S01:E02 Green Eyed Monster

[AgentRXS]

Quote

While Dean reckons with his first taste of heartbreak and betrayal, the adults in his life are overly empathetic and assume his grief is from mourning current events. Dean milks the special treatment and uses it to his advantage – and his family shows their support for him in their own unique ways; Kim invites him to join her at a local activist rally, while Bill and Dean bond during a fishing trip.

Original Air Date: September 29, 2021

[Bookish Jen]

Was I the only one who watched this last night? Any thoughts?

[Browncoat]

I watched it and I liked it.

I really enjoyed the fishing trip, and I liked that Dean knew his sister didn't really want to be involved in any violence and also knew how to get her out of it.

I can totally see a 12-year old playing the adults like that, too.

I am glad Dean and his buddy talked and are good.

Although, since I have a tiny TV, I had to rewind and rewatch to be able to see the fish his mom was frying.

[Bookish Jen]

10 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I watched it and I liked it.

I really enjoyed the fishing trip, and I liked that Dean knew his sister didn't really want to be involved in any violence and also knew how to get her out of it.

I can totally see a 12-year old playing the adults like that, too.

I am glad Dean and his buddy talked and are good.

Although, since I have a tiny TV, I had to rewind and rewatch to be able to see the fish his mom was frying.

I couldn't tell what fish she was frying either, other than it was tiny.

But yes, I really enjoyed this episode, too. I liked how Dean bonded with his dad through fishing and with his sister by meeting with the activists. However, I'm glad they skedaddled after they saw the gun. I was a bit worried for a moment.

I did crack up when Dean dreamed his friend and his crush as a married couple with a nearly a Duggar-house of kids.

[Sarah 103]

The opening credits need work. I understand they only have 30 seconds, but it didn't do it for me. 

It was amusing to see Dean torn between checking out his crush, and knowing a memorial service (I hope that's the right term for it) is a horrible place to be doing that.

I knew Dean's sister would eventually bring him to Panther HQ, but I did not expect that. I like that Dean and his sister have a much better relationship than Kevin and his sister.

Do we think this is the end of her involvement with the Panthers, or just her involvement with that particular guy? 

 

[chitowngirl]

16 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

I like that Dean and his sister have a much better relationship than Kevin and his sister.

I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Dean and Kim are closer in age than Kevin and Karen. Plus, with the older brother gone, they might have bonded over that.

[tennisgurl]

The opening credits really need work, the opening of the original was iconic while these feel hastily put together. The rest of the episode I quite liked though, I thought the feeling of getting stuck dealing with your own stuff even during a greater national tragedy, especially as a kid, felt very real.

Dean using MLK's death to get out of school was hilarious, I can totally see a kid playing that card. We also had nice moments with Dean and his dad and Dead and his bestie, I am glad that they talked it out. 

Having grown up in a rural area, I totally got what Dean said about growing up around guns in the woods but knowing right away that there is a difference between that and a "city" gun. Especially as a kid, those feel very different. Glad that his sister left when the guy she was dating pulled out a gun, that could easily turn ugly very quickly.

Edited October 1, 2021 by tennisgurl

[chediavolo]

2 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

Was I the only one who watched this last night? Any thoughts?

Yes. Thoughts are this is the last time I’ll be watching it. It just is so blah. Has none of the heart of the original. 

[PRgal]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Dean and Kim are closer in age than Kevin and Karen. Plus, with the older brother gone, they might have bonded over that.

It looks like they swapped the siblings with the age difference between Dean and Kim is similar to that of Kevin and Wayne.

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The opening credits really need work, the opening of the original was iconic while these feel hastily put together.

I get its 2021 and they only have 30 seconds, but the editing didn't work. It felt like the images and the music didn't line up, if that makes sense. 

How old is Kim? We know she's studying for the SAT and they're talking about college, which would put her in her junior year, so she should be around 17, unless she's young for her grade based on when her birthday falls or if she skipped a grade.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Sarah 103

[nodorothyparker]

I don't like the opening credits either, but then I generally don't care for the extremely truncated credits we get for most shows so they can squeeze more ads in. Part of the fun of TV has been the iconic themes.

The show feels like it's still finding its legs a bit, but I found the gag of Dean stumbling into using MLK's death to get free passes on schoolwork hilarious. Of course Cory and Keisa as the apparent only other black kids in that particular class were going to want in on that but then put in as little effort as possible. Loved that he pulled out of the group project aspect purely from hurt feelings and jealousy but then still got all the worst aspects of the group project in getting the same grade for vastly unequal work. Been there, kid, been there.

Dean and Kim seem to be closer in age than Kevin and Karen were, and they don't have a sibling in between them. I know I'm more interested in the Black Panther story because it's a story I haven't seen a hundred times on TV. I also got the acknowledgement of the difference between the kind of guns you'd see in the country and a "city gun" which would automatically be perceived as much more dangerous. Curious to see where they go with the boyfriend going there.

[Cherpumple]

Once again, Dean's parents were awesome. The fishing storyline with his dad was great, and I loved how proud his mom was about the tiny fish she caught.

I did like the story with Dean, and thought it was a great blend of personal/national tragedy as well as a good mix of funny and serious. However, I was surprised that ALL of the white teachers in his Montgomery school were bending over backwards to be sensitive and kind to the black students, especially after last week when we saw some white students back away in disgust after seeing Dean drink from the school water fountain. The 1960s were before my time, so I don't know what it was really like, but I was expecting to see a more mixed reaction from the teachers- some being kind, some ignoring it, and even some being smug (or worse), especially since riots broke out in several places after the assassination. This version just seemed a little too neat and tidy, I guess in order to create the rest of the plot.

[Sarah 103]

8 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

However, I was surprised that ALL of the white teachers in his Montgomery school were bending over backwards to be sensitive and kind to the black students, especially after last week when we saw some white students back away in disgust after seeing Dean drink from the school water fountain. The 1960s were before my time, so I don't know what it was really like, but I was expecting to see a more mixed reaction from the teachers- some being kind, some ignoring it, and even some being smug (or worse), especially since riots broke out in several places after the assassination. This version just seemed a little too neat and tidy, I guess in order to create the rest of the plot.

You make an excellent point. It would have been both funny and historically accurate to have some white teachers not fall for it. It would have demonstrated the racism and prejudice of the era/location, and allowed for Dean's voiceover to have a line like "You can't win 'em all" when the guilt didn't work on a particular teacher. 

[nodorothyparker]

9 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I was surprised that ALL of the white teachers in his Montgomery school were bending over backwards to be sensitive and kind to the black students, especially after last week when we saw some white students back away in disgust after seeing Dean drink from the school water fountain. The 1960s were before my time, so I don't know what it was really like, but I was expecting to see a more mixed reaction from the teachers- some being kind, some ignoring it, and even some being smug (or worse), especially since riots broke out in several places after the assassination. This version just seemed a little too neat and tidy, I guess in order to create the rest of the plot.

This is a great point. We tend to feel all warm and fuzzy about King's memory now, but he polled fairly unpopularly with white people at the time. It probably would have been more accurate for at least some of the white teachers or students to be completely indifferent to some level of "well, what did you expect?" but maybe we're supposed to think they're feeling magnanimous here since he's dead. Last week, I got the impression that the teacher who assigned the MLK project was supposed to be a version of a similar teacher character on Everybody Hates Chris, who often came off as patronizingly and cluelessly racist when she clearly thought she was being enlightened and helpful.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

On 9/30/2021 at 2:59 PM, chediavolo said:

Yes. Thoughts are this is the last time I’ll be watching it. It just is so blah. Has none of the heart of the original. 

Wow, you lasted much longer than me. I got through about 30 seconds of the first episode before I flipped channels.

[stonehaven]

I loved this episode and find the point of view refreshing from a white perspective. 

I laughed several times and really love the characters. I will be watching again.

I must say the fishing scenes touched me as I recall fishing with my Mom..(who loved it for some reason) and I was bored out of my mind....but as an adult, I can see the appeal of being outside..sitting still and allowing the mind to reflect on life. Kids don't do that very often....and the fishing captured that perfectl

[bybrandy]

My dad went through a fishing phase.  All catch and release and we had a good time for a few months fishing on Saturday mornings so I enjoyed that moment with Dean and his dad.  And I enjoyed that it didn't quite work out when he tried with his friend.

I thought the white guilt bit was funny.

I hope this turn with the now ex boyfriend doesn't end the sister's time with the panthers because there is a lot of story to tell with the panthers.  

 

[Raja]

On 10/1/2021 at 1:26 AM, Cherpumple said:

Once again, Dean's parents were awesome. The fishing storyline with his dad was great, and I loved how proud his mom was about the tiny fish she caught.

I did like the story with Dean, and thought it was a great blend of personal/national tragedy as well as a good mix of funny and serious. However, I was surprised that ALL of the white teachers in his Montgomery school were bending over backwards to be sensitive and kind to the black students, especially after last week when we saw some white students back away in disgust after seeing Dean drink from the school water fountain. The 1960s were before my time, so I don't know what it was really like, but I was expecting to see a more mixed reaction from the teachers- some being kind, some ignoring it, and even some being smug (or worse), especially since riots broke out in several places after the assassination. This version just seemed a little too neat and tidy, I guess in order to create the rest of the plot.

Since they walked by the closed segregated school in the pilot I think that they are in the first integrated class for their community. Are there many writers in their 60s and 70s that really know what that is like.

[txhorns79]

I don't love it.  I felt like you can feel the actors playacting as though they are living in the 60s.  None of it feels particularly authentic to me.  Maybe I just was spoiled by Mad Men, and it's possible this show will get better, but it's just kind of off.     

[possibilities]

I just watched a season of Room 222 on YouTube (same time period, but actually made during that time) and I agree this show does not feel or look like the era it is trying to portray, at all. I want it to get better. I really wanted to see them do a good job with the Panthers, and there's so much material to work with here. It would be such a waste to squander the potential. 

[Raja]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

I just watched a season of Room 222 on YouTube (same time period, but actually made during that time) and I agree this show does not feel or look like the era it is trying to portray, at all. I want it to get better. I really wanted to see them do a good job with the Panthers, and there's so much material to work with here. It would be such a waste to squander the potential. 

These days we may talk Red and Blue communities but back then? Alabama suburbs with the end of Jim Crow segregation forced upon them versus urban Los Angeles  at the white flight borderline gives you two different communities. And Room 222 was really a proto dramedy, in a half hour format as opposed to the hour long shows that took that name 15 years later.

Dean being a bit younger than the Whitman Senior High schoolers also comes into play. The only show that I can think of that came close to portraying Dean's community would be that Denzel Washington movie Remember The Titans about the football team  of a just integrated high school a few years later in the 70s.

[Sarah 103]

20 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I don't love it.  I felt like you can feel the actors playacting as though they are living in the 60s.  None of it feels particularly authentic to me.  Maybe I just was spoiled by Mad Men, and it's possible this show will get better, but it's just kind of off.     

These are sincere, serious, honest, no snark-questions: What do you think is the difference? What makes one feel authentic and the other one feel off? Is it the writing/language? Is it the mannerisms? I am genuinely curious. 

This may not be something you can put into words, which is totally okay.

I have a question about regarding their friendship with Brad that I'm hoping someone can answer. Did they know Brad before the school-year started, or did they meet at the start of the school-year and become friends? We are starting the series halfway through the school-year, so they could have become friends with him.

Covering a black family in 1960s suburbia was a great idea. It's a story that hasn't been told before. I am not sure the writers/creative team fully thought through all of the implications of setting in the south.   

[possibilities]

I realize that urban LA vs suburban AL are different worlds, but I still think that TWY is not capturing the look and feel of the time. It's way too easy-going and shiny; tell me that all the white people are going to be welcoming and sympathetic and friendly and I just don't believe it. I also think the language used is off. They sound like today. You could set these stories in 2021 and they wouldn't seem that far off. Just sub out MLK and the Panthers and put some other references like George Floyd and BLM, and the show wouldn't seem anachronistic. If they want to tell a story set in the 1960s, it should be more distinct than that.

It also may have to do with the way they film. The literal film graininess vs shiny digital lighting is characteristic of the video of the different eras. I realize that people who were alive in the 60s were not seeing each other through grainy footage. But anything filmed back then has that look, and people watching it now associate that visual effect with the era. This wouldn't be an issue if the rest of the show was more authentic. I get the impression they borrowed the name and the date as more of a marketing strategy than a desire to actually tell a story about the time and place, but I hope I will be proved wrong in future episodes.

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Sarah 103 said:

These are sincere, serious, honest, no snark-questions: What do you think is the difference? What makes one feel authentic and the other one feel off? Is it the writing/language? Is it the mannerisms? I am genuinely curious. 

Mad Men happened to be set in the 60s, and the characters felt like they were well placed in that era, whereas The Wonder Years makes feel like there is a "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" to everyone's actions.  It may just be because you have a modern day person offering commentary throughout the episode so moments that would otherwise be subtle, get commented on regardless.         

[Sarah 103]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I realize that urban LA vs suburban AL are different worlds, but I still think that TWY is not capturing the look and feel of the time. It's way too easy-going and shiny; tell me that all the white people are going to be welcoming and sympathetic and friendly and I just don't believe it.

I think this is where the show made a huge mistake setting the show in south, especially Alabama. Trying to portray the white characters in a historically accurate manner that will not anger many modern white viewers and cause a twitter storm of "white racism/reverse racism, this show hates white people" is impossible. 

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

It also may have to do with the way they film. The literal film graininess vs shiny digital lighting is characteristic of the video of the different eras. I realize that people who were alive in the 60s were not seeing each other through grainy footage. But anything filmed back then has that look, and people watching it now associate that visual effect with the era. This wouldn't be an issue if the rest of the show was more authentic. I get the impression they borrowed the name and the date as more of a marketing strategy than a desire to actually tell a story about the time and place, but I hope I will be proved wrong in future episodes.

I totally know what you mean about shows and movies from different eras having a differnt look to them. That being said the original Wonder Years was shot in the 1980s on tape, which despite all of the fantastic 1960s period detials, looks like something shot on tape.

 I totally agree with you the name of the series and the year it takes place in are part of a marketing strategy because ABC did not think they could sucessfully sell a show about a black family without connecting it to a proven hit. 

[CeeBeeGee]

On 10/3/2021 at 6:13 PM, Sarah 103 said:

I think this is where the show made a huge mistake setting the show in south, especially Alabama. Trying to portray the white characters in a historically accurate manner that will not anger many modern white viewers and cause a twitter storm of "white racism/reverse racism, this show hates white people" is impossible. 

 

God, yes. I was stunned when I found out it took place in Alabama--Alabama???!  Literally just a few years before, in another big city in Alabama, four little girls were murdered via bomb--and there were plenty of white Alabamians who celebrated that. Birmingham's rep was so bad, its nickname was Bombingham. Make the setting outer Philadelphia or outer Detroit--anything but the deep South. I love this show and will continue to watch it but that kind of rose-colored gaze re: Southern whites (I am one, if it matters) is not historical.

[andromeda331]

I like Dean's and Kim's relationship. 

[DearEvette]

I love how Dean's actual depression is because of Corey and Kesia and not MLK at all.  LOL.  And he plays on it so well. 

I like some little details:  his mom's house slippers, those rather ugly crocheted pot holders, those aluminum lawn chairs with the plastic weave seats/backs.

Kesia and Corey's report was so bad.  I've seen reports like this.  I love that they mentioned Ghandi was from India like three times.  In a written report it would be the equivalent of wide margins and triple spaced paragraphs. Also Dean's reaction 'Everybody got an 'A'?  Oh so now we get equality?"

Dean was gangsta during the whole Black Panther scene, from faking asthma  to getting the last word with Albert.

I love his parents.

 

[Scarlett45]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:23 PM, DearEvette said:

Kesia and Corey's report was so bad.  I've seen reports like this.  I love that they mentioned Ghandi was from India like three times.  In a written report it would be the equivalent of wide margins and triple spaced paragraphs. Also Dean's reaction 'Everybody got an 'A'?  Oh so now we get equality?"

That cracked me up.