S02.E16: Gout/Nikres

[DanaK]

Quote

When Art tries to hide his gout flare up, the family is shocked to learn how long it's been since he saw a doctor and they try to convince him to go, on the CBS Original series UNITED STATES OF AL, Thursday, March 10 (8:31-9:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+
 

 

[Annber03]

"Don't be surprised if the carpet matches the drapes." Hahaha XD. 

Ooh, that was a bit scary. Poor Art, having to go through all of that, but I'm glad for his sake, of course, that he did. I could sympathize very much with Riley, Lizzie, and Al's concern for him, and their struggle to convince him to go to the doctor. I remember going through that with my own dad (mind, in his case, part of his hesitation had to do with not wanting to pile on more medical bills for our family, but yeah). I liked Riley discussing his concerns a bit with his therapist, too. I felt for him, seeing him a little more vulnerable and scared for his dad here. 

And yet, I can also sympathize with Art's hesitation to go, too. The whole thing about facing one's mortality head on makes a lot of sense, and Art's concerns about going in for something simple only to find out there was more wrong were proven right, and I get the fear about that, too. 

But yeah, yay for everyone finally managing to get Art to go, and yay for him getting taken care of as needed. I liked how Lois handled everything, too, tough yet loving. And I liked how Lizzie handled things, too, with explaining it all to Hazel. Given the recent episode where Art told Lois about Lizzie losing her mom when she was in high school, you know that had to be on her mind during everything with her dad, too. 

Also nice that Art took a moment to apologize to Al for kicking him :). This seemed to really highlight how much Art and Al have come to see each other as family, and I like that. 

[Sarah 103]

I love that all three grown children (and yes I am including Al in that) called Lois trying to get her to convince Art to see a doctor. I'm guessing the order was Al, Lizzie, Riley. I think that Hazel could have been told sooner, but I am glad Lizzie did eventually tell her the truth. 

[MaryMitch]

My dad had a stent in 2018, and at that point they were going through the arm. (But groin is funnier.) 

I wonder if they will address changes to diet and the new meds he will be on - for both gout and blood thinners. I hate it when a character has something major happen to them and the next week it's business as usual.

[proserpina65]

Regarding the veggies at the end, someone should tell Art & Hazel that sugar snap peas are much better cooked.  Usually with butter, but a little lemon works well, too.

[needschocolate]

On 3/11/2022 at 1:03 PM, proserpina65 said:

Regarding the veggies at the end, someone should tell Art & Hazel that sugar snap peas are much better cooked.  Usually with butter, but a little lemon works well, too.

And Cauliflower is better roasted with a little olive oil and garlic.  

[SmithW6079]

On 3/11/2022 at 4:03 PM, proserpina65 said:

Regarding the veggies at the end, someone should tell Art & Hazel that sugar snap peas are much better cooked.  Usually with butter, but a little lemon works well, too.

The butter would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? ;-) 

I eat sugar snap peas raw. I don't like many vegetables, and mostly raw at that, but the snap peas or snow peas are OK. I'm not a fan of cauliflower or broccoli in any form. There are ways to eat healthier without it seeming like punishment.

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

The butter would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? ;-) 

I eat sugar snap peas raw. I don't like many vegetables, and mostly raw at that, but the snap peas or snow peas are OK. I'm not a fan of cauliflower or broccoli in any form. There are ways to eat healthier without it seeming like punishment.

Well, moderation is fine, but that is why I suggested the lemon instead of butter.  They might like them that way and not consider eating them punishment.  Me, I love veggies, but I got so tired of chicken, no matter how it's cooked.

I'm impressed that Art had been going that long with gout and not seeing the doctor.  My brother has gout and when it flares up, it's seriously painful.

[possibilities]

I like vegetables, but when people don't like them, sometimes I think it's because they have no idea what to do with them. You can season things to make them interesting, some are better cooked, some are better raw, you can use olive oil if you're worried about using butter, there are lots of things you can do. 

I'm not that much of a fan of carrots, so I thought it was funny that's what they liked best.

 

 

[Annber03]

31 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I like vegetables, but when people don't like them, sometimes I think it's because they have no idea what to do with them. You can season things to make them interesting, some are better cooked, some are better raw, you can use olive oil if you're worried about using butter, there are lots of things you can do. 

I'm not a huge vegetable person, myself, but I think you're absolutely right that this is a big reason as to why. I should try experimenting more with stuff to put with or on vegetables, see what sorts of things I like best :). I do like carrots, though (I tend to like them cooked, but I can eat a raw one if need be), so I'm with Art and Hazel in wanting to eat those. I liked Art noting that if you looked at a carrot just right, you could imagine it was a cheese doodle :p. 

I also liked the idea of Riley suggesting he and Art work out together. That'd be fun to see :D. No doubt he could suggest some good exercises for Art. 

[tennisgurl]

Not only is Art working out with Riley a good idea for his health, I am never mad to see Riley working out more for extremely shallow reasons. I can see how this is rough for Art, it can be easier to just let medical problem fester instead of having to deal with them, but he is very lucky to have people in his life that love him enough to get him to a doctor or it could have been much worse. Gout sounds horribly painful, I cant believe he waited that long.

"Your a tough son of a bitch."

"Don't speak that way about your grandmother."

[Sarah 103]

32 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Not only is Art working out with Riley a good idea for his health, I am never mad to see Riley working out more for extremely shallow reasons.

Same here, and it's nice to know I'm not the only who feels that way. 

[CattyK]

I thought the acting in this episode was more animated and realistic than recent episodes.   Parker Young usually seems rather wooden to me, but he seemed livelier this time.  Adhir Kalyan seemed more fluid than usual. 

My favorite scene was Riley and the therapist.  Esp when therapist talked about younger people viewing mortality like a movie they might watch someday, and take risks to defy it.

In the raw vegetable scene, I couldn’t help but think they may have liked the cauliflower better if they had a yogurt dip or something with it. And yeah as everybody posted, just cook the veggies if you hate them raw!   

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by CattyK

[Annber03]

15 minutes ago, CattyK said:

My favorite scene was Riley and the therapist.  Esp when therapist talked about younger people viewing mortality like a movie they might watch someday, and take risks to defy it.

I thought that point was especially interesting given Riley's penchant for putting himself into risky, potentially dangerous and life-threatening ones. He was in Afghanistan fighting a war, he faced his mortality head on every day while there. But indeed, even then, the way he handled those moments compared to how Art reacted to his fears here is still striking all the same. Which makes sense, of course - facing your mortality in a war zone and facing your mortality because of your health are two very different things, so naturally the responses would be different, too. And of course, since Riley does tend to be more conscious about his health overall, in terms of getting exercise and staying in shape and everything, it also makes sense he wouldn't quite understand why Art's so resistant to doing similar things for his own health. 

They also noted that Art hadn't been to the doctor in about a decade, and his wife's been gone for just over a decade. I suspect some of his unhealthy eating and drinking habits were either fueled or exacerbated by that loss., and no doubt that affected his reaction and fears to some degree here as well.