S05.E05: Welcome to the Art of Negotiation

[jewel21]

Quote

When Dave is up for a promotion at work, Calvin tries to help him negotiate a raise from his penny-pinching new boss, Gregory. Also, Tina struggles with whether to share some sensitive information with Gemma.

Airdate: 10/17/2022

[AnimeMania]

John Ross Bowie (Gregory)
Courtney Nichole (Ms. Davis)
Chris Aquilino (Mr. Ryan)
Raul De Anda (Phillip)

[Cerrtios Man]

There were two jokes in last weeks episode that referenced the city of Cerritos.  Initially Dave is telling Gemma were they went and Gemma asks if it was Cerritos and Dave responds that he wishes it was Cerritos and in the next Scene a similar dialog occurs between Calvin and Tina in which Calvin says it was closer to Cerritos.  I grew up in Cerritos and am familiar with the other cities mentioned.  I did not understand the joke and I doubt a national audience would have any idea about Cerritos.  Was it an inside joke between the writers?  Does the show have some connection with Cerritos?  Does the Cerritos joke make sense to others?  Very curious!  Please help!

[redpencil]

I have no connection to Cerritos and know nothing about it, but I just assumed it was a joke about where they went being worse than even Cerritos. I didn't feel like I needed to know anything about it to understand the joke. It made sense to me in context. Whether they picked Cerritos for any particular reason, no idea.

Anyway, this week's episode. I don't know if I was just in the exact right mood or what, but I laughed out loud way more than usual. Loved everything about Gregory, even though he seemed like a jerk at first. But calling Calvin Cal and C-Money at the end absolutely killed me.

Edited October 18, 2022 by redpencil

[Empress1]

Do I have it right that Dave was promoted with no raise? Because a promotion without a raise isn’t a promotion; that’s just more work. I wouldn’t let that fly either. It’s perfectly reasonable to say you want to discuss compensation, given the increased responsibility.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Empress1

[callie lee 29]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

Do I have it right that Dave was promoted with no raise? Because a promotion without a raise isn’t a promotion; that’s just more work. I wouldn’t let that fly either. It’s perfectly reasonable to say you want to discuss compensation, given the increased responsibility.

I would have thought his GS would have changed with the promotion.

[Empress1]

28 minutes ago, callie lee 29 said:

I would have thought his GS would have changed with the promotion.

Me too!

[SoMuchTV]

On the Tina/Gemma storyline - I think I missed something (or maybe I'm expecting something to make sense when it just doesn't).  How did Gemma find out about what went on between Tina and the MeanKid teachers?  It doesn't seem like it was in anyone's interest to tattle to Gemma.  Tina didn't want her to find out what the teachers were saying about her, and surely the teachers would know that if they complained about Tina, the details would come out.  Gotta give Gemma credit for owning the Barbie comparison, though!

[Harvey]

9 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

On the Tina/Gemma storyline - I think I missed something (or maybe I'm expecting something to make sense when it just doesn't).  How did Gemma find out about what went on between Tina and the MeanKid teachers?  It doesn't seem like it was in anyone's interest to tattle to Gemma.  Tina didn't want her to find out what the teachers were saying about her, and surely the teachers would know that if they complained about Tina, the details would come out.  Gotta give Gemma credit for owning the Barbie comparison, though!

The two teachers were idiots. I'm certain they complained to Gemma about Tina's behavior with fake outrage about Gemma hiring her friend.

[Court]

9 hours ago, Harvey said:

The two teachers were idiots. I'm certain they complained to Gemma about Tina's behavior with fake outrage about Gemma hiring her friend.

Yep, that's what it seemed like to me. 

[HurricaneVal]

The one thing I really like about this show is the characters are not one-dimensional caricatures as happens so often in sitcoms-even good sitcoms.

You especially see that with the brothers.  Marty isn't just a supersmart geek.  Malcolm isn't just a sports obsessed dumb jock.  Sometimes it's just a subtle bit of actor-y stuff that highlights the depth of the characters.  For instance, when Tina burst into their living room, Malcolm sets aside a book he was reading.  No big deal.  But it was a little detailed character moment that I really appreciated.

[januaryman]

The show is funnier this season - I wonder if they got the live audience back?

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, januaryman said:

The show is funnier this season - I wonder if they got the live audience back?

They shifted the focus to make Dave and Gemma the main characters and Calvin and Tina the wacky neighbors. Right now it is very subtle, but I am sure it will get more obvious as the show goes on.

[EtheltoTillie]

I was really annoyed with the promotion plot. Dave was previously a conflict mediator, which was even referenced in the episode. That means he’s an expert in the art of negotiation. So Calvin’s teaching the well known strategy of “walking” was silly, and it was even less believable that Dave wouldn’t already know it.  And even sillier that he would then employ the strategy so incompetently. Then got his job back and the raise quite brilliantly. Why didn’t he do it in the first place?  

On 10/20/2022 at 2:16 AM, AnimeMania said:

They shifted the focus to make Dave and Gemma the main characters and Calvin and Tina the wacky neighbors. Right now it is very subtle, but I am sure it will get more obvious as the show goes on.

That does seem very subtle, although I know they got a new showrunner. 

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

That does seem very subtle, although I know they got a new showrunner. 

Two new showrunners who are both White, so they might be more comfortable portraying things from Dave and Gemma's perspective. Watch how many times this Season,  Gemma and Dave have to explain Tina and Calvin's behavior to other people as "once you get to know them you will see it comes from a good place" or telling them to "tone it down" a little. It might also be that they are trying to get some "Abbott  Elementary" momentum and focusing more on Gemma and the school, but that makes Gemma Tina's boss so Tina now has to learn things from Gemma instead of the other way around. Throw in all the other "Black" stereotypes like Tina bouncing from job to job and the Butler family starting to having money problems even though they have a brand-new kitchen/house and an "one episode" brand-new truck. The show went from a White family learning to adapt to living in a Black neighborhood to the neighborhood being Multicultural/Diverse and Calvin not knowing any of his neighbors, even though he claimed that he knew them all.