S01.E09: Rift

[CheshireCat]

Quote

Eleanor rallies the country as the United States enters World War II; after Betty's addiction spirals, Jerry and her family intervene; Michelle joins Hillary Clinton on the 2016 presidential campaign trail to advocate for the dignity of women.

Air date: Jun 12, 2022

[Shaynaa]

I am disappointed they didn't mention Order 9066 which forced Japanese Americans in internment camps at all.  I understand the show had to get through a ton of material in the last two episodes but with all of Eleanor's work fighting for human rights her whole life including objecting to the camps.  It was an odd thing to leave out.

Time Magazine: How Eleanor Roosevelt Worked to Stop Her Husband Approving Japanese Internment Camps During World War II

[marinw]

Not sure if I'm ready to relive the 2016 election.

[txhorns79]

I still think the Betty storyline is the strongest amongst the three.  To me, it took a huge amount of strength for Betty to make herself so vulnerable by going into rehab.  I can't even imagine going into that environment as such a prominent person and putting all your demons out there for strangers to hear about.  

The Eleanor/Hick stuff was kind of blah.  I'm not particularly invested in their relationship, and Hick is such a blank slate of a person.  

As for the Obama storyline, on the positive side, I did like Michelle playing Killing Me Softly on the piano and reminiscing about her life. 

[Triviatrish2]

Viola Davis...I can't even watch her.  However, realizing that some poetic license has been taken, I have new respect for Eleanor Roosevelt, whom I have always found interesting, and Betty Ford.  My late uncle, who loved to take home movies, had movies of Eleanor Roosevelt, driving a car to give a speech at a college, not sure which college, but, it is pretty cool  to watch.

[maggiemae]

1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

I still think the Betty storyline is the strongest amongst the three.  To me, it took a huge amount of strength for Betty to make herself so vulnerable by going into rehab.  I can't even imagine going into that environment as such a prominent person and putting all your demons out there for strangers to hear about.  

The Eleanor/Hick stuff was kind of blah.  I'm not particularly invested in their relationship, and Hick is such a blank slate of a person.  

As for the Obama storyline, on the positive side, I did like Michelle playing Killing Me Softly on the piano and reminiscing about her life. 

I loved how Betty overcame her problems with the loving help of her family and I imagine how we will see her give back to women her clinic on the show hopefully.

I admire Eleanor R so much but wish the show would not concentrate so much on Hick because history does not know actually if she was a lesbian or bi or they had that kind of relationship. But if they did I would not care...I just haven't seen it proven and it bothers me as much as Viola Davis and her stupid, stupid, stupid lip movements.

[monakane]

I did not know there was bad blood between Hillary and Michelle. I do remember that speech Michelle gave near the end of the campaign.  I did laugh when Michelle was cursing about Trump.  That felt very real.

[MsMalin]

The Betty Ford story and Michelle P just bLow me away. Very very well done and I really respect her.  I am also watching Gaslit and man, the handlers sure wanted the women to keep their mouths shut back in the day.

Again, just can't watch Viola without cringing. I think that Hillary was very bitter because she fully expected to be the candidate in 2008 and Obama stole it from her. I remember her being very upset that the Kennedy's supported Obama instead of her.

[Spartan Girl]

Look, for all of the problems with Viola’s performance, it’s impossible not to feel for the Obamas, knowing watching the indignities they were subjected to because of Trump.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[buckboard]

20 hours ago, maggiemae said:

I admire Eleanor R so much but wish the show would not concentrate so much on Hick because history does not know actually if she was a lesbian or bi or they had that kind of relationship. But if they did I would not care...I just haven't seen it proven and it bothers me as much as Viola Davis and her stupid, stupid, stupid lip movements.

The FDR Library and Museum has over 3000 letters between Eleanor and Lorena Hickok, many of them clearly mentioning a physical relationship.  Hick had lesbian relationships before and after  ER.  She lived for four years in the White House.  Eleanor was very close with a lesbian couple and the three of them lived in a cottage in Hyde Park near FDR's home, which FDR called "the love nest."  She wasn't unfamiliar with lesbians and lesbian couples.  Just because we don't have photographs of Hick and ER in bed doesn't mean we can't assume she was lesbian or bi.

MAGGIMAE, I'm completely with you on Viola Davis and whatever the heck she is doing with her lips.  I've watched several videos of the real Michelle Obama speaking to see if that's where Viola got this from, but  Michelle is nothing like Viola's affectations.

[Demian]

On 6/12/2022 at 11:22 PM, txhorns79 said:

I still think the Betty storyline is the strongest amongst the three.  To me, it took a huge amount of strength for Betty to make herself so vulnerable by going into rehab.  I can't even imagine going into that environment as such a prominent person and putting all your demons out there for strangers to hear about.  

And plus:  She grew up in an era where "difficult" women just disappeared into mental institutions, and stayed there for the rest of their lives, quite often for what we now know to be post-partum depression (like, oh, say, my great-grandmother).  I can easily imagine that the terror of being permanently institutionalized would have sent Betty Ford into a spiral.

And yep, Betty Ford's storyline is manifestly the strongest of the three.  I don't think it's because of the writing -- the writing on this show is depressingly and uniformly awful, all across the timelines -- but rather because of Michelle Pfeiffer's performance.  I think tastemakers have been sleeping on how good an actress she is for years.

[Ms Blue Jay]

23 hours ago, maggiemae said:

But if they did I would not care...I just haven't seen it proven and it bothers me as much as Viola Davis and her stupid, stupid, stupid lip movements.

I'm never going to get over Viola's eyebrows in this.  I try to, but I won't.  

Michelle Pfeiffer is wonderful here but I also liked the actor who played the younger version of her too.  I guess we won't see her again.

13 hours ago, monakane said:

I did not know there was bad blood between Hillary and Michelle. I do remember that speech Michelle gave near the end of the campaign.  I did laugh when Michelle was cursing about Trump.  That felt very real.

I'm glad they brought up what Clinton said about Obama.  They could have said so much more too.  

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Look, for all of the problems with Viola’s performance, it’s impossible not to feel for the Obamas, knowing watching the indignities they were subjected to because of Trump.

We all lived through it.  We felt it then.  I am not sure that this series is making me feel anymore than I did at the time.  Even setting aside Viola's odd choices, Pres. Obama is supposed to be extremely charming and watchable and engaging and inspiring and....... look at the portrayal here?  His voice sounds like Ed O'Neill's.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[monakane]

11 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Michelle Pfeiffer is wonderful here but I also liked the actor who played the younger version of her too.  I guess we won't see her again

The thought occurred to me how much Michelle Pfeiffer looks like Nancy Regan.  I hope they do another season of this show.  I would love to see Rosalyn Carter, Barbara Bush, and Abigail Adams.  

[marinw]

What kind of accent is Kiefer doing or trying to do? I will say he has nice chemistry with Gillian. I would rather have some Jack Bauer/Dana Scully fanfic but I will take what I can get.

Edited June 14, 2022 by marinw

[marinw]

Oof. The 2016 part was rough. 

[marinw]

Mouth thing aside, I really liked the conversation between  Michelle and Hillary, it sounded very much like a sober, honest talk between two very smart women.

I'm gratefull they didn't have an actor attempt to portray Trump. Although there are many comedic takes on Trump, most notably Alec Baldwin on SNL, the only dramtic portrayal I have seen is Brendan Gleeson in The Comey Effect and it was...weird. It must be a super difficult acting job to take this person seriously.

On a shallow note, I love the Ford house. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by marinw

[Cress]

is it just me, or did they release next week's episode early? I don't know if I should start a new thread for that yet.

On 6/13/2022 at 9:03 PM, buckboard said:

I'm completely with you on Viola Davis and whatever the heck she is doing with her lips.  I've watched several videos of the real Michelle Obama speaking to see if that's where Viola got this from, but  Michelle is nothing like Viola's affectations.

Really? That thing she does where she purses her lips seems so familiar, reminding me of Michelle. I can't point to a specific video though. I have not been bothered by Viola like all of you.

[AnnMarie17]

54 minutes ago, Cress said:

is it just me, or did they release next week's episode early? I don't know if I should start a new thread for that yet.

It showed up for me, too, on my Showtime app. I appreciated it because I only subscribed for this show and I was able to cancel a week earlier than I had anticipated.  😄

[CheshireCat]

8 hours ago, Cress said:

is it just me, or did they release next week's episode early? I don't know if I should start a new thread for that yet.

A Google search lists the air date as June 12 (although it might just apply to streaming), so I created a topic. 

[Spartan Girl]

Want to add that the intervention scene was brutal. I felt terrible for the whole family. And poor Gerald: he wasn’t perfect, but Betty’s drinking shouldn’t be laid at his feet. Should he have done something sooner? Probably. But you saw how viciously Betty lashed out at him and their daughter after the first attempt, even threatening divorce. There’s no low an addict won’t stoop to until/unless they have their moment of clarity.

[SWLinPHX]

On 6/16/2022 at 6:40 AM, Cress said:

is it just me, or did they release next week's episode early? I don't know if I should start a new thread for that yet.

Really? That thing she does where she purses her lips seems so familiar, reminding me of Michelle. I can't point to a specific video though. I have not been bothered by Viola like all of you.

I think you and I must be the only ones.  I've ready so many viewer comments about how terrible and asinine her portrayal was, but I knew what she was going for and the eyebrows and lips and style of talking very much reminded me of Michelle Obama.  She definitely was a little old to play her at the time she was First Lady but it wasn't so jarring and I was able to lose myself in her performance.

[kassa]

On 6/16/2022 at 9:40 AM, Cress said:

Really? That thing she does where she purses her lips seems so familiar, reminding me of Michelle. I can't point to a specific video though. I have not been bothered by Viola like all of you.

Obama does have a mouth tic, but it's a very fleeting thing - she's not holding her lips in that position while speaking. Reminds me of our moms warning us that we'd regret it if certain faces we made "stuck that way." Davis is playing her as if that mouth movement stuck that way. 

[luvthepros]

On 6/16/2022 at 9:40 AM, Cress said:

is it just me, or did they release next week's episode early? I don't know if I should start a new thread for that yet.

Really? That thing she does where she purses her lips seems so familiar, reminding me of Michelle. I can't point to a specific video though. I have not been bothered by Viola like all of you.

I agree with you about the pursed lips. I Googled "Michelle Obama pursed lips" and that search brought up several photos of Michelle doing exactly what Viola is doing. Viola's lips just happen to be more full than Michelle's lips. Michelle does purse her lips..... .maybe not as much as Viola's interpretation, though.