Better Things Season 5 Discussion

[Door County Cherry]

Better Things returns for its final season on February 28th.  The episode descriptions are, once again, illuminating.

5.01 Fuck Anatoly's Mom

Sam learns some things about her family. Written by Pamela Adlon; directed by Pamela Adlon.

5.02 Rip Taylor's Cell Phone

Sam makes a choice.  

5.03 Oh, I'm Not Gonna Tell Her

Sam volunteers.

5.04 Ephemera

Sam learns about pronouns and finance.

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Max is pregnant?  Or wants to be, but isn't?

Thank goodness Sam failed the credit check.   She doesn't need to be potentially responsible for Max's rent.  And Max has a lot of nerve; she knows that Sam has been supporting her father all these years.

Hopefully, Frankie will get retail out of her system after a while and go somewhere for college.  (It doesn't have to be Harvard.)  I don't expect much of Max, but Frankie should be smart enough to see how hard Sam has to hustle to make a living.

Phil seemed to forget that she knew Max hadn't really broken her nose, so she's bound to be ripped off again.

It's pretty amazing that the dogs didn't scarf down all those burgers and get sick. I was worried about them.

[gingerella]

Well that was disappointing. It felt like Adlon was going overboard making Sam a schlub. The whole episode felt like a series that was going through the motions. I hope the rest of the last season gets better.

[BingeyKohan]

I'm ride or die for Pamela Adlon. It will be a little heartbreaking to see her settle into empty nestdom (although she still has Duke around - and I guess Frankie too if she's working at a grocery store ... so maybe not as empty as they made it out) I am hugely impressed that she re-created Phil's living room on a set in England so they could have her in the final season. Couldn't imagine it without her. I think it's going to be an emotional ride (tho at least since Adlon's real mum is still alive, close by, hopefully we won't have to watch Sam and the girls go through THAT life stage.) 

[Darian]

I didn't enjoy enough of the two episodes to continue the season. I'll always treasure moments of it (like when Max melted down about wasting her time in high school and it being too late, Sam having her try on a business suit and giving her a talk that, well, in retrospect didn't make a any difference but still was affecting and well-written) but I haven't been into the last seasons and the ick factor of the final song playing as Louis CK's name appeared onscreen (I know none of his sexual misconduct accusations involved minors, and this is just me, personally, not judging anyone who sticks with the show, but, "You better run, girl" and his name juxtaposed was a final straw) pushed my buttons and the ones on my remote that cancelled my series recording. 

[sistermagpie]

So Max is still a spoiled trainwreck setting up a studio, okay. How is she paying her rent? Still a hostess in a restaurant? I keep waiting for her to start her own acting career like Adlon's daughter I think did, claiming that her connection to her mother had nothing to do with it and she made it on her own.

Frankie still has that combo of childishness (needing hugs when she's scared from wind), performative adulting ("I'm the one who filed a police report!") and that teen thoughtlessness. 

Like, how is it that Sam keeps winding up in situations like at the end? Like, it seems like she did talk to Frankie about watching this season finale of whatever together, Frankie was presumably in the house all day while Sam was cooking all that stuff, and yet as usual we still wind up with Sam all set up with a feast while Frankie breezes past as if she never expected to be there that night and didn't notice or ask what Sam was doing all day in the kitchen.

[ichbin]

I like Pamela Adlon.  I even like some of the other actors. This show though and those daughters.  I can only hope that Adlon in her person life is more appreciated and satisfied than what she shows on screen.  

After yet another two episodes leaving me somewhat more depressed than when they started I once again find myself thinking, "Comedy??"  The only scene I found at all entertaining was when she was going through the costume warehouse and that could easily have been deleted for all that it actually contributed. 

[heatherchandler]

1 hour ago, sistermagpie said:

So Max is still a spoiled trainwreck setting up a studio, okay. How is she paying her rent? Still a hostess in a restaurant? I keep waiting for her to start her own acting career like Adlon's daughter I think did, claiming that her connection to her mother had nothing to do with it and she made it on her own.

 

Omg her daughter actually trying to tell the world that she got the role (a huge role!) on a major movie without any help from her mom… like does she think we are all idiots?  It makes me think Pamela DOES actually spoil her real life kids.

I’m surprised to see that most people didn’t like this episode, I’ve been hating the show since season 2 but I thought these eps were really good.

 

[sistermagpie]

22 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

Omg her daughter actually trying to tell the world that she got the role (a huge role!) on a major movie without any help from her mom… like does she think we are all idiots?  It makes me think Pamela DOES actually spoil her real life kids.

 

I might be imagining it, but I could swear there was something like that. At this point it seems like the default position, that somehow 30% of new celebs are children of people already famous, but they all made it on their own because their parents could only "get them in the room" and after that they had to prove themselves. (Getting in the room being 99% of task...)

[justmehere]

I love Sam, and I have a glimmer of hope for her now. First, running into her friend and him offering her a directing job in San Francisco. Second, quitting the movie job that felt so bad to her, going against her ingrained need/belief to work-at-all-costs no matter what it costs her (not blaming her for it, what with supporting 3 kids and an ex). Third, her long rant after Max cancelled and Frankie left, about all that she did to prepare for an evening she absolutely told them about and that they were selfish about.

I have hope because she discovered what uplifted her, left behind something that didn't, and because she didn't just accept the shitty treatment from her kids, she really bitched about it (as I recall, she previously tended mostly to accept with little comment - or maybe a single sarcastic line). A small step, but a step. I hope that she has reached her limit and will do some things differently going forward, especially, mostly, that she will go to San Francisco and direct and choose that just for herself. 

The kids are ingrates. Well, Duke has been generally OK - the verdict is still out on her. Max is still the absolute worst. The less we see of her, the better. And if she is trying to get pregnant...spare me. Please, please, please, do not let her fuck up Sam finally having a chance to do something for herself. (Rather, don't let Sam let her fuck it up.) As for Frankie... well, she is obviously a lot more capable than Max, but she can also be awful.

So there's a sisterhood that keeps things from Sam because Sam overreacts? Gee, is Sam maybe completely exhausted from working hard, from taking care of everyone in her sphere, from trying to meet everyone's needs, and getting nothing but shit for her efforts? And they judge her while treating her like shit? She reacts because she has to handle everything, and it's always something, and they are ingrates.

Sam welcomes in everyone, takes care of strangers (pink phone), continues to be there for her kids, always, and.... I can't remember specifics from other seasons, but there were various examples of her being there for, and being exceptionally kind to people she just met. And she still has the energy and enthusiasm to fangirl over a childhood idol. I love Sam.

Anyway - I hope that this final season has Sam finally taking care of herself and finding some peace for herself. (She did buy herself the car she wanted - that's one thing.)

[sistermagpie]

51 minutes ago, justmehere said:

So there's a sisterhood that keeps things from Sam because Sam overreacts? Gee, is Sam maybe completely exhausted from working hard, from taking care of everyone in her sphere, from trying to meet everyone's needs, and getting nothing but shit for her efforts? And they judge her while treating her like shit? She reacts because she has to handle everything, and it's always something, and they are ingrates.

 

That made me remember the moment Max quit school after a few weeks (because she "wasn't being challenged") and flew home and Phil had that little smirk on her face because she'd known she was doing it.

[aghst]

I've been mystified over the years by the raves this show gets.

And I actually liked a lot of episodes of Louie and hoped that this show would be in a similar vein, having some unique experiences like the time he sneaks a duck into Afghanistan or brings one back.

So this show is about a working actor -- she gets recognized sometimes but she's not a star -- raising her children as a single mother, getting up there in years.  Not so different from Louie raising his kids while juggling a career.

But the thing that I remember the most are those bratty, shrieking daughters.  Do they think this show is about a lot more than difficulties of parenting two horrible young women?

Are the "Better Things" these moments when the daughters say horrible things to her or Sam grinning and bearing it and still having an interesting career?  The youngest daughter is mostly kind to Sam but she alone can't counterbalance what her sisters say and do.

Max and Frankie weren't the worst these two episodes so maybe they're maturing?  Or maybe the show finally got an idea of how unpleasant they were and decided to tone it down finally.  Actually the producer in S05E02 says something about a sitcom with pain in the ass daughters so that may have been a meta thing.

No mention whatsoever of Duke in these episodes.  If they have her on this final season, will they have turned her into another monster like her sisters, just by virtue of her reaching their age?

Sam is generally a likable character but I never noticed how she's always spewing fragments of songs, TV and movie quotes and other stuff.  Especially in S05E02, when she apologizes for making a Dragnet reference.  What is she, a female Robin Williams now?  She was on a lot this episode.  But I don't recall her being like this in previous seasons, though as a talented voice actor, she probably was doing imitations and characters.

 

The thing that's always bugged me though about the series is how it's so precious, wanting to be seen as hip or make the characters hip.

First the thing with all the females in the family having male names.  Then the big house with the eclectic decor.  Of course all the characters dress like hipsters.  Sam has a hipster restored muscle car -- only car enthusiasts would GAF and the rest are just suppose to accept that it's cool.

In the parking lot of the store, Croft had an old station wagon with wood panels which seemed to be in very good condition.  Then after the shots, you saw a brown van speeding by.  That car was also some 30-40 year old car, again another immaculate restoration.

It wants so much to be liked and seen as cool -- maybe without the funky clothes and artifacts of coolness from the past, the show runners fear being seen as just a little family dramedy.

BTW, nothing cool about those old Croft shows.  Or maybe the point is that Sam is so cool she can like terrible old shows from her childhood.

 

 

[Bichon]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

No mention whatsoever of Duke in these episodes.  If they have her on this final season, will they have turned her into another monster like her sisters, just by virtue of her reaching their age?

I guess you missed Duke's video chat with her Mom in Episode 01 while you were doing all this pissing and moaning. She's visiting her Dad and will be home soon. Her hair was blond and wavy. The call came in while Max and Sam were sitting in a restaurant talking about Sam's bad credit after viewing the studio apartment that had no elevator. 

[pasdetrois]

I haven't seen any of the new season, but I have been one of the "bitching and moaning" posters in the past. It has been because for some of us the show missed the opportunity to be great. All of the elements are there - talented but harried single mom, three young daughters, an eccentric grandmother, cool houses, glimpses into Sam's rarified but frustrating career, her great friends and their struggles to age in a tough town.

I watched for those elements but was really annoyed by the spoiled, bratty daughters and Sam's tendency to be a doormat.

Let's not forget that Primetimer evolved from the old Television Without Pity, which existed to love and also lambast TV. The tradition is for posters to be equally free to express adoration and hate for TV.

Edited March 2, 2022 by pasdetrois

[Door County Cherry]

What did Sam break?

[cpcathy]

Did I miss something with the conversation between Sam and Deidrich Bader? I had NO clue what or who they were talking about.

[BingeyKohan]

5 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

What did Sam break?

It was that sculpture upstairs (looks like a guy) that she and others always touch for luck as they're passing it.

3 hours ago, cpcathy said:

Did I miss something with the conversation between Sam and Deidrich Bader? I had NO clue what or who they were talking about.

I gathered some former boyfriend of his had (maybe making amends as a recovering addict) bought ad space for a public apology  in a newspaper, and he felt it was a message to him that they could re-ignite things, which Sam had certain feelings about? I loved her neck doily line (in terms of her own propensity to judge, Judy style) but yeah I think it was one of those elliptical moments that Pamela Adlon tends to favor... more about her recognizing and pulling back her own judginess vs the circumstances being important.

[heatherchandler]

20 hours ago, justmehere said:

I love Sam, and I have a glimmer of hope for her now. First, running into her friend and him offering her a directing job in San Francisco. Second, quitting the movie job that felt so bad to her, going against her ingrained need/belief to work-at-all-costs no matter what it costs her (not blaming her for it, what with supporting 3 kids and an ex). Third, her long rant after Max cancelled and Frankie left, about all that she did to prepare for an evening she absolutely told them about and that they were selfish about.

 

 

Wish she would have ranted TO the brat kids, not just to herself.

 

16 hours ago, aghst said:

 

The thing that's always bugged me though about the series is how it's so precious, wanting to be seen as hip or make the characters hip.

First the thing with all the females in the family having male names.  Then the big house with the eclectic decor.  Of course all the characters dress like hipsters.  Sam has a hipster restored muscle car -- only car enthusiasts would GAF and the rest are just suppose to accept that it's cool.

 

YES it is precious, this really annoys me.  It is all very "look how cool we are, I hope people in the midwest get it."  We are supposed to be wowed by all of this, I guess.  I am not impressed by any of it, and truthfully her "eclectic" house makes me anxious because it is so cluttered.

 

[Door County Cherry]

Please remember that the #1 rule of the site is to be civil.  You can disagree with the opinions of your fellow posters but you can't tell them how to post. 

Thank you!

[justmehere]

2 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Wish she would have ranted TO the brat kids, not just to herself.

 Agreed. Hoping that ranting to herself leads to direct comments.

[txhorns79]

On 2/28/2022 at 11:56 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

 

Thank goodness Sam failed the credit check.   She doesn't need to be potentially responsible for Max's rent.  And Max has a lot of nerve; she knows that Sam has been supporting her father all these years.

I'll admit that I remain mostly confused about Sam's finances.  She lives like someone who is relatively affluent in that she has a very nice home, was able to buy her mother the house across the street, drives a classic car, etc.  However, she also apparently has such terrible credit that she cannot even co-sign with her daughter for an apartment.  

[BC4ME]

Why is Phil packing everything up? Is she moving? Did I miss it?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

6 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I'll admit that I remain mostly confused about Sam's finances.  She lives like someone who is relatively affluent in that she has a very nice home, was able to buy her mother the house across the street, drives a classic car, etc.  However, she also apparently has such terrible credit that she cannot even co-sign with her daughter for an apartment.  

Do we know that Sam owns Phil's house?

[Suzn]

Pamela Adlon was on the genealogy show Finding Your Roots recently.  I was surprised to see the parody of it.  There was even a similar story told of a mother-in-law giving her daughter-in-law and grandchildren to the Nazis.  I am not sure whether they were doing an homage to the show or were making fun of it - maybe a bit of both.  It made me a kind of uncomfortable.

[One Imaginary Girl]

Yeah, it seemed like it was parodying Dr. Gates, and I didn't enjoy that.

[sistermagpie]

12 hours ago, One Imaginary Girl said:

Yeah, it seemed like it was parodying Dr. Gates, and I didn't enjoy that.

Yes, I assumed it was meant affectionately, but there didn't seem to be any reason to do it. Especially since Gates has a TV show and this guy was just supposed to be a geneology expert they went to so why would he be doing the whole "turn the page!" thing. It would have sort of worked if it seemed more like the guy wanted to recreate that sort of experience, but instead it seemed like they were talking to a weirdo who was based on Dr. Gates.

 

[Faceplant]

Frankie has always been my least favorite character. Why did Frankie have such a problem with Sam picking up the phone off the ground outside the grocery store? She would rather her mom just leave it there instead of trying to return it? I'd be grateful if someone returned a phone one of my kids lost, but Frankie acts super annoyed her mom cares. Then when the power went out, Frankie sat in her room staring at her phone and repeatedly saying mom over and over again. How is that helpful?

The other character I find confusing is Xander (her ex-husband). The way he is written is completely clueless and no sense of humor. Every interaction between Sam and Xander is awkward and uncomfortable. I get that they're divorced, but there must have been something about him she liked enough to have three children with him. He is just written completely lacking any self awareness or any qualities that would make him interesting. 

[Lone Wolf]

Sam has some unrealistically self-disciplined doggos in the second episode.  IRL, they would have torn that sloppy joe and profiterole feast to pieces if it was left unattended. I expected her to come down the stairs and find it in tatters.

Fun fact: Ron is the guy who played Randall's father on This Is Us.

Wouldn't have thought that Mary Kroft is still around, but God Bless Him, although I doubt he does his own grocery shopping.  I still remember H.R. Pufnstuf and The Banana Splits.

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Lone Wolf

[QQQQ]

Sam's daughters are the worst. 

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/5/2022 at 8:57 PM, Lone Wolf said:

Sam has some unrealistically self-disciplined doggos in the second episode.  IRL, they would have torn that sloppy joe and profiterole feast to pieces if it was left unattended. I expected her to come down the stairs and find it in tatters.

Fun fact: Ron is the guy who played Randall's father on This Is Us.

Wouldn't have thought that Marty Kroft is still around, but God Bless Him, although I doubt he does his own grocery shopping.  I still remember H.R. Pufnstuf and The Banana Splits.

 

Yes to all of this. (I corrected "Mary" to "Marty".)

On 3/5/2022 at 9:44 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[chocolatine]

Sam having terrible credit and not knowing it (and asking her brother for financial advice) doesn't make any sense. She's been working since she was a child, and single-handedly supporting her family for twenty or so years (plus the alimony she had to pay Xander). She owns at least one home (I thought she also owned Phil's, but I'm not 100% sure). Last season she was even thinking about buying a second home in New Orleans. To get such terrible credit that she's unable to cosign a lease, she must have several maxed-out credit cards and not be able to make the minimum payments on all of them. It takes a long time to get to that point, but we never saw any mention of it in the past seasons.

It would have made a lot more sense if she had realized that she doesn't have enough saved for retirement because of all the people she had to support, and the jobs are drying up now that she's in her 50s. Or if she found out that the old TV show for which she was most famous had stopped airing/streaming, and she was no longer going to get royalties from it.

And if her finances are that bad, then I'm sorry, but she shouldn't have quit the period piece job just based on a quick chat with Ron Cephas-Jones. Not until she had something in writing. I know the LinkedIn influencers tell us to walk away from jobs that don't make us happy, but in real life that's not an option for most people. (BTW, did anyone else get chills when the costume lady said the movie would be filming in Belarus? They must have filmed the show several months ago, so couldn't have known what's happening there now.)

Finally, Frankie is the worst. I want to reach through the TV and punch her in the face every time she does the "mom, mom, mom" thing. She thinks she's so mature and special, but she freaks out when a strong wind blows or the power goes out. And so disrespectful to flake on Sam after she cooked all of that food.

Edited March 8, 2022 by chocolatine

[sistermagpie]

Found the opening scene in this ep to be really annoying, the way they tried to make it a big surprise that Max had had an abortion like it wasn't obvious. Another reason I guess I'm supposed to feel something like sympathy for Max where none exists in me. She found another reason people had to baby her and get her ice cream and soda, as far as I'm concerned. The only fear was that she'd have a baby Sam would wind up raising.

And why is Max acting like this isn't something she could tell Sam? Obviously she'd just be completely sympathetic to her and she's going to love it. It really seems like they expect me to react to Max like she's carrying a weight she doesn't think Sam can deal with and it just seems like she's enjoying feeling like a grown-up.

The girls didn't do much terrible in this ep at least, though. The dad was being his usual suspcious, entitled self. We can still hope Duke isn't about to become terrible with adolescence.

[heatherchandler]

12 hours ago, chocolatine said:

 

And if her finances are that bad, then I'm sorry, but she shouldn't have quit the period piece job just based on a quick chat with Ron Cephas-Jones. Not until she had something in writing. I know the LinkedIn influencers tell us to walk away from jobs that don't make us happy, but in real life that's not an option for most people. (BTW, did anyone else get chills when the costume lady said the movie would be filming in Belarus? They must have filmed the show several months ago, so couldn't have known what's happening there now.)

 

 

Yeah that was some terrible decision making.  Are we supposed to be impressed with that?  

 

11 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

 

And why is Max acting like this isn't something she could tell Sam? Obviously she'd just be completely sympathetic to her and she's going to love it. It really seems like they expect me to react to Max like she's carrying a weight she doesn't think Sam can deal with and it just seems like she's enjoying feeling like a grown-up.

 

Yeah why wouldn't Max tell her?  Sam would probably throw her a party.  

[Suzn]

I hate the way that Sam allows her daughters to speak to her and treat her.  She's just a doormat.  I really don't understand why there is no pushback ever.  She is not doing them any favors either.  The world will not cater to their spoiled asses.

As others have said, I don't understand her finances.  She may not be a good money manager but she has been supporting her daughters, ex-husband and it looks like her mother to some extent.  She has a nice house and I think her mother's house and a nice lifestyle and suddenly her credit is so bad that she can't cosign for an apartment rental.  It doesn't make any sense.  Her idiot daughter says "are you poor?"  The answer should be "yeah, you're on your own".

[gesundheit]

20 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Found the opening scene in this ep to be really annoying, the way they tried to make it a big surprise that Max had had an abortion like it wasn't obvious.

That was really strange, the pan up to the Planned Parenthood sign as if it were a reveal.

 

I still love this show but I'm going to go ahead and come out as a person who's bored to tears by lengthy cooking scenes in scripted drama, and this one has so many of them. 

 

I find the daughters considerably less irritating than in past seasons for some reason. So far.

 

[heatherchandler]

26 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

 

 

I still love this show but I'm going to go ahead and come out as a person who's bored to tears by lengthy cooking scenes in scripted drama, and this one has so many of them. 

 

 

Yes way too many cooking montages.  Chopping, cutting, shredding, the sizzling... enough!  Show me some entertainment!

 

[chocolatine]

The abortion was the first smart thing Max has done during this show's entire run. When they showed her taking a pregnancy test in the first episode, I thought she would have the baby, realize after a few days that motherhood wasn't for her - just like she did with college - and expect Sam to raise the baby. It was shitty of her to involve Rich though, knowing he's Sam's best friend, and then ask him not to tell Sam.

Is it just me, or is Xander coming across a tiny bit more sympathetic this season? Like, he actually cooked a meal for his kids (even though he used Sam's kitchen and groceries without asking)?

That picture of Sam in her underwear that the 6th graders googled, was it from a movie she'd done, or did someone with whom she'd hooked up leak it? I never thought of her in "sexy" roles since she was first a child star, and later a character and voice-over actress.

[sistermagpie]

4 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

The abortion was the first smart thing Max has done during this show's entire run. When they showed her taking a pregnancy test in the first episode, I thought she would have the baby, realize after a few days that motherhood wasn't for her - just like she did with college - and expect Sam to raise the baby. It was shitty of her to involve Rich though, knowing he's Sam's best friend, and then ask him not to tell Sam.

I almost wonder if she's going to save the revelation until she needs to use it against Sam in some way, like when she needs sympathy.

4 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Is it just me, or is Xander coming across a tiny bit more sympathetic this season? Like, he actually cooked a meal for his kids (even though he used Sam's kitchen and groceries without asking)?

He does, but I assumed this was the type of thing he might have done in the past, where he decides to be a good dad and then loses interest when he doesn't get a great reception right away. So it's pretty fitting that he'd make them a big meal using Sam's food and Sam's kitchen without them even asking. He also gave her the skull that creeped her out but came with instructions not to move it for fear of dark magic. 

I noticed that Duke said she didn't "feel anything" about the thing, although she seemed excited about the gift at first. In the past she's usually sensitive to any magical things going on. Of course, she's now a middle schooler chatting up adult men on her instagram or whatever site that was. (Weird that she still always refers to Xander as "my father" to Sam as opposed to Dad--they all seem to do that, which is why it originally seemed like these 3 girls who look completely different might be half-sisters.)

4 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

That picture of Sam in her underwear that the 6th graders googled, was it from a movie she'd done, or did someone with whom she'd hooked up leak it? I never thought of her in "sexy" roles since she was first a child star, and later a character and voice-over actress.

Could be from Californication (not that Sam herself was supposed to have been in that, but Adlon was), for instance. She's worked for a long time--there's no way somebody didn't try to make her go for sexy at some point.

[QQQQ]

I guess I haven't been paying attention because until this week I thought the girls had different dads. Couldn't figure out why Max and Frankie were hugging Xander...

[possibilities]

I hated that Sam just pushed past her friend and into her friend's house after she'd been told very clearly that it wasn't a good time. 

She's a lot like her daughters in some ways.

[aghst]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I hated that Sam just pushed past her friend and into her friend's house after she'd been told very clearly that it wasn't a good time. 

She's a lot like her daughters in some ways.

And she laughed at them.  Think he’s her ex.

No matter how good friends she is with her or is familiar, pretty rude though it’s suppose to be clever that she’s judging them without saying a word?

Looks like the young one is also going to be a drama magnet like her older sisters.

Good that she volunteers at school.  Are six graders a respite from her daughters?  Or does she need to parent her daughters rather than trying to be their friend?

Suppose to be sad that the oldest one can’t tell her that she’s had an abortion or Sam’s oblivious — don’t they say mothers always know?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/7/2022 at 9:38 PM, chocolatine said:

And if her finances are that bad, then I'm sorry, but she shouldn't have quit the period piece job just based on a quick chat with Ron Cephas-Jones. Not until she had something in writing. I know the LinkedIn influencers tell us to walk away from jobs that don't make us happy, but in real life that's not an option for most people. (BTW, did anyone else get chills when the costume lady said the movie would be filming in Belarus? They must have filmed the show several months ago, so couldn't have known what's happening there now.)

Now that Duke is back, I don't know if Sam could spend who-knows-how-long abroad for work with only Frankie in charge, unless the job pays well enough to hire some help. She's also tied down by Phil,  (I suppose Frankie could take care of the dogs.) Sam has a lot of responsibilities, and it wouldn't be fair for her to rely on her friends to take care of everything while she's gone for an extended period.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/8/2022 at 10:39 AM, heatherchandler said:

Yeah why wouldn't Max tell her?  Sam would probably throw her a party.  

I think that Sam would agree it was the right decision for Max, but she wouldn't exactly be happy about it.  I think she'd actually be somewhat sad that Max was in a position where she needed to have an abortion. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ItCouldBeWorse]

13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I noticed that Duke said she didn't "feel anything" about the thing, although she seemed excited about the gift at first.

I think that Duke is much more affected by the tension between her parents than the older girls.  They remember the bad times, and know that their dad is not trustworthy.  Duke only knows that her mother can't stand her father.  That has to be difficult.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

7 hours ago, aghst said:

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

I hated that Sam just pushed past her friend and into her friend's house after she'd been told very clearly that it wasn't a good time. 

She's a lot like her daughters in some ways.

And she laughed at them.  Think he’s her ex.

No matter how good friends she is with her or is familiar, pretty rude though it’s suppose to be clever that she’s judging them without saying a word?

It was last season or the one before where Sunny's ex made her horribly miserable and they broke up.  Sam spent a lot of time commiserating with her, and then had to deal with the ex when their kids' joint schedules required them to interact.  Sam can't believe that they're now giving it another go.  Pushing into the house was certainly rude, but I think her reaction to what she saw was understandable.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think that Sam would think it was the right decision for Max, but she wouldn't exactly be happy about it.  I think she'd actually be somewhat sad that Max was in a position where she needed to have an abortion. 

That's what I think too. She'd be completely comforting and sympathetic at her going through it imo.

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think that Duke is much more affected by the tension between her parents than the older girls.  They remember the bad times, and know that their dad is not trustworthy.  Duke only knows that her mother can't stand her father.  That has to be difficult.

I think Duke's the one who's been told most clearly that her dad's a bad guy. He let her down when he bought her a phone and then ignored her, her uncle explained to her that her dad was a bad guy and she just had to accept that and she seemed to have told her father something along those lines at the end of the season, whispering in his ear. I took their vacation together more a sign that Xander has a certain respect for her or something because of that. I wouldn't be surprised if Duke was the one who was able to get stuff out of Xander occasionally without letting him hurt or humiliate her. Maybe because she doesn't remember the good times, such as they were.

[heatherchandler]

2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

It was last season or the one before where Sunny's ex made her horribly miserable and they broke up.  Sam spent a lot of time commiserating with her, and then had to deal with the ex when their kids' joint schedules required them to interact.  Sam can't believe that they're now giving it another go.  Pushing into the house was certainly rude, but I think her reaction to what she saw was understandable.

 

Isn't Sunny remarried to someone else?  I thought she got remarried and Sam went to the wedding - remember she was alone at the hotel and dreaming of playing with the kids in the water?  

 

[TVbitch]

Well I've watched the first two episodes. I'm not even sure why I watch cuz I mostly find it annoying. The kids are still annoying. But I also find Sam annoying with her dithering, key stone cops way of handling any situation. I know a lot of that is supposed to be funny, and often times she dithers her way to success, but if I was her friend I would find her totally exhausting.  

[Faceplant]

On 3/9/2022 at 12:13 PM, heatherchandler said:

 

Isn't Sunny remarried to someone else?  I thought she got remarried and Sam went to the wedding - remember she was alone at the hotel and dreaming of playing with the kids in the water?  

 

Not married, but Sunny had a really rich boyfriend. She invited her friends to his home fr the weekend and they took the boyfriend's private jet. As soon as they got there, the boyfriend told Sam he wanted to introduce her to somebody. Instead of saying nice to meet you or hi, she decided to immediately freak out, take off in the golf cart and not say anything. Sunny and the boyfriend were left standing there and smiling like that's just typical Sam, isn't she quirky. 

[heatherchandler]

11 hours ago, Faceplant said:

Not married, but Sunny had a really rich boyfriend. She invited her friends to his home fr the weekend and they took the boyfriend's private jet. As soon as they got there, the boyfriend told Sam he wanted to introduce her to somebody. Instead of saying nice to meet you or hi, she decided to immediately freak out, take off in the golf cart and not say anything. Sunny and the boyfriend were left standing there and smiling like that's just typical Sam, isn't she quirky. 

That's right, I remember that, for some reason I thought they were at their wedding.. but of course Sam freaked out and acted like an insane person and it was supposed to be funny?  Sometimes I do not get this show.