S02.E13: Hunt/Shikar

[DanaK]

Quote

Riley, upset that Freddy taught Hazel how to ride a bike while he was deployed, attempts to teach her something new to make up for it. Also, Ariana invites Al to a fundraiser involving spin bikes, where he becomes competitive with Ariana's handsome cycling instructor, and Art introduces Lois to his favorite secret pastime, on the CBS Original series UNITED STATES OF AL, Thursday, Jan. 27 (8:31-9:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+
 

 

[Annber03]

I'm with Hazel on the idea of shooting at animals. That's one of many reasons I could never go hunting, either.

Good story with them this episode. Given how much Hazel idolizes her dad, it was interesting to see her having to confront some of the less pleasant aspects of the kinds of skills and training he's learned, and coming to the realization that that may have an impact on her desire to follow in her dad's footsteps. I liked that they touched on that a bit here. Especially given Vanessa's frustrations in a recent episode about the fact that Hazel is so focused on being like her dad that it affects her relationship with her mom. I hope they continue to explore that as time goes on, and see what other ways Hazel may eventually differ from her dad. 

And ooh, the driving thing. Indeed, not the wisest idea on Riley's part, given how young Hazel is...and yet, at the same time, I know plenty of kids who learned to drive this way. He's not exactly alone in teaching Hazel early like that. I liked his talk with Vanessa at the end, too, and her understanding why it bothered Riley so much that Freddy was the one to teach Hazel how to ride a bike. I'm not too surprised she didn't yell at him - he clearly realizes he messed up, and she could see that, so no real reason to go there. 

Got a good laugh out of Hazel's, "So should I follow you to the station, or what?" comment to the officer, too :D. 

Also liked the storyline with Art and Lois. Art's reason for going around and cleaning up the graffiti was sweet, and I liked that Lois joined him in that little adventure :D. I'm glad they got to have a day together, just the two of them, with no interruptions :). They really do make a cute couple. 

As for everything with Al and Ariana....ah, Al. He should've listened to Lizzie and just let the competition thing go, and focused on spending some time with Ariana. But I get why he felt kinda jealous of Dirk, too (also, the guy playing Dirk looked a LOT like Paul Rudd). The "jack my own frame" line also cracked me up XD. I wonder who ultimately won their face-off in the end. I imagine Dirk probably did :p. 

[Katy M]

So, I don't watch this show all the time. I was surprised to find out that Vanessa and Freddie have been together since Hazel was 3.  I thought the break up was more recent than that.

Men and thei competition.

Am i the only one that thought Art and Lois were going to get arrested for vandalizing and wind up at the same police station as Riley?  That would have been funny.

[highway61]

35 minutes ago, Katy M said:

So, I don't watch this show all the time. I was surprised to find out that Vanessa and Freddie have been together since Hazel was 3.  I thought the break up was more recent than that.

Agreed. I though Vanessa and Freddie was brand new, and Riley's discharge was within the last few years....

[NoReally]

12 hours ago, Annber03 said:

And ooh, the driving thing. Indeed, not the wisest idea on Riley's part, given how young Hazel is

Also, it seems ridiculous that he'd actually be arrested for that. IRL I think he'd probably just get a ticket and a lecture from the cop.

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, highway61 said:

Agreed. I though Vanessa and Freddie was brand new, and Riley's discharge was within the last few years....

The romantic relationship is new, it just sound more like he was in their lives as a close friend, helping Vanessa out with Hazel, for much of the time Riley was overseas. Vanessa had made a point of telling Riley in the first season that despite his suspicions, nothing romantic had actually happened between her and Freddy until after they separated. 

But even if he was just there helping out as a friend, given he was part of so many important moments in Hazel's life, I can see why Riley would've assumed otherwise. 

[joanne3482]

They were in a parking lot. Do police have jurisdiction in parking lots? I can see if someone called them due to trespassing, but I don't know that works. 

1 hour ago, highway61 said:

Agreed. I though Vanessa and Freddie was brand new, and Riley's discharge was within the last few years....

It was confusing to me too. I just looked at the Wikipedia entry for the show and it has show summaries. In episode 2, we learn that Riley cheated on Vanessa while he was deployed and he suspected she had cheated on him with her friend Freddy. So it seems they were good friends before they started dating. 

[Katy M]

13 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

They were in a parking lot. Do police have jurisdiction in parking lots? I can see if someone called them due to trespassing, but I don't know that works. 

It's a complex issue.  So, yes, obviously, as you pointed out, if an owner or tenant saw what they thought was a drunk person swerving around in their parking lot called the cops, the cops would come and pull them over. Even if that didn't happen, if the police officer thought the driver was drunk he could pull them over, because DUI is a crime as opposed to a traffic violation. And if the owners of the lot made a prior written agreement with the police that they could enforce traffic violations in their lot, then they can.  I don't know if letting an unlicensed/permitted minor driver on private property amounts to a crime or not.  But, it's also not Riley's property, so again, this could just go back to someone calling the police, although that lot did seem ridiculously empty.

[Sarah 103]

In real life, I know that parents sometimes use empty parking lots to teach kids (15/16 year-olds) how to drive, so maybe it varies state to state, or if it's clear that the kid is close to being able to actually take the driver's test, the police let it slide, especially if it's a totally empty parking lot with no one around/no one in danger. 

Hazel's freak out was well done. You felt for the character but it was also enjoyable to watch. I'm surprised Riley didn't try to comfort her by telling her there were other ways she could serve her country aside from being in the Marines or another branch of the military. Riley teaching her how to drive was also very in character.

It was fun to see Art in a subplot away from his kids. I like that he was supportive of his wife's career.   

Al being competitive was good silly fun. I love the idea of Lizzie and Ariana going out for a smoothie and talking about what idiots men can be, but also loving them. 

[Packerbrewerbadger]

Any episode with Ariana is a downer for me.  I want Al to find someone who appreciates him.

Their relationship is so one sided and that’s not healthy. 

[MaryMitch]

I wanted to see Al the next day. I'll bet he could hardly walk. 

[dungeonwriter]

Ariana is kinda horrible. She knows Al loves her and she totally enjoys messing with him.

I want Lizzie to shake him and say "Seriously, Al, she isn't the traditional Afghan wife you dream of. She will never want to be the adored wife Al wants her to be, she's too independant." 

Hazal admired her father from afar. Now that she's with him more, she is getting a more realistic view of him. And Kudos to Vanessa and Riley for a flawed, but ultimately loving co-parenting relationship. 

Lois and Art are so cute. 

 

[tennisgurl]

Lois and Art are so cute together. The Batman of graffiti. 

I wonder if Hazel will eventually realize she can serve her country in a non combat capacity? There are lots of things that she can do without ever needing to shoot anyone or eat eyeballs, that could be something interesting for her to explore in the future. The hunting story was really interesting, Hazel has idealized her dad for so long, and that means so much to Riley, but this is the first time they have really spent a lot of time together in awhile, so now they are actually getting to really know each other. 

I like the idea of Arianna and Lizzie drinking smoothies laughing at silly boys while Al and Dirk peddle until they physically cant. I can understand why Al likes Arianna so much, but I don't think it would work in the long term. They're just really different in ways that could be incompatible in a marriage. 

That cop was a real dick to take Riley into the station for teaching Hazel to drive, I feel like its perfectly normal to teach kids to drive in parking lots, that's where I learned to drive. 

[OlderThanDirt]

I feel like Ariana is a better fit for AL than a non-Afghan American girl would be. He needs someone who understands his culture but maybe she will set him up with a more recent immigrant woman. He might do better with a co-worker or friend of his sister who needed to escape Afghanistan. 

[possibilities]

At least in my state, your kid needs to be a certain age and pass a written test to get a learner's permit before they can get behind the wheel and practice driving. So that's why Riley got in trouble. I would have expected a citation, though, and not an actual arrest.

I hated Al and the trainer acting like a woman is something to compete over and win like a prize. I don't think Ariana owes Al anything. She asked him to participate in the fundraiser, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to think he'd be interested in. I don't think she was messing with him. It's not her fault he's obsessed with her. This is the first episode where I really disliked Al.

I thought Riley did tell Hazel she could do other things to serve. I was glad he didn't pressure her to shoot after she said she didn't want to. I also liked that he pointed out that if you're going to eat meat, you should know where it came from. It felt to me like a really balanced conversation, and good parenting, to not pressure her either way but to also point out the inconsistency.

I did think Art and what's her name were going to get picked up and maybe accused of being the graffiti artists themselves. I think I've watched too many sitcoms, because that's probably what most of them would have done. It's interesting to me that this show looks like it's going to follow the formula but often subverts it. Art and his girlfriend were actually a totally sweet story, no shenanigans!

I love that this show is able to show conflicts that have a ring of reality to them, and aren't based on people manufacturing drama by being completely incompetent or utterly outlandish. They communicate, they mess up, and they are flawed. But they aren't buffoons. It's refreshing. 

[theredhead77]

I don't think Ariana is messing with Al. She clearly stated what she wanted from her dating experience, which is not what Al wants, and that is OK. We don't know that Ariana and Dirk dated, are dating, messed around, or that they are even interested in each other. Al has created an alternate reality in his head with shades of "nice guy".

Loved Hazel and Riley. I would like to see Riley share other opportunities in the USMC that don't involve hunting and eating rabbits or their eyes in survival training. She could be a lawyer in the JAG Corps, or a doctor, or any number of non-combat positions. 

Lois and Art are great together. Love that he talks about his wife and Lois doesn't make it into more than what it is.

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I love that this show is able to show conflicts that have a ring of reality to them, and aren't based on people manufacturing drama by being completely incompetent or utterly outlandish. They communicate, they mess up, and they are flawed. But they aren't buffoons. It's refreshing. 

Yes! It's wonderful!

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I don't think Ariana is messing with Al. She clearly stated what she wanted from her dating experience, which is not what Al wants, and that is OK. We don't know that Ariana and Dirk dated, are dating, messed around, or that they are even interested in each other. 

Yep. And like Lizzie pointed out to Al, he could've easily stopped the competition and spent time with her. Like she'd said to him in that episode where he and Ariana started dating, Al still didn't really know a lot about her as a person. He's still hung up on his physical attraction to her. So this could've been a good opportunity for him to get to know her better. She even invited him to join her after she tapped out of the spin competition. And yet he declined. So that's on him. 

But yeah, she's shown a clear interest in him and definitely likes him. She's just not looking to get serious at this particular time. Maybe someday down the line they'll find themselves more on the same page in that regard, but until that happens if it ever does, then yeah, Al's going to need to figure out how to deal with that. And if he wants something more with her, then it'd be nice to see him find more opportunities to get to know her better, but without all the relationship pressure hanging over everything. More group outings, perhaps, or something. 

[greekmom]

You all have said basically all my thoughts about Al, Lizzie, Riley and Hazel.

I thought that it was going to come out that Vanessa cheated on Riley.

I fast forwarded Art and Satan.

 

[Katy M]

On 1/29/2022 at 9:28 AM, theredhead77 said:

She could be a lawyer in the JAG Corps, or a doctor, or any number of non-combat positions. 

But, she's stopped paying attention in school.  She said so herself.  Which kind of annoys me.  Is the show trying to say Marines are stupid, or don't need to know stuff?

[Grizzly]

49 minutes ago, Katy M said:

But, she's stopped paying attention in school.  She said so herself.  Which kind of annoys me.  Is the show trying to say Marines are stupid, or don't need to know stuff?

I'd say it's more Hazel thought she had her whole life figured out and didn't need school. We all know Hazel is smart. She's just not interested in academics.

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

But, she's stopped paying attention in school.  She said so herself.  Which kind of annoys me.  Is the show trying to say Marines are stupid, or don't need to know stuff?

 

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

I'd say it's more Hazel thought she had her whole life figured out and didn't need school. We all know Hazel is smart. She's just not interested in academics.

^^ this, but that is also a failure on her parents part. Marines, and all service members, regardless of rank or job need critical thinking skills, and to be able to parse information.  It's not too late for her to start paying attention and course correct.

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

But, she's stopped paying attention in school.  She said so herself.  Which kind of annoys me.  Is the show trying to say Marines are stupid, or don't need to know stuff?

My intrepretation was that all she needed to do was pass her courses so she could eventually graduate high school. She thought she didn't need good grades to get into college, but all she needed was a high school diploma. 

2 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

It's not too late for her to start paying attention and course correct.

I was going to post something very similar. It isn't as if it's second semester senior year of high school. She's had one semester of middle school. There is still plenty of time for her to start paying attention in classes and working harder at academics.    

[theredhead77]

8 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

I was going to post something very similar. It isn't as if it's second semester senior year of high school. She's had one semester of middle school. There is still plenty of time for her to start paying attention in classes and working harder at academics.    

She's also playing sports, or was trying out for a sports team, which even in middle school require some sort of passing grade. 

[Annber03]

5 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I'd say it's more Hazel thought she had her whole life figured out and didn't need school. We all know Hazel is smart. She's just not interested in academics.

Exactly. I also wonder if another part of the issue is that she's just not being challenged enough in her classes, at least in some of them. I've heard that sometimes kids who are in that situation tend to get restless and stop putting in the effort. Maybe she's the sort who might do well moving up a grade or something. 

[SmithW6079]

On 1/28/2022 at 6:01 PM, tennisgurl said:

I wonder if Hazel will eventually realize she can serve her country in a non combat capacity? There are lots of things that she can do without ever needing to shoot anyone or eat eyeballs, that could be something interesting for her to explore in the future. The hunting story was really interesting, Hazel has idealized her dad for so long, and that means so much to Riley, but this is the first time they have really spent a lot of time together in awhile, so now they are actually getting to really know each other. 

 

On 1/29/2022 at 9:28 AM, theredhead77 said:

Loved Hazel and Riley. I would like to see Riley share other opportunities in the USMC that don't involve hunting and eating rabbits or their eyes in survival training. She could be a lawyer in the JAG Corps, or a doctor, or any number of non-combat positions. 

I'm not a veteran, but I've met many Marines over the years through my job. There is a saying in the Marines "Every Marine a rifleman," which was coined by Gen. Alfred Gray, the 29th Marine commandant after the Vietnam War.

So Hazel would need to learn how to shoot and be trained to kill an enemy. As a female Marine, she would most likely not serve in a combat role regardless. Although these positions have been open to women since about 2015, there are still very few female Marines in combat units. Who's to say what the situation might be in six years when Hazel turns 18 and enlists? I believe she would also have to do a version of SERE training, but perhaps not at the advanced level that Riley did.

 

On 1/31/2022 at 2:29 PM, Katy M said:

But, she's stopped paying attention in school.  She said so herself.  Which kind of annoys me.  Is the show trying to say Marines are stupid, or don't need to know stuff?

Marines themselves joke about brawn being more important than brains, and any time I've seen veterans from different branches get together, they usually joke about Marines being the dumbest. Riley has made those comments about himself, but no one is saying that Marines are actually dumb.