S04.E05: So This is What the Truth Feels Like

[Scarlett45]

Quote

Mariana is in over her head when the Revitalize and FCG cross paths at a pitch; Davia workshops her burlesque name around the Coterie; Lucia tells Malika she has feelings for her ex; Malika's proposal for the women's center gets approved.

Air Date: April 6, 2022

[bybrandy]

Is it just me or has this show gotten really boring?   The homeless guy is the only currently interesting person on the show.  I want to care about the other stories.  I just don't.  

Why would I care about a love triangle between Dennis and Gael when I don't think either of these guys is particularly interested in her?   She can do better than broken and not interested.   

I was seriously invested in Dennis and Davia for a while but Davia's turn as a burlesque dancer is meh.  I want to get it being about Davia being enboldened to accept her body... and i get that she's struggled with her body at every weight point... it just feels strange to do it now... and I was genuinely interested in the Davia who was finding her voice as a teacher.   

I miss when Davia got to hang out with people from the building.

Also I don't get why Joaquin's going about his quest for his sister the way he's doing it but I was more interested in his story than anything else going on this week.   He was missed.

Mariana put herself in a weird position with Bulk Beauty and Revitalize.. for no real reason.. and she keeps getting deeper and deeper in for again no real reason.  And her bringing Evan into it seems like a weird choice.   I kind of like Evan.  I liked them in the elevator.  I liked that he was concerned about her fake pap smear but the corporate espionage stuff?  Yawn.

Things I do like.. um... um... Luca.  I have no beef with Luca.  

That's it.  That's the bit of the show I find interesting.    

Edited April 8, 2022 by bybrandy

[KaveDweller]

OMG Marianna the situation you are in is entirely your fault. You chose to "go undercover" and sign that non-compete. Your partners didn't ask you to. Instead of signing it, why not tell the other woman Jackie still the code. I bet they would not want to keep working on it.

Also, the idea those other woman had about the face scanner that recommends products and shows you what they'd look like is the only potentially good part of this stupid app.

Missed new guy looking for his sister. 

Malika. If you are going to work for the ex of someone you are dating you should either not keep it a secret or not kiss the woman at the bar the boss knows you both hang out at.

Malika's boss. You should be talking to your employees about your personal issues, or asking them to share information about their friend/your ex. You should also not be assigning work or making political decisions based on how it could impact your dating life.

[possibilities]

The show used to have more of an activist approach and now even the activists have been reduced to romantic drama. Callie's gone, Malika's working in politics but her entire story is about a love triangles. I thought they might be doing something interesting by showing polyamory, but they resolved that and now are back to tried tropes about lying and triangles.

Gael was always treated as merely a love interest, so his love triangle is more of the same. He used to at least have some involvement with his sister and advocating for her with their parents, but the sister hasn't been seen for a long time.

Alice is gone. I just realized Lindsey hasn't been see either, but since I found Lindsey obnoxious I'll just be relieved.

Mariana is acting stupid but at least it's in character since she's always been like this. I guess they are probably trying to get her back with Evan, and so the pivot will be toward the two of them in another workplace romance. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Actually, I take that back. For a while, Mariana was involved in some activist stuff, but they abandoned it to make her a corporate espionage agent for a cosmetics company. It's a toss up whether her story or Davia's has been more depressing from the point of view of respect for female empowerment.

They took Davia out of the classroom, and put her into burlesque! I guess now that she's not fat anymore, they think it is a good idea to undress her and keep her away from children. She's still crying all the time, though, so she can't be happy. Show's been consistent about that. 

I agree about Luca. Interesting! Likable! Sympathetic! Though I still can't stand Mystery Brother, so was glad he wasn't around.

 

 

[bybrandy]

Okay the thing I don't get about Malika's storyline is why is the city council person she's working for also a 13 year old girl?   If she's in love with the woman Malika's kind of seeing and she believes that woman also loves her and the only thing that kept them apart was her schedule as a city council person... um... why is she grilling Malika about it?   

Why not just call up the ex and say, "hey, when I was trying to learn to navigate this new space I put us on the backburner and that was absolutely a mistake.  I miss you and I'd like to give it another go if you are open to that and here are the things I'm going to do to make sure we don't get lost inside my job again."   

Then the ex has the opportunity to say, "Yes, lets try this."  or "No, I'm dating Malika, kind of" or "I don't really trust that is a promise you can keep but how about we try a few dates and see what happens?"  or "I think dating politicians is whack because of our previous experience but since you only have enough time to give me 1/4 of what I need I suggest we consider pollyamory..."  or whatever   

[bybrandy]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

They took Davia out of the classroom, and put her into burlesque! I guess now that she's not fat anymore, they think it is a good idea to undress her and keep her away from children. She's still crying all the time, though, so she can't be happy. Show's been consistent about that. 

This.  I absolutely know that body image issues like the ones Davia has had that she's always had don't just magically go poof when the weight comes off and her trying to find peace with her body at every size makes sense to me in theory... but it just reads so much like, "hey, this actress lost a bunch of weight lets take her from an active storyline about her trying to change education for the better and move her to a story where she's naked.  Okay?  Okay.  Good."  And it is SQUICKY to me.  It shouldn't be because I believe Davia would need to find peace in this body as much as any other body but... it does.   

Also she's now removed from Gael and Dennis and the guy from school all people I enjoyed her in scenes with previously.  

[circumvent]

8 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Also, the idea those other woman had about the face scanner that recommends products and shows you what they'd look like is the only potentially good part of this stupid app.

Except that this would be promptly used as yet another form of surveillance on some sectors of society, more specifically, minorities. No, thanks

I think Davia looks beautiful and I would not say she is fat. Not that this matters, I just think the story of her "showing her body" is a bit misplaced. I know she sees herself as fat, but I think the story is a little confusing. Maybe it is just me. In any case, I have a much better reaction seeing someone who call themselves fat, but are just realm than emaciated people who believe thin is better (like Callie. That girl needs to eat - which I know, it is not "body positive" but I think Maia is not naturally so skinny)

[amarante]

The facing scanning technology for cosmetics (and other stuff) already exists.

There are beauty brands that allow you to use your photo which you upload or a model from the App or website. 

I think they need to put a fork in this show because all of the storylines are either boring or ludicrous.

I wasn't aware of burlesque being a *thing* which there is a creative director who encourages the women to use it as a form of therapy including finding a name that fully expresses their essence. 

What kind of an idiot bumbles into committing criminal corporate espionage. Any one in the software engineer would have had the importance and implications of NDA fully drilled into them as undergraduates. And the "code" that was stolen doesn't even seem to be particularly unique or valuable - it is a shopping application which tracks purchases with a subscription fulfillment business model. Those are all over the place and one probably would just license a pre-existing one with the ability to customize for your website. You don't have to steal it 

[possibilities]

Did they fire the original writing team and replace them with idiots? Or is the same team just burned out and churning out this crap?

[possibilities]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:53 AM, bybrandy said:

 If she's in love with the woman Malika's kind of seeing

I agree with the rest of your post, but I think Malika is definitely seeing her. They seem pretty serious, to me.

 

 

[Scarlett45]

On 4/8/2022 at 6:31 AM, circumvent said:

Except that this would be promptly used as yet another form of surveillance on some sectors of society, more specifically, minorities. No, thanks

I think Davia looks beautiful and I would not say she is fat. Not that this matters, I just think the story of her "showing her body" is a bit misplaced. I know she sees herself as fat, but I think the story is a little confusing. Maybe it is just me. In any case, I have a much better reaction seeing someone who call themselves fat, but are just realm than emaciated people who believe thin is better (like Callie. That girl needs to eat - which I know, it is not "body positive" but I think Maia is not naturally so skinny)

I think Davia (and the actress that plays her) is beautiful, I can tell she’s lost weight, but she’s still the largest woman in the cast (maybe she’s the same size as Alice?). I think Maia is probably naturally slim- I say that because she’s very straight figured and still has a full face at 27/28. 

I find with body representation on tv we have “plus size model beautiful” and “standard Hollywood thin, size 0/2”- while most women in the USA are somewhere in the middle. 
 

For many of us that struggle with weight management- at our thinnest/most fit we are never going to be a size 0/2, I can see Davia making peace with that. Especially because she has suffered from disordered eating. 
 

I admit I preferred her more as a teacher, this could’ve just been a hobby. 

[yourmomiseasy]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:17 PM, KaveDweller said:

OMG Marianna the situation you are in is entirely your fault. You chose to "go undercover" and sign that non-compete. Your partners didn't ask you to. Instead of signing it, why not tell the other woman Jackie still the code. I bet they would not want to keep working on it.

Also, the idea those other woman had about the face scanner that recommends products and shows you what they'd look like is the only potentially good part of this stupid app.

You should also not be assigning work or making political decisions based on how it could impact your dating life.

I wish this was the extent of questionable things happening in LA City Hall.

On 4/9/2022 at 7:57 AM, amarante said:

Any one in the software engineer would have had the importance and implications of NDA fully drilled into them as undergraduates. 

 

This is not true.  NDAs are not part of the undergraduate CSCI or CSCE curriculum at any major university that I'm aware of.  In what class would that be covered?  There might be some electives that cover it, but it isn't a core curriculum topic.  Anyway, the document that Mariana is having an issue with is a non-compete, not an NDA, they are different.

On 4/10/2022 at 7:52 AM, Scarlett45 said:

 I say that because she’s very straight figured and still has a full face at 27/28. 

 

I don't think this is the case in this situation, but bulimia can give you a full looking face due to swollen glands

[circumvent]

On 4/10/2022 at 10:52 AM, Scarlett45 said:

I think Maia is probably naturally slim- I say that because she’s very straight figured and still has a full face at 27/28. 

She was younger, but in the first seasons of The Fosters she was't that skinny. 

She does have a "chubby face" and maybe that's why her thinness gets a bit disguised. I think that if one does a timeline of photos of her, it would be clear that she did lose a lot of weight.