S01:E13 The Valentine's Day Dance

[AgentRXS]

Quote

Dean's plans to ask Keisa to the Valentine's Day Dance are foiled when another boy asks her out first. Bill and Lillian make Kim sign up for a Big Sister program to have extracurricular activities for her college applications.

Original Air Date: February 2, 2022

[Sarah 103]

I am so confused about Keisa. She wasn't interested in wearing dresses until Kim let her borrow one she had outgrown. Was Keisa's problem dresses in general, or the style of dress? If her parents were really religious or strict, would they be allowing her to wear men's clothes? She's almost always wearing her brother's jacket. In 1968, I thought young women wearing jeans/pants to school was a fairly new thing. How did her parents feel about Keisa wearing make-up? It seems like they wouldn't have approved of it based on what we know.

We had "When a Man Loves A Woman" and another 60s pop song at the dance that I can't remember right now, plus "With a Little Help From My Friends" earlier in the season. I think it's safe to say that's a good chunk of the music budget for the entire season. 

Kim is awesome. Can we let her do voice-over for an episode? Can we reboot the series in season 2 to focus on Kim? 

[tribeca]

Dean is so awkward it is sweet and adorable at the same time.  

[tennisgurl]

I just love Kim, I really want her to get more screen time.

[woodstock]

Hampton is another gem on this show.

[andromeda331]

Kim was so awesome in this episode.

[Cress]

I thought this was going to be a typical sitcom plot about Dean being awkward and jealous at the dance, but then the show did that shoplifting thing, and that was a good swerve. Dean was able to genuinely cheer up Keisa, and Kim was awesome. I assume, when Kim was pretending to be Mom, that she told the store clerk not to call Keisa's parents; that she would do it herself.

I think in the bedroom when she was vague about the clothes, Keisa was saying she wanted new clothes but was trying not to make it seem like she was too poor to have nice clothes. Then when people said she looked nice in the dress and makeup, I think it made her think she had to keep it up. I would have thought that Kim would have gifted her some makeup if she kept wearing it to school. Good for Dean to tell her she was always pretty. Not that all her self-esteem should be in her looks, but in the moment, it was the right thing to say.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Cress
correct spelling of Keisa's name

[Ailianna]

This show has done several good swerves to be about more than a generic sitcom plot and I really appreciate it. Bringing its own sensibility and history without being preachy.

[Cress]

On 2/9/2022 at 1:48 PM, woodstock said:

Hampton is another gem on this show.

Oh yeah, he was so funny. "Fanta-sea" :)

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:27 PM, Sarah 103 said:

How did her parents feel about Keisa wearing make-up? It seems like they wouldn't have approved of it based on what we know.

Agreed.

It even seems a bit strange to me that Keisa's parents enrolled her in Big Sisters. Big Brothers was founded to provide mentoring to boys who lacked a male role model, in order to keep them out of trouble.  Big Sisters was similar, and Kesia's participation would imply that she either had no mother, or that her mother was likely single/the mother of a large family and didn't have the ability to give her much attention, not that she lacked an actual older sister.

[Scarlett45]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:27 PM, Sarah 103 said:

Was Keisa's problem dresses in general, or the style of dress? If her parents were really religious or strict, would they be allowing her to wear men's clothes? She's almost always wearing her brother's jacket. In 1968, I thought young women wearing jeans/pants to school was a fairly new thing. How did her parents feel about Keisa wearing make-up? It seems like they wouldn't have approved of it based on what we know.

I don’t think Keisa’s parents would’ve had a problem with her wearing boys clothes at 12, so long as she dressed appropriately for church and other functions. 
 

I think it was that her Mom wanted her to be “frilly” and Keisa wanted to be “cool” in her style. I could see Keisa’s Mom being okay with certain types of makeup, so long as it fell into (whatever she thought) was “appropriate”. A lot of black women of that area didn’t let their teen daughters wear red lipstick or nail polish (but shades of pink was just fine)- red was thought to be for “ladies of the evening”. However it’s clear money is tight in her family, so she probably didn’t feel comfortable asking her Mom for things like that.