S06.E06: Tomorrow

[jewel21]

Hen fears for Karen's life when an explosion rocks her science lab on the day she brings Denny to work with her.

Airdate: 10/24/2022

[Redrum]

Just because I feel it needs to be said. 

Sally Ride was a lesbian who had to stay in the closet in order to be an astronaut. She was our first LGBT astronaut along with being the first American woman in space. 

I wish the episode had done a black screen comment at the end on this point. 

[possibilities]

I thought her wife was acknowledged by NASA. I thought everyone knew she was a lesbian. I was really annoyed that the show didn't say anything about that.

[Redrum]

I actually didn't think that NASA had ever acknowledged it. I am glad if they did. 

[possibilities]

I could be wrong. Or maybe I got the timing wrong? I could swear that there was some public acknowledgment, but maybe it was after Obergefell. Either way, the show should have said something about it instead of just dropping her name like that and not telling the audience why. It's uncharacteristically coy for a Ryan Murphy show.

[kwnyc]

So the music during the HenKaren first makeout scene was Joan Jett's cover of "Crimson & Clover," which is "our song" for me & my wife!

[Redrum]

14 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Either way, the show should have said something about it instead of just dropping her name like that and not telling the audience why. It's uncharacteristically coy for a Ryan Murphy show.

Based on American Horror Story through the years, I'm wondering if Ryan Murphy has some issues with lesbians. 

[Lady Calypso]

I really loved this episode. It's probably the first episode I loved since season 4. Super strong, loved seeing more Karen and loved seeing how Hen/Karen's relationship started.

I definitely got nervous for Karen when nobody bothered to check her out and when she collapsed once they were out, but very glad she made it through.

Although, I AM surprised that explosion didn't reach the secondary room where Denny and Karen's coworker were. I guess those steel doors really do the trick. 

The flashbacks were very well done. I love seeing more of Tracie and her and Aisha did so well.

I'm also glad Hen's doctor path is finally over. I think they went into it a few seasons ago, thinking it would be a great arc for her but then realized that they were finally at a crossroads and didn't want to get rid of Aisha or demote her. Smart move, so I'm glad Hen's back at the 118.

[anna0852]

Of course Chim set up Hen and Karen. Of course he did. 😁

Loved that touch of Karen always calling him Howie while Hen calls him Chimney. 

[iMonrey]

For some reason I was kind of hoping they would kill Karen off. Not because I dislike the character, but because I thought it would have been a braver move. Granted, it may have driven Hen even further from deciding to remain a paramedic, but everyone turning out OK in the end made if feel like they were just toying with our emotions. The show hasn't had the guts to kill off a major character since . . . maybe ever?

I did think it was interesting to learn that Chim set up Hen and Karen way back when and was Karen's neighbor. Overall a pretty good episode but I thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out.

[shapeshifter]

It’s possible TPTB just didn’t think it was their place to make special note of Sally Ride being gay, given:

Quote

…In Ride's last days, while she was battling pancreatic cancer, she left the decision to make her sexuality public up to O'Shaughnessy. And while O'Shaughnessy said the decision to disclose their romantic partnership in Ride's obituary was difficult for her, she said that doing so "was amazing … it was just so freeing." 
space.com/40916-sally-ride-pride-inspiration-legacy.html

Or did TPTB decide having one of the show’s lesbian characters acknowledge Sally Ride was her role model was more in keeping with Ride’s final wishes?
Karen’s lines sure skirted around the topic——almost as if it may have been included initially.🤔

• [HEN (AT HER FIRST "BLIND DATE" WITH KAREN IN 2010)] So, you're trying to become an astronaut, then? 

• [KAREN] Well, they don't let people like us go to space.

And then:

• [DENNY (MORNING, PRESENT DAY, 2022)] When did you know you wanted to work in space exploration? 

• [KAREN] July 18, 1983. My parents woke me up at 4:00 in the morning so I could watch Sally Ride become the first American woman to fly in space. 

• [DENNY] Did you want to be an astronaut? 

• [KAREN] Thought about it. Just wasn't in the stars. 

• [DENNY] That was really bad, Mom. 

• [KAREN(laughing)] I know. I know. You could have humored me a little bit, though. Tough crowd. 

   


 
So is Hen is both a firefighter and a paramedic? 

Edited October 25, 2022 by shapeshifter
typo

[Irlandesa]

45 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The show hasn't had the guts to kill off a major character since . . . maybe ever?

To me, that's a feature not a bug.  I feel in this day and age it's more daring not to kill off at least one majorish character on a show about dangerous professions than it would be to do it. There's something comforting about knowing they'll pull through (even if I did hope Eddie was a goner a few seasons ago.)

27 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

So if Hen is both a firefighter and a paramedic? 

Both she and Chim are both.

[Crashcourse]

I'm glad Hen's doctor path is over.  While it was nice to see their kid, I don't need to see any more of Karen.  

[possibilities]

I really like Karen, so I was glad they didn't kill her off. If Chim can survive a spike through the head, nobody needs to die on this show. Also, there's statistical documentation that lesbian characters get killed off on TV shows at a far higher rate than others, so I'm really against the show's first cast kill being a lesbian. I also really like that the show has lesbian characters whose stories aren't about coming out, being rejected by family, or suffering a hate crime. There's more to our lives than that!

[Crashcourse]

When Karen said they didn't like people like us to go to space, I thought she meant because she was black, not because she was a lesbian.  

[Redrum]

20 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

When Karen said they didn't like people like us to go to space, I thought she meant because she was black, not because she was a lesbian.  

Doubt it. By the time she was making that remark to Hen we'd already had male and female black astronauts. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

A solid episode with a nice reveal that Chimney was the matchmaker for HenRen. Typical Chim.

The medical school storyline is a total waste of time, so glad it has finally ended. All it needs is a quick U-turn in just one episode. 🙄

The unrealistic part of this episode - Denny walking around the lab, taking photos of some projects and prototypes.

[Crashcourse]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

The unrealistic part of this episode - Denny walking around the lab, taking photos of some projects and prototypes.

Even though I figured he wouldn't be killed or injured, it was totally unrealistic for him to be there and just walking around.  

1 hour ago, Redrum said:

Doubt it. By the time she was making that remark to Hen we'd already had male and female black astronauts. 

Yeah, I forgot about the timeline.  I don't dislike Karen, but she just comes across as a downer.  

[jabRI]

I usually like Karen, but weird that Karen went behind her back about their fostering status.  That seemed out of line.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

I usually like Karen, but weird that Karen went behind her back about their fostering status.  That seemed out of line.

I wasn't sure if "Karen went behind her [Hen's] back about their fostering status," or if Karen had just filled out a routine, required confirmation of household situations.
Maybe someone here has more knowledge of such procedures?

[DearEvette]

So we got a stealth HenRen Begins episode.  I liked it.  It was cool to go to work with Karen.  And hey, if it was the vehicle to get Hen over the doctor desire it was worth it.

Yup, love that Chim was their matchmaker and also their little busy-body meddler making sure they stay together. 

I liked that they didn't know what to do with Denny when they first got him.  When my kids were babies, they loved their car seats.  If they were asleep when they got out of the car, I just kept them in there and let them sleep.  I'd plunk the whole car seat in the crib.

Fair amount of gore this episode, what with the detached arm and the guy with half his face gone. Yeep.

The shirt Hen was wearing during the whole explosion/medical emergency with Karen completely distracted me.  My youngest son had a shirt just like that when he was five.  He loved it so much I had to get like three of them because it was his favorite shirt for a couple of months and it was all he'd wear.

[ribboninthesky1]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

So we got a stealth HenRen Begins episode. 

Not HenRen! Stealing this.

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Yup, love that Chim was their matchmaker and also their little busy-body meddler making sure they stay together. 

Hen and Chim's convo after the 1st date was hilarious.  And he was so wrong for calling Karen with the "Hen is dead! Well, not really, but I needed to scare you back into her life!" spiel. He was all up in their business. 

I don't know how the show did it, but baby Denny's facial expressions while sitting in his carrier were spot on. He really looked like, "You two seem new at this. So, um...am I gonna get a bottle or something...??"

Also grateful that the medical school storyline is done. 

Does anyone remember HenRen conflict from an earlier season where Hen supposedly cheated with Eva while they were together? Did I imagine this? It didn't come up in the flashback.

When Athena showed up and said Toni called her, I wondered, "Who is Toni?" Totally forgot about Marsha Warfield's character since we haven't seen her in awhile. 

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Does anyone remember HenRen conflict from an earlier season where Hen supposedly cheated with Eva while they were together? Did I imagine this? It didn't come up in the flashback.

I can't remember if Hen actually cheated, or was just so involved with Eva that Karen thought they had. But yes, I remember it.

[jabRI]

2 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I can't remember if Hen actually cheated, or was just so involved with Eva that Karen thought they had. But yes, I remember it.

She cheated.  THen Eva tried to use that against Hen as proof she was a bad mother.

[tennisgurl]

Awww a Karen episode! She's one of the few main characters who hasn't been put into a life threatening situation as she goes about her day, so it was clearly her turn. I liked learning more about her and getting to see her at work, she does seem to have a really cool job even if she cant go to space. Of course Chim was the one to set them up, that sounds about right. 

I'm so glad that the medical school story is finally over, it really makes it all a big waste of time but I am really glad that Hen is going back to her real job and we can all move on. At first I thought it was uncool of Karen to take them off the foster life without talking to Hen, but after thinking about it its probably less about going behind Hen's back and more that she filled the necessary paperwork when the social worker got in touch, and its obvious that they wouldn't have the time to dedicate to a foster kid if Hen keeps on this path, and didn't have the time to talk to Hen about it.

The flashbacks were nice, it makes sense that Karen would have not been thrilled at first about adopting the child of her girlfriends addict ex girlfriend who caused them nothing but trouble, and it was nice seeing different periods in their relationship, learning how to prioritize each other and their new family. 

For a mostly cute couple episode, it was also pretty gory with a guy losing his arm and another guy having half his face melted off. Nasty.

[Clanstarling]

I think it was a woman who lost her arm, the one who accidentally triggered the explosion. I could be wrong. In any case, seems to me the person would have bled out before anyone got to them. But I'm no doctor...

[DearEvette]

Yeah, it was weird.  Hitu was the Asian woman who put the thingy in the thingy that caused the explosion.  By rights she was right there and should have died, unless the blast force was actually directed away from her.  But in the end, Hen said that Alvin and Hitu "will need some time to heal but they'll be ok." No mention of Hitu losing an arm.  Only one death on her team a guy named Victor. Maybe he is the one that lost the arm?

[CoderLady]

I think Victor was the first person the team found. They tried for a pulse and ended up putting a tag on his body which had a red border and a skull and crossbones on it (I think) before they went on past him into the building.

Edited October 27, 2022 by CoderLady

[ninjakid]

Hitu, Karen, and Victor were in the room when it blew. I'm not clear on what happened to Alvin, since he was in the clean room.

[ribboninthesky1]

10 hours ago, jabRI said:

She cheated.  THen Eva tried to use that against Hen as proof she was a bad mother.

Thank you for remembering! Maybe it wasn't in the flashback because it stopped after baby Denny, and the affair was later. 

[Jillybean]

On 10/24/2022 at 11:07 PM, Redrum said:

Just because I feel it needs to be said. 

Sally Ride was a lesbian who had to stay in the closet in order to be an astronaut. She was our first LGBT astronaut along with being the first American woman in space. 

I wish the episode had done a black screen comment at the end on this point. 

Apparently they thought it was more appropriate to score the scene with Mustang Sally ("Ride Sally Ride").

[AvidFan]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:27 AM, tennisgurl said:

The flashbacks were nice, it makes sense that Karen would have not been thrilled at first about adopting the child of her girlfriends addict ex girlfriend who caused them nothing but trouble, and it was nice seeing different periods in their relationship, learning how to prioritize each other and their new family.

I was really confused at first, because back in the storyline when Eva was released from prison and was trying to get custody of Denny, she said he was her child, and I assumed he was born during their relationship by artificial insemination and Eva referred to him as her child because she was the one who carried him and Hen was the adoptive parent, and was wondering why Hen was not telling Karen that she had a child while they were dating.

[mostlylurking]

The helmet hair on Karen in the flashbacks was amazing, ha!  Her look has completely changed from corporate business to boho mama.