S02.E22: Chaos/Aashob

[greekmom]

Quote

Riley comes clean to Freddy about his relationship with Vanessa after he learns that Freddy proposed to her; Cindy becomes increasingly more possessive of Al, which makes him reconsider their future.
 

Airdate: 19/5/22. Series finale

[Spartan Girl]

So the series ends with Al and Riley being stalked to Vegas. *sigh*

[greekmom]

I hate the fact that the show was cancelled. 
Cindy is now even crazier. 
Vanessa is a dingbat for siding with Freddie re: Riley being punched. She is partially responsible for the affair with Riley.
Freddie is a jerk for punching Riley.  He only told the truth that Freddie already knew. So he blames Riley and doesn't blame Vanessa (of course). 

Now we will never know what happens except Riley and Al rode off to Vegas at 48 miles per hour with crazy Cindy following them.

*sigh* They all deserved better.

[Annber03]

Aw, now I'm really sad that we won't get to know or hear about how Riley and Al's trip to Vegas turned out! 

Rather sad ending all around, really. I think Vanessa ultimately made the right decision all around - it was clear her heart wasn't in her relationship with Freddy anymore (if ever), and while it's obvious she and Riley still care about each other, given the circumstances, it probably is better they just leave things as they are. It's a very realistic ending. Just a really sad one. Plus, given Riley and Freddy both came to physical blows over her*, yeah, definitely better that she distances herself from them as a result. Everyone just needs some time and peace to focus on themselves and their own respective issues. 

*Freddy looked legitimately intimidating when he asked Riley if he'd ever been punched by a hockey player. I had a feeling he knew what was up with Vanessa and Riley, glad to be proven right on that. Indeed, not only did Riley not cover his tracks very well, but neither did Vanessa. I totally get why Riley felt he needed to confess to Freddy about him and Vanessa sneaking around, but everyone was right in their attempts to advise Riley not to say anything. That's a conversation that Vanessa should've had with Freddy instead. 

I feel for Hazel with all of this, too. I liked that Al offered to take her back to Vanessa's place. I always loved their bond and the way he looked out for her, it was nice to see that here one last time, too :). 

And speaking of Al, what a weird note to end things on with him and Cindy. Up to now, yeah, she'd been rather flighty at times, and more on the wild side, but she'd also had some genuinely nice, understanding moments with Al, so it's strange to see her suddenly so possessive. Unless she'd been hiding it all this time? I dunno. But I would've preferred the episode just end on Riley and Al heading to Vegas, myself. And hopefully now Al's realized Cindy wasn't right for him, he'll stick with getting to know Ariana better. She's much better for him in a lot of ways. 

At least nobody sprung a surprise pregnancy, which was good. I'd been bracing for that possibility, what with all the romantic drama going on. 

But yeah. I'm sad to see this show come to an end, and will miss this cast/these characters, but I'm glad that we did at least get two seasons of it, and I appreciate that it told some stories that deserved to be told. Here's to hoping we'll see this cast in new projects as soon as possible! 

And to everyone in this forum, it's been fun talking about this show with you all :). See ya round the boards!

[Snow Apple]

Of course they made free spirited Cindy a psycho stalker.

And Riley and Freddy's budding friendship ends this way.

The first season and the first episode of the second season was so wonderful. Sad it ended on this note.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Snow Apple

[possibilities]

Freddy was wrong to beat up Riley, but Riley did say he (Riley) threw the first punch. So Riley doesn't get a pass here, at all. I mean, besides the infidelity, and the disingenuousness of his "confession"-- which he did not do out of friendship but because was hoping that Freddy would go away and he'd "win" Vanessa like she was a prize or some bullshit-- refusing to leave when asked to leave, and then punching Freddy... Vanessa definitely did the right thing by backing away.

It was sweet of Al to walk Hazel home, but she lives next door and is plenty old enough not to need her dad or anyone else to "get her home". I want to hink Al was being sincere and really supporting Hazel, but I also suspected him of ulterior motives, and wanting to suss out Vanessa's state of mind.

They really blew up a lot of characters tonight. Cindy is another one.

Al said Adriana broke up with him, so that was over, too. But I can't blame Adriana, because Al was not acting sensible at all when Cindy showed up. You can't be dating someone who handwaves a stalker and doesn't do anything about it even though he worried that she'll tamper with your car.

 

I liked this show a lot more than I expected to, but near the end they really went off the rails.

[nelroy78]

The absolute worst finale I have ever watched. I guess they assumed CBS wouldn’t cancel it.

What did you think was going to happen Riley, when you went over there, that he’d be OK with you sleeping with his fiancé? At least Vanessa had sense enough to break off the engagement. But still. And Cindy, way to go all Myra Monkhouse (from when she went all psycho on Steve Urkel near the end of Family Matters) and screw it up with Adriana! A GPS tracking device? Really? And she really pissed off Lizzie, who deserved better in this episode too. AL SHOULD’VE BEEN WITH ADRIANA! But we get multiple episodes of the Cindy show and Riley sleeping with Vanessa only for her to fail to break it off with Freddy first. Now I see why CBS cancelled this show. This episode was terrible. I should’ve seen this coming. Should’ve ended with Al and Adriana together. Adriana should’ve punched Cindy in the face! I did like Riley and Hazel up on the roof and Riley and Al headed to Vegas but freaking Cindy gets the last line of the series, of all people. The last scene should’ve been Al and Adriana kissing.

[Megan Markled]

11 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Aw, now I'm really sad that we won't get to know or hear about how Riley and Al's trip to Vegas turned out! 

Rather sad ending all around, really. I think Vanessa ultimately made the right decision all around - it was clear her heart wasn't in her relationship with Freddy anymore (if ever), and while it's obvious she and Riley still care about each other, given the circumstances, it probably is better they just leave things as they are. It's a very realistic ending. Just a really sad one. Plus, given Riley and Freddy both came to physical blows over her*, yeah, definitely better that she distances herself from them as a result. Everyone just needs some time and peace to focus on themselves and their own respective issues. 

*Freddy looked legitimately intimidating when he asked Riley if he'd ever been punched by a hockey player. I had a feeling he knew what was up with Vanessa and Riley, glad to be proven right on that. Indeed, not only did Riley not cover his tracks very well, but neither did Vanessa. I totally get why Riley felt he needed to confess to Freddy about him and Vanessa sneaking around, but everyone was right in their attempts to advise Riley not to say anything. That's a conversation that Vanessa should've had with Freddy instead. 

I feel for Hazel with all of this, too. I liked that Al offered to take her back to Vanessa's place. I always loved their bond and the way he looked out for her, it was nice to see that here one last time, too :). 

And speaking of Al, what a weird note to end things on with him and Cindy. Up to now, yeah, she'd been rather flighty at times, and more on the wild side, but she'd also had some genuinely nice, understanding moments with Al, so it's strange to see her suddenly so possessive. Unless she'd been hiding it all this time? I dunno. But I would've preferred the episode just end on Riley and Al heading to Vegas, myself. And hopefully now Al's realized Cindy wasn't right for him, he'll stick with getting to know Ariana better. She's much better for him in a lot of ways. 

At least nobody sprung a surprise pregnancy, which was good. I'd been bracing for that possibility, what with all the romantic drama going on. 

But yeah. I'm sad to see this show come to an end, and will miss this cast/these characters, but I'm glad that we did at least get two seasons of it, and I appreciate that it told some stories that deserved to be told. Here's to hoping we'll see this cast in new projects as soon as possible! 

And to everyone in this forum, it's been fun talking about this show with you all :). See ya round the boards!

I will miss the show, but hated the Cindy stuff in this episode. I wonder if they had gotten a renewal, would Vanessa end up pregnant as the actress is pregnant in real life!

[zoey1996]

I will miss this show. It still had stories to tell and deserved one more season.  

I liked Lois and Art's relationship. Loved Al and the various relationships he had with Riley, Hazel, and Lizzie. 

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, greekmom said:

Freddie is a jerk for punching Riley.  He only told the truth that Freddie already knew. So he blames Riley and doesn't blame Vanessa (of course). 

According to what Riley said, Freddie didn't punch him first.  Riley threw the first punch.  I guess you could argue that Freddie shouldn't have punched back, but that's not very realistic in my experience.

To me it sounded like Freddie didn't blame anyone, he just thought there was something unfinished between Vanessa and Riley that they needed to work through.  Yes, Vanessa is as much to blame as Riley.  Honestly, Freddie should count himself lucky that Vanessa ended it with him; he deserves better.

[mthorne]

Can anyone in this forum translate Pashto? I want to know what the vanity card said.

[zoey1996]

I found this translation: http://chucklorre.com/?e=1429 "Thank you very much"

Right click on Search image with google lens. There's a Translate option.

Edited May 20, 2022 by zoey1996

[Driad]

This was a good one-season show. Instead of a second season they had a different show with the same characters, that was not good.

I first heard about the show on this site. Because of the sans-serif font, I thought the last word of the title was AI, as in artificial intelligence. 

[Silver-hyren]

What a downer of an ending.  The first season was charming and surprisingly wholesome(ish) so it's such a shame the back half of this season was so, so unpleasant.  

I'd predicted Cindy would turn out to be a clingy stalker so wasn't surprised at all by that development (just by how long it took to get there).  

[tennisgurl]

That was a real downer to end the show on. Cindy went from being an intense but sweet woman to a deranged stalker out of nowhere, Riley and Vanessa's affair finally blows up in their faces, its all just a big mess. And now we will never know how Riley and Al's trip to Vegas went! 

I am going to miss this show and these characters a lot, I wish we had gotten at least a season or two to explore their stories more. I am at least glad we got two seasons though, it really was a unique sitcom that managed to be funny while dealing with serious issues all anchored by a great cast. 

[theredhead77]

I'm so bummed this is it. Riley was a moron for trying to fight a hockey player. I'm not surprised Cindy was stalker-material. I never liked her vibe, to me she always seemed a bit unhinged. The Vegas trip would have been a fantastic segue into Al's prior dance with gambling and could have opened addition storylines with reconciling his faith with the choices he's making. Don't mistake that for me thinking it was a poor choice for him to have sex. With Cindy, yea, but in general, grown ass man can make his choices. I'm glad Vanessa is choosing to be single and turned down Riley's offer to join their BBQ. I always loved her relationship with Art outside of her relationship with Riley. 

I wish TBS or another network like TBS would pick this up for a true final season.

[mthorne]

3 hours ago, zoey1996 said:

I found this translation: http://chucklorre.com/?e=1429 "Thank you very much"

Right click on Search image with google lens. There's a Translate option.

Thank you!

[LexieLily]

See, this is what happens when a show is cancelled 'out of nowhere.' The showrunners and writers have no forewarning how to write their stories and we end up with something like this which if you squint could work as a season finale but is a hot mess as a series finale. 

A friend and I were talking about this episode once the synopsis came out and she asked me what I thought about 'Cindy starts being possessive of Al.' I said that as a true-crime aficionado that watches way too much Investigation Discovery and Oxygen my mind immediately read possessive as a Lifetime psychotic-stalker. I, uh, don't know what it says about me that I was right :) Honestly, though, Adriana ended up showing the most smarts of the episode, getting the hell out of Dodge when her sort-of boyfriend's other girlfriend showed stalker tendencies and Al played it off. Everyone played Cindy's stalker-behavior for laughs instead of Lizzie! Yeah, this show is a sitcom, but she put multiple GPS devices in his car and wouldn't leave him alone!

Riley/Hazel's scene on the roof was sweet when he immediately tried to convince Hazel that Vanessa/Freddy getting married and having a baby wouldn't be so bad, but if this show had gone on for longer surely there would be more exploration about why Hazel's reaction to a wedding was a meh 'Whatever.' I don't believe that Freddy didn't care about the affair and I don't believe that Vanessa was the one to break it off with Freddy: methinks he broke it off with her. And that makes this entire Riley-and-Vanessa-sleeping-together storyline really weird given that one of the reasons Vanessa broke up with Riley in the first place was because he cheated on her. So she had to be the one to 'break up' with Freddy and blamed Riley fully for Freddy punching him to maintain some sort of moral high ground?

I see where they were going for for a third season - Stalker! Cindy storyline, Riley/Vanessa/Freddy triangle? - but as a series finale...it wasn't the worst ever, but it stunk. Clearly they were not expecting to be cancelled.

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, LexieLily said:

I don't believe that Freddy didn't care about the affair

I don't think he didn't not care, but I took him at his word that he figured they had some unfinished business and was willing to move past it.

The more I think about this episode the more bummed I am that it was cancelled. 

[Annber03]

6 hours ago, LexieLily said:

A friend and I were talking about this episode once the synopsis came out and she asked me what I thought about 'Cindy starts being possessive of Al.' I said that as a true-crime aficionado that watches way too much Investigation Discovery and Oxygen my mind immediately read possessive as a Lifetime psychotic-stalker. I, uh, don't know what it says about me that I was right :) Honestly, though, Adriana ended up showing the most smarts of the episode, getting the hell out of Dodge when her sort-of boyfriend's other girlfriend showed stalker tendencies and Al played it off. Everyone played Cindy's stalker-behavior for laughs instead of Lizzie! Yeah, this show is a sitcom, but she put multiple GPS devices in his car and wouldn't leave him alone!

Riley/Hazel's scene on the roof was sweet when he immediately tried to convince Hazel that Vanessa/Freddy getting married and having a baby wouldn't be so bad, but if this show had gone on for longer surely there would be more exploration about why Hazel's reaction to a wedding was a meh 'Whatever.' I don't believe that Freddy didn't care about the affair and I don't believe that Vanessa was the one to break it off with Freddy: methinks he broke it off with her. And that makes this entire Riley-and-Vanessa-sleeping-together storyline really weird given that one of the reasons Vanessa broke up with Riley in the first place was because he cheated on her. So she had to be the one to 'break up' with Freddy and blamed Riley fully for Freddy punching him to maintain some sort of moral high ground?

I'm surprised at how right you were in your guess about Cindy, too XD! Yeah, even in this sitcom setting, her behavior gave off major creepy vibes. And we'll never know why, or if there was any reason for her to act this way at all! Which makes it even more unsettling, somehow. I think Art and Lois were kinda trying to placate Cindy, but yeah, it would've been nice to see Art just tell her straight up to leave if she was going to get all weird on them like that. 

I agree that It would've been good to get more about Hazel's perspective on the idea of Vanessa and Freddy potentially marrying. I think there was a lot about her reaction to her parents' divorce that would've been good to explore further - the divorce itself, her dad seeing a string of women, and then that brief thing with Holly that ended badly, and now this stuff with Vanessa and Freddy... I think that definitely explained some of her more rebellious moments when she'd act up or get in trouble at school or whatever, and it would've been good to touch on that more deeply. 

I agree with the other post up above that I think Freddy understood the reason for the affair, but that obviously wouldn't mean he was happy about it, no. Add in the fact he'd already had suspicions about her and Riley, and that makes my theory from last week about the proposal being, on some level, a way to suss out how deep her feelings for him were all the more likely. 

I can see the breakup being a kind of mutual thing - I do think Vanessa made it clear to Freddy this wasn't working, but I also think Freddy may have been planning to break up with her as well, because he realized that if Vanessa has all this unfinished business she's still dealing with, that's a clear sign she's not ready to marry him, or that her relationship with him is as serious as he'd like it to be. So I think they both came to the same conclusion about the same time. If that were the case, though, I can see her telling Riley that she was the one who made the decision simply to keep the focus more on the situation between her and Riley. 

[possibilities]

I really think they tanked the show with how they handled this storyline.

Everyone acted out of character. It was just gross. And lazy. And stupid.

[Shelbie]

Cindy was playing the Rose role from Two and a Half Men. 

[chitowngirl]

It’s nice that Riley and Al can just leave their jobs for a few weeks. Ohio to Las Vegas is not a hop, skip, and a jump car ride.

[theredhead77]

6 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

It’s nice that Riley and Al can just leave their jobs for a few weeks.

They do work for Art and Art suggested Al get out of town for a bit.

Quote

Ohio to Las Vegas is not a hop, skip, and a jump car ride.

Especially while driving 42MPH (or was it 46?).

[LexieLily]

4 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Especially while driving 42MPH (or was it 46?).

48?

[Bookish Jen]

On 5/21/2022 at 2:10 AM, possibilities said:

I really think they tanked the show with how they handled this storyline.

Everyone acted out of character. It was just gross. And lazy. And stupid.

I agree. I loved this show in its first season. And it started out strong this season with dealing with the horrors of what's going on in Afghanistan and Riley and Al's mental health issues. Granted those things are a bit heavy for a sitcom, but I thought the show handled them quite well. And the show was still able to bring the funny.

But it went off the rails with Riley and Vanessa hooking up, and Cindy becoming a stalker.

Now we'll never find out how things play out. Bummer.