S01.E04: Shooting Star

[secnarf]

Quote

Each Joe must come to terms with an unfamiliar and challenging feeling. Music Joe enlists help to look for his son. Cop Joe navigates the aftermath of a shooting. Nurse Joe and Jenny discuss a big career opportunity.

Original air date: 10/11/2021

[LittleIggy]

Cop Joe: The congressman is such a piece of 💩! I hope Joe talks to Amy. He should get her side before deleting her number.

[nilyank]

In CopJoe, Bobby is such a dick.

I am now afraid that in RockerJoe, Bobbie is going to do something to make Amy feel insecure.

I also want to know who is Celeste. In CopJoe, Eric mentioned her name as one of his losses in life.

[magicdog]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Cop Joe: The congressman is such a piece of 💩! I hope Joe talks to Amy. He should get her side before deleting her number.

What excuse is there?  She's having an affair with a married man - a man she KNOWS was married when the affair began.  Worse that Diaz gave the old line of his marriage being a "business arrangement".  Why do people still fall for that one?

It's possible Amy has been reconsidering her affair since she met Cop Joe, but I knew sooner or later it would come out and blow up in her face.  

Interesting neither Rocker Joe nor Jenny had anything to say about "Zeke's" disability when seeing him for the first time.  You'd think that would be something they'd wonder about.  At least we know he seems to have a loving home with a family willing to take on his special needs.  I was afraid they'd have him dead in this timeline because he would have been hard to place.

Nurse Joe is good to be at peace with his decisions and encouraging Jenny to pursue the opportunity and Atlanta.  Bonus points for suggesting they go as a family rather than separating.  Curious to see where that goes.  I like that Christopher isn't blind to his parent's issues (knowing they went to counseling not to the dentist).   Also interesting that this Diaz appreciates his family since the assassination attempt, but now not only has Parkinson's but can no longer walk again due to the injuries sustained.  Dr. Banks hated to have to give Joe a solid for being right about the MRI, but since he has to support his daughter, he'd never fire him.

[Cloud9Shopper]

I don’t know if I’m going to continue watching this. It’s not offensive in any way; I’m just personally finding it a bit bland and hard to feel invested in the stories of any one timeline.

I do think that perhaps the show can go on longer than I thought it could but I don’t think it has the staying power to be invested in three timelines for several seasons. 

[absnow54]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I don’t know if I’m going to continue watching this. It’s not offensive in any way; I’m just personally finding it a bit bland and hard to feel invested in the stories of any one timeline.

Agreed. For a second, when CopJoe was having a PTSD flashback, I thought it was the three timelines merging, and it slightly piqued my curiosity, but then I realized it was just CopJoe having a CopJoe memory. I don't really like Rock-Star-Baby-Rabies-Joe-with-Marital-Problems and think Nurse-Joe-with-Marital-Problems is kind of boring. The only timeline I'm kind of feeling is Cop-Joe, but I think it's because it's basically the "clean slate" timeline.

[LittleIggy]

@magicdog I didn’t say anything about an “excuse.” I don’t know where you got that. Joe should talk to Amy to find out it is true. She could tell Joe that she broke it off with Congressman 💩head. People do make wrong decisions and then rectify them.

[Bookish Jen]

One part I did like? When the young woman wanted to have her picture taken with Rocker Amy and not Rocker Joe.

[saber5055]

12 hours ago, magicdog said:

Interesting neither Rocker Joe nor Jenny had anything to say about "Zeke's" disability when seeing him for the first time.  You'd think that would be something they'd wonder about.

This. Both were seeing Zeke for the first time and neither one said "Wow, he's in a wheelchair! What's up with that." Neither knew that, or maybe Jenny did since maybe that's why she gave him up in the first place. But both acted like every kid is in a wheelchair so no big deal. But was he in an accident and wheelchair temporary? Or perm? And he's not in a school for "special" kids? Not to be offensive about it but they acted like every kid is in a wheelchair. Neither mentioned it. It would have been the first comment out of my mouth.

I'm also off put by Christopher being the perfect kid. Always in a great mood, smart, insightful about EVERYTHING and always says and does the "right" thing. Since when are kids like that, not throwing a fit about something, wanting hot dogs not broccoli for dinner, hating having to go to bed "early" and pouting that Mom and Dad are never there at the same time FOR HIM. He's not like any kid that age that I know. Make that, not like any kid I know period.

Again Amy invited the entire world over to the house she shares with Rocker Joe but doesn't mention it to him. What's up with that.

I still can't keep all the timelines straight with all the extra characters being different in each of them.

Edited October 12, 2021 by saber5055

[tennisgurl]

Cop Joe congressman is a real scumbag, and he might be even worse if he did have something to do with the shooters sisters death. I hope that cop Joe talks to Amy, I really like them as a couple, even if I don't like that Amy was having an affair. She seems too smart to fall for the old "my marriage is basically over, we'll get divorced soon" line, but I guess the heart wants what it wants. 

Nurse Joe Jenny really does have some nerve complaining about how Joe never opens up while hiding her offer to become a lawyer from him. That Jenny is probably the best Jenny because at least she told Joe he had a kid with her (just because he happened to be with her) but I am still not a fan. It was sweet of Joe to be ready to go to Atlanta so she can pursue her dreams. Jenny's dad is worse though, acting like its somehow Joe's fault that the congressman has Parkinson's, and that he isn't just pissy that Joe caught something he missed. 

Rocker Joe really is a selfish ass, but Jenny certainly has no room to talk. Joe and Amy are just a mess, and while the congressman seems like a pretty nice guy in that timeline, I keep getting a vibe between him and Amy, especially considering they had an affair in the cop timeline.

[Cardie]

I wonder if the endgame will be to tell us which choice Joe made or if the three timelines will remain just what if scenarios.  It looks to me that they will eventually become structurally similar.  Joe should obviously be with Jenny and their child in their lives. In the timelines where this is not the case, it soon will. The Congressman will emerge as a true villain, probably having slept with Amy in each.

I would love if we found out his real life went in still another direction  

 

[saber5055]

27 minutes ago, Cardie said:

I would love if we found out his real life went in still another direction  

This is my hope.

[kirinan]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Jenny's dad is worse though, acting like its somehow Joe's fault that the congressman has Parkinson's, and that he isn't just pissy that Joe caught something he missed. 

Something else that bothered me: Does it fall on nurses to give bad news/major diagnoses to patients? I firmly believe that nurses would do a just-as-good (if not better) job of talking to the patient and empathizing with them, but any momentous updates that have been broken to me, my family, or anyone else I know over the years were done by doctors. Perhaps it's not standard practice as I thought, but if it is and he left Nurse Joe twisting in the wind to reveal that Parkinson's diagnosis by himself, dick move, Dr. HRG.

[Cardie]

36 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

This is my hope.

The first question to answer is whether the present of the show is 2011, with Joe pondering what to do and where the various choices might lead or 2021, with him reflecting on roads not taken. 

[tennisgurl]

1 hour ago, Cardie said:

I would love if we found out his real life went in still another direction  

 

In the last episode we pan back to recent grad Joe still in the yard standing in-between the three paths, and he just invites everyone to go for drinks. 

[Whimsy]

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

Something else that bothered me: Does it fall on nurses to give bad news/major diagnoses to patients? I firmly believe that nurses would do a just-as-good (if not better) job of talking to the patient and empathizing with them, but any momentous updates that have been broken to me, my family, or anyone else I know over the years were done by doctors. Perhaps it's not standard practice as I thought, but if it is and he left Nurse Joe twisting in the wind to reveal that Parkinson's diagnosis by himself, dick move, Dr. HRG.

Love the HRG reference. 
 

But, yeah, this timeline confuses me. It appears Joe is a nurse but does a whole lot of doctor-y things. 

[funnygirl]

If all roads lead to Jenny in this show, I’m out. Joe is the most interesting when he’s with Amy, plus I’m biased and really like them together. Hopefully Cop Joe will give Amy the grace to explain. Rocker Joe is being a shit husband, and I don’t understand why he’s not super pissed at Jenny for keeping the news that he had a son for all these years. For that alone they should not be buddy-buddy, but he’s prioritizing Jenny over his wife and that is so not cool. Nurse Joe is so boring. They could trash that timeline completely. Really, Cop Joe carries the show. 

[KaveDweller]

16 hours ago, magicdog said:

What excuse is there?  She's having an affair with a married man - a man she KNOWS was married when the affair began.  Worse that Diaz gave the old line of his marriage being a "business arrangement".  Why do people still fall for that one?

It's possible Amy has been reconsidering her affair since she met Cop Joe, but I knew sooner or later it would come out and blow up in her face.  

Amy called things off with Diaz in this episode. That's why Diaz pulled that move with Joe, to try and get her back. It was super sleazy.

It's wrong to have an affair with a married man, but Joe should hear from her that she ended it (likely to pursue things with him). Everyone has made mistakes, and Cop Joe should know everyone has a past.

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

Something else that bothered me: Does it fall on nurses to give bad news/major diagnoses to patients? I firmly believe that nurses would do a just-as-good (if not better) job of talking to the patient and empathizing with them, but any momentous updates that have been broken to me, my family, or anyone else I know over the years were done by doctors. Perhaps it's not standard practice as I thought, but if it is and he left Nurse Joe twisting in the wind to reveal that Parkinson's diagnosis by himself, dick move, Dr. HRG.

I thought that was super weird. I would think that wouldn't be allowed and that most patients would want to be able to talk to a doctor after getting a diagnosis like that.

In Rocker Joe-verse, I thought it was unbelievable that the lady at the restaurant remembered Joe and Jenny after ten years. It was a place they stopped on their drive up to school, so it seems unlikely they went regularly enough for that. Also weird that she knew Joe was famous but didn't know Jenny wasn't his wife. I'm also not sure where this roadside burger joint is supposed to be.....the route from NYC to Binghamton is all interstate. But maybe they took the scenic route on their secret trip to see their long lost son.

 

[magicdog]

47 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

In Rocker Joe-verse, I thought it was unbelievable that the lady at the restaurant remembered Joe and Jenny after ten years. It was a place they stopped on their drive up to school, so it seems unlikely they went regularly enough for that. Also weird that she knew Joe was famous but didn't know Jenny wasn't his wife. I'm also not sure where this roadside burger joint is supposed to be.....the route from NYC to Binghamton is all interstate. But maybe they took the scenic route on their secret trip to see their long lost son.

As someone who lived in NY, I agree.  It's possible they took the scenic route and found their old burger joint, but you're right it's odd for the owner to have remembered them so well after a decade and thinking Joe and Jenny were married.  That selfie she asked for could blow up in both their faces if she adds that she met Joe and his "wife" on her social media page.  Amy would have been mentioned as his wife in various entertainment reports and now that she's running for office herself, having Jenny be mistaken for Joe's wife could be damning for her publicly. 

[DearEvette]

Rocker Joe:

Can't stand Joe or Jenny in this timeline.  Her father seemed like he is a lesser asshole in this one.  He just hates Joe, which tbh, I can get behind.  So They found Zeke.  Now what?

Also, I agree how convenient a waitress remembered them from 10 years ago.  How often did they stop at this place that looked like it was on a little two lane street in a charming upstate village somewhere?  Also when we would drive NYC/Syracuse we would contort how we went but mostly to avoid Scranton -- we hated driving through Scranton.  But we still managed all interstate.

This one definitely brings all the soapy drama.

Meanwhile Eric has a baby in this one?  Have we seen his wife in this one?

 

Cop Joe:

I love that Cop Joe has no time for Jenny.  He and Amy seem cute together. I think I still like this timeline the best.  The Congressman is an asshole.  Amy is messy but I still like her.  There is some actual plot on this one with Jenny bringing up questions about the Congressman. And there is still the ultimate shoe drop left with the paternity thing, but at least this Jenny didn't detonate that bomb.  And so far this Joe doesn't seem to be at all baby hungry like Rocker Joe.

 

Nurse Joe: 

I hate this timeline.  They are boring.  Their marital problems are boring.  His hair is boring. I'd much rather get a peek in Amy and Eric's life in this timeline.  Or god, Jenny have an affair.  Or Nurse Joe break bad at work -- something.

 

Overall this show is really nose-diving in my estimation.  There is not enough actually happening and the music on this is just super sappy I can't take it.  And James Wolk is fine but Joe's three lives (as written) just aren't riveting enough to follow. So I am not sure how long I'll hang on.  I'll give it a couple more eps.

[magicdog]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Meanwhile Eric has a baby in this one?  Have we seen his wife in this one?

I noticed this too.  I don't think he's married in this timeline as we have yet to see him with someone or mention her.  I suspect the baby is from s surrogate if he isn't married.  He also seems to work for Rocker Joe and Amy as he mentioned handling their social media pages.

 

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

So They found Zeke.  Now what?

Good question.  It should end there, unless Rocker Joe (and maybe Jenny) want to create a trust for him to make sure his needs will be taken care of.

[eel21788]

20 hours ago, kirinan said:

Something else that bothered me: Does it fall on nurses to give bad news/major diagnoses to patients? I firmly believe that nurses would do a just-as-good (if not better) job of talking to the patient and empathizing with them, but any momentous updates that have been broken to me, my family, or anyone else I know over the years were done by doctors. 

Although it is the doctors' jobs to deliver the news to the patients, it is usually the nurses who translate everything into laymen's terms for them.                                             

[legaleagle53]

On 10/12/2021 at 12:54 PM, Cardie said:

I wonder if the endgame will be to tell us which choice Joe made or if the three timelines will remain just what if scenarios.  It looks to me that they will eventually become structurally similar.  Joe should obviously be with Jenny and their child in their lives. In the timelines where this is not the case, it soon will. The Congressman will emerge as a true villain, probably having slept with Amy in each.

I would love if we found out his real life went in still another direction  

 

On 10/12/2021 at 6:45 AM, absnow54 said:

Agreed. For a second, when CopJoe was having a PTSD flashback, I thought it was the three timelines merging, and it slightly piqued my curiosity, but then I realized it was just CopJoe having a CopJoe memory. I don't really like Rock-Star-Baby-Rabies-Joe-with-Marital-Problems and think Nurse-Joe-with-Marital-Problems is kind of boring. The only timeline I'm kind of feeling is Cop-Joe, but I think it's because it's basically the "clean slate" timeline.

The entire premise of the show is that each of these individual timelines IS the "real life" that developed as a result of each specific choice that Joe made the day he graduated from college. We're basically simultaneously watching the action in three different parallel universes unfold in real time. The timelines CAN'T merge because each individual timeline is predicated on the initial choice of Joe's that created it. As the showrunners have said, the entire point is that there IS no one "right choice." ALL of Joe's choices of the three that presented themselves at his college graduation are the "right" ones. It's just that each choice carried with it its own particular chain of consequences leading to Nurse Joe in one timeline, Rocker Joe in another, and Cop Joe in another. One life timeline isn't necessarily better than the other two, nor is it necessarily the "correct" one, because as we've already seen, each one has its tragedies as well as its triumphs.

In other words, the answer isn't "A," "B," or "C." The answer is "D -- all of the above."

Edited October 18, 2021 by legaleagle53

[JKL845]

I think I would like it better if it had a bit more of a separation of the timelines. Just a little bit. If Jenny got pregnant after and they only had Christopher in the NurseJoe timeline. He is with Amy in RockerJoe timeline, no baby with Jenny. And with someone new in the CopJoe timeline, again no baby with Jenny. We could still see what happens with his friends and family in all the timelines but they wouldn't have to be as connected. I like the cast but think it sounded more promising than I'm finding it. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

11 hours ago, JKL845 said:

I think I would like it better if it had a bit more of a separation of the timelines. Just a little bit. If Jenny got pregnant after and they only had Christopher in the NurseJoe timeline. He is with Amy in RockerJoe timeline, no baby with Jenny. And with someone new in the CopJoe timeline, again no baby with Jenny. We could still see what happens with his friends and family in all the timelines but they wouldn't have to be as connected. I like the cast but think it sounded more promising than I'm finding it. 

I agree. It gets too confusing to follow who plays what role in what timeline, and as someone else mentioned above, nothing really seems to be progressing. It’s just not very compelling to tune in for the way it’s set up but everyone’s mileage may vary. I find it to be a light watch but even the emotional stuff (like Amy’s speech about her miscarriage and Joe at the reading of the names on 9/11) felt off. I don’t know if I’m going to come back this coming week. 

[UGAmp]

On 10/12/2021 at 9:45 AM, absnow54 said:

Agreed. For a second, when CopJoe was having a PTSD flashback, I thought it was the three timelines merging, and it slightly piqued my curiosity, but then I realized it was just CopJoe having a CopJoe memory. I don't really like Rock-Star-Baby-Rabies-Joe-with-Marital-Problems and think Nurse-Joe-with-Marital-Problems is kind of boring. The only timeline I'm kind of feeling is Cop-Joe, but I think it's because it's basically the "clean slate" timeline.

I actually wondered this too when Amy couldn’t remember going on the date with Eric in the cop timeline but they’re married in the nurse timeline (I don’t remember if it was this episode or the previous one because I watched them back-to-back). Was that something bleeding through from one timeline to another? I know that might get too sci-fy-y for what appears to be the premise of this show but that’s was my immediate thought.  

Edited October 16, 2021 by UGAmp

[bros402]

I liked this episode - it's easy enough to keep things straight - they could do a bit better with the color grading - but it is easy enough in Cop Joe to tell it is that, with all of the blue. Nurse Joe wears glasses, then Rocker Joe is the one left.

 

On 10/12/2021 at 6:30 PM, Whimsy said:

Love the HRG reference. 
 

But, yeah, this timeline confuses me. It appears Joe is a nurse but does a whole lot of doctor-y things. 

I have been calling him HRG in my head since he appeared. Maybe Joe is an NP?

[circumvent]

On 10/12/2021 at 3:12 PM, saber5055 said:

This. Both were seeing Zeke for the first time and neither one said "Wow, he's in a wheelchair! What's up with that." Neither knew that, or maybe Jenny did since maybe that's why she gave him up in the first place. But both acted like every kid is in a wheelchair so no big deal. But was he in an accident and wheelchair temporary? Or perm? And he's not in a school for "special" kids? Not to be offensive about it but they acted like every kid is in a wheelchair. Neither mentioned it. It would have been the first comment out of my mouth.

I'm also off put by Christopher being the perfect kid. Always in a great mood, smart, insightful about EVERYTHING and always says and does the "right" thing. Since when are kids like that, not throwing a fit about something, wanting hot dogs not broccoli for dinner, hating having to go to bed "early" and pouting that Mom and Dad are never there at the same time FOR HIM. He's not like any kid that age that I know. Make that, not like any kid I know period.

That's the writers probably trying to "I don't see the disability" us. It is the fake acceptance. People should see disability, then respect it and hopefully accept it. They way they showed is totally unrealistic. I think the type of disability he has is not diagnosed at birth, it is something that comes later, maybe as the kids shows delay in physical milestones

I agree that they are showing the kid on the nurse timeline too perfect and mature. It is pure inspiration porn.

[circumvent]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:24 PM, DearEvette said:

Nurse Joe: 

I hate this timeline.  They are boring.  Their marital problems are boring.  His hair is boring.

Well, imo the actor is pretty boring so it would be hard for him to play a non-boring character.

and to add to the shallow, since the make up crew is giving the actor such a 5 o'clock shade (a very bad one, by the way), they could also give him an upper lip.

[DearEvette]

He was the white supremacist senator in The Watchmen and he was pretty good in that in a stealth way.  He played the clean cut, aw shucks guy on the surface but was revealed to be an unhinged megalomaniac.  He was by turns bland, and then creepy and then menacing and then ultimately ridiculous.

[saber5055]

On 10/12/2021 at 7:25 PM, magicdog said:

Amy would have been mentioned as his wife in various entertainment reports and now that she's running for office herself, having Jenny be mistaken for Joe's wife could be damning for her publicly. 

Oh, you just wrote a new conflict/disaster into that timeline. Nice!

[eel21788]

20 hours ago, bros402 said:

Maybe Joe is an NP?

There would no reason for him to be working in the ER one week and the rehab floor the next, unless he worked in the nursing float pool. That wouldn't be a nurse practitioner job. 

[bros402]

On 10/16/2021 at 2:21 PM, circumvent said:

That's the writers probably trying to "I don't see the disability" us. It is the fake acceptance. People should see disability, then respect it and hopefully accept it. They way they showed is totally unrealistic. I think the type of disability he has is not diagnosed at birth, it is something that comes later, maybe as the kids shows delay in physical milestones

I agree that they are showing the kid on the nurse timeline too perfect and mature. It is pure inspiration porn.

I wish the actor were a bit older, then he could help the writers with realistic storylines, like Kayla Cromer (Matilda on Everything's Going To Be Okay) or Micah Fowler (JJ on Speechless). 

I believe the son has a form of muscular dystrophy - which according to Children's National Hospital tends to be diagnosed when the kid is 3-6 years old

On 10/16/2021 at 9:26 PM, eel21788 said:

There would no reason for him to be working in the ER one week and the rehab floor the next, unless he worked in the nursing float pool. That wouldn't be a nurse practitioner job. 

Maybe Joe is just a permanently floating nurse because he is such a good nurse

Edited October 18, 2021 by bros402

[circumvent]

On 10/17/2021 at 12:46 AM, bros402 said:

I wish the actor were a bit older, then he could help the writers with realistic storylines, like Kayla Cromer (Matilda) on Everything's Going To Be Okay or Micah Fowler (JJ) on Speechless. 

I never heard of Matilda but yes, Speechless was way above average (there was some horizontal ableism) not only because of Micah, they also had another disabled consultant - therefore employing another disabled person.

Edited October 18, 2021 by circumvent
Meant to say that Speechless was ABOVE average compared to the other shows

[tribeca]

@magicdog Eric mentions he is a divorced dad in the reunion episode.  

[bros402]

19 hours ago, circumvent said:

I never heard of Matilda but yes, Speechless was way below average (there was some horizontal ableism) not only because of Micah, they also had another disabled consultant - therefore employing another disabled person.

Speechless was pretty decent in its representation given its.. mildly hyper reality it was in.

With Everything's Gonna Be Okay - every autistic character had an autistic actor - and the main and recurring autistic actors had scripts run by them to make sure the dialogue/plots were realistic (they also had some autistic people purely behind the scenes). Everything's had 2 seasons, total of 20 episodes.

[Camera One]

I actually didn't find this episode that bad.  It seemed like each of the stories is reaching a point where something potentially interesting can actually happen.  Then again, for the first time, I was sort of doing something else while watching this episode, so maybe that helped.  

Since the Congressman was shot in two timelines, then he mistreated the shooter's sister in both.  So I'm assuming the angry guy is going to come after him again in the Nurse Joe timeline.  In the Rocker Joe timeline, is the shooter still out there somewhere?  Though the Congressman seemed to be more of a devoted father in that one.  

People just really hate going to a therapist, eh?  That's always how it's written on TV shows, it seems.  Especially cops.

Did Joe have a falling out with his uncle in the Nurse timeline?  I think Eric listed him as one of the reasons for his "abandonment issues".