S02.E04: The Captain's Wife

[peachmangosteen]

Airs May 19th.

[aghst]

Terrific episode, Deb being humbled after the soaring moment of the singing performance, when she owned the room.

Then she just as quickly lost the room or boat or ship with her performance.

Inside the Episode they said they knew fans would love it because of Jean Smart singing.  She pulled it off, especially if that was one take.

Then Marcus hitting a low, allowing his puppy to get poisoned on one of his club drugs, seeing that his ex is already with someone and the vet refusing to release the dog to him.

Deb sensed that so she fired Weeds and had Marcus join them.  Beneath that tough broad exterior she's a loving mother to her employees, who are like her surrogate children.

Well maybe compensating for not doing such a great job with her own daughter.

[arc]

The honk and push-in on Deborah's face to wrap up the cold open was fantastic.

I felt like the rhythm of the episode meant the show was going to go badly, but then it started off well and I thought maybe Deborah would kill. But nope, that set was an epic bombing. Woof. But bombing hard enough to get kicked off the boat? That's really rough.

Marcus seeing Wilson in the club was also rough. So I guess he was internally spiralling ever since the breakup but work kept him from going off the rails until Deborah went on a road trip and he could cut back to like 40 hours a week? I suppose this is his rock bottom, and it'll be fun to see him join the road trip.

I thought that cruise power couple was going to turn sour for Ava somehow, but instead it was gonna be a good thing… until Deborah got them kicked off the cruise.

7 hours ago, aghst said:

Beneath that tough broad exterior she's a loving mother to her employees, who are like her surrogate children.

The manicure scene felt very surrogate mom/daughter.

[MicheleinPhilly]

I'm glad that Marcus will be joining them as I don't want to watch him spiral and mope around that big house alone. I hope his mother keeps the dog. Aside from leaving pills out, you work crazy hours and then go partying until 7:00 a.m.?? He needs to get some goldfish instead. 

Remind me - why did he and Wilson break up? 

Being on any type of cruise is my idea of pure hell but I enjoyed seeing Ava in her element while Deborah was completely out of sorts. And even though she is a terrible person, I do enjoy seeing these maternal moments with Ava considering their own respective maternal relationships. 

[TakomaSnark]

13 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

Remind me - why did he and Wilson break up? 

After Marcus was promoted to CEO, Wilson immediately realized that the job was going to eat up all of Marcus' time - it would always be Marcus' first priority - and their trip to Zion would be postponed/back-burnered. 

I almost cried when Marcus found Joe near the vomit pile.. Glad he'll be joining Deborah on the road. Joe will be fine with Robin and Miss Loretta.

[Blakeston]

Wow, Deb's instincts as a standup were horrible here. If the audience is turning on you, maybe don't give the spotlight to someone who's reading a book while you perform. And then making a joke about woman drivers, and saying "everyone hates women," in front of a lesbian crowd? ::facepalm::

It's a shame, because that could have been the perfect audience for her new material. Telling emotional stories, and venting about the difficulties faced by women in the business, would probably go over better in that environment than in the clubs on Deb's tour.

[qtpye]

I love this show but do not think it is very funny. Is that strange?

I like the chemistry between the two lead actresses.

I also love Deb’s wardrobe. It is perfect for the character.

[Tiggertoo]

Every time the show turns to Marcus, I lose interest. And his dog overdosed. That’s really poor puppy ownership.  I’m glad the vet wouldn’t give him his dog back. I’ve never loved that character.  He’s a bit all over the place in his personality. 

I love the relationship between Ava and Deb. It’s a real love/hate deal. But please that woman was very complimentary and nice to Deb.  But it was to get her wife’s leggings issue resolved?  Nah. 

Nice to see Margaret Cho for a minute. 

[ruby24]

I can't stand Ava's lecturing ass. Who the hell is she as an all knowing 25-year-old (yeah right) to be all dispensing her wisdom about sexuality to someone Deborah's age? I don't like it when Deborah's being a bully but she should have yelled at her there.

[Brian Cronin]

14 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Wow, Deb's instincts as a standup were horrible here. If the audience is turning on you, maybe don't give the spotlight to someone who's reading a book while you perform. And then making a joke about woman drivers, and saying "everyone hates women," in front of a lesbian crowd? ::facepalm::

 

The whole scene was poorly handled. There's no way that those initial jokes would have bombed as badly as the shows suggests. Deborah is a very famous hacky comedian that these women would all know before coming to see her, so for them to then be offended by some hacky jokes was just silly. 

Also, the idea that we're clearly meant to sympathize with some lady who is obsessed with getting a refund on her leggings was also bizarre. 

Still a great episode overall, but I think they missed the mark on the bombing (on top of the stuff you mentioned about how Deborah is smart enough to pivot when the crowd turned on her). 

[gesundheit]

15 hours ago, TakomaSnark said:

I almost cried when Marcus found Joe near the vomit pile.. Glad he'll be joining Deborah on the road. Joe will be fine with Robin and Miss Loretta.

I actually did get choked up! I saw the "puppy whimpering" on the closed captions before I actually heard it and just about lost it.

I hope Weed's not actually gone from the show! She was hilarious.

This episode was sublime.

[Brian Cronin]

11 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I actually did get choked up! I saw the "puppy whimpering" on the closed captions before I actually heard it and just about lost it.

 

My wife made me mute the whole scene so that she could cover her eyes and have me tell her when it was over (she didn't even want me to read the closed captioning). 

[Irlandesa]

I fast forwarded the scene. 

[buckboard]

Come on, folks.  They weren't going to kill a cute little puppy.  

 

[Cranberry]

I don't trust anybody since Sex Education killed

Spoiler

a cat by dropping a microwave on it.

 

[qtpye]

21 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I actually did get choked up! I saw the "puppy whimpering" on the closed captions before I actually heard it and just about lost it.

I hope Weed's not actually gone from the show! She was hilarious.

This episode was sublime.

Yeah, I’m not happy that they fired Weed to bring in Marcus.

Marcus is not very entertaining as a character. I just don’t care about his boyfriend dumping him and the scene with the puppy made me angry.

[Kiddvideo]

I’m really enjoying S2 so far. I feel Deborah and Ava have both moved toward the center and aren’t so entrenched. Loved the cruise, but the actual Captain’s wife irritated. She’s not helping her wife’s career by reading a book during the entertainment. Put on a smile, play along, and pretend to enjoy the show. (Up to the point where Deborah went off the rails and started insulting the audience anyway.)

Did I miss something with Alice other than throwing out the ashes? She accepted getting fired as if she were expecting it? 

I’m looking forward to the next episode. Deborah could use some fun and a distraction from being “Deborah Vance, an Entertainment Corporation.”

[Johnny Dollar]

Marcus’s reckless behavior doesn’t fit what we’ve seen of his character. I don’t understand the point of him, a highly successful man in his mid-thirties, not being able to find a partner who might have workaholic tendencies of their own. I will not be happy if everything comes down to a bunch of aimless characters who eventually realize that they are already part of a family because they are dependent on DV. 

[tljgator]

On 5/20/2022 at 9:56 AM, Blakeston said:

It's a shame, because that could have been the perfect audience for her new material. Telling emotional stories, and venting about the difficulties faced by women in the business, would probably go over better in that environment than in the clubs on Deb's tour.

I'm with you, Blakeston. It also made me particularly mad at Ava, who in theory knows this audience better (since Deb admitted she's always kind of ignored this group because she presumed they would and did hate her) and didn't point this out to Deb, write some new material that played off what they've been doing, focusing at all on, you know, her JOB. The one she's been going on and on about being better about.

I guess she was too busy enjoying the free cruise and being so un-self-aware that she was likely attracted to the well-known, big deal lesbian couple for the same reasons she cited for being attracted to the wrong men that she didn't have time to...work.

I get that it's a comedy and Deb bombing (and Ava's awkwardness) was played for laughs, but something about it just didn't ring true to me -- for many of the reasons y'all noted above. *shrugs*

[Brian Cronin]

13 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

Did I miss something with Alice other than throwing out the ashes? She accepted getting fired as if she were expecting it? 

 

I think it's a job that you frequently get fired because you're dealing with temperamental talent. 

[qtpye]

4 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Marcus’s reckless behavior doesn’t fit what we’ve seen of his character. I don’t understand the point of him, a highly successful man in his mid-thirties, not being able to find a partner who might have workaholic tendencies of their own. I will not be happy if everything comes down to a bunch of aimless characters who eventually realize that they are already part of a family because they are dependent on DV. 

Yes, if he wants his ex back so bad, why does he not try to cut down his work schedule?

He seems to have plenty of time to hang out all night at clubs and ignore his adorable dog.

He also is a good-looking, successful, fit man who works for a somewhat major celebrity and has tons of money. He would have guys all over him.

Painting him as a sad sack just seems artificial.

 

[aghst]

I vaguely recall that Marcus in season 1 was kind of inexperienced with dating?

Worked too much and then probably after the breakup, he dove into something he has difficulty managing?

Let's see how it plays out after he joins the tour.  Maybe there will be a better resolution for what's missing in his life.

[paramitch]

I thought this episode was a lot of fun, although I agree with those who felt Deb's disastrous set just felt really tone-deaf and sort of badly written. She has spent YEARS onstage -- I just don't buy that she couldn't come back with better quips and woo them back a bit more. I would have liked the scene better if it hadn't been such a total trainwreck. For me, that just strained believability.

I absolutely loved the "Natural Woman" scene (Jean Smart killed it!) and the sweet energy of that moment, and I loved the little moments of bonding and renewed warmth between Ava and Deb.

And while I haven't always liked Ava much, I had to laugh when she got pulled away right on the verge of her dream threesome. And my single favorite moment of the episode was Ava's *molly kicking in and her having to dance as the dinghy pulled away -- as Deb was just like, "I am not acknowledging this in any way." It was just so awkward and adorable.

*On a minor note, I have to say that the show's depiction of constant drug use really bothers me a little because it's so ubiquitous and so casual (although I guess it's accurate to both L.A. and the super-rich atmosphere?). I have no issues with weed/alcohol since they are definitely mainstream, but coke and manmade drugs are really dangerous, and the way the show sort of handwaves them as casual character-illuminators bugs me a little. But I'm also kind of uptight about that stuff -- I have addicts in my family who fell all the way down the rabbit hole and didn't emerge. At least the scene with Marcus and the puppy (AGHGH! So glad it was okay!) showed some of the potential dangers.

[aghst]

I think they planned for her to bomb.  She wasnT going tO win them over that easily.

the point of the season is that Deb is trying to find a new act, a new voice.  So at this point, she’s still struggling.

[Fake Jan Brady]

On 5/23/2022 at 5:28 AM, Brian Cronin said:

I think it's a job that you frequently get fired because you're dealing with temperamental talent. 

Pete Wentz would never.

[Francie]

On 5/22/2022 at 2:28 PM, Brian Cronin said:

I think it's a job that you frequently get fired because you're dealing with temperamental talent. 

She's probably used to be hired and fired and re-hired and fired again. 

Maybe Alice was called "Weed" because she's constantly getting pulled out, but pops back up again. 

[Dancingjaneway]

I'm gonna miss Weed. 

[Brian Cronin]

On 5/22/2022 at 11:39 PM, aghst said:

I think they planned for her to bomb.  She wasnT going tO win them over that easily.

the point of the season is that Deb is trying to find a new act, a new voice.  So at this point, she’s still struggling.

She specifically said that she was going to try her classics for the cruise, though, because it was a high-paying gig. 

[KarenX]

46 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

She specifically said that she was going to try her classics for the cruise, though, because it was a high-paying gig. 

But she got careless/cocky. She won them over the night before, was waltzing around complimenting boobs, and only ever had a superficial interest in the people on the boat. She was half-assing the set with no preparation, and as soon as they cooled on her lackluster performance she lashed out at them. She got huffy with her AUDIENCE. That’s not professional. It was disrespectful and disdainful, and shows how much work she has to do to rebrand herself. 

Ava knew as soon as Deborah came onstage “doing Ellen” that Deborah was going to fail. Putting them off the boat was amazing and hilarious. I love that the boat lesbians stood up for themselves as a group in such a witty way. What. A. Trip! The cost of the little boat and flights back to the shore completely worth it for the good will and PR. 

The Ava molly stuff was awesome.!The whole “I was only pretending to like you because of my wife’s leggings” was a very weird plot choice, though.

[Francie]

1 hour ago, Brian Cronin said:

She specifically said that she was going to try her classics for the cruise, though, because it was a high-paying gig. 

But that's also when she thought she was going to be performing for a crowd that already loves her. 

[DB in CMH]

Weakest episode of the series by a long shot. It felt far to sitcommy, which this show usually deftly avoids. Aside from Deborah's bombing, Hannah on the dingy was just... embarrassing to watch (and not in a good way).

At its worst, it felt kinda lesbian-phobic, trotting out one stereotype after another.

Who wrote this?

Edited May 27, 2022 by DB in CMH

[Dminches]

I thought this episode was great.  Finally, Ava enjoys herself and feels free (only to have Deborah be the buzz kill).

I really think that was the point of the episode, to show that sometimes the person on top (Deborah) gets mashed while the person who has been tortured has her moment of joy.  It didn’t last long and it will reverse but it was nice while it lasted.

I really don’t care for anything Marcus does.  They haven’t done well with his character.

[kwnyc]

Of course the lesbians would have a quorum to kick Deborah off the boat (IT'S A SHIP!) 

Deborah is smart, wealthy, talented and self-destructive. She won an entire ship over...and got them to throw her off in a 24-hour span. 

I've been binge-watching, courtesy of Covid, and this show is so healing to my heart. The writing, the acting, and how it plays.

I do like Marcus, because he's someone who stopped growing when he went from a fan, in his youth, to full-time employee. And Deborah does know he's spiraling and she's bringing him with her. 

The downside of the wounded birds she nurtures is that they all try to cut each other out to get more of mommy's attention.

Josefina (the head of the house) could probably move on and do other things, and Kiki is also someone who could do without Deborah's patronage, but Marcus and Damien and now Ava, have that enabler/codependent thing going on strong.

[cleo]

I'm with those that would have much preferred Weed stay on rather than Marcus. Actually the best part of Marcus is his mother and her friend- a road trip with them and Weed I would be into.

Edited August 26 by cleo