S01.E03: Happy Birthday Jenny

[secnarf]

Quote

Jenny Banks’ birthday gives everyone something to celebrate. Music Joe crashes Jenny’s party while Amy is in full campaign mode. Nurse Joe and Christopher try to plan the perfect cake for Jenny. Cop Joe and Amy take an important step in their relationship.

Original air date 10/04/21

[KaveDweller]

Rocker Joe continues to be the biggest jerk of the three Joes. Still don't get why Jenny told him about the baby....did she not think he'd want to find the kid? 

I was disappointed when Jenny in the Nurse universe turned down Atlanta. I think maybe I was supposed to be happy it looked like she and Joe were reconciling, but Atlanta doesn't have to ruin that. It is only 1 year and it is her life long dream! This Jenny didn't hide Joe's kid from him, so she deserves good thing to happen.

I'm liking Amy in both Rock Star and Cop universe though. Even if she was sleeping with married Diaz in one of them.

[nilyank]

Rocker Joe:  Bobbie said that Amy was a starmaker and she brought the best in people. He credits her with how well he was doing because of her and of course Joe became the next Billy Joe

Nurse Joe: Amy is married to Joe's best fried Eric (I think that is his name) is the chef/owner of a very fancy restaurant. In Cop Joe, he seems to have a family style restaurant

Cop Joe: well Amy may have distracted for helping Bobbie reah his full potential as she having an affair with him. It was interesting at the dinner at Joe's  that she didn't remember that date with Eric or him. If Eric asked Amy in this version and Nurse Joe, why didn't Amy continuing seeing Eric in Cop version?

In other news, Jenny sucks in all version. She should have unburden herself on Rocker Joe if she wasn't going to help him out find more info. We also find out that she tried to reach Joe for a whole 24 hours so she could tell him about the baby and then just tried stopping.

In Cop Joe, Joe knew her husband Ray so he must have attended Syracuse as well.

In Nurse Joe, she is going to act like a martyr because she gave up her dream again but Joe won't have any idea what she gave up because she is the one that is not talking to them

And we meet Jenny's dad in all three version and he is a piece of work. He buys expensive gifts so that Nurse Joe can give it to Jenny. He bought club membership in Cop Joe so he can spend more time with them (although he seems nicer in this version). And in Rocker Joe he flat out hates Joe. Maybe because Joe knocked up Jenny, but in this version, Jenny is the most successful of the Jenny's being a partner, married and mom of twin girls.

[LittleIggy]

Adam Rodriguez looks as hot as he did in CSI:Miami which debuted almost 20 years ago. 😛 

Why does the law school the firm pays for have to be in Atlanta? Don’t get that.

Love Cop Joe and Amy.

 

[funnygirl]

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Adam Rodriguez looks as hot as he did in CSI:Miami which debuted almost 20 years ago. 😛 

 

 Time has been good to Adam Rodriguez. 🔥 

I am actively rooting against all-things Jenny. 

I'm enjoying the budding relationship between Amy and Cop Joe. I hope they go the distance in that timeline. 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by funnygirl

[tracyhmcd]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Adam Rodriguez looks as hot as he did in CSI:Miami which debuted almost 20 years ago. 😛 

Why does the law school the firm pays for have to be in Atlanta? Don’t get that.

Love Cop Joe and Amy.

 

Agreed about Adam Rodriguez. I think whoever is sponsoring the scholarship went to law school in Atlanta.

[DearEvette]

Rocker Joe storyline; Rocker Joe and Jenny in this timeline are both rather selfish assholes.  He is still determined to blow up everyone's life for a kid we have been given no motivation he is obsessed with.  And to top it off he is telling everyone BUT his wife about it.

Meanwhile Jenny--- sigh.  Girl.  I just.  Girl.  So you tried a whole 24 hours to tell Joe you were pregnant?  Oh the energy!  The effort!  Why you'd think over an entire 9 months of pregnancy you could've carved out a few more minutes to call again?  And then to tell him out of the blue the first time you meet again ten years later.  Even by your own admission you have no intention of seeing the kid?  She is the worst. 

I am liking Amy and Diaz in this timeline.  In this one at least they aren't having an affair and he seems decent and supportive.

And Uncle Frank is awesome here as well.

Cop Joe storyline: Cop Joe is my favorite of the Joe's (to be fair the bar is not high).  His family is insufferable though.  Not as big a fan of Uncle Frank in this one.  He gives me bad cop vibes.  Not sure why since the show hasn't really said anything but still....

I'd like Amy if she wasn't a whiny mistress who doesn't see that sleeping with a married man is wrong.  She is upset -- not because she feels any guilt about what she is participating in, but because he can't make time with her despite telling her he loves her.

Also, yikes -- she remembered Joe from a meeting on the stairs but not Eric who she actually went on a date with?  Ok. 

At least the Jenny from this timeline does not annoy me. Well, a little because she also could've found some time to tell Joe about his kid like her counterpart in the Rocker timeline.

Also too bad Diaz seems like both a cheater and, well, a cheater in this timeline.  There are gonna be some financial issues with his campaign.  He just seems like a total sleezeball all the way around in this one.

Nurse Joe Storyline:  Everyone in this timeline just needs a prozac.  Or weed.  Or something to make them happy.  The only person I really like is Christopher  And maybe Eric and Amy but they get so little face time in this one. 

Jenny is a wet blanket.  She is obviously not happy.  Also she needs to let go the apron strings a bit.  She lives and breathes her kid. Not healthy.  No wonder her marriage sucks she doesn't seem to give it any effort.

Meanwhile Joe has to work under his controlling father in law. What a dick. Also constant reminders that he isn't a doctor even though he probably has the diagnostic skills of one. 

Diaz seems decent in this one.  A little regretful and thoughtful. 

overall --

Agreed that Adam Rodriguez is aging like fine wine!

I wish the show would flesh out some of the other characters more.  Eric is underused to the point we really don't know what he does except in Cop Joe he is what... a restaurateur and in Rocker Joe a manager of some sort?  He is the only other regular cast member outside of Joe, Jenny and Amy and he has less development than Uncle Frank.

Edited October 5, 2021 by DearEvette
Decided that Jenny in Cop Joe storyline did kinda annoy me

[nilyank]

6 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I wish the show would flesh out some of the other characters more.  Eric is underused to the point we really don't know what he does except in Cop Joe he is what... a restaurateur and in Rocker Joe a manager of some sort?  He is the only other regular cast member outside of Joe, Jenny and Amy and he has less development than Uncle Frank.

Eric in a Cop Joe has a neighbor family restaurant 

Eric in Nurse Joe is chef/owner in a high-priced fancy restaurant 

Eric in Rocker Joe has been hired by Amy to work on her campaign. Or the the version, this is the one that he doesn’t seem as close with Joe as in the other versions 

 

[Lady Calypso]

9 hours ago, funnygirl said:

I'm enjoying the budding relationship between Amy and Cop Joe. I hope they the distance in that timeline. 

I don't know if I am, solely for the fact that Amy's gone to Cop Joe BECAUSE Bobby isn't showing her the affection that she wants by him continuing to choose his wife. 

But Amy IS acting better than Jenny is in at least two of the timelines, so...

I don't know why they're making Jenny look so awful in Cop and Rocker storyline (especially Rocker storyline) but I do like her in Nurse storyline the best. I do hope she tells Nurse Joe about turning down an offer to go to Atlanta to progress her career, because I think he deserves to know, and if she's serious about moving forward with him, it's important info to know. I get WHY she'd turn it down (she wants to try again with Joe, Chris has a support system here that he wouldn't in Atlanta) but she needs to be honest about it.

Rocker Joe's timeline is horrific. I hate that he's the worst in the timeline where he chooses Amy and his dream career. Amy is so great in Rocker timeline, as well. She doesn't deserve to be saddled with Rocker Joe, who definitely almost missed her speech to announce her run for Congress, all because he went off to confront Jenny about their child. Rocker Jenny, by the way, is totally horrific. Her attitude is despicable and unforgiving. Unless we're going to get additional information about why Jenny couldn't be bothered to contact Joe more than 24 hours after graduation, then she doesn't look very redeemable in my eyes.

Cop Joe's story IS the best. It's a bit of a mess with different dynamics (Amy sleeping with a married man, Jenny caring for Lucas with another man and both being aware that Joe doesn't know), but it's intriguing, at least, and Joe isn't an asshole in this timeline. And I already foresee problems with Jenny and her husband with how pissy he looked when she took off to go to work during her birthday. Which, again, opens the door to that Love Triangle that I've been dreading.

 

[LittleIggy]

Going back to the law school having to be in Atlanta, isn’t the firm aware that Jenny has a special needs child which would make attending school far away problematic? Same could be said for a single parent without a support system. That whole set-up just annoys me.

[Bumblebee84047]

Jenny's dad makes Rebecca's dad in This Is Us looked laid back and carefree. 

Rocker Joe is an ass.  

40 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Going back to the law school having to be in Atlanta, isn’t the firm aware that Jenny has a special needs child which would make attending school far away problematic? Same could be said for a single parent without a support system. That whole set-up just annoys me.

She's going to Plot Contrivance School of Law.

[magicdog]

15 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I was disappointed when Jenny in the Nurse universe turned down Atlanta. I think maybe I was supposed to be happy it looked like she and Joe were reconciling, but Atlanta doesn't have to ruin that. It is only 1 year and it is her life long dream! This Jenny didn't hide Joe's kid from him, so she deserves good thing to happen.

I think it's in large part due to Chris' special needs.  She didn't even want him without her and Joe for a weekend much less a year.  Since she chose not to go, she better not whine about her not achieving her dreams or try to blame it all on [Nurse] Joe.

4 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

she took off to go to work during her birthday. 

Who does that???!!!  I can understand being busy but Jenny couldn't stay for her own darn party??  Maybe something else was going down we have yet to know about.

5 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Meanwhile Jenny--- sigh.  Girl.  I just.  Girl.  So you tried a whole 24 hours to tell Joe you were pregnant?  Oh the energy!  The effort!  Why you'd think over an entire 9 months of pregnancy you could've carved out a few more minutes to call again?  And then to tell him out of the blue the first time you meet again ten years later.  Even by your own admission you have no intention of seeing the kid?  She is the worst. 

Couldn't have said it any better!

15 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Rocker Joe continues to be the biggest jerk of the three Joes. Still don't get why Jenny told him about the baby....did she not think he'd want to find the kid? 

I don't think Rocker Joe is a jerk so much as a bit spoiled as a rich celeb.  They are not used to being told no and people are always fawning over them while they get off on it.  If Jenny had just kept her big mouth shut, this wouldn't be an issue.  Rocker Joe however needs to realize he needs to stand back and leave things be when it comes to his biological child in that timeline.  As far as that child knows, he's a stranger and already has a mom and dad.  It's not like Rocker Joe can just get custody of him now or that family would be allowing even supervised visits.

15 hours ago, nilyank said:

And we meet Jenny's dad in all three version and he is a piece of work. He buys expensive gifts so that Nurse Joe can give it to Jenny. He bought club membership in Cop Joe so he can spend more time with them (although he seems nicer in this version). And in Rocker Joe he flat out hates Joe. Maybe because Joe knocked up Jenny, but in this version, Jenny is the most successful of the Jenny's being a partner, married and mom of twin girls.

I'm curious where this might lead.  The obvious is that he's pissed that [Nurse] Joe ruined his daughter's life by knocking her up and her not finishing law school and saddling her with a sickly child who likely won't make it past his teen years.  I can understand some resentment there.  The nice one from the [cop] Joe storyline makes me wonder if there isn't something else going on (ulterior motives and all that).  I am curious about why he hates [Rocker] Joe despite Jenny marrying someone else and succeeding in becoming a lawyer.  Maybe he just thinks people who make their living as musicians are silly?  

I don't like that [cop timeline] Amy is having an affair with a congressman.  That will certainly blow up in her face. 

[KaveDweller]

8 hours ago, DearEvette said:

At least the Jenny from this timeline does not annoy me. Well, a little because she also could've found some time to tell Joe about his kid like her counterpart in the Rocker timeline.

I think Jenny in Cop timeline is actually pretty awful too. It is bad to give up your kid for adoption without ever telling the father, but it is way worse to raise your baby with another man, all while lying to the biological father. That universe would be one where it made sense to tell Joe, because then Joe could meet Lucas and be in his life. Of course, she doesn't want Joe in Lucas's life because that would hurt her husband.

3 hours ago, magicdog said:

I think it's in large part due to Chris' special needs.  She didn't even want him without her and Joe for a weekend much less a year.  Since she chose not to go, she better not whine about her not achieving her dreams or try to blame it all on [Nurse] Joe.

Yes, that does seem to be the main reason. Which I can get, but I feel sad for her. I agree she better not blame Nurse Joe for it though.

I wonder why that Jenny couldn't borrow money from her father to finish her degree in New York?

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I think Jenny in Cop timeline is actually pretty awful too. It is bad to give up your kid for adoption without ever telling the father, but it is way worse to raise your baby with another man, all while lying to the biological father. That universe would be one where it made sense to tell Joe, because then Joe could meet Lucas and be in his life. Of course, she doesn't want Joe in Lucas's life because that would hurt her husband.

Yes, that does seem to be the main reason. Which I can get, but I feel sad for her. I agree she better not blame Nurse Joe for it though.

I wonder why that Jenny couldn't borrow money from her father to finish her degree in New York?

Because that makes sense! 

[bybrandy]

Rocker Joe is the worst.  OMG.  I even get wanting to meet the kid but Joe's mom is right that kid has a family.  Rocker Joe's expectations where whatever they might be are WHACK.  And to be confrontational towards Jenny at her home with her whole family there?  No.

But then Jenny with the I tried to get a hold of you for 24 hours.  24 hours.  I mean I'd try again the next day.  Also this was only 10 years ago.  10 years ago we had email and text.   I'm not saying the first option would be to send a text.  But if he ghosted her for 30 weeks.... as opposed to less than 30 hours...

Nurse Joe- The law firm isn't really paying for anybody to go to law school they are giving a shcolarship to lawschool that was endowed before now by somebody who went to law school in Atlanta.  Plot contrivance.  But at least it is a bit of the plot they've explained.  The bit I'm having more trouble with is if Jenny wants to go to law school so badly and is even amenable to going to school during the day and working at night why can't doctor dad help a girl out?  He seems to have some bucks.   

And Amy better not be all martyery about giving up her opportunity because she didn't talk to Joe about it before she made the decision and if she can't leave Christopher for 48 hours she can't leave him for the months at a time it would take for her to go to law school out of state and I suspect nurse Joe could probably get a year long job in Atlanta and they could sublet their apartment so they could go all in together on this law school adventure but she'd have to have a conversation with this Joe about that. 

But she was never going to an out of state law school because she'd either have to leave Christopher or take Christopher without any support and she cant go away for a weekend away.    

Cop Joe- Eh I don't love Amy with the Congressman but it is early days yet in her relationship with Joe.  I can get over that.  I don't know with the suspect dead though that there is a lot of reason for Jenny to stay in his life, although I'm sure something will pop up.  I think this Jenny is an ass for not telling Joe and the husband for being complicit but I feel bad for Lucas whose life might get completely upended because the people he loves most couldn't have a hard conversation with Joe 10 years ago.

[JKL845]

Nurse Joe is probably my favorite timeline. Everyone seems decent at this point. Joe is able to be a father to Chris and has been since day one. Amy is happily married. Jenny and Joe are raising their son together and doing a good job so far. 

Cop Joe I like too, but I don't like Amy. She shouldn't be having an affair and I don't like her starting a relationship with Joe while having the affair. I don't like that Jenny didn't tell Joe about their son. 

Rocker Joe story is my least favorite. I like how Joe looks here but not sure how I feel about him at this point. I like Amy, don't like Jenny. Even if he finds his son, I think he is too young for any contact. Doesn't he have to wait until he is 18 or 16 at least?

I think not having Jenny tell Joe about the pregnancy in two timelines was a big mistake by the writers. Just doesn't make sense in this day and age. Maybe something will come up in future story telling to make it more realistic but I don't see how.  

Edited October 6, 2021 by JKL845

[proserpina65]

On 10/5/2021 at 12:03 AM, KaveDweller said:

I was disappointed when Jenny in the Nurse universe turned down Atlanta. I think maybe I was supposed to be happy it looked like she and Joe were reconciling, but Atlanta doesn't have to ruin that. It is only 1 year and it is her life long dream! 

It's not like Atlanta doesn't have hospitals at which Joe could get a job.

 

20 hours ago, magicdog said:

Who does that???!!!  I can understand being busy but Jenny couldn't stay for her own darn party??  Maybe something else was going down we have yet to know about.

People who don't like birthday parties but can't convince their families not to throw them?

 

I've decided that I don't like any of these people (except for Eric) and don't care what happens to Joe in any of these timelines.  So I'm pulling the plug.

[Shanna Marie]

I'm afraid I'm out. I like the concept of exploring different possibilities. Sliding Doors is one of my favorite movies, so I was up for a TV show along those lines. I like the cast. But I made it through about 10 minutes of this episode before I had to turn it off because it was making me depressed, and I don't need any help with that these days. I haven't yet deleted the episode from the DVR, but I'm not sure I can make myself watch the rest.

[TV Anonymous]

Nurse Joe works in a hospital yet he does not get psychotherapy in his benefits?

[Jillybean]

I hope Rocker Joe is a better singer than Nurse Joe, because oof.

Rocker Joe's storyline is not believable to me. A music major who is still undecided at college graduation about what to pursue becomes a mega rock star in 10 years? And is still with the woman he met at graduation? And she herself has a very well developed career after 10 years (age 22-32 or so) with a rock star who presumably spent lots of that time on tour? That is a lot to handwave.

[Tachi Rocinante]

1 hour ago, Jillybean said:

I hope Rocker Joe is a better singer than Nurse Joe, because oof.

Rocker Joe's storyline is not believable to me. A music major who is still undecided at college graduation about what to pursue becomes a mega rock star in 10 years? And is still with the woman he met at graduation? And she herself has a very well developed career after 10 years (age 22-32 or so) with a rock star who presumably spent lots of that time on tour? That is a lot to handwave.

Some of it is, sure.  Being in Syracuse/New York and the son of a 9/11 victim probably helped.  Music history is riddled with performers who only had to spend a few years "paying their dues" before being discovered and finding success.  Timing is everything.
 

Oh, and Jenny? See you next Tuesday.  X3.

[Jillybean]

Maybe, but I tend to think most mega-successful musicians knew they wanted a music career by age 22. Most had already started their music careers by then.

[magicdog]

5 hours ago, Jillybean said:

Rocker Joe's storyline is not believable to me. A music major who is still undecided at college graduation about what to pursue becomes a mega rock star in 10 years? And is still with the woman he met at graduation? And she herself has a very well developed career after 10 years (age 22-32 or so) with a rock star who presumably spent lots of that time on tour? That is a lot to handwave.

It is possible (and as stated above, because of his family tragedy and 9/11 connection could have helped) but I would think he would more likely have been a songwriter for bigger acts or maybe a producer, a studio musician or at least, a music teacher/vocal coach.

[Shanna Marie]

6 hours ago, Jillybean said:

Rocker Joe's storyline is not believable to me. A music major who is still undecided at college graduation about what to pursue becomes a mega rock star in 10 years?

We don't know that he hadn't already been pursuing his music at graduation. We saw in the flashback in the previous episode that he was already in a band as a kid, so he's likely already been performing all along. He was just trying to decide whether he could or should go all-in and pursue it 100 percent as a career. While a lot of music stars have a gradual rise to fame, a lot of people also get "discovered" and become big overnight. We don't know what his trajectory was. He could have performed at an open-mike night a week after graduation, Amy recorded it and put it online, and it went viral, which got him a recording deal and a concert tour. Or he could have gone on an American Idol-type reality show (or, since this is NBC, The Voice, which is the lead-in show, so that's a distinct possibility). We also don't know how long he's been famous. He could have spent eight years playing in increasingly large venues before finally hitting the tipping point a couple of years ago and making it big then.

[DearEvette]

Even a more traditional trajectory can have someone a superstar within 10 years. A lot of it is luck and opportunity.  Somebody heard Whitney Houston doing back up vocals for her mother in a club and pointed her out to Clive Davis.  Her first album was 1985 and by 1994 she was doing The Bodyguard Soundtrack. 

Mariah Carey was a backup singer who got an invite to a big party with record execs and gave her demo tape to Tommy Mottola.  That was in 1988. Visions of Love came out in 1990 and well the rest is history.

A lot of acts that are middling get a big break by doing a set on The Grammys or getting an SNL gig and suddenly they are super hot.  Ricky Martin, for instance, had been part of Menudo for years but it wasn't til he did Cup of Life on The Grammys as a solo artist that he catapulted into the big leagues and was in super demand.

[Whodunnit]

Why does everyone assume that RockerJoe's son was adopted into a loving family?

Unfortunately, my experience with the adoption system is that the kids least likely to get adopted are the ones with special needs.

I don't think that it's wrong that he wants to find out about his kids home life situation. I do think he should tell his wife though.

[magicdog]

1 hour ago, Whodunnit said:

Why does everyone assume that RockerJoe's son was adopted into a loving family?

Unfortunately, my experience with the adoption system is that the kids least likely to get adopted are the ones with special needs.

True, but it's not unheard of for families to willingly take in a special needs kid.  A family friend took in a child with CP (paralyzed from the chest down but he could crawl pretty fast!).  Of course that was a private adoption.  Who would be taking care of an MD child like Joe's if someone didn't adopt him?

[shapeshifter]

On 10/6/2021 at 2:06 PM, Shanna Marie said:

I'm afraid I'm out. I like the concept of exploring different possibilities.
…I made it through about 10 minutes of this episode before I had to turn it off because it was making me depressed, and I don't need any help with that these days.…

Same. I skipped this one. 

 

8 hours ago, Whodunnit said:

Why does everyone assume that RockerJoe's son was adopted into a loving family?

Unfortunately, my experience with the adoption system is that the kids least likely to get adopted are the ones with special needs.

I don't think that it's wrong that he wants to find out about his kids home life situation. I do think he should tell his wife though.

Both Rocker Joe and Jenny know that Joe has the means to make his child’s life better. 
Also, since the genetic defect is “recessive,” possibly Rocker Jenny was tested before giving birth to the twins and knows that she may have also birthed a special needs child who could really benefit from Joe’s wealth. 

[tennisgurl]

I don't like Jenny in any of the timelines that much, although Nurse Joe Jenny is definitely the best one. Everyone seems like a pretty decent person in that story, unlike the other two timelines, but everyone seems so miserable. It feels like neither Joe or Jenny are happy with how their lives turned out, is that the lesson? Having a kid will make you miserable? And for as much as Jenny wants more from Joe, she doesn't seem to be making much of an effort besides turning law school down, without even talking to Joe, which will probably just make her more miserable. 

Rockstar Joe continues to suck. Not only is he keeping this huge secret from his wife, who is dealing with starting a new career and her heartbreak over the miscarriage, but he is going to blow up this adoptive families life so that he can see a kid that, as his mom said, already has a family and he could just lead to a lot of complications for a little kid. Granted, we don't know for sure what the kids family is like, its possible the kid would love to meet his bio dad and the family could benefit from Joe's wealth, or the kids parents suck, but at the very least he needs to tell Amy. Jenny in that timeline is even worse than Joe though, what a selfish terrible person, not only lying to her husband but dropped this huge bombshell on Joe and has the audacity to be pissed at him for wanting to follow up on this? Oh, she called him for 24 hours? Then could never be bothered to call her supposed best friend again in nine months? 

Cop Joe is my favorite Joe and I really like him and Amy in that timeline, even though I don't like that she's having an affair with the married congressman. Cop Joe seems like a really nice fun guy, I hate that Cop Joe jenny hid this huge thing from him. Cop Joe Jenny also really sucks, and her husband seems like an asshole, but Jenny is also an asshole so I guess that works out. 

Jenny's dad seems like a real prick, especially in Nurse Joe's timeline, probably because he's "just" a nurse and Joe and Jenny don't have a ton of money, but it seems like he has never liked Joe. 

[Bookish Jen]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I don't like Jenny in any of the timelines that much, although Nurse Joe Jenny is definitely the best one. Everyone seems like a pretty decent person in that story, unlike the other two timelines, but everyone seems so miserable. It feels like neither Joe or Jenny are happy with how their lives turned out, is that the lesson? Having a kid will make you miserable? And for as much as Jenny wants more from Joe, she doesn't seem to be making much of an effort besides turning law school down, without even talking to Joe, which will probably just make her more miserable. 

Rockstar Joe continues to suck. Not only is he keeping this huge secret from his wife, who is dealing with starting a new career and her heartbreak over the miscarriage, but he is going to blow up this adoptive families life so that he can see a kid that, as his mom said, already has a family and he could just lead to a lot of complications for a little kid. Granted, we don't know for sure what the kids family is like, its possible the kid would love to meet his bio dad and the family could benefit from Joe's wealth, or the kids parents suck, but at the very least he needs to tell Amy. Jenny in that timeline is even worse than Joe though, what a selfish terrible person, not only lying to her husband but dropped this huge bombshell on Joe and has the audacity to be pissed at him for wanting to follow up on this? Oh, she called him for 24 hours? Then could never be bothered to call her supposed best friend again in nine months? 

Cop Joe is my favorite Joe and I really like him and Amy in that timeline, even though I don't like that she's having an affair with the married congressman. Cop Joe seems like a really nice fun guy, I hate that Cop Joe jenny hid this huge thing from him. Cop Joe Jenny also really sucks, and her husband seems like an asshole, but Jenny is also an asshole so I guess that works out. 

Jenny's dad seems like a real prick, especially in Nurse Joe's timeline, probably because he's "just" a nurse and Joe and Jenny don't have a ton of money, but it seems like he has never liked Joe. 

You've pretty much summed up what I'm thinking when it comes to this show.

Still, I'm going to watch upcoming episodes. I want to see how certain scenarios are going to play out. And when is Rocker Joe going to tell Amy about his bio kid? That's one scene I really want to see. 

[brokenwing29]

On 10/7/2021 at 10:26 PM, Whodunnit said:

Why does everyone assume that RockerJoe's son was adopted into a loving family?

Unfortunately, my experience with the adoption system is that the kids least likely to get adopted are the ones with special needs.

I don't think that it's wrong that he wants to find out about his kids home life situation. I do think he should tell his wife though.

Does RockerJoe even know that his child was special needs? Does Jenny even know? She just said that he was very small, as newborns are anyway. It is more my fear that the writers will show adoption in a negative light, as IMO This Is Us did with Randall's adoption. Anyway, it is kind of presumptuous of RockerJoe to think he can barge into the closed adoption of a 9 year old. He could plan to contact the boy when he's an adult, or ask around and make sure the child is being well cared for.

[brokenwing29]

14 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I don't like Jenny in any of the timelines that much, although Nurse Joe Jenny is definitely the best one. Everyone seems like a pretty decent person in that story, unlike the other two timelines, but everyone seems so miserable. It feels like neither Joe or Jenny are happy with how their lives turned out, is that the lesson? Having a kid will make you miserable? And for as much as Jenny wants more from Joe, she doesn't seem to be making much of an effort besides turning law school down, without even talking to Joe, which will probably just make her more miserable. 

I definitely don't think this show is out to say that having a kid will make you miserable...(just watch how RockerAmy will miraculously become pregnant before it's all over and it will be the best thing that's ever happened to her.) In fact, it seems like NurseJoe and Jenny are really only still together because of the kid. Joe decided to fight for the marriage when he saw how Chris wanted them to stay together, and even like the "coupon" for marriage counseling seemed to have been made by Chris. If anything, I think they seem miserable because they are better as friends and should have married other people.

Edited October 9, 2021 by brokenwing29

[magicdog]

1 hour ago, brokenwing29 said:

Does RockerJoe even know that his child was special needs? Does Jenny even know?

Neither of them know.  Rocker Joe tells his mom that maybe his son plays the piano.  Jenny made the remark he was small, perhaps smaller than average (about 7lbs is average newborn size- maybe Chistopher/Lucas was 5lbs at birth).  What might be interesting is if Rocker Joe would want to get involved in the life of a child that has special needs.  

1 hour ago, brokenwing29 said:

It is more my fear that the writers will show adoption in a negative light, as IMO This Is Us did with Randall's adoption.

I'm curious if that's what they're planning.  I'd be bummed if they went there.  However, considering Christopher/Lucas' condition, he wouldn't thrive for very long in an abusive situation, so it's possible a family was willing to take on the challenge.

 

1 hour ago, brokenwing29 said:

it is kind of presumptuous of RockerJoe to think he can barge into the closed adoption of a 9 year old. He could plan to contact the boy when he's an adult, or ask around and make sure the child is being well cared for.

ITA!  Rocker Joe (and Cop Joe for that matter) is a stranger and biology doesn't equate to parenting.  The writers seem to want to indulge in the fantasy of some adoptees - that one of their biological parents are royalty or famous. 

[SunnyBeBe]

4 hours ago, brokenwing29 said:

Does RockerJoe even know that his child was special needs? Does Jenny even know? She just said that he was very small, as newborns are anyway. It is more my fear that the writers will show adoption in a negative light, as IMO This Is Us did with Randall's adoption. Anyway, it is kind of presumptuous of RockerJoe to think he can barge into the closed adoption of a 9 year old. He could plan to contact the boy when he's an adult, or ask around and make sure the child is being well cared for.

I hope it’s not just portraying another mother who placed a child for adoption in a negative light.  It’s rather common on tv shows to do that.  It tends to show that it wasn’t right, mother not devoted enough, not thinking clearly, love is more important than any other circumstances, wrong decision, etc.  It’s an antiquated view that still permeates tv storytelling. I don’t care for it.  

[legaleagle53]

On 10/7/2021 at 6:51 AM, Tachi Rocinante said:

Oh, and Jenny? See you next Tuesday.  X3.

I see what you did there. It's subtle, but effective!

[KaveDweller]

 

On 10/8/2021 at 11:16 AM, tennisgurl said:

I don't like Jenny in any of the timelines that much, although Nurse Joe Jenny is definitely the best one. Everyone seems like a pretty decent person in that story, unlike the other two timelines, but everyone seems so miserable. It feels like neither Joe or Jenny are happy with how their lives turned out, is that the lesson? Having a kid will make you miserable? And for as much as Jenny wants more from Joe, she doesn't seem to be making much of an effort besides turning law school down, without even talking to Joe, which will probably just make her more miserable. 

I wonder if the message is, nice people are miserable? Nurse Joe and Paralegal Jenny seem like the nicest versions of themselves, but also seem miserable. Rocker Joe looked pretty happy at the start, and we find he is an asshole. It is hard to tell if Rocker and Cop Jenny are happy, but they are both assholes too.

Cop Joe seems nice as well, and he isn't super happy either. 

This show is kind of hard to talk about because it is like different characters with the same name.

18 hours ago, magicdog said:

I'm curious if that's what they're planning.  I'd be bummed if they went there.  However, considering Christopher/Lucas' condition, he wouldn't thrive for very long in an abusive situation, so it's possible a family was willing to take on the challenge.

Having Rocker Joe's son be in a good home situation creates more drama. If Joe looks for his son and finds that he was never adopted, Joe could easily get what he wants (a child) by taking in his son. If he was adopted, but is in a clearly abusive situation, Joe could report the parents and then claim custody when the child is removed from their care. But if the son is happy and with good parents, than Joe has to make the difficult decision of not contacting him for his best interest. Or they could have him sue for custody anyway, but it would be a much harder legal battle and the child actor would get some decent scenes as well.

Edited October 10, 2021 by KaveDweller

[bros402]

Honestly, I like this show but I think it is gonna be a one and done.

But here is my ranking so far;
Joe:
Nurse > Cop >>>>> Rocker

Jenny:
Cop > Nurse >>>>> Rocker (Unburdening herself on Joe was just horrible - she should know that he would want to know, anyone would want to know!)

Amy:
Rocker > Cop > Nurse

Eric:
I don't really have a ranking, but it took until the start of this episode for me to realize he was the male lead in Russian Doll!

Uncle:
Rocker > Cop (We haven't seen him in nurse timeline yet, have we? If we have, I don't remember it). Uncle in the Cop timeline is giving off some weird vibes that makes me think corrupt... but he also just reminds me of the cops in Person of Interest who were part of HR.

[Infie]

I feel like the person in each timeline who makes the decisions for him becomes the person who makes all of the decisions for him moving forward, and that makes them (except Amy, who genuinely seems to make him better) dictatorial with him.

In Cop!Verse, that was his Uncle, who stays in the police force and not only shadows but shapes everything in Joe's worklife, injecting himself into every situation.  He's Joe's superior officer, his training officer, his union rep, the person who gets his Dad's badge number for him - he's dictating almost everything like he has the right to.

In Nurse!Verse, that was Jenny's father - I have the feeling that when they found out that Jenny was pregnant her father simply told them what was going to happen; they were getting married, Joe would become a nurse and work at Jenny's father's hospital... Just as he tried to manage Jenny's birthday by setting up the dinner and the present from Joe.  

In Rock!Verse, that seems to be Amy.  While she definitely makes him better, she's also the one who has shaped his whole career and kept him doing it.  She's not dictating to him - she genuinely seems to be trying to keep them a partnership, but I feel like he doesn't really express opinions beyong the children thing.

Rock!Uncle is a part of Joe's life but not running it.  Nurse!Uncle hasn't been shown yet I don't think. 

Cop!JDad is still doing extravagent presents, but he wasn't dictating about it, and Rock!JDad was pretty easygoing and wasn't trying to run anything. 

Nurse!Amy is making the best friend the best he can be, and Cop!Amy is making the Congressman the best he can be, and in both cases she's a strong presence.  I think she's the most consistently portrayed across the universes. 

I'll be interested in how this shakes out. 

[magicdog]

On 10/13/2021 at 6:33 PM, Infie said:

I feel like the person in each timeline who makes the decisions for him becomes the person who makes all of the decisions for him moving forward, and that makes them (except Amy, who genuinely seems to make him better) dictatorial with him.

This is an excellent observation!!  Just rewatching the first 4 episodes this is definitely the pattern!

[Camera One]

What do you call the type of camerawork where half the picture if warped and out of focus?  They used a lot of that in this episode, and I've noticed it on other shows recently too, like "Kung Fu".  It's a bit strange, and in this episode, some of the characters in the scene were blurry.

The show is nicely produced, but I still don't really like any of the characters.  The gimmick of building the weekly episodes around a singular common event (in this one, Jenny's birthday), is also sort of intriguing, but also not enough to make me care about any of the stories.

I agree with the above poster that it was a big mistake to rely on a premise where Jenny-hides-baby-from-Joe because-he-doesn't-hang-out-with-her-on-grad-night.  You can't set up a love triangle where one of the options does something so indefensible.  I personally does feel any chemistry between Joe and Amy in any of the universes, either.