S04.E02: Not The Plan

[Whimsy]

Quote

Gary takes steps forward with Darcy and continues to distance himself from anything involving Peter. Rome makes an effort to distract Regina from her job search, which may be looking up after all. Maggie adjusts to a new work environment, while Katherine entertains a new friend. Eddie makes progress in more ways than one.

Original airdate 9/29/21

[ams1001]

"Are you wearing shoulder pads?" What 11-year-old boy would notice that? 

Who played the woman selling the house?

"Liam knocked over the very special one." No, you and Liam were playing with them like idiots.

Rolling my eyes at Maggie's gratuitously rude new coworker. But also, why couldn't she keep the kid on the phone and talk to him off-air?

I like Eddie's new PT.

Okay, so I was right, Gary left and the other guy beat Peter. Pretty sure Gary would still be charged with a felony, especially if Peter dies. He left knowing what was likely to happen.

 

[historylover820]

I kinda liked this episode....

So, several of us did call it that Gary left before the beating. But, still, crime. B&E and possibly kidnapping. Assault. There's a lot of things Gary could be charged for.

I loved Eddie's new physical therapist and hope he stays for longer than next week's episode. Eddie needs someone like him in his life.

Heck, I even liked Katherine making friends with the actress. She needs more friends in her life.

(Speaking of which, why would this insane group of people throw Katherine a divorce party? Wouldn't you do that with girlfriends who DON'T like your soon-to-be ex-husband? And of course Eddie is going to find out about this!)

Not sure what to feel about Maggie's subplot. In one respect, I get it--need to help the kid. However, there were ways to go about that and still have this radio station function as a radio station. Like tell the kid to hang on--she will switch phones and talk to him privately and let her co-worker do the traffic and weather. And the co-worker wasn't wrong. What he does is important to a lot of people.

But, I've never worked in radio, so I don't know if Maggie could have switched phones and talked to the kid privately.

ETA: Wait, the radio station I listen to does it all the time! They do promotions and contests. A caller calls in to win concert tickets, and they go on with their programming, but asks the caller to hold on the line so they can get the winner's info. Sometimes the winner does a promo for the radio station during the time that the DJs are talking to them privately!

Finally, Liam breaking the figurine had me squirming. Brought back bad memories.

My grandmother was not the nicest woman. You know that little voice in the back of your head that tells you that you're a failure, that you're worthless and stupid? (Maybe I need In the Room with Dr. Bloom) That voice in me sounds like Grandma, and she's been dead for 20 years. Because she called me all of those things when I was 10 years old and accidentally broke a figurine of hers. So, I was almost going "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" when Liam broke the figurine. So it was a relief that Liam breaking the figurine ended better than mine did!

But, I doubt whether Gary will be able to move.

Edited September 30, 2021 by historylover820
Thought of something

[KaveDweller]

Isn't 11 too old for parents to be arranging play dates? I did like Katharine bonding with the actress though.

Maggie is super annoying. I can understand she thought the mugs were communal, but when she was told she had taken the traffic/weather guy's mug, she didn't switch to another one. She just kept using it. Also, no way would she get away with skipping the traffic and weather. There would be another boss coming in to complain. Some people only care about traffic and weather. Also, shouldn't she have been given more than a 30 second head's up about having to switch so she could pause the kid or pull him off air?

So did the show just decide to drop the fact that Covid exists? Regina had to close her restaurant because she couldn't open it back up, but this other restaurant is packed with people? And absolutely no one is wearing masks or distancing or even talking about restrictions? I mean, I don't want to watch a show about Covid, but they wrote it in last year and had it impact stories. Dropping it now is just bad writing.

Darcy's speech about wanting her kids to take responsibility for things does not seem to mix well with Gary pretending his little crime spree didn't happen.

 

[ams1001]

10 minutes ago, historylover820 said:

But, I doubt whether Gary will be able to move.

Oh, yeah, he's not living in that house. Darcy and Liam might, though.

[Lady Calypso]

18 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

So did the show just decide to drop the fact that Covid exists? Regina had to close her restaurant because she couldn't open it back up, but this other restaurant is packed with people? And absolutely no one is wearing masks or distancing or even talking about restrictions? I mean, I don't want to watch a show about Covid, but they wrote it in last year and had it impact stories. Dropping it now is just bad writing.

Yeah, they seem to be taking the "COVID was only a season THREE storyline" approach, which is a choice, since COVID was basically their primary story for all of last season. But they've been making some...choices with what to fast forward to, such as Eddie suddenly knowing how to drive a car. 

I did note this time that Floriana Lima is in the guest credits, not the main cast, which doesn't bode well for her sticking around for very long, which I had hoped for. It's a shame, but they're never going to let Gary move...I wish they dropped the Darcy moving storyline, or they just had her move already. 

No surprise that Gary wasn't the one who beat Peter into a coma, but Layla's father. The show chickened out, in my opinion, but I guess this allows Gary to suffer SOME consequences but not near murder, or actual murder since, now that we know Gary didn't actually do the bidding, they can kill Peter off without having to handwave why Gary is off scot-free. I mean, yes, he has other crimes that he could be charged for, but they're crimes that the show can kind of get past without having Gary do jail time (unless the season 4 ender will be Gary in jail). But...can I just say that it's telling that Gary is keeping calm under pressure over knowing that Peter could actually die and he could actually get caught, while Layla's father is an absolute mess and guilt-ridden? I know Gary still does feel guilt, with his solo scenes, but...he's also way too calm about this, and all too knowledgeable on how to cover up a crime. 

Ah, Maggie has an enemy in Weather and Traffic Guy named Nick. I will say, both characters made bad choices this episode. Maggie with continuing to drink out of Nick's mug and trying to make a joke about it, and Nick for getting angry over something fairly trivial and also making it seem like his job is life or death. Yes, his job is important too, and Maggie should have just gone off air and helped the kid from there, but Nick made it sound like lives were on the line if he didn't deliver his report ON THE HALF HOUR MARK. 

That being said, Maggie's attitude on air, even with the joke calls, was just so unprofessional of her as well. They may be hazing her, but making snarky remarks like that on your first official day? Come on.

Eddie has a new friend! His new PT guy is great. Eddie kind of needs other friends, especially other friends with similar disabilities to him, so he can really move forward with his life. And I really AM interested in Eddie's personal arc in learning how to live his life in a wheelchair. The show didn't really bother to explore it last season because they were obsessed with breaking up Katherine/Eddie that they forgot about that aspect. I'm hoping this season is different and they can hold off on the dating aspect that I know this show would LOVE to go in, just until next season.

And Katherine also has made a new friend! Obviously, there's been critiques about Katherine being the outsider of the main cast, so hopefully this is the start to her turning it around and making new friends. Her giddiness over Shanice was fantastic, and I really liked their dynamic.

 

[ams1001]

So the woman looking like she was about to have a breakdown in the parking lot at the end, I'm guessing is the real hit-and-run driver. Did she work there? It looked like she was carrying a store-logo uniform-type shirt.

[Brian Cronin]

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Yeah, they seem to be taking the "COVID was only a season THREE storyline" approach, which is a choice, since COVID was basically their primary story for all of last season. But they've been making some...choices with what to fast forward to, such as Eddie suddenly knowing how to drive a car. 

I was just writing a bit today about how it was pretty much the worst possible way to handle COVID. Ignore it? Fine. Ignore it outside of a single episode where you address it? Fine. Address it? Fine. But "Address it for 90% of a season and then just stop despite still being in the same time period you were in when you were addressing it?" It's just absurdity to such a stunning degree. I sure hope it was forced on them by the network.

 

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I did note this time that Floriana Lima is in the guest credits, not the main cast, which doesn't bode well for her sticking around for very long, which I had hoped for. It's a shame, but they're never going to let Gary move...I wish they dropped the Darcy moving storyline, or they just had her move already. 

I didn't notice that. That's a real shame. 

 

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

No surprise that Gary wasn't the one who beat Peter into a coma, but Layla's father. The show chickened out, in my opinion, but I guess this allows Gary to suffer SOME consequences but not near murder, or actual murder since, now that we know Gary didn't actually do the bidding, they can kill Peter off without having to handwave why Gary is off scot-free.

This show sure does love unrealistic solutions, and we were all waiting to see how Gary would somehow get out of what was clearly "You go to jail for this" behavior, and I guess that this is it.

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Ah, Maggie has an enemy in Weather and Traffic Guy named Nick. I will say, both characters made bad choices this episode. Maggie with continuing to drink out of Nick's mug and trying to make a joke about it, and Nick for getting angry over something fairly trivial and also making it seem like his job is life or death. Yes, his job is important too, and Maggie should have just gone off air and helped the kid from there, but Nick made it sound like lives were on the line if he didn't deliver his report ON THE HALF HOUR MARK. 

He went overboard, but I think her willful naivatee sort of provoked it. "Who needs traffic and weather?" is something that you wouldn't imagine anyone working at a radio station would ever ask (by the way, speaking of unrealistic, "Can you fill in?" "Yes, but only if Claudia is my producer." "That's nothing, we gave Doctor Stacy a wardrobe budget!" How is it remotely the same thing when Maggie is a FILL-IN? We all know she's getting the job full-time, but the lady offering the job doesn't know that! Why would you approve the hiring of a new producer for your fill-in host?). She was so ridiculously dismissive that I didn't mind his over-the-top retort.

 

[Brian Cronin]

I loved Eddie rolling out of the middle of his application to go accost some lady. How in the world did she react the way that she did to him shouting, "I know you know who I am!"? Does she think that's just what musicians do when they think fans recognize them? Chase them into the parking lot and scream, "I know you know who I am!"?

[circumvent]

1 hour ago, Brian Cronin said:

"That's nothing, we gave Doctor Stacy a wardrobe budget!"

Because what a RADIO host is wearing is really important 🙄

[hoodooznoodooz]

Gary’s dog made not a peep while Gary was talking to Christopher Gregory in the car.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I thought Gary and Maggie were only annoying when they were with one another. Now I believe they are both exasperating no matter what the scenario. Gary is always “on,” pushing, trying to amuse. It’s exhausting. I wonder if another actor could pull this off better. 

[Clanstarling]

9 hours ago, ams1001 said:

"Are you wearing shoulder pads?" What 11-year-old boy would notice that?

Are shoulder pads in again? I used to cut them out of my clothes in the 80's since my shoulders were already broad enough.

9 hours ago, historylover820 said:

So, several of us did call it that Gary left before the beating. But, still, crime. B&E and possibly kidnapping. Assault. There's a lot of things Gary could be charged for.

So where did all the blood on Gary's arm come from, if he left before the beating?

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Gary’s dog made not a peep while Gary was talking to Christopher Gregory in the car.

Colin is the most chill dog ever, apparently. Also, how did he get into the car? Seemed like he was already there, waiting. Does Gary just leave his doors unlocked? Or did he somehow slip into the back seat while Gary was walking around to the front after putting the dog in the back and close the door without Gary noticing?

59 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Are shoulder pads in again? I used to cut them out of my clothes in the 80's since my shoulders were already broad enough.

I don't know but it's not like they were that noticeable. I looked at her shoulders and thought, "is she?"

59 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

So where did all the blood on Gary's arm come from, if he left before the beating?

Good question...

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

I thought Gary and Maggie were only annoying when they were with one another. Now I believe they are both exasperating no matter what the scenario. Gary is always “on,” pushing, trying to amuse. It’s exhausting. I wonder if another actor could pull this off better. 

It's all about preference I guess - for me, the actor is why Gary is my favourite character, despite his ways.

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

Are shoulder pads in again? I used to cut them out of my clothes in the 80's since my shoulders were already broad enough.

So where did all the blood on Gary's arm come from, if he left before the beating?

The shoulder pad thing is just another example of the atrocious writing for Theo. It's like, the writer thought up this line and needed someone to say it, but Theo was the only character available, so they have him say it, even though it makes no sense for (especially) this kid to even know what shoulder pads are. Sometimes you gotta kill your darlings, writers.

The blood - that's a good question. He did hit Paul first (I think? I admit to not paying full attention) but I can't remember him bleeding as a result. Hmmm. Now I'm not sure what I'm remembering, lol.

Edited September 30, 2021 by gonzosgirrl

[circumvent]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

So where did all the blood on Gary's arm come from, if he left before the beating?

Ha!

 

[ams1001]

17 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

The blood - that's a good question. He did hit Paul first (I think? I admit to not paying full attention) but I can't remember him bleeding as a result. Hmmm. Now I'm not sure what I'm remembering, lol.

I was thinking maybe he bloodied Peter's nose when he was wrestling him into the house, but there was no blood on Peter's face when they took the bag off his head.

[Sandman]

11 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Darcy's speech about wanting her kids to take responsibility for things does not seem to mix well with Gary pretending his little crime spree didn't happen.

Hey, give Darcy a break! You think it's easy to carry around a million little anvils, just waiting for the perfect moment to drop them on Gary's stupid ass?

Except now it appears that Christopher was holding the greater share of the stupid. Interesting promo: I never knew that "Gary ... continues to distance himself from anything involving Peter" could be read as "Gary gets retconned into a semi-reprieve distancing him from his criminally stupid behaviour involving Peter." 

[Suzn]

13 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Rolling my eyes at Maggie's gratuitously rude new coworker. But also, why couldn't she keep the kid on the phone and talk to him off-air?

 

13 hours ago, historylover820 said:

Not sure what to feel about Maggie's subplot. In one respect, I get it--need to help the kid. However, there were ways to go about that and still have this radio station function as a radio station. Like tell the kid to hang on--she will switch phones and talk to him privately and let her co-worker do the traffic and weather. And the co-worker wasn't wrong. What he does is important to a lot of people.

That was just nuts.  It was so obvious that Maggie should have continued the call off the air while traffic and weather was on.  I can't imagine why she wouldn't have been fired on the spot for that.  But then apparently Maggie is another adorable character that gets away with everything.

13 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Maggie is super annoying. I can understand she thought the mugs were communal, but when she was told she had taken the traffic/weather guy's mug, she didn't switch to another one. She just kept using it. Also, no way would she get away with skipping the traffic and weather. There would be another boss coming in to complain. Some people only care about traffic and weather. Also, shouldn't she have been given more than a 30 second head's up about having to switch so she could pause the kid or pull him off air?

So did the show just decide to drop the fact that Covid exists? Regina had to close her restaurant because she couldn't open it back up, but this other restaurant is packed with people? And absolutely no one is wearing masks or distancing or even talking about restrictions? I mean, I don't want to watch a show about Covid, but they wrote it in last year and had it impact stories. Dropping it now is just bad writing.

Once again, Maggie is so cute that she can get away with anything/everything.  She should have poured her coffee in another mug, washed the guy's mug and apologized.

It was an amazing thing that the Crockodilze restaurant is a Covid free zone and magically makes customers immune.

6 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

I loved Eddie rolling out of the middle of his application to go accost some lady. How in the world did she react the way that she did to him shouting, "I know you know who I am!"? Does she think that's just what musicians do when they think fans recognize them? Chase them into the parking lot and scream, "I know you know who I am!"?

What a bizarre scene!  Eddie seemed completely unhinged.

And in other news, Theo is still acting like a baby.

I don't hate watch things, but this is one I ambivalent-watch.  I'm interested in storylines that I want to see the resolution of, but there is a lot of the preposterous stuff I find annoying and some characters I don't like.

[chitowngirl]

13 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Yes, his job is important too, and Maggie should have just gone off air and helped the kid from there, but Nick made it sound like lives were on the line if he didn't deliver his report ON THE HALF HOUR MARK. 

Advertisers will sponsor the Traffic and Weather on the half hour. If traffic and weather doesn’t  air, the sponsor doesn’t air and the radio station doesn’t get paid. That’s how radio stations make money (former commercial traffic and continuity person here!).

[marceline]

Speaking as someone who worked in radio for a number of years, I can say that everything involved with Maggie's story was utter nonsense. The schedule at a radio station is set. One person can't just decide traffic and weather don't matter. That affects everybody else's job not just the gruff DJs. What a typically self-involved thing for Maggie to do. Also, unless FCC regs have changed a lot since I was in the job - and I admit its been a while so maybe they have - the producer should've screened Jonah for his age. If he wasn't 18 then he shouldn't have been put on the air.

ITA with all of the above comments about the treatment of COVID. It's obvious from the way they are shooting that the production is still pretty deep in COVID mode but now suddenly there's mention of it or of masking? I mean Shanice is going to bring her under-12 daughter to the house of a complete stranger with an under-12 kid and the only thing they talk about is whether it's a shoe-free house? While I'm scheduling my Pfizer booster.

As soon as house-selling lady mentioned how "special" her figurines were, I knew that Gary would be an immature ass. Darcy really needs to think a lot harder about whether Gary understands her parenting goals because Liam doesn't need mixed-messages.

Edited September 30, 2021 by marceline

[marceline]

44 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Advertisers will sponsor the Traffic and Weather on the half hour. If traffic and weather doesn’t  air, the sponsor doesn’t air and the radio station doesn’t get paid. That’s how radio stations make money (former commercial traffic and continuity person here!).

Hi! Former promotions person here. Yeah, don't mess with the schedule. You don't want to have to explain to the traffic director why she's getting phone calls from irate clients.

[Lady Calypso]

49 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Advertisers will sponsor the Traffic and Weather on the half hour. If traffic and weather doesn’t  air, the sponsor doesn’t air and the radio station doesn’t get paid. That’s how radio stations make money (former commercial traffic and continuity person here!).

Oh, I totally agree with this. I think Nick needed to explain it to her in those terms, rather than "IF I DON'T DELIVER THE TRAFFIC UPDATES, THIS MOM WON'T GET TO HER KID'S SOCCER GAME AND THINGS WILL HAPPEN!" Although, him appealing to her humanity DID work in his favour, as she apologized right after.

 

[Brian Cronin]

I think it boils down to a common complaint we all have about the show. If it didn't literally happen to Nash (his good friend killed himself and his father was disabled), he doesn't know how anything works and so can't depict it realistically. 

The stuff that DID happen to him, though, he depicts SO well that it keeps us hanging on (along with a mostly strong cast).

[hoodooznoodooz]

24 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Oh, I totally agree with this. I think Nick needed to explain it to her in those terms, rather than "IF I DON'T DELIVER THE TRAFFIC UPDATES, THIS MOM WON'T GET TO HER KID'S SOCCER GAME AND THINGS WILL HAPPEN!" Although, him appealing to her humanity DID work in his favour, as she apologized right after.

 

Because they are going to fall in love. Snerk.

[Clanstarling]

3 hours ago, Suzn said:

Once again, Maggie is so cute that she can get away with anything/everything.  She should have poured her coffee in another mug, washed the guy's mug and apologized.

I expected her to pour it into one of the stacked disposable coffee cups they had next to the coffee machine. But no.

2 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Because they are going to fall in love. Snerk.

Ah man, now that you've put it in print, you know it's gonna happen! 😉

They've clearly left Covid behind, even though it's the reason Gina's restaurant closed. Guess they got bored with it.

[Brian Cronin]

5 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

They've clearly left Covid behind, even though it's the reason Gina's restaurant closed. Guess they got bored with it.

I really hope ABC forced the change on them. That's at least SOMEthing.

[KaveDweller]

17 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Yeah, they seem to be taking the "COVID was only a season THREE storyline" approach, which is a choice, since COVID was basically their primary story for all of last season. But they've been making some...choices with what to fast forward to, such as Eddie suddenly knowing how to drive a car. 

I did note this time that Floriana Lima is in the guest credits, not the main cast, which doesn't bode well for her sticking around for very long, which I had hoped for. It's a shame, but they're never going to let Gary move...I wish they dropped the Darcy moving storyline, or they just had her move already. 

No surprise that Gary wasn't the one who beat Peter into a coma, but Layla's father. The show chickened out, in my opinion, but I guess this allows Gary to suffer SOME consequences but not near murder, or actual murder since, now that we know Gary didn't actually do the bidding, they can kill Peter off without having to handwave why Gary is off scot-free. I mean, yes, he has other crimes that he could be charged for, but they're crimes that the show can kind of get past without having Gary do jail time (unless the season 4 ender will be Gary in jail). But...can I just say that it's telling that Gary is keeping calm under pressure over knowing that Peter could actually die and he could actually get caught, while Layla's father is an absolute mess and guilt-ridden? I know Gary still does feel guilt, with his solo scenes, but...he's also way too calm about this, and all too knowledgeable on how to cover up a crime. 

Ah, Maggie has an enemy in Weather and Traffic Guy named Nick. I will say, both characters made bad choices this episode. Maggie with continuing to drink out of Nick's mug and trying to make a joke about it, and Nick for getting angry over something fairly trivial and also making it seem like his job is life or death. Yes, his job is important too, and Maggie should have just gone off air and helped the kid from there, but Nick made it sound like lives were on the line if he didn't deliver his report ON THE HALF HOUR MARK. 

That being said, Maggie's attitude on air, even with the joke calls, was just so unprofessional of her as well. They may be hazing her, but making snarky remarks like that on your first official day? Come on.

Eddie has a new friend! His new PT guy is great. Eddie kind of needs other friends, especially other friends with similar disabilities to him, so he can really move forward with his life. And I really AM interested in Eddie's personal arc in learning how to live his life in a wheelchair. The show didn't really bother to explore it last season because they were obsessed with breaking up Katherine/Eddie that they forgot about that aspect. I'm hoping this season is different and they can hold off on the dating aspect that I know this show would LOVE to go in, just until next season.

And Katherine also has made a new friend! Obviously, there's been critiques about Katherine being the outsider of the main cast, so hopefully this is the start to her turning it around and making new friends. Her giddiness over Shanice was fantastic, and I really liked their dynamic.

 

 

3 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Advertisers will sponsor the Traffic and Weather on the half hour. If traffic and weather doesn’t  air, the sponsor doesn’t air and the radio station doesn’t get paid. That’s how radio stations make money (former commercial traffic and continuity person here!).

Also, if I am looking for a traffic report and here station say it will not air for 30 minutes, I change the station. Ratings set the ad rates.

I used to work at an ad agency and used to have to call the radio stations to get reports of exactly what time different ads ran. No way Maggie could have just controlled what went out like that. 

By the way, did anyone recognize the guy playing Traffic and Weather guy? He seemed really familiar.

3 hours ago, marceline said:

Also, unless FCC regs have changed a lot since I was in the job - and I admit its been a while so maybe they have - the producer should've screened Jonah for his age. If he wasn't 18 then he shouldn't have been put on the air.

The producer, or whoever was screening the calls, was clearly terrible at it. None of those joke calls should have made it on.

8 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

They've clearly left Covid behind, even though it's the reason Gina's restaurant closed. Guess they got bored with it.

Covid is also why Maggie had to stay in Boston and not go back to her fellowship program at Oxford. Her doctor said she was high risk and should not get on an airplane. But working in a crowded radio station is totally cool.

It isn't even like there was a time jump between seasons. We picked up the next morning.

[Aileen]

26 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

 

 

By the way, did anyone recognize the guy playing Traffic and Weather guy? He seemed really familiar.

 

I know him from Secret Life of the American Teenager. 

[Arcadiasw]

We are definitely post Covid here because there is no way during Covid anyone is drinking from someone else's mug in a public workplace. Maggie continues to annoy.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Arcadiasw

[Lady Calypso]

2 minutes ago, Arcadiasw said:

We are definitely post Covid here because there is no way during Covid anyone is drinking from someone else's mug in a public workplace. 

The issue with that is there has been NO time jump. How we know this is that the characters have explicitly told us the timeline in both the first episode and this one. I believe last episode had a character reference something from the finale being "yesterday" and I think Gary or someone established that Peter's attack took place "last week".

[Lethallyfab]

Neither Gary nor the other guy were ever shown wearing gloves during the harassment of the teacher - which, fine, the assault was in the moment but the breaking and entering and kidnapping was DEFINITELY pre-meditated, and, call me crazy, if I were to commit a crime, I would maybe consider wearing gloves.  I’m hoping the cop who showed up has them dead to rights and is just like “we literally have your prints everywhere, you fools.”

Wouldn’t Katherine have potentially met Shanice already through Rome’s movie?  Or, since she’s a high-powered lawyer, presumably met *any* rich and/or famous people before?  That was genuinely embarrassing to watch.  Of all the characters to crumble by proximity to fame, the writers have *not* written her as a likely candidate to do so.  (Gary, of course, instantly would and would be insufferable about it.)

Speaking of Katherine, Eddie demonstrated more chemistry with his new disabled therapist than he has with anyone else for a long time.  For as harsh as I am on this show, I do have to commend them for showing actual physical rehabilitation over time rather than a quickie TV miracle fix.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Lethallyfab

[KaveDweller]

2 hours ago, Aileen said:

I know him from Secret Life of the American Teenager. 

Oh, man, that's where I know him too. That's embarrassing.

[marceline]

47 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Oh, man, that's where I know him too. That's embarrassing.

I can beat that. I know him from Guiding Light. I used to swoon over his character: AC Mallet. Yes, that was his name.

[historylover820]

To echo everyone, there's been no time jump. At most, a week between the season finale and this episode.

There's a line somewhere in last week's episode which says that Sophie met with the police detective the day before. So, Gary and what's his name? (Sorry. I'm tired and about ready to go to bed and can barely remember my own name) assaulted and put Peter in a coma the night after Sophie met with the cops. Say a week has happened between then and this episode, and that might be pushing it.

So, yes, Eddie learned to drive again remarkably fast. Honestly, I didn't even bat an eye at that. And he got an apartment incredibly fast as well. Oh well. Part of a soap opera.

But, yeah, this show's timeline is still roughly a year behind us. But, like any soap opera, the timeline is fluid. Which is why iI still think it's irritating that they decided to put in real life events in this show. Maybe the network dictated it. I don't know. But it's still a mistake because if they're still in 2020 or even early 2021, Covid is still a big issue. Yet, no masks to be seen. And it's impossible to have a coherent timeline.

[KaveDweller]

32 minutes ago, historylover820 said:

But, yeah, this show's timeline is still roughly a year behind us. But, like any soap opera, the timeline is fluid. Which is why iI still think it's irritating that they decided to put in real life events in this show. Maybe the network dictated it. I don't know. But it's still a mistake because if they're still in 2020 or even early 2021, Covid is still a big issue. Yet, no masks to be seen. And it's impossible to have a coherent timeline.

I'm guessing the network dictated it, because on Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy tonight they had a disclaimer at the beginning about how they even though Covid was still an issue, they were portraying a post pandemic world. Which I am fine with. The difference is, those shows had a 10-month time jump and mentioned vaccines existing and talked about Covid being over. AMLT is just pretending key plot points from 3 episodes ago no longer exist.

[circumvent]

To everyone seeing the obvious mess up with timeline and Covid: Remember when Charlie became an infant again? Theo still asks for cuddles. Not surprised. You are just asking for consistency but you are not getting it.

I was annoyed by how Katherine got so star struck her personality changed. And what a cliché, champagne in the middle of the day just because "celebrities" obviously do this all the time, right?

Maggie is the worse. She never bothered me as much as she did in this episode because there is no excuse for what she did. It wasn't a mistake. It was unprofessional, narcissistic and completely out of line. From coffee mug to deciding what and what doesn't air on the radio where she is working TEMPORARILY. 

The house search was so ridiculous. It looked like Darcy and Gary were selling the house and not buying it. And Gary could have just gone to France too because he is more annoying by the episode. Now a criminal that planned a crime and continues to fall into the rabbit hole. There is not way back from that. In Massachusetts, home invasion with a person in the house - even if that person does not get hurt - carries a long sentence (I know someone who did this as a troubled teen and spent over a decade in prison - just because there was a person in the house who was never physically harmed). He doesn't have to be the one who beat (which he did) or maybe killed the guy. He is a criminal.

 

[marceline]

Given all the COVID stuff, I just realized that both Gary and Layla's dad should've been wearing masks when they assaulted Peter. It would've made sense from both a criminal AND public health standpoint. In fact I wouldn't mind if they killed off Peter from COVID and now Gary and Layla's dad have to contact trace. 😀

Edited October 1, 2021 by marceline

[Clanstarling]

17 hours ago, Aileen said:

I know him from Secret Life of the American Teenager. 

I know him from Bosch (had to look it up, though, to realize where I knew him from).

 

[cinsays]

On 9/29/2021 at 11:05 PM, ams1001 said:

Okay, so I was right, Gary left and the other guy beat Peter. Pretty sure Gary would still be charged with a felony, especially if Peter dies. He left knowing what was likely to happen.

 

well, but the other guy went over there after Gary goaded him into doing it, asking him if he was going to let him just get away with what he did to his daughter

[tennisgurl]

Count me in as someone else really confused about how the show is handling COVID now. I know a lot of shows have had different ways of dealing with it, some ignored it, some did a COVID episode or two then did a time skip to post COVID, some just time skipped, and some really committed to making it a big story, but its certainly is a brave choice to fully committ to COVID as a story and THEN totally ignore it. By brave I mean stupid of course, its still 2020 in the shows universe right? How is Regina's restaurant shut down due to COVID while a Chuckie Cheese stand in is packed with people without a mask in sight? This isn't even a time skip, its been about a week since Gary beat up Peter, they should still be in the thick of it, but since its this show, its been relegated to "issue of the storyline that will be forgotten the second the writers get bored" status, despite is being extremely noticeable. They could have easily just done a time skip, you cant just devote a huge portion of your plot to something and then just pretend it isn't happening anymore because its boring now! 

As I and many other people here suspected, the show is going to try and walk back Gary being responsible for Peter being in a coma and lay most of the blame on Leila's dad, which is pretty cowardly in my opinion, seeing as how much they spent trying to lay on the drama of Gary attacking Peter, pulling back now just seems like they wanted the big dramatic cliffhanger but without exploring the consequences. I know that alone Gary is clearly freaking out, but it is pretty disconcerting how chill he seems to be about this, especially when he was telling Leila's dad to stop acting so suspicious. This isn't some kind of morally grey vigilante show, its a feels heavy family drama, its always going to be weird when your comic relief character is doubling time between being cool step dad and also covering up a brutal assault he was involved in. Even if he didn't actually do the beating, he still was a part of it and broke a ton of laws, but I am sure the will make sure he gets away scot free, probably with Leila's dad willingly taking the hit for both of them. He's just a reoccurring character, they disappear on this show all of the time anyway. Which is especially messed up as this was all Gary's idea to begin with.

After actually being somewhat more likable for awhile, Maggie is right back to be an insufferable selfish brat, truly her natural state of being. Her co-worker is clearly wound up way too tight, but Maggie just made it worse both times by acting like what he was upset about was totally stupid when an apology could have probably made the whole problem go away quicker. Her making her segment longer and basically canceling traffic and weather is totally unprofessional, in the real world her boss would be in there even faster then the co-worker and she might have been fired right there, or at least given a serious talking to. Sorry Maggie, but most people really do think that the days traffic and weather are more important than five minute therapy sessions with strangers. As many other people have said, radio stations have very specific blocks of time for certain things, which they need to keep sponsors happy and keep funding their station, and I cant imagine the sponsors of traffic and weather being thrilled about their commercial not being dropped. Even worse was how smug and dismissive she was of the guy who, again, was way over the top about it but was totally right to be pissed, acting like he was being an idiot for caring about doing his job and that his job itself is stupid and useless compared to hers. Again, I think most people care more about not being late to work or whether or not they're going to get drenched then about Maggie getting to feel important. She could have at least apologized about running long instead of smugly saying that people could "tell when its raining", because I guess he has never realized that sometimes people want to know if its going to rain in an hour. Why exactly could Maggie not just transfer the kid to a private line?

I like Eddie's new physical therapist, this is the kind of plot I was hoping for with Eddie's injury instead of the miserable relapse and divorce plot, so their scenes were all quite good. Even if it ended on the newest lame mystery that is apparently already solved, as I am sure that the woman we saw in the parking lot looking guilty was the woman who hit Eddie. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by tennisgurl

[Suzn]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

As I and many other people here suspected, the show is going to try and walk back Gary being responsible for Peter being in a coma and lay most of the blame on Leila's dad, which is pretty cowardly in my opinion, seeing as how much they spent trying to lay on the drama of Gary attacking Peter, pulling back now just seems like they wanted the big dramatic cliffhanger but without exploring the consequences. I know that alone Gary is clearly freaking out, but it is pretty disconcerting how chill he seems to be about this, especially when he was telling Leila's dad to stop acting so suspicious. This isn't some kind of morally grey vigilante show, its a feels heavy family drama, its always going to be weird when your comic relief character is doubling time between being cool step dad and also covering up a brutal assault he was involved in. Even if he didn't actually do the beating, he still was a part of it and broke a ton of laws, but I am sure the will make sure he gets away scot free, probably with Leila's dad willingly taking the hit for both of them. He's just a reoccurring character, they disappear on this show all of the time anyway. Which is especially messed up as this was all Gary's idea to begin with.

After actually being somewhat more likable for awhile, Maggie is right back to be an insufferable selfish brat, truly her natural state of being.

 

Even if Gary is not the one who beat Peter into a coma, he still committed a serious crime.  I think it was a terrible mistake to go there.  Either they will need to have Gary go to prison for years, or dodge the punishment and leave the mess hanging over his head forever or somehow have him avoid serious repercussions, which veers into very unrealistic territory.  They've painted the whole Gary storyline into a corner and I don't see an outcome that makes sense that doesn't ruin his character. 

I've already written about the stupid way Maggie is behaving...and worse, getting away with it.  It's not realistic and her character is not widely beloved enough for everyone to be happy to watch her continue to act like a spoiled child.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Suzn

[CrystalBlue]

Peter has to die for Gary and/or Christopher Gregory, Layla's father and St. Olivia Benson's dead half-brother* to get away with the beating.  Unless the police can gather enough forensic evidence of the crime(s) committed, they won't have enough to prosecute the guys if they keep their mouths shut and Christopher heeds Gary's warning to never contact or be seen near him again.

 

* L&O:SVU reference.

Edited October 1, 2021 by CrystalBlue

[gonzosgirrl]

Gary is my favourite character, so it makes me sad to have to agree - there is no way out of this that doesn't either ruin his character (he gets away with it), or writes him out by sending him to jail where he should be. I mean, he can't even really claim crime of passion or temporary insanity, where the girl's father could. Being a family friend is not the same as a father who lost his daughter to suicide. The only way to redeem him is to have him confess his part and accept the consequences - and that means writing off the character. Maybe if it's the last season, that's what they'll do.

I asked this in the spoilers/spec thread, but it seems to have died there. It's not really a spoiler anyone (unless someone actually has inside info). Do we think that Eddie is going to get the use of his legs back? Until this week, I fully expected the 'miracle' - but now I'm not so sure. I would actually be pretty impressed if they did leave him permanently paralyzed and continue to tell the story of him adapting (successfully) to his new reality.

[circumvent]

2 hours ago, Suzn said:

Either they will need to have Gary go to prison for years, or dodge the punishment and leave the mess hanging over his head forever or somehow have him avoid serious repercussions, which veers into very unrealistic territory. 

Or they will have Peter lose his memory forever, then they will find out that there was no invasion or beating, it was just himself falling several times and messing up his face and giving himself a time out, aka coma. Then Gary can go on being "oh so awesome" to everyone else - oh so annoying to me - and all is forgotten, middle class/affluent people don't even get charged because they are so special. And he is "family" and nobody in this family does any wrong, ever.

It would actually be interesting having Gary walking free after he actually committed a crime and not regretting, and having a person who  made a mistake (?) by running (fear, shame?) after hitting Eddie and who seems to regret it. OBVIOUSLY, Gary is the one that deserves forgiveness and understanding because he is special.

[CrystalBlue]

I didn't think about the complete retrograde amnesia angle.  Good alternative!  Although scumbag Peter still lives.

Scary thought:  Is that gal who we think obviously hit Eddie and works in the store he's getting a job at good-looking enough to be Eddie's new love interest?  Talk about soap opera.  That would be a big "lesson in forgiveness."

[KaveDweller]

About Gary, I think everyone is forgetting Katharine is the best lawyer ever. She will arrange an awesome deal for him where he just has community service or probation or something, so the writers can say he had consequences, but they won't have to write the impact into the show.

I want to know what Sophie will think. Hopefully she will not let him off the hook. 

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

About Gary, I think everyone is forgetting Katharine is the best lawyer ever. She will arrange an awesome deal for him where he just has community service or probation or something, so the writers can say he had consequences, but they won't have to write the impact into the show.

What kind of lawyer is she supposed to be, anyway? She dealt with the real estate stuff for Delilah; is she gonna take care of Gary's criminal defense? 

[KaveDweller]

2 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

What kind of lawyer is she supposed to be, anyway? She dealt with the real estate stuff for Delilah; is she gonna take care of Gary's criminal defense? 

I think she is a corporate lawyer, but TV lawyers always manage to do everything.