S02.E06: The Baby Bjorn

[SoMuchTV]

16 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

Ha ha! it's funny to be grossed out by the thought of old people having sex. Except not. If they had been young and attractive, wouldn't that be called slut shaming?

Eh, just speaking for myself, but it doesn’t seem like ageism or slut-shaming, I’d just be more than a little freaked out by running into a, whatever that was, when I was expecting something totally different. 

[ctlady]

Sam needs to introduce Trevor to the Sharknado movies so he can watch his wife, Tara Reid, in current movies 

[eel21788]

On 11/4/2022 at 9:15 AM, iMonrey said:

I take it they can feel heat and cold, because Trevor in particular appreciated the warmth of the chair since he has no pants. That probably means it's warmer to sit in the sun inside the house than to go outside, depending on when this is taking place (I assume November since they had a Halloween episode last week).

For the sun to be low enough in the sky to make a shaft of light through a south facing window, it would have to be in the wintertime. In upstate New York, it can be bright and sunny but still very, very cold outside. 

On 11/3/2022 at 7:36 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

As the sun moves across the sky, could the chair be moved to follow it? 

Who's going to move it? Sam and Jay didn't know it was a coveted spot until just now. If they established a ritual of moving the chair to follow the shaft, it would have to become a daily ritual all winter. It would be much better for Sam and Jay not to mention that as an option in order to save themselves a lot of work and annoyance.

[KayVeeTeeVee]

On 11/3/2022 at 7:44 PM, AnimeMania said:

Kathryn Greenwood (Margaret)
Mark Linn-Baker (Henry)
Christian Jadah (Bjorn)
Lindsey Broad (Judy)
Sonya Huggins (Customer/Yard Sale)
Louis Labonville (Baby Bjorn)
Kelly Craig (Olga)
Rober J. Tavenor (Mike)
Felicia Shulman (Sharon)

Yes!  Mark-Linn Baker!  Good to see him again.

[Browncoat]

14 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Ha ha! it's funny to be grossed out by the thought of old people having sex. Except not. If they had been young and attractive, wouldn't that be called slut shaming?

I didn't see it as slut-shaming or being grossed out at all.  I'm not into polyamory/sharing partners, so stumbling on basically a key party would make me terribly uncomfortable as well, regardless of the age of the participants.  And I'd want to leave ASAP!

The "naive person stumbling on a key party" trope has been done to death, though.

[mansonlamps]

On 11/5/2022 at 12:51 PM, TVMovieBuff said:

If the actress playing Sam ever quits, Jenna Fisher could take the role. 

As much as it pains me to say it,  she's too old.  Definitely a resemblance though. 

11 hours ago, Browncoat said:

The "naive person stumbling on a key party" trope has been done to death, though.

They did go through the whole pineapple conversation though,  so it makes sense that the neighbor assumed they knew why they were coming. 

Edited November 7, 2022 by mansonlamps

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I didn't see it as slut-shaming or being grossed out at all.  I'm not into polyamory/sharing partners, so stumbling on basically a key party would make me terribly uncomfortable as well, regardless of the age of the participants.  And I'd want to leave ASAP!

That, and I think Jay was a little thrown by this couple having this kinky side to them, after they'd been giving them all this grief last season about how they didn't want Jay and Sam setting up a B&B full of wild partiers next door, and kept making a big thing out of Jay wearing an earring and all that. 

And one can be totally cool with someone having a kinkier sexual life and still not need or want to know the specific details ;p. 

[Skooma]

On 11/5/2022 at 7:23 PM, SmithW6079 said:

Ha ha! it's funny to be grossed out by the thought of old people having sex. Except not. If they had been young and attractive, wouldn't that be called slut shaming?

A lot of people are grossed out by wife swapping / husband swapping orgies.  And if we can't be grossed out and are called names for being so then we are being "shamed" for believing that marriage vows mean something.  Which is a sad comment on this current society.

[Whimsy]

Please don’t talk about future episodes in the episode threads.

[Lovecat]

On 11/3/2022 at 9:43 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I wonder how Bjorn died.  And how did he know that Thorfinn had been abandoned? Did Thorfinn's shipmates boast about it when they returned to Norway?  

I read that as "Did Thorfinn's shipmates POST about it..."  My eyeballs almost got whiplash zipping back to double-check what I read :)

On 11/4/2022 at 1:27 PM, desertflower said:

I got a kick out of The Cutting Edge references. I have an inexplicable fondness for that movie and have to stop to watch it whenever I catch it on tv. Toepick! 

When Trevor said he planned on leaving The Cutting Edge on repeat, I was like, "I fail to see how this would be a problem.  TOEPICK!"

22 hours ago, Annber03 said:

And one can be totally cool with someone having a kinkier sexual life and still not need or want to know the specific details ;p. 

Precisely.  I had a trainer at the gym who would tell me all about her visits to swingers' clubs, and it was very awkward.  I mean, you do you, Boo, but I don't tell you about my bedroom activities, so how 'bout you return the favor, hmm?

[greekmom]

On 11/5/2022 at 9:08 PM, eel21788 said:

For the sun to be low enough in the sky to make a shaft of light through a south facing window, it would have to be in the wintertime. In upstate New York, it can be bright and sunny but still very, very cold outside. 

Who's going to move it? Sam and Jay didn't know it was a coveted spot until just now. If they established a ritual of moving the chair to follow the shaft, it would have to become a daily ritual all winter. It would be much better for Sam and Jay not to mention that as an option in order to save themselves a lot of work and annoyance.

Why can't Sam or Jay just add another chair? At least then there would be 2 chairs in the sweet sun spot and they can rotate.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I wonder how Bjorn died.  And how did he know that Thorfinn had been abandoned? Did Thorfinn's shipmates boast about it when they returned to Norway? 

I've speculated before that I think Thor knows why he was abandoned. I don't think we've heard/seen that part of the story yet, so there's more to come. That's the nice thing about this show, we know a lot about these characters and yet there is still so much more to learn. Seeing it dawn on Thor that his son had married a Dane worked because we already know how Thor feels about Danes. He's such a well defined character - they all are, really. I look forward to finding out more about them.

[Annber03]

I rewatched this episode recently and it hit me that Thor never getting to see his wife and son again may have also contributed to some of those night terrors he'd been having as well. Abandoned by his shipmates, away from those he loves, losing a pet squirrel that he'd befriended...that's a lot to deal with!

[seasons]

I miss Nancy and the cholera ghosts in the basement! Still another episode without them. 😕

[iMonrey]

I wonder if Thor got that scar on his face from the giant knife his father gave him when he was a baby.

[Ilovepie]

On 11/3/2022 at 6:18 PM, cdnalor said:

I don't get why sitting in a chair that gets sun is so precious when they can go outside and get all the sun they want. 

On 11/4/2022 at 8:15 AM, iMonrey said:

The only thing I didn't get was why there was no interaction between the Ghost of Mrs. Farnsby and Sam at the yard sale. The ghost seemed really excited to talk to Sam last season, and as far as we know this is only the second time they've seen each other.

On 11/5/2022 at 7:19 AM, NoReally said:

I wondered why Thor and Bjorn couldn't just go to the edges of their respective properties, stand near each other, and have a conversation.

All of these things bugged me this episode. All seem like plot holes/conveniences for the sake of this episode's storyline. And don't even get me started on the stupidity of the back rub currency. Kind of disappointing.

On 11/4/2022 at 9:07 AM, TruffleHog said:

Thorfinn had the best line:  Children are not born with hate in their hearts.  They must be taught it.  And I was not there to teach him.

It was the best line. I love when all of their era specific prejudices are played for laughs. This was almost as funny as Hetty's Irish hatred.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

The past two days were absolutely frigid where I live, but my desk at work gets the afternoon sun, and the windows turn the sunlight into an absolute furnace. I usually have to sit somewhere else by two. So I can buy that a shaft of sunlight in a living room is nice and warm, but outside in November in upstate New York is not. 

[SmithW6079]

On 11/6/2022 at 11:36 PM, Skooma said:

A lot of people are grossed out by wife swapping / husband swapping orgies.  And if we can't be grossed out and are called names for being so then we are being "shamed" for believing that marriage vows mean something.  Which is a sad comment on this current society.

Relax. No one is mocking those who believe in the "sanctity" of marriage.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Rewatching Alberta’s Fan, and the B-plot is Thorfinn singing little David to sleep the way he used to Hetty, and it’s so much sadder in retrospect knowing he was a papa who was separated from his baby for an eternity. 

[Annber03]

18 minutes ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Rewatching Alberta’s Fan, and the B-plot is Thorfinn singing little David to sleep the way he used to Hetty, and it’s so much sadder in retrospect knowing he was a papa who was separated from his baby for an eternity. 

His bond with his son in those flashbacks definitely explains a lot about why he's so good with kids in general :).

[santor]

There is a major plot hole in The Baby Bjorn episode that Thor and his son can't talk at the property lines because The Farnsby's live two doors down. In Season One The Dinner episode, they meet the Farnsby's and they introduce themselves as their next door neighbors. The whole plot is that the Farnsby's don't want a "sick" business abutting their property. So supposedly Thor and his son can yell from windows separated by a property with a house between them even though these are massive estates surrounded by woods. I don't get why they made that plot change of where the Farnsby's live. It would be fun if the ghosts talked to others ghosts at the property lines. I'd like know more about the Farnsby's ghosts too.

[shapeshifter]

54 minutes ago, santor said:

There is a major plot hole in The Baby Bjorn episode that Thor and his son can't talk at the property lines because The Farnsby's live two doors down. In Season One The Dinner episode, they meet the Farnsby's and they introduce themselves as their next door neighbors. The whole plot is that the Farnsby's don't want a "sick" business abutting their property. So supposedly Thor and his son can yell from windows separated by a property with a house between them even though these are massive estates surrounded by woods. I don't get why they made that plot change of where the Farnsby's live. It would be fun if the ghosts talked to others ghosts at the property lines. I'd like know more about the Farnsby's ghosts too.

Yes, I just reran that portion (early in the 1.3 episode) and while it's Flower who refers to the Farnsby's as being "Next Door," it is Mr. Farnsby who says "I don't love the idea of a "pretty sick" business adjoining our property."

[santor]

Why did they need back rub currency when they already had a free back rub train in which Pete would no longer be the caboose?

[wembley]

3 hours ago, santor said:

Why did they need back rub currency when they already had a free back rub train in which Pete would no longer be the caboose?

I assume the backrub train is how the ghosts cash their back rubs in. 

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, I just reran that portion (early in the 1.3 episode) and while it's Flower who refers to the Farnsby's as being "Next Door," it is Mr. Farnsby who says "I don't love the idea of a "pretty sick" business adjoining our property."

As a writer, I get why they made this change: Thor and his son having a conversation for the first time in a thousand years face to face is drama. 

Thor and his son having to yell their heartfelt feelings across huge lawns is comedy. 

Plus, one of the longrunning themes of this show is that it's difficult to be a ghost. It's rare for people to be able to see them, their powers are weak and ineffectual, possessing a host is rare and dangerous. So, again, as a writer, I get why they didn't want to make it easy for Thor. 

As a fan? It feels cruel! It kinda bummed me out a little, I'm not gonna lie. Though part of that is a credit to the show: I've fallen so in love with the characters they've created that I only want good things for them all! Which is not conducive to comedy!

[proserpina65]

On 12/20/2022 at 12:00 PM, shapeshifter said:

Yes, I just reran that portion (early in the 1.3 episode) and while it's Flower who refers to the Farnsby's as being "Next Door," it is Mr. Farnsby who says "I don't love the idea of a "pretty sick" business adjoining our property."

It's possible that their properties adjoin but their houses aren't next door to each other.  Depends on how the property was originally laid out.  Still, not enough of a deal to bother me.