S01.E07: Throw Momma From The Train

[maraleia]

 

Carter and Taylor celebrate their birthdays together for the first time since they were toddlers.

 

[Kromm]

Can we assume Carter hasn't even been celebrating her PROPER birthday until this year?  I mean one of the most dangerous things Faux-Mom could have done was let the kid have her proper birthdate, so I bet she's been using a substitute.

[In2You]

Thank you Taylor for calling Carter out on her shit. 

 

Taylor and Carter don't even have the same sense of style but they pick out the same exact dress. So cliche. 

 

We're still pretending Carter and Crash have something deep, ok show.

 

Was I supposed to be touched by Bird's friendship bracelet and proclamation that she knows they would've been lifelong friends? They haven't even gone through anything together.

 

The music continues to not fit the scenes on this show. I understand its MTV and they have to showcase music in their series too but even Teen Wolf does a better job. 

 

How creepy was that flashback of Carter and Lori hanging at the hospital nursery? And didn't Taylor ask Carter when she's been celebrating her birthday in the beginning of the episode? Yet we get another scene later  of her asking the same question so Carter can find out she's been celebrating her kidnapping day.

 

They couldn't have given that moment with the phone to Elizabeth? God forbid Carter and her actual mother have a breakthrough. Yet another scene where dbag dad looks like the hero. And then the playing around with the phone when they should've sent the FBI  to go arrest her.

 

And it looks like Elizabeth is going under the bus yet again.

[ihavenoidea]

I don't get the dad at all.  Does he want to punish his wife or sex her up?  Then on the phone with Lori she tells him not to underestimate her....again.  Something is clearly up there. 

 

I continue to hate the friends.

 

The rest I like.  Even the bitchy grandma.  I was happy we got to see more with the twins. I will be super happy when Carter realizes out of her 3 parents, the one she likes least seems to be the only one she should really want to know. 

[wingster55]

Then on the phone with Lori she tells him not to underestimate her....again.  Something is clearly up there.

 

He had an affair with her, promised to leave his wife but never did. Enraged Lori vowed revenge and kidnapped Carter. 

This is purely my speculation. 

[paulvdb]

How creepy was that flashback of Carter and Lori hanging at the hospital nursery? And didn't Taylor ask Carter when she's been celebrating her birthday in the beginning of the episode? Yet we get another scene later  of her asking the same question so Carter can find out she's been celebrating her kidnapping day.

That was a creepy moment. With anyone else you could see it as a fun what-if game, which is probably what Carter thought at that time. But with hindsight I think she now also realizes the creepyness of that moment.

As for the birthday question, I think they got interrupted the first time so Taylor didn't get to answer it until Carter asked again in the later scene.

 

They couldn't have given that moment with the phone to Elizabeth? God forbid Carter and her actual mother have a breakthrough. Yet another scene where dbag dad looks like the hero. And then the playing around with the phone when they should've sent the FBI  to go arrest her.

I was expecting dad to go meet Lori to get her side of the story for his book. So I was positively surprised when he told Elizabeth.

Edited August 13, 2014 by paulvdb

[Spencer Hastings]

So can we assume that the dad and Lori had a relationship when she was known as Janet? She said he's never been very good at lying and that he'd underestimated her once before. My guess is that Lori was with him at some point and ended up pregnant with his child. She probably expected him to be with her and for whatever reason that didn't happen. He told her to abort the baby or she had a miscarriage and then Elizabeth got pregnant with Taylor and Carter. Then she took Carter (the dark haired twin) to punish him or hold on to what they could have had. It sounds very predictable and soapy, but this show is very predictable.

I felt really bad for Grant. Everyone ignored him at breakfast, Elyse Keaton yelled at him for dropping a pile of coats that weighed twice as much as he does, no one but Gabe thinks to check for him while he's hiding, and then he has to hear that his mom is sleeping with someone else. I wanted to hug him and I was glad when Gabe did. Speaking of which, Gabe did not seem surprised when his dad and Elizabeth mentioned the affair. He totally knew.

I don't understand why Taylor couldn't tell one of her parents what Carter was planning. I understand loyalty and not being a snitch but I'd rather have an angry twin than a missing twin (again). She knows what life was like for everyone when Carter went missing the first time, so why not sound the whistle to spare everyone (namely your mom) that pain?

The dad was so slimy during the scene where she told Elizabeth about Lori. I could see him playing how he was going to write this chapter. Although I did notice that the chapter on his screen said "The Birthday Party" but the body was just the same excerpt they showed a few episodes ago. Slimy Dad needs to learn some creativity!

Did anyone else think that Lori was considering taking another child when she had Carter pick which baby she wanted? And the renaming thing? Ick.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Spencer Hastings

[RachelKM]

So can we assume that the dad and Lori had a relationship when she was known as Janet? She said he's never been very good at lying and that he'd underestimated her once before. My guess is that Lori was with him at some point and ended up pregnant with his child. She probably expected him to be with her and for whatever reason that didn't happen. He told her to abort the baby or she had a miscarriage and then Elizabeth got pregnant with Taylor and Carter. Then she took Carter (the dark haired twin) to punish him or hold on to what they could have had. It sounds very predictable and soapy, but this show is very predictable.

I actually posted a theory like this in the speculation thread a few weeks ago and tonights episode did nothing to dissuade me.  At minimum, it seems David and Lori/Janet knew each other pretty well for her to comment on his ability to lie.

 

God damn I love Max.  His "I'm talking to Taylor" was brilliant. As was his retort to Gabe about dating Taylor.

 

Oh Grant.  You deserve so much better than most of these assholes and certainly better than they treat you.

 

However, David, you deserve nothing so good as even Elizabeth cheating  on you.

 

Carter was actually understandable and relatable this evening.  Again, I feel like we missed some steps getting to last week, but the progression to this episode was nice.  And her relationship with Taylor was great.  I was totally cool with the contrived picking the same dress.  Carter is at her best with her siblings and I really enjoyed her exchanges with Taylor.

 

The friends are still a bunch of assholes (thought admittedly, Gabe made a briefly decent showing with Grant).  Mercifully they were used sparingly this episode. That alone made this episode among the better of the season.

 

P.S. Lori is a creepy bitch.  That phone call was disturbing (as were most of her exchanges with Max and then Carter seen previously).   And apparently she's a sociopath who can blithely crack jokes about kidnapping infants while hanging out with the "daughter" SHE KIDNAPPED and saw no irony in treating the date of kidnapping as the child's birthday, because "Hey, it's the day she made me a mother."

Edited August 13, 2014 by RachelKM

[gesundheit]

This one wasn't quite as bad as the others. It was nice to see Carter finally giving at least minimal thought to Lori's psychosis. I'm still annoyed that she's yet to show much curiosity -- when Taylor asked if she'd read the dad's book or even an article or anything about HER OWN KIDNAPPING, I was screaming inside. Because seriously. Her utter lack of even mild interest is ridiculous.

 

I was disappointed that the father seems to have some complicity -- or at least role beyond what he's admitted -- in the kidnapping. Can't he just be slimy? It just feels like it undermines the seriousness of the premise. But what else is new.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Max continues to be the best.  I am pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a bunch of drama between the Max and Taylor after last week's episode.  Taylor immediately figured out that he had blown her off in the convenience store because Lori was in there meeting with Carter.  I also enjoyed Taylor just taking Max's hand and declaring that they were dating - hopefully that ends any potential love triangle between Gabe/Taylor/Max before it even begins. 

 

It did seem as if Lori was planning on "having" another baby, didn't it?  Man she's crazy.  At this point, I'm hoping she doesn't kill someone. 

 

Still not very interested in Carter or her friends.  I find myself wishing that they had cast someone like Maia Mitchell (from Alex Saxon's other show, The Fosters) instead.  That girls never fails to make me tear up for her!  Crash has become a little too clingy and I'm not sure that he's going to be able to handle any sort of rejection from Carter.  He seems to have latched on to her and I can see him ending up in jail if Carter tries to bail without him.

[calliope1975]

I thought we should be seeing Carter reflect on life with Lori all this time so I was happy they showed those flashbacks and Carter could realize that something wasn't right. And I agree, that hospital scene was disturbing. I hope they were there for some reason because is that something people do? Just randomly go to hospitals and look at babies in the newborn nursery? That didn't happen when I used to volunteer and hold babies back in the day, but times have changed. 

 

Max continues to be the best. (Heh, I just saw that @SonofaBiscuit said the exact same thing. It's because it's true.)

Edited August 13, 2014 by calliope1975

[gesundheit]

Also, I didn't hear the intro -- can anyone tell me what the preview was for? It looked like it covered a lot more than the next episode. Was that a "rest of the season" type of promo?

[In2You]

That was a creepy moment. With anyone else you could see it as a fun what-if game, which is probably what Carter thought at that time. But with hindsight I think she now also realizes the creepyness of that moment.

 

It wouldn't be a fun what if game with anyone. I side eye anyone looking over the babies at the hospital nursery when they don't work there or have a newborn family member among them. People who kidnap infants usually hang around hospitals scouting out babies to grab. . Its happened in so many cases.

[ihavenoidea]

 

Also, I didn't hear the intro -- can anyone tell me what the preview was for? It looked like it covered a lot more than the next episode. Was that a "rest of the season" type of promo?

Yeah it was a promo for the rest of the season.  I think there are 5 episodes left.

[Primetimer]

And Carter will cry if she wants to...but she still won't ask any questions about her kidnapping, and it's driving Sarah bazoo.

Read the story

[bettername2come]

I think this was the best episode of the season. Even the friends were better. I liked Ofie's "He's a drug dealer. She's a kidnap victim. Throw in a dystopian setting and we've got a bestselling YA trilogy" and "I don't know fugitive etiquette."  Gabe was more likable with Grant, even if it was just to build to a cliche "overhearing conversations in the closet" thing. I was so focused on Lori that I thought they'd realize Grant was missing and Carter would think Lori had decided to take him instead when Carter didn't come since she knew Lori's been watching the house.

 

I liked the girls picking out the same dress. I thought it was going to be a forced to dress alike because they're twins thing, but this was sweet. And at least somewhat made sense because they'd both been wearing purple tank tops all morning before that, so I can believe they have some fashion crossover. The girls were really sweet together. I did like Carter's horror at realizing she'd been celebrating the day she was abducted. Plus, the fact that she phrased it that way rather than lightening what Lori did.

 

I thought the baby picture Lori had was going to be of someone else. So did David give her the picture or did she just tear it out of his book, and then laminate it because it was an easily tearable paper?

[David T. Cole]

Test.

[meatball77]

It wouldn't be a fun what if game with anyone. I side eye anyone looking over the babies at the hospital nursery when they don't work there or have a newborn family member among them. People who kidnap infants usually hang around hospitals scouting out babies to grab. . Its happened in so many cases.

 

I think baby nurseries are only on TV.  Generally the baby only leaves the sight of the mother or father for testing or perhaps if the mother needs sleep at night, they certainly don't sit all in a room alone without anyone holding them.  I remember someone asking when I went to our hospital tour and they said they don't open the blinds to the nursery because of HIPPA.

[methodwriter85]

My sisters have had a combined total of 5 kids within the last 8 years and I've never seen a big open nursery like that. They stay with their parents in their rooms unless there's something wrong.

 

I love that it took seven episodes for Carter to even have any kind of hint that something is wrong with her "perfect mother".

[candall]

Test.

 

Oh, sorry, someone already said that.

 

****************

Good episode!  Plenty of Max, several nice lines.  Taylor got a backbone.   Always nice to see Grandma Moneybags Elyse Keaton, and I'm ridiculously pleased that Carter didn't leave.

 

My one little grouse is that Crash was so quick to go on the lam with the felony kidnapper and her aiding-and-abetting-a-fugitive daughter.  That's way past one toke over the line, Dude.  Remember how good it felt last week when you didn't go to prison?

Edited August 14, 2014 by candall

[In2You]

I think baby nurseries are only on TV.  Generally the baby only leaves the sight of the mother or father for testing or perhaps if the mother needs sleep at night, they certainly don't sit all in a room alone without anyone holding them.  I remember someone asking when I went to our hospital tour and they said they don't open the blinds to the nursery because of HIPPA.

They aren't only on TV. Most hospitals offer the option to keep the baby in the room with the mother or have the baby spend a few hours in the nursery. But there have been cases of babies getting taken right out of the nursery by people who were seen hanging out around the hospital for days before hand. 

[GaT]

I thought the episode is good, & Carter is finally starting to think about the fact that she was abducted, I think when she realized she's been celebrating the day she was kidnapped as her birthday, it really hit home. 

 

Unfortunately, I did not feel the daddy/daughter chemistry between her & David in the scene where she tells him about Lori. They could have been casual acquaintances the way they were together. Going by the phone call between Lori & David, & absolutely think they had some kind of relationship, Lori obviously knows David, & I think the relationship is going to turn out to be the reason Lori kidnapped her. 

[Kat]

This was the first episode where I didn't want to gut-punch Carter so that's an improvement. I continue to love Taylor and Max and of course Grant. 

I really really hope that the writers come up with a better story than "David and Lori/Janet had an affair that went poorly and Lori/Janet lost her damn mind". C'mon guys, please make it have more depth than that. At least if they're going with the idea that David had a sexual relationship with Janet, I hope there's more to the reason that Lori/Janet decided to kidnap Carter.

Also, one thing that I've wondered since we knew about Carter and Taylor being twins was whether Lori had tried to kidnap both girls but was only able to get Carter away? I think there are untapped aspects to that either way.

 

Overall, this show has been the surprise of the summer for me! I'm excited to watch it each week.

 

 

apparently she's a sociopath who can blithely crack jokes about kidnapping infants while hanging out with the "daughter" SHE KIDNAPPED and saw no irony in treating the date of kidnapping as the child's birthday, because "Hey, it's the day she made me a mother."

 

The more Lori they reveal on this show, the more that she terrifies me.

 

I think baby nurseries are only on TV.  Generally the baby only leaves the sight of the mother or father for testing or perhaps if the mother needs sleep at night, they certainly don't sit all in a room alone without anyone holding them.  I remember someone asking when I went to our hospital tour and they said they don't open the blinds to the nursery because of HIPPA.

 

 

THANK YOU meatball77. I work in a hospital. IRL, hospitals definitely have nurseries but they aren’t typically accessible to just any old passerby, and like many rooms in hospitals they often have windows but not ones where you can read the newborn’s name etc. because of Personal Health Information violation risks.

This tv trope is one of my least favorite.

[GaT]

I forgot, I WANT Max's hair. I NEED Max's hair. Why don't I have hair like Max? :-(

[Mabinogia]

LOL I was thinking just that GaT. He has got the most beautiful head of hair. Me want!

 

Lori...yikes. She is just flat out insane. I just don't see how they can bring her back/redeem her after that scene in the nursery, I really, seriously think she meant to steal Carter a little brother or sister and that is fucked up!

 

I like that Carter realizing that her "birthday" was the day she was stolen from her family was a bit of a wake up call, and I can sort of buy her reasoning about not reading the book or articles or anything. I think a HUGE part of it is, she doesn't want to admit the woman she's loved her whole life is a monster and if she does ask questions or read about it, she won't be able to hold on to that love for Lori that is all she ever knew. But now that she's starting to love her birth family (at least some of them) and her new friends and the life she was meant to have, now that she has that safety net, she will be able to start seeing what Lori took, not just from her birth family, but from her. Lori took away her twin sister, her family, grandparents. I'm guessing Lori kept away from her own family (would be pretty hard to explain the new name and sudden 3 year old), so Carter never knew what a family beyond her and her kidnapper felt like. I think the more she lets herself experience it, the more she is going to be willing to explore who Lori really is.

 

Like pretty much everyone here, I adore Taylor and Max and Grant. Best thing about the show. Any combination of those three is golden to me. Found Gabe tolerable this ep. I actually like Elizabeth so I LOVED when Taylor told her she was a good mom and I loved how happy she was when Carter wanted to see the baby pictures. Still hate David though. Not sure what he thought Elizabeth was going to say/do about the Lori situation. Was he trying to get her to arrest Lori so Carter would hate her again? Or am I giving him way too much credit?

[rubyred]

I guess my capacity for handwaving Carter's character deficiencies knows no bounds. At first I was like, wha? you haven't read the book? And then I thought, well, how creepy would it feel to read something like that knowing it's about you but not feeling it's about you but still KNOWING it's about you when you had a terrible first name? So I give her yet another pass. But it's all KP, she sells it.

 

Best things about this episode:

• Kathryn Prescott (the actress. "Carter" is problematic)
• Character of Grant
• Character of Max
• Character of Taylor
• Elizabeth's Death Mask when Crash thanked her for having him to the party. Oh, I laughed and laughed at that closeup.

 

But the worst character is David. He's completely baffling. Snidely Whiplash one second, "cool Dad" the next, cuckolded husband, frustrated writer -- I know these things about him and yet I still don't know what he wants. He doesn't seem to even like Elizabeth. And I have bought some of the moments between him and Carter, he does seem to like connecting with her (beyond the fact that she's closer to him than Elizabeth). But he's still secretly writing the damn book. And what was the outcome of his taking the hotel room key last week? Is he planning to gaslight her? If so, he should step up his game and avoid the obvious double-entendres with Gabe's father. Everything he's doing is going to blow up so damn big, and yet he feels like he's the injured party. Alexis Denisof deserves better!

 

I did wonder if Carter's decision to stay signals a change in the show's tone/direction, taking it more towards the "kidnap victim re-adjusting to family life" and away from "oh noes, will Carter and Lori go on the lam?"

 

Oh and if Bird does what I think she does based on the previews, she can miss me. No big loss anyway. Basic.

[ihavenoidea]

But the worst character is David. He's completely baffling. Snidely Whiplash one second, "cool Dad" the next, cuckolded husband, frustrated writer -- I know these things about him and yet I still don't know what he wants. He doesn't seem to even like Elizabeth. And I have bought some of the moments between him and Carter, he does seem to like connecting with her (beyond the fact that she's closer to him than Elizabeth). But he's still secretly writing the damn book. And what was the outcome of his taking the hotel room key last week? Is he planning to gaslight her? If so, he should step up his game and avoid the obvious double-entendres with Gabe's father. Everything he's doing is going to blow up so damn big, and yet he feels like he's the injured party. Alexis Denisof deserves better!

 

I spend every episode trying to figure out the dad.  I agree he seems to dislike Elizabeth yet he was so happy when she praised him after that phone call that he kissed and went to have sex with her.  It's was like he pathetically needed her approval. 

[GaiusB]

I just binge watched this show, so i will write about my general impression first. Overall i like it, but i wish they did not rushed everything. They lost lot of potencial from kidnapping/readjusting premise of the show. It barely started and we are already many months into the story. Love and friendship relations part of the show suffer even more from this then the family part. It is hard to believe Carter have already strong feeling towards Crash and her new friends, since from viewers perspective it look like they barely know each other.

 

About characters:

Carter - I love her, I instantly thought wow, where MTV show get such good new teen actress, than read about her and it was suddenly clear. Not only did I like actress, I liked a character too. Always liked this sort of of troublemakers female teen characters with lot of flaws and also a lot of personality over bland daddy girls with typical teen problems other shows so often using. I like Jill on Leftovers and I liked Dana Brody on Homeland too, so that explain my position towards Carter enough I guess.

 

Parents - well, both moms and her father have some flaws....I hope they will not make Lori too evil. It work better if Carter´s feeling towards her mother does not come across as total foolishness. What Lori did to the family is bad enough, there is no need to make her even worse through display of creepiness. Dad seems to be the big asshole, that also should be toned down I think. Bio mom is only parent who seems like a good person and of course she is the worst in Carter opinion and will be blamed for everything bad what will happen in the family or to Lori.

 

Siblings and friends:

Taylor - I like her, she has good chemistry with Carter

Grant and Max - I do not like them that much like others despite them being likeable. My problem with them - Grant is too smart for his age and Max is too stupid. Well stupid might not be right word, but Max really seems to be bit slow....His hearth is on the right place, he has common sense, which is rare by other teen characters, but for some reason he talks like he is mentally handicapped. Maybe it is the writers idea of how pot smokers talk, I do not know, but for me his delivery sound unnecessary stupid. I wish Alex Saxon could use same voice tone as he is using on The Fosters.

Friends - I sort of like them, they have plenty of flaws, but that is OK. Only I do not like Crash. Not because he is drug dealer and criminal, but I could really live without his sob story and without him being portrayed as some great love for Carter.

Edited August 16, 2014 by maraleia
capitalize the word I please

[In2You]

I don't care for Grant. There's just nothing about him that's compelling for me to notice when he's absent.