborah Vance is of the people around her. Plus fishing!

[arc]

Yeah, a nice rhythm here with the twists. It's kinda shitty what DJ's doing to her mom to make money and tough that Deborah plays along with it (and without letting DJ know) for the sake of letting DJ feel independent. Rewatching it, it looks like Deborah actually looks super awful outside the apartment and then less so later, as if she intentionally wore too-pale foundation for the paparazzi shots and then wiped it off in DJ's home.

I liked the little win DJ and Ava got at the jewelry expo.

The Deborah Vance Progesterone Supplement spiel was fantastic.

I do want to see what kind of dirt Deborah gets on Marty and what that'll do. 

and the last conversation between Deborah and Ava was lovely.

[Michichick]

I didn’t quite get the point of all the artwork pictures Deborah wanted from Marty’s home. Is she planning to use those to prove he’s misappropriating company funds to pay for items at his personal residence?

[arc]

@Michichick, I assumed so, considering the way Deborah went to high alert when Marty’s wife said the stuff was all the company’s.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

16 hours ago, Michichick said:

I didn’t quite get the point of all the artwork pictures Deborah wanted from Marty’s home. Is she planning to use those to prove he’s misappropriating company funds to pay for items at his personal residence?

Either that or she's about to sell it all on ebay!

[txhorns79]

On 5/21/2021 at 1:46 AM, arc said:

and the last conversation between Deborah and Ava was lovely.

I loved that moment.  It showed the relationship between the two starting to open up and grow without needing to make it obvious what was happening.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

35 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I loved that moment.  It showed the relationship between the two starting to open up and grow without needing to make it obvious what was happening.  

I liked that it showed when they both stopped being suspicious/judgemental of each other, they had more in common than they thought.

[Kiss my mutt]

Is DJ, Dee from Sunny in Philadelphia? She looks so familiar. 

[peachmangosteen]

37 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Is DJ, Dee from Sunny in Philadelphia? She looks so familiar. 

Yes.

[Catfi9ht]

I'm of two minds on this show, and I haven't decided if I'll continue to watch after this episode or not. Well, maybe I will after catching up on a bunch of other shows first.

Anyhoo, like everyone else has mentioned Jean Smart is playing an incredibly nuanced character and she's riveting to watch. It's clear that Deborah has to keep busy otherwise she'll start to reflect on dark moments in her past. It's almost an obsessive, pathological need that comes across in her performance (and doesn't really seem to be hinted at in the writing but that may be forthcoming). Her assistant is also great and smartly written. 

Everything else about this show really isn't for me.

1. While I love following entertainment writers' careers and watching smart, inventive writing, I absolutely abhor everything about Hollywood, the toxic culture, the false sincerity, the nepotism, the misogyny and racism, etc. The show is pointing all of those things out, but it doesn't play out as trying to undermine or making fun of the system but instead playing within the rules which is not for me.
2. I'm glad the first episode's description of Ava lists her as entitled, and it absolutely comes across that way, but I don't really see any other redeeming qualities about her. There's some strange veneer of feminism but she doesn't seem to understand the constant misogyny Deborah was subjected to throughout her career. It seems as if she hasn't been subjected to it herself, which plays as completely unrealistic. Has Ava been so sheltered her entire life that she has no understanding of how society works? Do people like this actually exist? I've been subjected to misogyny so many times in my career, I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't have an understanding of what sexism was and how navigating success in the workplace is very different for women than for men.
3. Ava's comment about selfies taking back agency is complete bullshit. She's trying to desperately keep the attention of someone who no longer has a romantic interest in her. It's demeaning is the opposite of agency and feminism. Was that scene in the car and later on the bus trying to show her it wasn't true? If so, it didn't come across to me that Ava learned her lesson.
4. If Ava was actually interested in learning the craft of writing, she would be jumping at the chance to review Deborah's archives. It's literally the history of women in stand-up comedy, seeing how jokes and societal norms have evolved, what types of jokes work for audiences, what don't, etc. She seems as if she wants to write jokes but has no interest in actually learning anything. Again, Ava identifies as a feminist but displays no qualities of actually being a feminist or an understanding of the patriarchy. Is this show trying to depict that Ava doesn't understand really anything about feminism? Again, it doesn't come across that Ava's really learning anything.

Since I always try to end on a positive note, Deborah's daughter's character development and the actress's performance this episode were fantastic. She's still not a great person, but you got to see a small look into what her childhood was and her adult life as a result of it. It's so odd to me this show write such depth in such a small timespan for DJ but absolutely nothing interesting for Ava's character in four episodes.

Apologies to everyone for stepping on my soapbox. I really wanted to like this show, and I love one of the show creators, Jen Statsky. I just don't think it's my cup of tea.

[paramitch]

On 7/14/2021 at 6:50 AM, Catfi9ht said:

Anyhoo, like everyone else has mentioned Jean Smart is playing an incredibly nuanced character and she's riveting to watch. It's clear that Deborah has to keep busy otherwise she'll start to reflect on dark moments in her past. It's almost an obsessive, pathological need that comes across in her performance (and doesn't really seem to be hinted at in the writing but that may be forthcoming). Her assistant is also great and smartly written. 

Everything else about this show really isn't for me.

1. While I love following entertainment writers' careers and watching smart, inventive writing, I absolutely abhor everything about Hollywood, the toxic culture, the false sincerity, the nepotism, the misogyny and racism, etc. The show is pointing all of those things out, but it doesn't play out as trying to undermine or making fun of the system but instead playing within the rules which is not for me.
2. I'm glad the first episode's description of Ava lists her as entitled, and it absolutely comes across that way, but I don't really see any other redeeming qualities about her. There's some strange veneer of feminism but she doesn't seem to understand the constant misogyny Deborah was subjected to throughout her career. It seems as if she hasn't been subjected to it herself, which plays as completely unrealistic. Has Ava been so sheltered her entire life that she has no understanding of how society works? Do people like this actually exist? I've been subjected to misogyny so many times in my career, I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't have an understanding of what sexism was and how navigating success in the workplace is very different for women than for men.
3. Ava's comment about selfies taking back agency is complete bullshit. She's trying to desperately keep the attention of someone who no longer has a romantic interest in her. It's demeaning is the opposite of agency and feminism. Was that scene in the car and later on the bus trying to show her it wasn't true? If so, it didn't come across to me that Ava learned her lesson.
4. If Ava was actually interested in learning the craft of writing, she would be jumping at the chance to review Deborah's archives. It's literally the history of women in stand-up comedy, seeing how jokes and societal norms have evolved, what types of jokes work for audiences, what don't, etc. She seems as if she wants to write jokes but has no interest in actually learning anything. Again, Ava identifies as a feminist but displays no qualities of actually being a feminist or an understanding of the patriarchy. Is this show trying to depict that Ava doesn't understand really anything about feminism? Again, it doesn't come across that Ava's really learning anything.

Since I always try to end on a positive note, Deborah's daughter's character development and the actress's performance this episode were fantastic. She's still not a great person, but you got to see a small look into what her childhood was and her adult life as a result of it. It's so odd to me this show write such depth in such a small timespan for DJ but absolutely nothing interesting for Ava's character in four episodes.

Apologies to everyone for stepping on my soapbox. I really wanted to like this show, and I love one of the show creators, Jen Statsky. I just don't think it's my cup of tea.

I agree with you on most of what you say here -- although frankly I was still in as of this episode despite loathing Ava because I love Jean Smart and would watch her do anything. It's amazing to watch what she does to make Deborah such a complex character here.

If it helps, I will say (with zero spoilage) that the next episode was the one that made me finally care a little bit about Ava. So you might try to hang in there for one more if you didn't already.

[SoMuchTV]

I’m late to the game and just catching up on several hbomax shows, including this one. I’m starting to feel like I’m the only person in the world who doesn’t hate Ava. I mean, she’s no Malala, but I feel like the character is like that for a reason. A couple comments above are giving me a little hope. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[peachmangosteen]

@SoMuchTV I love Ava, so you are not completely alone lol.

[Cranberry]

I've also liked Ava since the start. I wouldn't be able to stand her in real life, but I often love deeply flawed characters on TV.

[LuvMyShows]

On 5/21/2021 at 1:46 AM, arc said:

I liked the little win DJ and Ava got at the jewelry expo.

Yeah but...I have a hard time with showing how fantastically Ava pulled that off, with how woeful she was trying to carry out the pepper shaker scam.  And it isn't because her character has experienced so much and grown so much during the in-between time. 

[LuvMyShows]

On 5/22/2021 at 2:58 AM, arc said:

@Michichick, I assumed so, considering the way Deborah went to high alert when Marty’s wife said the stuff was all the company’s.

If anyone is still reading these season 1 comments even though the show is already in season 2, I need some help figuring who all the women were at Marty's party.  Was one woman his wife (I think she was wearing white) and the other woman, who showed Deborah around, was his mistress?  And it's all out in the open like that?  Did we ever see the daughter, for whom the party was thrown?

[Irlandesa]

50 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

Was one woman his wife (I think she was wearing white) and the other woman, who showed Deborah around, was his mistress? 

I don't know who was at his party but I'm pretty sure Marty isn't married.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Irlandesa

[Night Cheese]

17 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

If anyone is still reading these season 1 comments even though the show is already in season 2, I need some help figuring who all the women were at Marty's party.  Was one woman his wife (I think she was wearing white) and the other woman, who showed Deborah around, was his mistress?  And it's all out in the open like that?  Did we ever see the daughter, for whom the party was thrown?

It's been a while since I saw this episode, but I'm pretty sure his ex-wife, Rina, is there because it's their daughter's bat mitzvah (don't remember what she was wearing) and the younger woman showing Deborah around is Marty's girlfriend.