shapeshifter June 18, 2021 Share June 18, 2021 S02.E04: Scene of the Crime Original release date: June 17, 2021 (United States) Quote After Alma is tipped off that the Garden Club will make a surprise visit to her home, she persuades Bertram to help her prepare despite the police investigation of their missing neighbor next door. Dee seeks comfort in Vern Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/
shapeshifter June 18, 2021 Author Share June 18, 2021 My goodness! The first half was giving me a panic attack, LOL. But I loved them all singing around the piano while poor Bertram reburied the body. Every time Matthew Daddario (Scooter) is on screen I see his sister in his face --mostly because they look so much alike, but also because her role in True Detective (2014) was not very different. The race relations are certainly anachronistic for 1949, which I sense might not be the best way to bring diversity to a cast. Bridgerton did it better by hanging a lantern on it. Rita must be getting whiplash by now, right? About Bertram's latest terminal case: I recall him telling Alma that in the first case he was begged to do it. I wonder if this might go in the same direction. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6846184
CRT June 18, 2021 Share June 18, 2021 This episode is titled after the 1949 film noir starring Van Johnson and Gloria DeHaven. It's about a cop who investigates the death of his former partner. The role of Rita was created with Eva Longoria in mind, but because she was preparing to direct a movie, she couldn't do it and suggested Lana Parrilla instead; but it was nice to see this episode was directed by Eva Longoria. Alma borrowing Mrs. Yost's stuff to make her house look good was a great idea! (Against the law, sure, but one of Alma and Bertram's lesser crimes.) But Alma's changing, and not all for the better. It's funny that Alma's largely been able to look past Bertram's serial murders but he's so upset about the changes she's making in her life. Though Bertram's on the way back to murder... Vern and Dee are a sweet couple. I wondered what the threatening husband was about and then it was just a dramatic way to go about having Dee see his leg. I enjoyed seeing Alma and Rita bond in the kitchen...though I could see it was all gonna fall apart when Rita realized Dee was Alma's daughter! Quote The race relations are certainly anachronistic for 1949, My understanding is that they largely chose to avoid casting roles via race, though they also set out to cast multiple actors with diverse backgrounds (and of the 7 series regulars, they've got 2 Latinas and 1 black guy). You can see two white guys who auditioned for Vern here. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6846228
shapeshifter June 18, 2021 Author Share June 18, 2021 17 hours ago, CRT said: …Alma borrowing Mrs. Yost's stuff to make her house look good was a great idea! (Against the law, sure, but one of Alma and Bertram's lesser crimes.)… I wanted to suggest to Alma that she tell them the dead neighbor’s house is her house. It would be easier than schlepping all the knickknacks back forth. But good thing she didn’t! 😆 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6847248
AllyB June 18, 2021 Share June 18, 2021 Why is Alma's house so dowdy and her life so downtrodden? Bertram is a vet, he would be earning enough for the family to have nice things and almost certainly a pay for some form of household help for Alma. If not a fulltime housekeeper, they would certainly have a woman who comes to the house a few days a week to help Alma with or even do the bigger cleaning jobs. They aren't rich society people but they lived at a time where the family of a vet could have an extremely comfortable, frequently luxurious, life. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6847495
shapeshifter June 18, 2021 Author Share June 18, 2021 18 minutes ago, AllyB said: Why is Alma's house so dowdy and her life so downtrodden? Bertram is a vet, he would be earning enough for the family to have nice things and almost certainly a pay for some form of household help for Alma. If not a fulltime housekeeper, they would certainly have a woman who comes to the house a few days a week to help Alma with or even do the bigger cleaning jobs. They aren't rich society people but they lived at a time where the family of a vet could have an extremely comfortable, frequently luxurious, life. I was wondering about that too and just figured vets didn’t get paid much in 1949, but now that you asked, I wondered if there was something more nefarious afoot with regards to their lower middle class lifestyle. But this online article from the American Veterinary Medical Association mentions that “While 68 percent of veterinarians surveyed in 1952 had income from outside veterinary practice, only 26 percent did in 1956.” So, since we don’t see Bert or Alma earning any other money, and Dee is not well paid, I think they are just not very well off —at least by the Garden Club’s standards. Plus, in this episode, Bert expresses a preference for the simple life. Still, it seems Alma could have sewn nice shams for the worn and torn throw pillows. So her desire for a better life was not something she wanted to work for—or, more likely, she just had no expectations of achieving a better life. Alma was frumpy because she believed she was a frump. Interestingly, Dee has a bit more self confidence. 5 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6847538
txhorns79 June 19, 2021 Share June 19, 2021 On 6/17/2021 at 10:21 PM, CRT said: You can see two white guys who auditioned for Vern here. That's interesting. I did a little search on Vimeo and you can see a number of actors auditioning for parts on the show. I saw some Dees, Scooters, Verns and some other minor roles. 5 hours ago, shapeshifter said: Still, it seems Alma could have sewn nice shams for the worn and torn throw pillows. So her desire for a better life was not something she wanted to work for—or, more likely, she just had no expectations of achieving a better life. Alma was frumpy because she believed she was a frump. I think this is probably it. She was a frump, and her home reflected that. I would suspect as she her social cachet rises, her surroundings will reflect her new position. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6848269
AllyB June 19, 2021 Share June 19, 2021 9 hours ago, shapeshifter said: I wondered if there was something more nefarious afoot with regards to their lower middle class lifestyle. But this online article from the American Veterinary Medical Association mentions that “While 68 percent of veterinarians surveyed in 1952 had income from outside veterinary practice, only 26 percent did in 1956.” So, since we don’t see Bert or Alma earning any other money, and Dee is not well paid, I think they are just not very well off —at least by the Garden Club’s standards. Plus, in this episode, Bert expresses a preference for the simple life. They aren't meant to be well off by the Garden Club standards. The Garden Club ladies are seriously rich. Bert and Alma are middle class and their house, as in the property reflects that. It's a reasonably large house on a generous plot of land in a nice neighbourhood. But the house is really grotty inside in comparison to their nextdoor neighbour's. I suspect that part of the reason for that is Bertram. I got really manipulative vibes from him in this episode. The whole implication from him was that Alma doesn't love him and Dee if she wants more than just being a frumpy housewife. His on going anger that she wants to look better and have an outside the home social life. I think he deliberately keeps her frumpy and isolated. Sure we have his whole gesture of handing her his wallet to buy a dress when she told him how much she wanted to be seen. But she never even bought a dress with it. She's conditioned not to actually buy herself nice things, even when she has insisted on getting his 'permission.' 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6848390
shapeshifter June 19, 2021 Author Share June 19, 2021 23 minutes ago, AllyB said: Sure we have his whole gesture of handing her his wallet to buy a dress when she told him how much she wanted to be seen. But she never even bought a dress with it. She's conditioned not to actually buy herself nice things, even when she has insisted on getting his 'permission.' Thinking back to the scene in the earlier episode of when Alma and Bert met, I'm not sure that Bert is controlling. It seems at least just as much that Alma uses Bert as an excuse for why she can't have nice things --if that makes sense? I may not be explaining it very well. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6848429
Chaos Theory June 19, 2021 Share June 19, 2021 (edited) I think Bert and Alma are well off by 1940s standards but not rich. They are also living in California which has always been expensive to live in. The Garden club ladies are 2nd and third wives (I think) who married for money so (self)image is important. I like the idea that Rita saw that Alma and Bert were truly in love and actually respected that for a minute there and thought she could use that with her relationship with Scooter who she thinks she is in love with. But of course now that Dee is in the mix it’s going to the source of animosity between them. It will actually be interesting how Alma responds. Edited June 19, 2021 by Chaos Theory 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6848672
Kiddvideo June 20, 2021 Share June 20, 2021 (edited) Their house is a gorgeous Victorian with all of its original woodwork, it’s just the way they’ve chosen to decorate it. I think she’s always reflected her insecurities about her appearance and how she’s settled for the boy who loved her when she couldn’t get the football captain. She did what he wanted because he was the best she thought she could do. They’re using the color to show her growing confidence. At first it was in only her gardens. She was good at it. Next it was her clothes and make-up, and now it’s her home. I’m seeing parallels to Pleasantville. Their crime, unnecessarily hiding Mrs. Yost’s body, has me irritated with the entire season, though. It would’ve been so much better if Bertram had stepped outside his euthanasia mission to kill the person who posed a threat to it. Mrs. Yost wasn’t a sympathetic character — it wouldn’t have affected much how viewers felt about him. Edited June 20, 2021 by Kiddvideo Fat fingers 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6849520
shapeshifter June 20, 2021 Author Share June 20, 2021 (edited) Ha! 3 hours ago, Kiddvideo said: Their crime, unnecessarily hiding Mrs. Yost’s body, has me irritated with the entire season, though. When first reading this sentence, I thought, like me, you were irritated with their crime of hiding a body of someone they did not kill, and I thought you just hadn’t watched enough Law & Order-type shows. But clearly you have watched the darker crime shows too! 😆 3 hours ago, Kiddvideo said: It would’ve been so much better if Bertram had stepped outside his euthanasia mission to kill the person who posed a threat to it. Mrs. Yost wasn’t a sympathetic character — it wouldn’t have affected much how viewers felt about him. Edited June 20, 2021 by shapeshifter 1 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6849574
Chaos Theory June 20, 2021 Share June 20, 2021 (edited) But the Mrs Yost burial is also very Marc Cherry “Desperate Housewives” in no matter how well planned the original crime was “something” is going to happen that is going to throw it all to hell and everyone is going to panic in some comically unnecessary way making a simple problem into what ends up snowballing out of control. Edited June 20, 2021 by Chaos Theory 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6849648
shapeshifter June 20, 2021 Author Share June 20, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said: But the Mrs Yost burial is also very Marc Cherry “Desperate Housewives” in no matter how well planned the original crime was “something” is going to happen that is going to throw it all to hell and everyone is going to panic in some comically unnecessary way making a simple problem into what ends up snowballing out of control. That darned manicured hand that keeps pushing up through the flower bed! Edited June 20, 2021 by shapeshifter Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6849775
Joimiaroxeu June 20, 2021 Share June 20, 2021 The hair on Scooter's chest. Yikes, I'm too used to seeing the waxed and shiny look now. Wonder if that fuzz was real or sprayed/glued on? 😮 Lol, Vern basically called Rita an old heaux. To her face. Alma fell into the trap of lying about having been to Paris. Hotel Pied-à-Terre. Hee. She should've said, "Oh, you meant France? I was talking about Paris, Texas!" A number of jokes about menopause. Meh. Looks like Bertram has found himself a new "client." Yeah, addicts eventually have to get their fix. Poor Dee, about to blow up her mother's garden club dreams when her own romantic dreams may have just been realized. Bet Vern will step in at some point though because he is not here for Rita's b.s. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6849998
tennisgurl June 22, 2021 Share June 22, 2021 Oh man, just when things were going Alma's way, Dee shows up. And it just so happens that poor Dee has "earned" the wrath of Rita by telling her off. Alma and Bertram really need to think about moving the corpse, it seems like it isn't exactly hidden in the most secret of places. Of course the garden club ladies don't actually garden, they have people for that! 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6853497
shapeshifter June 22, 2021 Author Share June 22, 2021 34 minutes ago, tennisgurl said: ...Alma and Bertram really need to think about moving the corpse, it seems like it isn't exactly hidden in the most secret of places. Of course the garden club ladies don't actually garden, they have people for that! I was about to suggest that Alma should start a new garden club of ladies who actually like to do gardening. But thank goodness The Garden Club ladies didn't actually want to look closely at her garden! 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6853547
CarpeFelis June 26, 2021 Share June 26, 2021 The writers have a real talent for snarky dialogue—I love it! ”If you can pretend to be interested in a fat girl, you can fake a bit of passion for a middle-aged woman.” “I never faked it with you, baby…. oh, you meant Catherine.” ”I’m an actor, not a whore.” “Scooter, I’ve seen your acting. I wouldn’t be so quick to rule out a more viable career.” ”’Oh,so dearly’? Who taught you how to make death threats—Noel Coward?” (And don’t you just love how someone who suffers the consequences of their own actions blames the person who caught them at it?) ”Everyone has a price.” “So how much did Mr. Castillo pay for you?” ”Well, it was a war. If there’s no death it’s just guys in helmets on vacation.” ”I’m also fond of roast chickens. Doesn’t mean I want to chop their heads off.” “Why not? You’d be so good at it.” “I don’t want her ruining my party for the nice ladies.” “When do they arrive?” 5 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119835-s02e04-scene-of-the-crime/#findComment-6860748
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