S03.E02: Bowango

[jewel21]

Quote

It's wedding time! With a traditional Nigerian wedding approaching, the Wheelers are formally introduced to Abishola's family. Also, while Bob sets out to the market to fulfill Abishola's bride price to demonstrate his serious intentions of marrying her, Abishola tries to keep the peace between her mother and Auntie Olu.

Airdate: 09/27/2021

[greekmom]

Loved the wedding.

Screw you Chuck Lorre because you want to get rid of kids when they are past the cute phase.

Abishola's dress was beautiful.

[willco]

Bob has the patience of a saint regarding the dealing with Abishola's family ! I'm surprised they didn't make him Hula Hoop for 15 minutes while balancing a ball on his nose. And he looked like Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" with that nightcap and gown on ! 

 

I never knew all the customs that go along with the Nigerian culture. They probably think that a lot of ours are strange, but the bowing and worship of the brides family seems a bit over the top to me.

[Izzy85]

59 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Loved the wedding.

Screw you Chuck Lorre because you want to get rid of kids when they are past the cute phase.

Abishola's dress was beautiful.

Dele is so adorable, I don't think he'll ever grow out of it, lol.

The wedding was beautiful, Aboshola looked so gorgeous, she has such an amazing smile. I teared up a little at how Bob and Abishola were looking at each other. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Izzy85

[DanaK]

Enjoyed the parts of the wedding we did see, including the dancing by the bridal party. I would have liked to see where they were declared married if that exists in a Nigerian wedding

Abishola’s mom is too overbearing

So they split the difference with Dele, 6 months in Nigeria and 6 months in the US with his mom. I wonder if the actor wanted some time to do other things or Lorre just didn’t want to write for him anymore?

[jewel21]

I'm really gong to miss Dele. I'm sad they wrote him off the show. 

I thought Abishola looked stunning in her bridal dress. She was positively glowing. Bob however looked like he had just woken up from a long winter's nap, hee. 

I was surprised Bob's mom was able to deliver such a lovely speech about Bob to Abishola's family. I loved her telling them to bow her. I cracked up at the visual.  

[Brian Cronin]

I really don't like Dele being written off (and, come on, this is definitely writing him off). He's such a big part of the show. It seems like he's being eliminated for plot convenience, and that's uncool. 

[LittleIggy]

15 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

I really don't like Dele being written off (and, come on, this is definitely writing him off). He's such a big part of the show. It seems like he's being eliminated for plot convenience, and that's uncool. 

Agreed! I wanted to see Abishola’s strict parenting style clash with Bob’s laid back attitude (we have seen glimpses of this before) after they got married. 
Abishola looked gorgeous! Her mother is a total bitch. The dressmaker’s walk reminded me of Mrs. Wiggins’ walk from the old Carol Burnett show. 😄

[Brian Cronin]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Agreed! I wanted to see Abishola’s strict parenting style clash with Bob’s laid back attitude (we have seen glimpses of this before) after they got married. 

Dollars to donuts they want to do more traditional newlywed plots (the preview showed them having a conflict over what couch to buy, for instance) and they think that a teenage son conflicts with that. 

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, DanaK said:

So they split the difference with Dele, 6 months in Nigeria and 6 months in the US with his mom. I wonder if the actor wanted some time to do other things or Lorre just didn’t want to write for him anymore?

Maybe it was both?

Maybe he needed time for school.  But then I just saw the episode of "Two and a Half Men" where Jake is sent away so maybe it is a Chuck Lorre thing.  Although they both seemed to be around the same age so it could be school.

It's at times like this I wish the show were longer so I could have seen more scenes from that wedding!

[sheetmoss]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

Maybe it was both?

Maybe he needed time for school.  But then I just saw the episode of "Two and a Half Men" where Jake is sent away so maybe it is a Chuck Lorre thing.  Although they both seemed to be around the same age so it could be school.

It's at times like this I wish the show were longer so I could have seen more scenes from that wedding!

Just to clarify, the actor who played Jake left of his own accord

In November 2012, Jones said that he had been baptized and no longer wanted to appear on Two and a Half Men, calling the show "filth" and saying it conflicted with his religious views.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_T._Jones

 

[floridamom]

The wedding was "all Abishola" and no Bob. After all, he is one half of this couple. 

[greekmom]

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Maybe it was both?

Maybe he needed time for school.  But then I just saw the episode of "Two and a Half Men" where Jake is sent away so maybe it is a Chuck Lorre thing.  Although they both seemed to be around the same age so it could be school.

It's at times like this I wish the show were longer so I could have seen more scenes from that wedding!

The kids in Mom were definitely written out and not even shown in the finale.

I'm hoping that they give Christina a bone and have her in a healthy relationship this season.

Both Douglas and Bob look like they have slimmed down.

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, sheetmoss said:

Just to clarify, the actor who played Jake left of his own accord

In November 2012, Jones said that he had been baptized and no longer wanted to appear on Two and a Half Men, calling the show "filth" and saying it conflicted with his religious views.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_T._Jones

 

Thanks, I never watched the show so I never knew any of that.  I only caught that episode because it happened to be on when I put on the TV the other day.

[joanne3482]

4 hours ago, floridamom said:

The wedding was "all Abishola" and no Bob. After all, he is one half of this couple. 

I think Bob seemed to be okay with that. He did the traditional American wedding in the past. It didn't seem like he needed to do the same with Abishola. It seemed like he enjoyed himself and the wedding itself was probably much more fun than his first one was with all the dancing.  Bob didn't seem to care so much about the event itself as he does about the marriage.  I do wonder a little bit what the wedding would have been like had they gotten married in the US (which I think was the original plan?). Would they have gone down the US wedding route? 

In some respects I'm similar to Bob in that I don't have a lot of people I would invite to a wedding, no huge extended family and no real need to do a 'traditional' American wedding. If I were marrying someone from another culture who had traditions they wanted to keep I'd probably go along with them because I'd want them to be happy and if something like that was important to them where it isn't that important to me why not?  

[Yeah No]

45 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

I think Bob seemed to be okay with that. He did the traditional American wedding in the past. It didn't seem like he needed to do the same with Abishola. It seemed like he enjoyed himself and the wedding itself was probably much more fun than his first one was with all the dancing.  Bob didn't seem to care so much about the event itself as he does about the marriage.  I do wonder a little bit what the wedding would have been like had they gotten married in the US (which I think was the original plan?). Would they have gone down the US wedding route? 

In some respects I'm similar to Bob in that I don't have a lot of people I would invite to a wedding, no huge extended family and no real need to do a 'traditional' American wedding. If I were marrying someone from another culture who had traditions they wanted to keep I'd probably go along with them because I'd want them to be happy and if something like that was important to them where it isn't that important to me why not?  

I basically agree with you but Bob does seem to give into Abishola and her family a lot.  Sometimes I think too much.  I think if it were only Abishola, though, and not her family she would want things to be on a more equal basis culturally speaking.  I think it's just because it took place in Nigeria and her entire family was present that it mostly represented their culture.

[AnimeMania]

When did Abishola get a divorce?

Is her marriage even legal.?

Maybe women can have more than one husband?

Bob wasted a lot of money on all of his marriage plans he made in Detroit. Maybe he broken even by not having to fly half of Nigeria to the U.S.

They didn't even show Tayo's wife, that could have made for a lot of funny moments if they wanted to milk the laughs. What race is she, how young, how beautiful, what personality, etc., how much respect does she give Abishola?

Tayo and family probably didn't get an invite to the wedding.

There were no children at the wedding or (white people at the wedding or in the country).

[Yeah No]

16 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

They didn't even show Tayo's wife, that could have made for a lot of funny moments if they wanted to milk the laughs. What race is she, how young, how beautiful, what personality, etc., how much respect does she give Abishola?

Tayo and family probably didn't get an invite to the wedding.

There were no children at the wedding or (white people at the wedding or in the country).

I think the fact that there is so much time eaten up by commercials means they have to forego some potentially good comedy moments to cram everything in.  It's regrettable.  They didn't have to spend so much time on Abishola's narcissistic mother.  That was a downer and IMO we could have gotten the point with at least 50% less of it.

[HurricaneVal]

I think Abishola's bitchy mother explains a lot about who Abishola is.  I don't think Abishola is bitchy, but I do think she's outspoken and firm in her opinions.  Growing up with a mother like that, Abishola would have to develop both those defenses in order to avoid being steamrolled at every turn. 

I know nothing about Nigeria other than it is a country in Africa, but oddly enough this is the second Nigerian wedding I've "attended" in the past two weeks.  The third season of Sex Education features Eric traveling to a family wedding in Nigeria.  The similarities between the two weddings in dissimilar shows--lots of color, lots of dancing, lots of food, lots of family bickering, dominant women--makes me think that perhaps this is how big showy weddings actually are done in Nigeria.  The one thing I could not take my eyes off of were the elaborate headdresses all the women wore, they were spectacular in both shows.

[zoey1996]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

There were no children at the wedding or (white people at the wedding or in the country).

Bob's family was present - aren't they white?

 

14 hours ago, DanaK said:

So they split the difference with Dele, 6 months in Nigeria and 6 months in the US with his mom.

Probably won't be a big plot point, but I have to wonder how that will work with his school. 

[AnimeMania]

8 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

There were no children at the wedding or (white people at the wedding or in the country).

Bob's family was present - aren't they white?

They were imported just for that scene. Do White and Black people not intermingle in Nigeria? Do Nigerians not have the equivalent of "I Have A White Friend".

[Brian Cronin]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

I know nothing about Nigeria other than it is a country in Africa, but oddly enough this is the second Nigerian wedding I've "attended" in the past two weeks.  The third season of Sex Education features Eric traveling to a family wedding in Nigeria.  The similarities between the two weddings in dissimilar shows--lots of color, lots of dancing, lots of food, lots of family bickering, dominant women--makes me think that perhaps this is how big showy weddings actually are done in Nigeria.  The one thing I could not take my eyes off of were the elaborate headdresses all the women wore, they were spectacular in both shows.

One of the big things about the show was getting Nigerian culture right (as show co-creator Gina Yashere, who also plays Kemi, is all about that), so I'd be shocked if they DIDN'T get Nigerian weddings correctly. 

[shapeshifter]

Since this was filmed during the pandemic, I assume there was an effect on the numbers (or lack thereof) of extras for the wedding.

 

Christine Ebersole/Dottie seemed to be genuinely enjoying it. Perhaps she was just thrilled to be vaccinated and filming again.
I loved when Dottie said to Bob after her perfect speech, "Good luck following that," because my daughter asked me several months ahead of time to write a speech for her wedding--which meant at least 8 rounds of my editing, including putting it away long enough to see it with fresh eyes--and it was almost impossible for her poor sister-in-law to follow with a spur of the moment speech, as she had a toddler and worked full time.

I think the 6 months on / 6 months off is perfect for  the character of Dele. IMDb shows Travis Wolfe Jr. has heretofore been in 23 of 46 episodes anyway. This will allow him to be more engaged with high school when necessary.

I loved Abishola's wedding ensemble, especially her headwear and sleeves, but Bob's goofy hat was in all the pictures. 
The blue and orange-gold outfit she wore on the bench was really fabulous too.

The dress Auntie Olu had on in the shop really did look like it was designed for Mommy's figure and vice versa.

[Keywestclubkid]

Yes it IS amazing! I AM amazing lol 

[Keywestclubkid]

Auntie won the episode… love that she knew what it meant to Abishola and held her tongue at the end. 

[tennisgurl]

The wedding was so lovely, Abishola looked amazing. Bob looked like he was about to enter a sack race, but he was so happy that he still managed to pull it off. 

I hate that they are seemingly writing Dele off, he is such a big part of the show, I will really miss his relationship with Bob. Watching Abishola and Bob really try to co-parent would have been really interesting, losing him is a big loss for the show. 

[theredhead77]

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Bob wasted a lot of money on all of his marriage plans he made in Detroit.

Nothing is stopping them from having a second wedding or party in the states.

I loved the wedding and what I really, really love is Bob not always getting things right, or making incorrect assumptions, admitting he was wrong and learning. 

I was disappointed Bob didn't ask Tunde about the meaning of the items on the list but then we wouldn't have had the scene in the market.

 

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I basically agree with you but Bob does seem to give into Abishola and her family a lot.  Sometimes I think too much.

 I think Bob picks his battles carefully.

[AnimeMania]

1 minute ago, theredhead77 said:

Nothing is stopping them from having a second wedding or party in the states.

It really depends on what date they had planned for the wedding, if it already passed they will be out of luck.

[possibilities]

Haven't they only been in Nigeria a short time, like a few days or a week? 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by possibilities

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

It really depends on what date they had planned for the wedding, if it already passed they will be out of luck.

We'll find out! Or we won't if it's a non-issue to the plot.

48 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Haven't they only been in Nigeria a short time, like a few days or a week? 

 

Seems that way. I'm not surprised they were able to throw together the wedding in a week or so. It seems Abishola's family is wealthy, and well connected in the community.

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I'm not surprised they were able to throw together the wedding in a week or so. It seems Abishola's family is wealthy, and well connected in the community.

I agree. But I think that if they were only there a short time, it's unlikely they missed the date of the USA wedding they'd been planning, as someone upthread was worrying about, is all.

[theredhead77]

7 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I agree. But I think that if they were only there a short time, it's unlikely they missed the date of the USA wedding they'd been planning, as someone upthread was worrying about, is all.

I was agreeing with you and elaborating on how a wedding could be pulled together in such a short amount of time. It didn't even seem that elaborate. The dresses (probably already in the works for the US wedding) and traditions made it elaborate but the venue seemed fairly low key.

[marymon]

I get Bob hearts her but why?

[floridamom]

So, when did Abishola get divorced? I must have missed something. I was disappointed that they didn't show the ceremony. Why not? This could have been a two-parter and would have worked out better. Their relationship is somewhat unbelievable, I guess it's appropriate that their sudden Nigeria-wedding seem unbelievable too. Like I said, when was Abishola divorced? They seemed to skip over that little tidbit. Overall, a rushed wedding like a rushed engagement.

[Yeah No]

13 minutes ago, floridamom said:

So, when did Abishola get divorced? I must have missed something. I was disappointed that they didn't show the ceremony. Why not? This could have been a two-parter and would have worked out better. Their relationship is somewhat unbelievable, I guess it's appropriate that their sudden Nigeria-wedding seem unbelievable too. Like I said, when was Abishola divorced? They seemed to skip over that little tidbit. Overall, a rushed wedding like a rushed engagement.

Good question, I can't remember any final divorce either.  Didn't Tayo finally agree to one last season though?  I admit I'm not sure but I seem to remember that he did agree finally.

I also agree it feels a little soon for them to marry.

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I loved the wedding and what I really, really love is Bob not always getting things right, or making incorrect assumptions, admitting he was wrong and learning

Especially the episode title: BowAndGo   
😆

 

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Good question, I can't remember any final divorce either.  Didn't Tayo finally agree to one last season though? 

Best. Divorce. Ever.

Had my divorce been so forgettable, I might have married again. 😉

 

[Harvey]

I hope we never see Abishola's mom again. What a mean spirited, pathetic, insecure piece of trash.

[possibilities]

Olu and Tunde confronted Tayo in Church when he was in the USA, and made him realize that if he didn't agree to the divorce he would regret it. I don't recall seeing them actually sign the papers, but it was very clear that he had been sufficiently pressured to agree to signing. 

[femmefan1946]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:34 AM, AnimeMania said:

They were imported just for that scene. Do White and Black people not intermingle in Nigeria? Do Nigerians not have the equivalent of "I Have A White Friend".

The white population of Nigeria is vanishingly small, outside of some employees of international companies.

 

Probably won't be a big plot point, but I have to wonder how that will work with his school. 

The British school year and the American school year don't line up. The summer break is much shorter and the spring /Easter break is longer.

Brits seem to have more holidays than Americans.

Autumn break: 26 October – 30 October 2020.

Christmas break: 21 December – 1 January 2021.

February break: 15 February – 19 February 2021.

Easter break: 2nd April – 16 April 2021.

May break: 31 May – 4 June 2021.

Summer break: 23 July – 1 September 2021.

[possibilities]

The school years don't have to line up, though. If Dele is going to school in Nigeria, he doesn't have to also go to school in the USA. Though it would be sitcom funny for Abishola to try to make him do both....

[SmithW6079]

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

I hope we never see Abishola's mom again. What a mean spirited, pathetic, insecure piece of trash.

What shocked me was her comment about Olu's womb being a desert. That was -- excuse the pun -- really hitting below the belt.

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/27/2021 at 10:27 PM, DanaK said:

So they split the difference with Dele, 6 months in Nigeria and 6 months in the US with his mom. I wonder if the actor wanted some time to do other things or Lorre just didn’t want to write for him anymore?

 

On 9/28/2021 at 12:11 AM, Brian Cronin said:

I really don't like Dele being written off (and, come on, this is definitely writing him off). He's such a big part of the show. It seems like he's being eliminated for plot convenience, and that's uncool. 

Yeah, I don’t see how they can manage the 6 months here/6 months there, unless he does some kind of virtual schooling, but I do hope they find a way to have Dele appear at least occasionally. Unless the actor has something better lined up. In which case, I’d watch that. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by SoMuchTV

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, SmithW6079 said:

5 hours ago, Harvey said:

I hope we never see Abishola's mom again. What a mean spirited, pathetic, insecure piece of trash.

What shocked me was her comment about Olu's womb being a desert. That was -- excuse the pun -- really hitting below the belt.

Yes and no for me, because the only real difference between Abishola's mom and her aunt's arguing and what my sister and I think of each other is that they say it out loud.

[tennisgurl]

Meeting Abishola's mom sure does explain a lot about her, she makes even season one Abishola look like Mary Poppins.

[Johannah]

Abishola's gown was beautiful and she smiled so much at the wedding, she glowed.  Absolutely stunning.

Bob's outfit looked like he just rolled out of bed, but he is so good-natured about everything.

Thought the same thing about the dressmaker and Mrs. HuhWiggins.

Abishola's aunt and uncle are true gems.  The way they care for Abishola and Dele, the way they have accepted and helped Bob, the way the aunt let the mother "win" so as not to ruin Abishola's day.  It was clear that Abishola honored her mother because she is her mother, but she appreciates her aunt so much more.

And because it can't be said enough - Abishola was stunning at her wedding - beautiful and smiling.

Could have done without Christine getting drunk and puking, but I guess there's always one...

eta:

I not only wanted Dele to move into Bob's place, but for the aunt and uncle to move in, too.  Would have given us some great lines.  I wonder if the shopping for a new sofa scene was because Bob's ex-wife decorated the place.  I don't see Abishola insisting on redecorating, but maybe someone made a comment about the furniture being picked out by Bob's ex and he noticed a "look" on Abishola's face and insisted she put her mark on the place.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Johann
added

[mammaM]

(heavy sigh) It was ok. I didn't comment last week because I was waiting to see how it played out.

Abishola looked beautiful, Tunde is the best, I want Olu to be my aunt and I'm gonna miss Dele alot.

But the whole "racing to save Dele who ultimately didn't need saving so we're just going to leave him here" plotline....again, heavy sigh. I've been writing and erasing reasons why I didn't like this plotline, sometimes quite involved, sometimes just 'I hate cliffhangers!". Ultimately it boils down to I liked the character and will miss him if he's gone😠

[HurricaneVal]

17 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

What shocked me was her comment about Olu's womb being a desert. That was -- excuse the pun -- really hitting below the belt.

Yeah, that took it out of the cultural strong woman one-upmanship sparring game that Olu thought they were playing, and went straight to hurtful.  I think that really showed Abishola's mom's character.  She is insecure and wildly jealous of Olu, so went for the jugular.  I know in prior seasons, they played Abishola's mother for laughs, with her poorly framed Facetime calls and overbearing manner, but with this visit they showed her true colors, which explained why Abishola always seemed somewhat cold to her mom, all while going through the motions of showing proper respect.  Abishola also shows the proper respect to her Auntie Olu, but she does it with a warm affection, even when she's frustrated or exasperated with her.

[femmefan1946]

22 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

What shocked me was her comment about Olu's womb being a desert. That was -- excuse the pun -- really hitting below the belt.

I wondered if this was a comment that Gina Yashere had heard somewhere and kept.

[Marley]

I really liked this episode. Glad they are married now. It was actually pretty cute. Bobs mom cracks me up.

Im glad they wrote off Dele. Young Kids are annoying on shows amd I don’t care about watching him have storylines. His little dancing storyline I think last season was completely stupid. Plus if the dad can get him into a really good school it makes sense. Abishola was all about him getting an education. Would’ve been really selfish if she forced him to come home after that.

[shapeshifter]

Dele is not written off. 
Up to now Dele has appeared in half the episodes. 
In the future Dele will live half of each year with Abishola. 
Including video chats, Dele’s screen time could actually increase. 
Or Dele’s screen time could decrease.

Or has there been some media posting by Travis Wolfe Jr. stating he is leaving the show? I don’t see anything like that. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by shapeshifter