S03.E16: Shift-Less

[jewel21]

Quote

Owen travels to Los Angeles to confront his estranged father and some painful childhood memories. Wyatt acts out and prompting Judd to take him to his family ranch where an emergency brings them closer together.

Airdate: 05/02/2022

[Kleav]

Chad!

[anna0852]

That was surprisingly well done.

And it took me longer than it should have to put TK's name together: Tyler Kennedy

[gonzosgirrl]

Chad and Rob have the same voice.

[preeya]

Chalk up another one to 9-1-1 Lowe Star.

[shapeshifter]

Who played the dad in the flashbacks?

[mg1278]

We had a good laugh at our house with Owen's age in the 1984 flashback - we all know how old Rob Lowe was and what he looked like in 1984 and that was not it. 

[possibilities]

The only rescue was Judd's son helping Judd. I hope the horse wasn't bitten-- I really thought the rattlesnake got her, and that's why she bolted.

[preeya]

15 minutes ago, mg1278 said:

We had a good laugh at our house with Owen's age in the 1984 flashback - we all know how old Rob Lowe was and what he looked like in 1984 and that was not it. 

[EllaWycliffe]

13 minutes ago, mg1278 said:

We had a good laugh at our house with Owen's age in the 1984 flashback - we all know how old Rob Lowe was and what he looked like in 1984 and that was not it. 

Yeah, I was like "Um no, Rob Lowe, you were not 13 the same year I was 13 and you were just one year away from being in St. Elmo's Fire as a college student". 

[gadzooks]

3 minutes ago, possibilities said:

The only rescue was Judd's son helping Judd. I hope the horse wasn't bitten-- I really thought the rattlesnake got her, and that's why she bolted.

When Judd awoke after having his leg set and saw that Wyatt has wrapped his leg he asked where he learned to do that.  Wyatt said from "The Walking Dead".  A little meta humor as the actor playing Wyatt was on "The Walking Dead".

6 minutes ago, preeya said:

Looks ripped from the pages "Teen Beat" magazine. 

[EllaWycliffe]

3 minutes ago, gadzooks said:

Looks ripped from the pages "Teen Beat" magazine. 

I'm really pretty certain this was on my bedroom wall. 

[BooksRule]

42 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Who played the dad in the flashbacks?

I don't know who played him as a younger man, but that was Robert Pine ('C.H.I.P.S'! and Chris Pine's dad!) who played him as the older Strand.

It was good casting to have Chad Lowe play Owen's half-brother.  I wonder if he'll pop into Austin now and then?

I could have done without the graphic ankle bone scenes.  Ick! 

[izabella]

This show is 911 Lone Star.   I expect to see Texas EMTs and firefighters rescuing people and fighting fires.  Why is this so hard?

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, BooksRule said:

I could have done without the graphic ankle bone scenes.  Ick! 

Right!???! 
I guess the horrifyingly graphic, sunlit, compound fracture closeups were to make us not think too hard about the unlikelihood of that kid being able to set that fracture?
Or, maybe those nausea-inducing closeups were supposed to make us imagine the boy yanking on Judd's foot and having it come off in his hand???!!!!!??? You know the writers had to have considered that outcome.
But it was really probably to keep us from changing the channel because we'd want to see what happened to Judd next (he gets an old timey plaster cast???) in case the LA scenes were too boring.

But. Seriously, Show. You could have just teased us about: 

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I hope the horse wasn't bitten-- I really thought the rattlesnake got her, and that's why she bolted.

We would have stayed tuned just to find out about the horse's prognosis.

[cardigirl]

Judd-focused episodes are my favorite.  I thought this show was exceptional.  I didn't fast-forward through any scenes. 

And, thinking about the character, Owen, and not Rob Lowe, no wonder the guy has issues. What a backstory.  I felt so bad for the little boy. Imagine having to carry that all your life.  His dad might have been a great dad to his next family, but he sure was a bastard to Owen.  Ugh. 

At least at the end he admitted none of it should have been laid at Owen's feet.  He should have been doing that all of Owen's life, the jerk. 

My love for Judd and Grace, et al continues to grow. They are so well-written.  

I don't know who wrote this episode, but I hope they continue to have more input for the show. 

[MrPissyPuppy]

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Who played the dad in the flashbacks?

Wasn't that Rob Lowe in a big fake beard?  That's what I thought. 

[EllaWycliffe]

32 minutes ago, MrPissyPuppy said:

Wasn't that Rob Lowe in a big fake beard?  That's what I thought. 

I might rewatch because I remember thinking that too

[Bruinsfan]

I don't think so, but I recall thinking they'd cast well for a resemblance to Lowe. More so than Chad playing his half-brother, actually.

That was surprisingly good. I'd expected to fast-forward through all the Owen scenes, but they kept me invested for the whole show. And the Judd and Wyatt plot was great as well. If they could spread this kind of quality home life storytelling to Marjan, Nancy, Paul, and Mateo I wouldn't mind the lack of focus on the firehouse. (No complaints about Tommy's scenes already mostly being personal rather than professional, her storyline has been the highlight of the show for me.)

[cardigirl]

1 hour ago, MrPissyPuppy said:

Wasn't that Rob Lowe in a big fake beard?  That's what I thought. 

 

57 minutes ago, EllaWycliffe said:

I might rewatch because I remember thinking that too

 

51 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

I don't think so, but I recall thinking they'd cast well for a resemblance to Lowe. More so than Chad playing his half-brother, actually.

The actor playing the younger version of the father is Ben Whitehair. 

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, cardigirl said:

The actor playing the younger version of the father is Ben Whitehair. 

Thank you! It didn't occur to me to look for the word YOUNG in the IMDb character list instead of just STRAND.

 

47 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

(No complaints about Tommy's scenes already mostly being personal rather than professional, her storyline has been the highlight of the show for me.)

The show is very lucky to have Gina Torres, but, unlike you, @Bruinsfan, I have not yet been able to entirely scrub that horrible brother-in-law kiss scene from my memory.

[iMonrey]

First of all, I could hear the bitching about "too much Owen" starting about five minutes into this episode. Once they revealed that was a 13-year old Owen, anyway. 

Anyway, I thought they did a good job casting Owen's father in the flashbacks, as well as younger Owen. Both really bore a strong resemblance to Rob Lowe. Ironically, I did not even recognize Chad Lowe until the scene where it was revealed he was Owen's brother.  What a headsmacker. I just haven't seen him in a lot of stuff.

Quote

We had a good laugh at our house with Owen's age in the 1984 flashback - we all know how old Rob Lowe was and what he looked like in 1984 and that was not it. 

That didn't even occur to me at the time but you're right. They are trying to shave off about ten years from Rob Lowe's real age. I have to say, he can pretty much pull it off.

[TVForever]

I don't know how it happened, but Judd has absolutely become my favorite character on the show. I 'don't really miss anyone else when he and Grace are featured. 

[shapeshifter]

32 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

That didn't even occur to me at the time but you're right. They are trying to shave off about ten years from Rob Lowe's real age. I have to say, he can pretty much pull it off.

Easily.
As can most actors who probably need to count cosmetic procedures as a requirement for hi-def screens. Even character actors get a little jowl lift.
But Rob Lowe has the bone and facial muscular structure for it too, so he can play 15 year years younger easily.

[TVForever]

11 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Easily.
As can most actors who probably need to count cosmetic procedures as a requirement for hi-def screens. Even character actors get a little jowl lift.
But Rob Lowe has the bone and facial muscular structure for it too, so he can play 15 year years younger easily.

And don't forget his extensive skin care regimen!😂

[possibilities]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

We would have stayed tuned just to find out about the horse's prognosis.

And yet that's exactly what they never told us!

I do like Judd and Grace. But the show doesn't feel like a 911 show, it feels like a family show, with Owen/TJ and Judd/Grace as the families. 

 

[iMonrey]

Quote

But Rob Lowe has the bone and facial muscular structure for it too, so he can play 15 year years younger easily.

The only thing that gives him away is his neck. I noticed it a couple episodes ago. He looks great for his age from the chin up, but his throat area belies his age. I don't know if they have procedures for that.

[shapeshifter]

47 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The only thing that gives him away is his neck. I noticed it a couple episodes ago. He looks great for his age from the chin up, but his throat area belies his age. I don't know if they have procedures for that.

I hadn't noticed, but my sister with a hot younger husband (and apparently cash to burn) had her neck done. So, yes. 

[tennisgurl]

I know that most people are annoyed at the shows Owen focus at the expense of the other characters, and I agree that the show should spread the love more, but I still thought this was a great episode. I really felt bad for Owen, no wonder the guy has so many issues. Losing his brother like that, then his father leaving, spending his whole life thinking that he got his brother killed and broke his family up, its terrible that poor kid Owen had to go through so much. Screw Owen's deadbeat dad, its not bad enough that she left his grieving family after his sons death, but he went and started a brand new replacement family, that must have hurt Owen even more. It wasn't that he didn't want to be a dad, he didn't want to be a dad to Owen. I also wanted his second wife to take several seats, she had no right to act like Owen is the asshole here for wanting to see his deadbeat dad, and personally if I knew that my husband had a child he abandoned, I would be upset at him, not the kid. Being an absentee parent is a real deal breaker.

At least his dad admitted by the end that he was a bad parent and told Owen that none of what happened was on him, and Owen's brother seems like a nice guy. Its too little too late, but at least its something. Hopefully this gives him a bit of closure.

I was thrilled to get a Judd focused episode, he and Grace make every episode better. I have not much cared for the "Judd has a long lost son" plot, its very soap opera, but I did like how it played out here. That leg injury was nasty, I was surprised they showed so much. Interesting that both this show and 911 had emotional moments involving characters being called Dad for the first time. 

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

At least his dad admitted by the end that he was a bad parent and told Owen that none of what happened was on him, and Owen's brother seems like a nice guy. Its too little too late, but at least its something. Hopefully this gives him a bit of closure.

I didn't think this was where they were going with the dad story, and yet they did. 
It looked to me like the Mom was doing the leaving, so it was on her. No? I mean, yes, I know the writers decided to have the dad say it was on him in the hospital, but it just seemed all backwards to me. Anyone else?

[DearEvette]

I am definitely one who thinks the show features Owen and his entire life way too much.  Somehow the OG 911 manages to give us rescues and give us in depth looks at the life, backstories and current highs and lows of their entire cast.  I never realized what a good balancing act it is until I compare with this show which  simply cannot maintain any balance.

That said, Owen's story was interesting while also being undertold, imo.  From his perspective his dad left him at 13 and never looked back.  I know that the death of a child is a major stressor on a marriage and ok his mother felt she had to leave and she was probably to blame as well.  But the way this played out, the father had no involvement in Owen's life after they left.  It doesn't even sound like Owen even saw him in person again and that he never called or wrote to him.  But we know at the end he kept tabs on Owen.  My suspicion is we'll be seeing his mother next and get her side of the story.  Sigh.

And well, I am now going to be 100% hypocritical, but I love Judd so I am happy when he is on screen.  I wasn't so sure about the Wyatt development, but the actor does a good job and he is a great scene partner with Jim Parrack and Sierra McClain.  Now that we have him and Judd and Grace and now Judd's dad have all these warm family feelings and he made Judd cry by calling him 'dad' I hope the show doesn't pull a cheap soap maneuver and make him not Judd's son after all.

This was a nice episode overall and it would have been a welcome change of pace if the show hadn't already been skewing on showing fewer and fewer 911 rescues over the course of the season.

[eel21788]

13 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Once they revealed that was a 13-year old Owen, anyway. 

As soon as he called his brother Tyler, I knew exactly who they were and what was going to happen.

This may explain why TK's life is always in peril. I'm so superstitious I've always been concerned that naming your kid after anyone who died young was "tempting the evil eye" as my father would say.

[Artsda]

Loved Chad Lowe playing the new found brother. Seems like there's a lot of Strands out there.

[shapeshifter]

6 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

This may explain why TK's life is always in peril. I'm so superstitious I've always been concerned that naming your kid after anyone who died young was "tempting the evil eye" as my father would say.

I recall reading in some non-western culture that children are given names (at least at first) that mean things like "ugly" so evil spirits of death will not claim their lives. 
I think both of this belief and your father's about "tempting the evil eye" by naming a child after another child who has died, are just routed in high infant mortality in the past, that still occurs in some places in the world.

OTOH, in my ancestors' culture, it is bad luck to name a child after a living relative, lest that relative soon die--which could reflect a lack of longevity among my ancestors, perhaps due to pogroms.
As my daughter's very vanilla father-in-law thoughtfully observed about this custom: "So. There are no 'Juniors.'"

 

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Now that we have him and Judd and Grace and now Judd's dad have all these warm family feelings and he made Judd cry by calling him 'dad' I hope the show doesn't pull a cheap soap maneuver and make him not Judd's son after all.

I'd be okay with this, because I think Judd and Grace would tell Wyatt they are still there for him, and it might serve to dissipate the anger that was brought up in this episode about what they had all missed. The focus could move to being grateful for what was found --which I think the episode kind of already concluded.
If it does turn out Judd is not Wyatt's father, it could be a nice example of family sometimes not being about genetics. 
But didn't they already do a DNA test?
Or were you thinking it would turn out the results they were given were wrong and there'd be a notification of that?

[eel21788]

8 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I recall reading in some non-western culture that children are given names (at least at first) that mean things like "ugly" so evil spirits of death will not claim their lives. 
I think both of this belief and your father's about "tempting the evil eye" by naming a child after another child who has died, are just routed in high infant mortality in the past, that still occurs in some places in the world.

When my father was 11 years old, he had a near-fatal illness. In order to hide him from  ma'lach ha-mavet  otherwise known as The Evil Eye or The Angel of Death, my Eastern European grandparents changed his name and sold him to a friend of the family for a silver dollar.

Apparently, it worked. He lived another 65 years and survived four heart surgeries, two strokes, a cardiac arrest and a seizure disorder. When he decided he was ready to go, he complained that his parents had hidden him too well, and now ma'lach ha-mavet still couldn't find him.

[possibilities]

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

It looked to me like the Mom was doing the leaving, so it was on her. No? I mean, yes, I know the writers decided to have the dad say it was on him in the hospital, but it just seemed all backwards to me. Anyone else?

It looked to me like Mom was leaving, but whether it was her decision or a mutally wanted divorce, that doesn't excuse Dad for completely abandoning his son, either. Even as a non-custodial parent, he could and would have been given visitation and Mom wouldn't be barring him from staying in touch and still being a parent in between visits, either. They also could have gotten divorced and shared custody-- lots of parents do that, with kids alternating who they stay with, and both parents having a part in the kid's life.

I don't care how serious your grief is. You get help for the grief, you don't abandon your kid and then start a new family. And I agree his new wife was horrible to Owen. 

 

[shapeshifter]

24 minutes ago, possibilities said:

And I agree his new wife was horrible to Owen. 

Yes. The wife’s anger seemed to come out of nowhere. Did I miss something? Or was there a cut line?

[Bruinsfan]

I took it as just her not wanting her husband to be made to feel worse in his final moments, and not being particularly sympathetic to a stranger who had a prior claim on him. It's not noble or fair, but it is realistic.

23 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The show is very lucky to have Gina Torres, but, unlike you, @Bruinsfan, I have not yet been able to entirely scrub that horrible brother-in-law kiss scene from my memory.

Like Tommy, I consider that something that never happened and never needs to be mentioned again. Listen up, writers!

Edited May 4, 2022 by Bruinsfan

[EllaWycliffe]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

If it does turn out Judd is not Wyatt's father, it could be a nice example of family sometimes not being about genetics. 
But didn't they already do a DNA test?

Honestly, if no responsible adult has insisted on a DNA test at this point, they all deserve the mess it will create. If nothing else, Grace seems too practical to not insist on a verifying test

 

14 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

I took it as just her not wanting her husband to be made to feel worse in his final moments, and not being particularly sympathetic to a stranger who had a prior claim on him. It's not noble or fair, but it is realistic.

Yeah, I could see a wife being concerned that in the husband's final dying moments that someone not in the family like the son from the first wife she'd never met just might spew some bitterness . I actually found it more odd that brother Robert was so open to putting his dad thru that possibility, but he might have gotten a better read on Owen's state of mind. But the wife's reaction to Owen was where I was like "oh, so you WERE better off, Owen".

For the record, a major implausibility to me was that Robert and Owen looked like brothers with a reasonable age gap, not Owen at least 14 years older. But I appreciated seeing Chad Lowe. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

It looked to me like the Mom was doing the leaving, so it was on her. No? I mean, yes, I know the writers decided to have the dad say it was on him in the hospital, but it just seemed all backwards to me. Anyone else?

It really wasn't clear what happened. Obviously, Mom packed up and drove away with Owen in tow. We don't know if that was her decision or a mutual decision or Dad's decision. We also don't know to what extent - if any - Dad attempted to make contact with Owen after the move. Or whether Mom prevented it. Very lopsided story. That said, Dad did seem to admit on his deathbed he was selfish, so it appears Owen has a right to feel like he was abandoned by him.

Quote

OTOH, in my ancestors' culture, it is bad luck to name a child after a living relative, lest that relative soon die--which could reflect a lack of longevity among my ancestors, perhaps due to pogroms.

My grandmother was named after an older sister who died in her infancy, before my grandmother was born. So her parents had one child, then another, then the first child died and they named their third child after her. Creepy, but apparently not an uncommon practice back then.

[possibilities]

The was I always was taught, the thinking was that you name someone after a dead relative so the dead relative will watch over them.

[DearEvette]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes. The wife’s anger seemed to come out of nowhere. Did I miss something? Or was there a cut line?

And this is why I think the story is underwritten or there is more to it. 

When Owen finally got the nerve to go into the room, she was actually cordial.  It was only after Owen said 'Since you know my name, he must have told you about me" that she got a little tetchy and asked 'What are you doing here Owen?"  Now... if the guy is on his death bed, then that is a somewhat silly question since the normal assumption would be that an estranged oldest son is showing up to say goodbye.  Up to that point, Owen hadn't said or done anything that would suggest he was there to unload. 

Her reaction to his 'he must have told you about me' makes me think that she was blaming Owen for the estrangement (wrongly,since he was 13 at the time) and feels that his presence there now is something of an affront.  Otherwise her hostility doesn't make sense in the context of the scene.  Either that or she is incredibly defensive on behalf of her husband because she knows he is dead wrong for abandoning his child and is deflecting.

One thing I did find kinda funny is that when Owen first got there and the room was full with about 6 or 7 other people, they all just turned and left in a group.  Normally people are like --"well we should be going" and they'll hug or somebody will linger and say something, there is always one person in a group who takes like 20 minutes to get out the door after saying 20 times, "well I better get going."  But not this group, it was like they got an alien signal and all just turned and left en masse.  Nobody even glanced questioningly at Owen standing in the doorway.  It was just so strange... LOL.

 

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

One thing I did find kinda funny is that when Owen first got there and the room was full with about 6 or 7 other people, they all just turned and left in a group.  Normally people are like --"well we should be going" and they'll hug or somebody will linger and say something, there is always one person in a group who takes like 20 minutes to get out the door after saying 20 times, "well I better get going."  But not this group, it was like they got an alien signal and all just turned and left en masse.  Nobody even glanced questioningly at Owen standing in the doorway.  It was just so strange... LOL.

🤣
 

[eel21788]

59 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

 Now... if the guy is on his death bed, then that is a somewhat silly question since the normal assumption would be that an estranged oldest son is showing up to say goodbye. 

Who called Owen to let him know his father was on his death bed? Helen? Robert? An aunt or cousin? How would this person even know how to contact him? 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Her reaction to his 'he must have told you about me' makes me think that she was blaming Owen for the estrangement (wrongly,since he was 13 at the time) and feels that his presence there now is something of an affront.  Otherwise her hostility doesn't make sense in the context of the scene.  Either that or she is incredibly defensive on behalf of her husband because she knows he is dead wrong for abandoning his child and is deflecting.

My take on that is she knew Owen had bitter feelings towards his father and maybe wanted to unload on him while he still had the chance and she was trying to prevent that. Clearly his father could still hear people, off an on, so she was just being protective of her husband, even if she knew Owen maybe had a right to have his final say. 

Quote

Who called Owen to let him know his father was on his death bed?

That's a good question. Maybe the hospital. 

[eel21788]

4 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Who called Owen to let him know his father was on his death bed? 

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

That's a good question. Maybe the hospital. 

 

That would be a HIPAA violation unless Walter or an authorized next of kin asked them to. Also, how would the hospital know any of his contact information?

[shapeshifter]

Maybe the half brother did.

[gik910]

Didn't Owen call around to find him and I think he connected with the wife at the end of the last episode? And when Owen was talking to Judd he mentioned she said dad didn't have much time.

Maybe wife didn't think he would show up and was taken off guard? It was a weird choice for her reaction though (based on what we know anyway). 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by gik910
Formatting issue

[Court]

Owen mentioned he called his dad's wife at the beginning of the episode. 

[Rebky]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:42 PM, preeya said: