S01.E05: We Were Just Babies

[CountryGirl]

Quote

A trip back to Gabby and Justin's high school leads to a big emotional reveal; Nick tries to stage an important conversation between Mike and Paula; Reggie must cope with a new development in his relationship.

Original air date: 10/18/2021

 

[GaT]

I was worried the girl was going to say no to the homecoming date, I held my breath the whole time.

I am very glad they aren't going to use Gabby's baby daddy on the show. That is not OK IMO. This is definitely a case where the kids rights outweigh everyone else's, & it especially outweighs ratings. Brittany had better not do anything with that information, & exactly how does that guy who told her keep his job?

[Retired at last]

9 hours ago, GaT said:

Brittany had better not do anything with that information, & exactly how does that guy who told her keep his job?

Have we not "met" Britney? Of course, she will! As soon as the show goes live where they can't cut it out.

I am kind of disappointed that there is not that much action on this board.I hope that doesn't mean that the show is in jeopardy.

[Shelbie]

Even though I plan on continuing to watch the show I found this episode a little blah. 

[judyri]

I like this show.  Just not much to add, characters are well acted but a bit one-note to me.

[HelloooKitty]

I hope hot sound guy becomes a recurring character. I like hot sound guy. 
 

is there a bit of Retcon going one with Gabby from the pilot? 
Bc she implied to a friend that she and BFF/then boyfriend were on a break and she hooked up with someone and had sex. That’s how she ended up pregnant. 
I can buy her lying about the details to friend bc of the nature of the situation, but this episode implied that the “relationship” with the teacher lasted for months and he only dropped her bc she became pregnant. So then, she was in a relationship with Justin and was cheating on him the entire last semester of high school? 4 months or so? 
or are we now pretending they were never dating back in HS?

[callmebetty]

2 hours ago, HelloooKitty said:

I hope hot sound guy becomes a recurring character. I like hot sound guy. 
 

is there a bit of Retcon going one with Gabby from the pilot? 
Bc she implied to a friend that she and BFF/then boyfriend were on a break and she hooked up with someone and had sex. That’s how she ended up pregnant. 
I can buy her lying about the details to friend bc of the nature of the situation, but this episode implied that the “relationship” with the teacher lasted for months and he only dropped her bc she became pregnant. So then, she was in a relationship with Justin and was cheating on him the entire last semester of high school? 4 months or so? 
or are we now pretending they were never dating back in HS?

Thank you I was thinking the exact same thing.

I kept waiting for Justin to make a comment like but we were dating.  He never did he acted like they were just friends the entire time in HS.

Edited October 19, 2021 by callmebetty

[Snapdragon]

Have they been using the music from Swan Lake in the background this entire time am I'm just now noticing it or was that new this episode.  The resolution to the predatory teacher storyline left me disappointed.  Sure, he got fired but in real life, they've had multiple cases where teachers got fired for inappropriate behavior with students and they just moved on and get a teaching job at another job.  Also, Gabby should really not be telling her son the truth about his dad at his age.  That is way too adult a subject for an elementary school kid.  And I hate promposals (or in this case, Homecoming-posal).  Asking someone to a school dance should not require the same amount of effort that people put into asking someone to marry them.  The entire concept grosses me out.  I've enjoyed this show so far but this was by far my least favorite episode.

[I Want My MBTV]

After last week's episode I felt this one was a bit of a let down.  Maybe because Gabby and Brittany are two of my least favorite characters.  I feel bad for everything Gabby went through and yes the teacher deserved more than being fired and I'm sure Gabby wasn't his first victim.   But sadly, Gabby just bores me.  Then there's one note Brittany who for some reason I thought was only dating Reggie in her head.  Until Reggie broke up with her I thought he was basically like "I don't know what's up with this girl".  I don't really want him in a relationship with Gabby either. It's way too soon and I like them as friends.

I was hoping Julia was going to hit that with the sound dude.  When he was adjusting her mic I felt chemistry.   Do her daughter's not know what their dad did and that he took all the money? The way they were treating their mom was like she was the one who ruined their family or something.

The inevitable with Mike and Paula.  I like Mike but I'm sorry it's actually not Paula's fault you got fired nor was it her job to check on you.  She was hired by your company to say where there was redundancy and cost savings and that's what she did.  People were going to lose their jobs no matter who said where the cuts were and it's sad but companies don't care how long you've worked for them or anything about you (with rare exception) they just care about the bottom line, their bonuses and the stock.  I wish they hadn't made Paula the "villain" then all wimpy then give her cancer so she can be sympathetic.   

My favorite scene in the whole episode was when Gabby then Nick were going at the predator teacher in the teacher's lounge and the whole time there's another teacher at the microwave just heating his lunch like "I've only got 15 minutes I'm going to heat his hot pocket you can carry on" , 

[CarpeFelis]

The two best scenes: Reggie dumping Brittney in front of everyone, and Nick telling the teacher he’d have to either quit or be fired and then dumping coffee in his lap—while there were a couple of other teachers there the whole time.

Funny, I just binged all 4 seasons of Mistresses recently, and who should show up but Harry! (Julia’s “hot sound guy”)

2 hours ago, I Want My MBTV said:

I was hoping Julia was going to hit that with the sound dude.  When he was adjusting her mic I felt chemistry.   Do her daughter's not know what their dad did and that he took all the money? The way they were treating their mom was like she was the one who ruined their family or something.

They were being a couple of brats during the interview. I got the feeling they thought their dad leaving was all her fault, but it didn’t seem that way later when they found her crying.

[funandfitpt]

All I ask is this show last the whole season and doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. I am enjoying it so much. 

[Crs97]

I am almost to the point of shipping Gabby and Nick; he has really become a favorite.  I loved how quickly he got to Gabby when he realized the teacher was the father, and his dumping the coffee with the delayed and unrepentant “oops” was lovely.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Hot sound guy seems too recognizable of an actor to be a bit part (I’ve seen him on McLeod’s daughters, US Mistresses, and Station 19).  Hope this means he’ll show up again.

[peachmangosteen]

23 hours ago, Retired at last said:

I hope that doesn't mean that the show is in jeopardy.

Oh, it definitely is unfortunately. The ratings are not good.

11 hours ago, funandfitpt said:

All I ask is this show last the whole season and doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. I am enjoying it so much. 

Same. I thought they might cancel it before it even aired all the eps but at this point I do think they'll at least air 1 full season thankfully. 

11 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I am almost to the point of shipping Gabby and Nick; he has really become a favorite.  I loved how quickly he got to Gabby when he realized the teacher was the father, and his dumping the coffee with the delayed and unrepentant “oops” was lovely.

This! I've actually been sorta kinda shipping Gabby/Nick since like ep 2 lol. They have a really nice vibe. She grabbed his arm when she left after telling off the teacher and I maybe swooned a little lol. In general though I find Gabby to be the least likable main (tied with Brittany) and Nick is my fave so I'm torn. But Gabby is at her best with Nick for me.

[Retired at last]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Oh, it definitely is unfortunately. The ratings are not good.

That's really a shame. I think they would get a bigger audience if they didn't appeal to the Glee/dance viewers and focused on how it is the ugly side of a reality show. Dancing/singing shows have such a small niche audience, that I am guessing that a lot of people didn't even bother to tune in. I hope we get a full season so we can see the demise of Britney.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Retired at last

[CarpeFelis]

13 minutes ago, Retired at last said:

I hope we get a full season so we can see the demise of Britney.

So do I! It’s obvious she’s going to do something seriously malicious with the info about Gabby and the teacher. I hope it backfires on her in a big way. I love the brother and how he acknowledges what a complete bitch she is, even if he won’t let anyone else say it.

Monica was starting to act like a decent human being for a change. BTW from the way she was walking and leaning hard on the cane, it looked to me like she was using it on the wrong side (i.e., the injured side). When I sprained an ankle I found out you’re supposed to use it on the opposite side for better balance and support.

[rejnel]

Such a great show! I loved the sequence where they flipped back and forth between Gabby and Justin’s quiet conversation and Nick & Co brainstorming how the teacher reveal would sit with audiences.

Scott Foley is gold on this show. I always enjoy him, but this is such a great, well-written role, and he really makes the most of it.

[SoapDoc]

On 10/19/2021 at 5:54 PM, Snapdragon said:

Also, Gabby should really not be telling her son the truth about his dad at his age.  That is way too adult a subject for an elementary school kid.

I would agree except the info is out there. All of the production crew, the network folks, their lawyers, the school (now)... there are a lot of people who know this story. I expect it could end up on some tabloid. 

I don't think her son fully understood what Gabby was saying or the complete implications but I think he needs to hear at least the basics from his mom before some messy first grader yells it at him with all kinds of added details. There will be more conversations between mother and son in the future. Right now, the kid probably only understands that his father is a teacher and the rest was blah, blah, blah (Charlie Brown teacher talk).

 

I do enjoy this show. Sad to hear it's not doing so great in the ratings

[DearEvette]

I am hopeful.  The numbers keep ticking up each week. This week got more total viewers and more in the demo.  Maybe this will be the little engine that could?

A little bit of a sidestep from last week but very much on brand for the show.  I did like seeing a little more of the behind the scenes machinations and how it brought the nameless (until now) crew members a little to the forefront and gave them something to do, e.g. the respective tackle.takedowns of Mike and Paula and the need to keep them apart.

The scene where they were brainstorming Gabby's fate was good and it was one that I liked especially to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Also, the stuff on the board was hysterical:

Ronan Farrow
To Catch a Predator
Gigantic Bummer
Monica Lewinsky
Perv Demographic

My other favorite bit was Simon.  He really is a great breakout character.  And I LOL's that he actually has a 'dove guy'  and well, his entire conversation with dove guy Larry.  The entire promposal scene was a nice bit of fluff to leaven what was a fairly heavy-ish ep.

Meanwhile, calling Brittany a psycho is a compliment.  If she actually were a psycho it would at least give her some personality beyond "mean girl".  She is hands down the worst character just from a personality and story perspective.

I hated that seeing Julia cry was the metric by which her pain had to be measured.  I wish the daughters would have understood that at least one parent has to hold it together because that is what being a parent and adult is sometimes.  Kids can be selfish and not really 'get it' but it would have been nice for this to be a lesson for them to learn instead of set up as one that Julia had to learn.

Edited October 22, 2021 by DearEvette

[peachmangosteen]

5 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I am hopeful.  The numbers keep ticking up each week. This week got more total viewers and more in the demo.  Maybe this will be the little engine that could?

This makes me feel better! I really hope it can steadily find a big enough audience. I still don't trust FOX though. They did me so dirty with Pitch!

7 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Also, the stuff on the board was hysterical:

Ronan Farrow
To Catch a Predator
Gigantic Bummer
Monica Lewinsky
Perv Demographic

Gigantic Bummer had me rolling.

[proserpina65]

On 10/19/2021 at 7:51 PM, I Want My MBTV said:

My favorite scene in the whole episode was when Gabby then Nick were going at the predator teacher in the teacher's lounge and the whole time there's another teacher at the microwave just heating his lunch like "I've only got 15 minutes I'm going to heat his hot pocket you can carry on" , 

I was amused by that guy.  He was all "yeah, tv show, predatory teacher, teenage pregnancy . . . but my break is gonna be over soon".

On 10/19/2021 at 7:51 PM, I Want My MBTV said:

I was hoping Julia was going to hit that with the sound dude.  When he was adjusting her mic I felt chemistry.

I get why she didn't but I totally would've hit that.  She still should've sold him the guitar.

[tennisgurl]

I guessed that something was up with the father of Gabby's son, I should have guessed it was a teacher. I kept waiting for Justin to comment on how she slept with the teacher while they were dating, but I thought they had a lot of really nice scenes together. 

I was half convinced that the girl was going to say no to the promposal, even after the kid said that she already said she liked him, that was a nice bit of levity to go alongside the rougher main plot. 

I know the show seems to be heading towards Gabby/Reggie as the big pairing, but I think that Gabby and Nick have an awful lot of chemistry.

[peachmangosteen]

55 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I know the show seems to be heading towards Gabby/Reggie as the big pairing, but I think that Gabby and Nick have an awful lot of chemistry.

OK so there's 3 of us at least!

[CountryGirl]

On 10/25/2021 at 5:21 PM, peachmangosteen said:

OK so there's 3 of us at least!

4 of us.

I have always loved Scott Foley since his Noel days but he is giving me a whole new appreciation for him. How he can be so calculating and cut-throat and yet, his tender moments, with Gabby especially. When he told that skeevy teacher that he could quit or be fired and knocked his carton of Chinese food into his lap (at least I think it was that vs coffee), I cheered. 

Reggie is nice, but I am shipping Gabby and Nick so much more. 

Simon made me love the homecoming-proposal and I normally HATE that kind of thing. 

Julia should have totally got her groove back with guitar guy, but I get it.

As someone who has been in Paula's position (not my only role, but part of my job as a director), I feel her. It's the absolute worst part of my job and it's agonizing, before, during, and after. Almost no one gleefully rubs their hands together at the prospect of cutting staff, saying "chop chop!"

I really, really hope this show becomes The Little Engine That Could. I just adore it.

 

[CountryGirl]

Oh - that moment of Scott Foley's Nick writing "balls," circling the word, and then slashing through it (in response to Monica's suggestion of castration for that scumsucking asshole teacher) was perfection.

[DearEvette]

21 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

Oh - that moment of Scott Foley's Nick writing "balls," circling the word, and then slashing through it (in response to Monica's suggestion of castration for that scumsucking asshole teacher) was perfection.

Yeah, this is why I loved that board.  If you read all the stuff on it, it really read like a brainstorming sessions where he was recording everything anyone said quite seriously.  And having been in meetings like that, and looking at the board after the fact you often wonder what someone will think when looking at it without any context.  LOL.

[auntiemel]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:20 AM, HelloooKitty said:

is there a bit of Retcon going one with Gabby from the pilot? 

Bc she implied to a friend that she and BFF/then boyfriend were on a break and she hooked up with someone and had sex. That’s how she ended up pregnant. 
I can buy her lying about the details to friend bc of the nature of the situation, but this episode implied that the “relationship” with the teacher lasted for months and he only dropped her bc she became pregnant. So then, she was in a relationship with Justin and was cheating on him the entire last semester of high school? 4 months or so? 
or are we now pretending they were never dating back in HS?

I know the show made a point of saying she was 18, probably as a shorthand to leave the legalities of statute of limitation etc out of the plot, but it doesn't change the fact that he was her teacher, she was his HIGH SCHOOL student. If the two "relationships" were concurrent, it wouldn't be cheating. The teacher was/is a predator. One that probably very specifically studied the law and waited until after her birthday to make his move so that he could have all the fun of abuse and none of the legal consequences. The "relationship" between him and Gabby was not a relationship. It was abuse.

Maybe Justin is evolved enough to understand that, or maybe the timelines don't overlap, but either way...it wasn't cheating. It was abuse.

I also thought it was interesting that Monica was the one who felt that way most vehemently in the production meeting. I would imagine in her industry, she's seen a fair amount of predatory-authority-imbalance-age-gap relationships and knows better than anyone in the room how damaging they are.

[SoMuchTV]

On 10/20/2021 at 10:13 AM, peachmangosteen said:

This! I've actually been sorta kinda shipping Gabby/Nick since like ep 2 lol. They have a really nice vibe. She grabbed his arm when she left after telling off the teacher and I maybe swooned a little lol. In general though I find Gabby to be the least likable main (tied with Brittany) and Nick is my fave so I'm torn. But Gabby is at her best with Nick for me.

I'm very late to the game with watching this, but regarding Gabby/Nick - isn't there even more of an age difference than Gabby/HS teacher? And not as much of a power differential, but it's definitely there.  Maybe five years in the future when they've both moved on to other things, and reconnect...?

On 10/19/2021 at 2:20 PM, HelloooKitty said:

is there a bit of Retcon going one with Gabby from the pilot? 
Bc she implied to a friend that she and BFF/then boyfriend were on a break and she hooked up with someone and had sex. That’s how she ended up pregnant. 
I can buy her lying about the details to friend bc of the nature of the situation, but this episode implied that the “relationship” with the teacher lasted for months and he only dropped her bc she became pregnant. So then, she was in a relationship with Justin and was cheating on him the entire last semester of high school? 4 months or so? 
or are we now pretending they were never dating back in HS?

I can buy that Justin didn't call her out on anything, because he had his own stuff going on.  Let's just not rock the boat and all.

[Crs97]

14 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I'm very late to the game with watching this, but regarding Gabby/Nick - isn't there even more of an age difference than Gabby/HS teacher?

I am much more comfortable with 40’s/28  than 30’s/18.  The power disparity is more concerning, but Scott Foley has that gift of seemingly having chemistry with everyone.  I love Nick’s mentor relationship with Gabby that you could picture having potential of growing into more if timing were different, but I also really appreciate his quiet moments of vulnerability with Monica.