S02.E07: Attack Ad

[ItCouldBeWorse]

18 hours ago, Night Cheese said:

And thus shoe-horning in mentions of Hulu with&without commercials. 

I laughed when in response to Barbara asking: "So you are saying that we are just gonna have to see this commercial forever and there's no way we can get it off the air?" the lawyer said: "You can pay for Hulu without commercials" and Barbara was dumbstruck.

On 11/3/2022 at 7:05 AM, BAForever said:

So proud of Janine! Tariq is a charmer, but a loser.  Glad Janine sent him literally and figuratively packing. Hate the charter school idea, won't get too detailed, but I had 3 kids transfer from charter to my public school class last year- and their skills were low. (In fairness, am certain than many transfers from public to charter also lack foundational skills).

Of course Tariq stole the jingle.  And the Nick Cannon baby shower gig. Bwwaaahhh

At least he replanted the flowers.

Edited November 4, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[JakeyJokes]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Yeah what @ZuluQueenOfDwarvessaid.  Also in Episode...2?  I think it was ...they showed Barbara, Melissa and Jacob hurrying to watch the morning news and Barbara has a big crush on him and his "non regional diction."  LOL.  Still one of my very favorite lines from the show.

I’m not from Philly, so I loved learning in the early days of this show that Jim Gardner is real, filmed a cameo for this show, and is a local legend in his area. And it makes perfect sense for Barbara’s longtime crush to be someone who isn’t a movie star or a singer but, no, the man who tells her the news every night! Especially when it was the late news and her husband was already asleep. 

[rollacoaster]

17 hours ago, Boofish said:

The best part of this episode was no Ashley the Teacher's Aide. She went from being a fun Mr. Johnson type background character to the most annoying person (at least to me) at the school. I thought she would be a fun addition but I never need to see her again.

14 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

This actress played a similar role on the last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, she seems to be making "annoying" her stock in trade 😀

This character needs hang out with the annoying nepotism receptionist on Hacks. They could wreak havoc together. 

[possibilities]

Ashley is like Tarik. A child.

[Crashcourse]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Ashley is like Tarik. A child.

Don't insult Tarik! 😅

He might be childish, but I don't think he's annoying like Ashley.  

[miasth]

Janine telling someone none of your business was a big🤨. I think Gregory was being a friend in trying to warn Janine. He rightfully guessed that she did not realize Tariq had ulterior motives. 

Tariq and Janine's relationship was unhealthy. However, I can't determine if he was selfish to the point of being obtuse or his actions stemmed from maliciousness. I found his excuses on why Janine couldn't go to his gigs in season 1 suspect and wondered if he was lying about what he is doing. He does have a certain charm which I think makes it easy to overlook his behavior for a time.

So this charter school story is not over. Interesting to see where it leads.

Edited November 4, 2022 by miasth

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

He might be childish, but I don't think he's annoying like Ashley.  

I sure do!

Ultimately I don't think it matters if he's consciously manipulative or just casually inconsiderate. He's obnoxious and selfish and his motives don't change any of that. He doesn't care about Janine or apparently his current girlfriend. He just uses people like objects, for his own gratification. He's a narcissist.

[mrsbagnet]

Janine is dressing better now. Her clothes fit a lot better. The outfit she was wearing when she was packing Tariq's stuff was really cute.

[Ms Blue Jay]

19 hours ago, Badsamaritan said:

Ooh, someone a little older, but smart and kinda nerdy.....Winston Duke as a widowed father and new transplant who's son joins Janine's class! But he's been a widower for a while and dated so none of that 'I'm still in love with my dead spouse' shit. 

Winston Duke. In glasses.....😍

And hopefully shorts.  Did I type that out loud?

[kathyk24]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I sure do!

Ultimately I don't think it matters if he's consciously manipulative or just casually inconsiderate. He's obnoxious and selfish and his motives don't change any of that. He doesn't care about Janine or apparently his current girlfriend. He just uses people like objects, for his own gratification. He's a narcissist.

Tariq knew what he was doing In Zoo Balloon he claimed that he was a feminist because he let Janine pay for everything. She's better off without him.

[Crashcourse]

Oh, I definitely think Janine is better off without Tariq, but I don't think he's evil or bad.  Also, if he were a teaching assistant, I doubt he'd be as annoying as Ashley.  He's not boyfriend material but I thought it was interesting that he mentioned the girlfriend being the third woman he's had a relationship with.  So, he's only had two more than Janine.  😄

[Catfi9ht]

23 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

Janine has low self esteem she probably thought Tariq was the best she could do. I'm tired of blaming women for men's behavior.

Agreed. Also we know Janine had an absentee mom that didn't really pay attention to her at all. Tariq was probably the first person to show her positive attention and filled the void she never had from her family.

Now that Janine is being exposed to other types of positive attention and healthy relationships in her life and viewing others', she's realizing what a positive relationship looks like and is seeking that for herself.

Shout out to Janine's friend (I forgot her name) to advise Janine to meet Tariq in a neutral location. She also tried a show Janine recommended, didn't like it, and was really nice about explaining how it wasn't for her. Janine really needs a good friend outside of work right now and I'm so happy she has one.

I'm pulling for Janine. I'm so glad we didn't have yet another episode where she oversteps boundaries. Instead, she establishes her own in a healthy way.

Great setup for a recurring plot line. I'm more of a serial viewer than episodic and am looking forward to what they do with the charter schools plot line.

This show is so great. This season started out strange for me compared to last season, but with this episode, I feel like we're on an upward trend.

[Lois Sandborne]

On 11/2/2022 at 9:08 PM, Shorty186 said:

Is it just me or did Tariq sample "California Love" for the jingle?

Dammit! I think you're right but that now guarantees that both of these will be stuck in my head all weekend.

The charter school arc continues. Wasn't the rival school that got their mail a few episodes ago also a charter? I am intrigued to see how our heroes can come out on top on this one, and still have it be funny, because in the real world school choice is just a pit of despair.  Loved seeing Leslie Odom Jr. as the sleazy CEO, and I'm glad they didn't let him leave without singing something, even if it was that jingle.

I also liked seeing Tariq again. He is fully terrible as a boyfriend, but it doesn't look like they're actually going back to that well. And he's hilarious. I laughed when he said the on-sight words could catch hands. I might be wrong, but I thought he was clearly lying about having a new girlfriend, just as a defense response to Janine turning him down. When he picked up his phone it didn't look like he dialed or anything. I just thought that was part of the joke about him being terrible as a man.

Who do we talk to about the Winston Duke thing? I just wanna register my support on the record.

[KayVeeTeeVee]

2 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

Dammit! I think you're right but that now guarantees that both of these will be stuck in my head all weekend.

The charter school arc continues. Wasn't the rival school that got their mail a few episodes ago also a charter? I am intrigued to see how our heroes can come out on top on this one, and still have it be funny, because in the real world school choice is just a pit of despair.  Loved seeing Leslie Odom Jr. as the sleazy CEO, and I'm glad they didn't let him leave without singing something, even if it was that jingle.

I also liked seeing Tariq again. He is fully terrible as a boyfriend, but it doesn't look like they're actually going back to that well. And he's hilarious. I laughed when he said the on-sight words could catch hands. I might be wrong, but I thought he was clearly lying about having a new girlfriend, just as a defense response to Janine turning him down. When he picked up his phone it didn't look like he dialed or anything. I just thought that was part of the joke about him being terrible as a man.

Who do we talk to about the Winston Duke thing? I just wanna register my support on the record.

Can't wait for the re-runs (okay, I can) so I can see all the little tidbits I missed!  This show is so great.

[kwnyc]

"Are you Aaron Burr, sir?"

"I am telling you I am not going!"

Broadway nerd humor.

[Tom1mac2]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:39 PM, Annber03 said:

That's what the song was! Thank you, I was trying to think of what it reminded me of!

I consider myself fully obsessed with Tupac, and can’t believe that I didn’t catch this😳!

[Joimiaroxeu]

A diss track on a public school.

You can't get that good TP in New York.

Barb. I am confident no one is allowed to call Barbara that.

Din din with NiNi for some nom noms.

Holey moley, there's a huge difference between the movies Up and Us. Huge. Those are not two films to get confused, Tariq.

A seasoned Timothée Chalamet. Heh, not on Jacob's best day. (Though they do have similar eyes, I think.)

A grown-ass man wearing Florscheims.

Draemond was full of himself but IMO he was telling no lies about Abbott. He just neglected to mention any of the good things.

Yeah, I hope we get to see Aaron Burr again. Forget California Love, now I've got several Hamilton songs running through my head again.

[Gwendolyn]

On 11/3/2022 at 8:37 AM, Black Knight said:

Loved that Gregory is still working in the garden, and his reaction to being caught in the act was hilarious. If Jacob ever catches him, he will never hear the end of it.

I love how you can watch the show out of order, but it still has these little call backs. I love that the garden is still there and Gregory is still secretly keeping it thriving.

And of course Tariq would pick the flowers. I don't think Tariq is evil, and just thoughtless. He cares about Janine, but he takes her for granted and uses her. Also note Janine said he's the only person she's been with, ever, and they got together in the 8th grade, but Tariq says he's been with 3 women, so he definitely cheated on Janine. She's like his backup gf.

At least Janine's got friends that got her back. Erica would totally have pulled her back if she'd known about the dinner. Yes, Gregory shouldn't be giving Janine relationship advice if he's dating someone else, but in his defense he doesn't know Janine likes him in that way (and if he did he might make a move,) but he thinks he's in the friend zone, hence dating the student's mom, so he was trying to be a friend and give her a heads up.

Finally, it'll be interesting to see if the charter school thing is a year long subplot. Charter schools weren't a thing when I was in school, so am I wrong in thinking like private schools, they can look like they're succeeding by not accepting or kicking to the curb kids who are underperforming, therefore skewing the data? Like if they had to take everyone like a public school would they have the same test results?

[possibilities]

7 hours ago, Gwendolyn said:

Charter schools weren't a thing when I was in school, so am I wrong in thinking like private schools, they can look like they're succeeding by not accepting or kicking to the curb kids who are underperforming, therefore skewing the data?

Yes, but it's even worse that that.

A private school has to fund itself. But charter schools take taxpayer money and often the formula is that if a student leaves the regular public school to go to the charter, the regular school loses money. So the public schools that have to take everyone and adhere to standards get worse, while the charters that cherry pick and avoid some of the rules get paid. 

[DearEvette]

On 11/5/2022 at 10:55 AM, Lois Sandborne said:

The charter school arc continues. Wasn't the rival school that got their mail a few episodes ago also a charter?

Yes.  And it is most likely a Legendary Schools 🎶 🎼 charter because the commercial featured the teacher from Abbot who got fired in the pilot and who is working at that rival school.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

19 hours ago, Gwendolyn said:

Also note Janine said he's the only person she's been with, ever, and they got together in the 8th grade, but Tariq says he's been with 3 women, so he definitely cheated on Janine. She's like his backup gf.

When Tariq and Janine split up, it was made clear that he had been faithful to her since 8th grade (he asked if he could now smash other people.) Now it appears that he's been with 2 other women since Janine (just like Janine's been free to date.)  That's not cheating on Janine. And if he got together with Janine while dating his current girlfriend, he'd be cheating on the latter, not on Janine.

Edited November 7, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Gwendolyn]

43 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

When Tariq and Janine split up, it was made clear that he had been faithful to her since 8th grade (he asked if he could now smash other people.) Now it appears that he's been with 2 other women since Janine (just like Janine's been free to date.)  That's not cheating on Janine.

Thank you for clarifying, it's been a while since I watched the first season finale. So basically Tariq moved on, while Janine did not. Still the fact he has a gf and was going to go out with Janine is sending her mixed signals.

[mrsbagnet]

2 hours ago, Gwendolyn said:

Thank you for clarifying, it's been a while since I watched the first season finale. So basically Tariq moved on, while Janine did not. Still the fact he has a gf and was going to go out with Janine is sending her mixed signals.

I think Tariq is lying about having a girlfriend. I saw it is as feeble attempt to make Janine jealous. Who else would want him?

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

5 hours ago, mrsbagnet said:

I think Tariq is lying about having a girlfriend. I saw it is as feeble attempt to make Janine jealous. Who else would want him?

I don’t know, I’ve known a lot of men who weren’t worth the $5 t-shirts they were wearing, and they always seem to be in a situationship or more with a woman who’s WAAAAAAAYYYYY too good for them. 

[rollacoaster]

9 hours ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

I don’t know, I’ve known a lot of men who weren’t worth the $5 t-shirts they were wearing, and they always seem to be in a situationship or more with a woman who’s WAAAAAAAYYYYY too good for them. 

TRUTH!!! 

Dudes like Tariq always seem to have the charm to pull...and string along...a higher quality of women then they should be able to. 

[dmmetler]

To get some idea (and I’d love to see Abbott address this) we had a student who really needed an IEP, but mom refused, saying we just didn’t understand her baby. We supported as much as we could legally, and figured out that if he was busy and doing something to help, he’d often participate really actively. He couldn’t read or write at level, but he knew a lot. He made a ton of folder games for kindergarten, sharpened probably thousands of pencils, loved to stack chairs and sort books…he was everyone’s favorite helper. 
 

His mom got him into a new KIPP charter via lottery. Now, KIPP is all about extremely structured, almost military-school type behavior. It was literally the last thing this kid needed-it guaranteed that pretty much everything he did would be wrong, even just walking down the hall or eating lunch. Not sure what happened, but he ended up exploding, and it was bad enough that the police were called. And I mean the kind of thing that makes national news, where it takes multiple armed officers to subdue a small kid. 
 

The one good thing that came of it was that the juvenile court ordered the evaluation that the kid needed, so when he came back to us, we could give him more of what he needed, instead of having to just modify as best we could. But yeah…we  got a kid back who had been severely traumatized and had added a ton of anxiety on top of autism, dyslexia, and adhd. 

 

[pasdetrois]

Think of how many kids there are like this. I watched it with a sibling and then a niece. No cops or violence, just shifted around schools , ignored by teachers, bullied by kids. For most, their promise is never fulfilled, and they have lonely lives because they are different.

Charter schools remind me of the "academies" in my day in the South. Integration = thundering white flight = private white academies = crumbling public school infrastructure. A cousin who teaches in a rural southern public school actually apologized to me because she could no longer afford to send her child to a private academy.

I'm wildly protective of our Janine. Not many characters like her in TV land.

I love this show so much I'm already worrying about how many seasons we will have.

Edited November 8, 2022 by pasdetrois

[Jillybean]

On 11/7/2022 at 12:26 AM, mrsbagnet said:

I think Tariq is lying about having a girlfriend. I saw it is as feeble attempt to make Janine jealous. Who else would want him?

Yeah, I think he was lying to save face when she told him she changed her mind about hanging out.

[Shorty186]

So can charter schools kick out students for not doing well academically? Also, if charter schools and public schools are both funded by tax payers, why does it seem like charter schools have more resources/funding?

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

2 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

So can charter schools kick out students for not doing well academically? Also, if charter schools and public schools are both funded by tax payers, why does it seem like charter schools have more resources/funding?

Yes, they can. Charters are funded by both taxpayers and by others, individuals and companies who believe in the charter (mission statement) and get a nice, juicy tax write-off. 
Charter schools have also gotten in trouble in the past for counseling students with disabilities not to attend, because they are still subject to providing Section 504 and IEP accommodations. Counseling out is illegal, but they are very sneaky. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/7/2022 at 3:41 PM, rollacoaster said:

TRUTH!!! 

Dudes like Tariq always seem to have the charm to pull...and string along...a higher quality of women then they should be able to. 

He's a generally happy guy, who pivots quickly depending on the situation he's in.  That can be attractive to some.

[bettername2come]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:19 PM, JeanJean said:

I bet he'll be back.

"Soon we'll see..."

I was so excited to see Leslie Odom Jr. And I got some late season The Office vibes with the talk of the camera crew. I loved Ava's. "I thought it was one of them! Like you can tell these moderately attractive white guys with beards apart!" When they brought up the ads, I figured the documentary or series about the school was being released. 

I can see why Janine likes Tariq. He is nice, happy, and not 100% useless. He paid his 20% of the rent, would chaperone field trips, dropped Janine off before borrowing the car, and seems to genuinely like doing the anti-drug performances for schools. Sure Janine's way too good for him, but it's refreshing to see the boyfriend we know is bad for her be just a leech instead of a genuinely bad person. 

[kathyk24]

19 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

"Soon we'll see..."

I was so excited to see Leslie Odom Jr. And I got some late season The Office vibes with the talk of the camera crew. I loved Ava's. "I thought it was one of them! Like you can tell these moderately attractive white guys with beards apart!" When they brought up the ads, I figured the documentary or series about the school was being released. 

I can see why Janine likes Tariq. He is nice, happy, and not 100% useless. He paid his 20% of the rent, would chaperone field trips, dropped Janine off before borrowing the car, and seems to genuinely like doing the anti-drug performances for schools. Sure Janine's way too good for him, but it's refreshing to see the boyfriend we know is bad for her be just a leech instead of a genuinely bad person. 

I think Tariq is a bad person He lived of Janine and used film of her and the other teachers without permission. I wonder if Tariq was the hard working teacher and Janine was the lazy bum would our comments be the same? I think everyone would tell her to get a job.

[Seelouis]

14 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

I think Tariq is a bad person He lived of Janine and used film of her and the other teachers without permission. I wonder if Tariq was the hard working teacher and Janine was the lazy bum would our comments be the same? I think everyone would tell her to get a job.

I don’t think Tariq knew about or used the film. He just wrote the jingle. 

[mostlylurking]

11 hours ago, Seelouis said:

He just wrote the jingle. 

Did he even write it or just sing it?  I mean there wasn’t much to it but I don’t think he came up with it. He just sang what they told him to (which was a rip off of California Love). 

[Seelouis]

12 hours ago, mostlylurking said:

Did he even write it or just sing it?  I mean there wasn’t much to it but I don’t think he came up with it. He just sang what they told him to (which was a rip off of California Love). 

He said the melody just “came to me” lol 

[possibilities]

I think he's a rotten person regardless of his involvement with the attack ad one way or the other. He's always been immature and a user. He clearly knows what he's doing when he steals the flowers from the garden, tries to get Janine to pay for everything, never takes responsibility for anything, and just basically goes after his appetites with no regard for the impact or feelings of anyone else. He had no clue what kind of movies Janine likes even after being with her for a very long time. He doesn't even TRY to do anything other than pursue his immediate impulses. He doesn't care how she feels. He just wants her to satisfy him in whatever way he wants at any particular moment. He never considers her at all.

[HappyBerry]

On 11/10/2022 at 6:26 PM, bettername2come said:

Sure Janine's way too good for him, but it's refreshing to see the boyfriend we know is bad for her be just a leech instead of a genuinely bad person

It's what I like about this and I liked about 'Shrill', where the guy the main character breaks up with isn't "bad", he just isn't quite where she needs him to be, and are in fact guys that could be pretty great if they spent some time doing a little introspection.

I feel like for a long time tv was dominated by the trope of the guy that is a man child being dragged to success by the women in his life, but is treated as a catch because he's "nice". I'm glad that it is being recognized that strong, self-sufficient female characters deserve partners who have more good qualities beyond "charming".

[possibilities]

I'm genuinely astounded that anyone finds him charming. 

[Black Knight]

On 11/17/2022 at 9:03 PM, possibilities said:

I'm genuinely astounded that anyone finds him charming. 

It comes out when he's around children.

Which in a way is a nice touch on the writers' part, because Janine obviously really loves children and it's understandable that that would make Tariq attractive to her. He'd be a good father in terms of being able to connect with children. But obviously his freeloading and irresponsibility rule him out for being a good choice for a partner and co-parent.

[Annber03]

54 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

It comes out when he's around children.

Which in a way is a nice touch on the writers' part, because Janine obviously really loves children and it's understandable that that would make Tariq attractive to her. He'd be a good father in terms of being able to connect with children. But obviously his freeloading and irresponsibility rule him out for being a good choice for a partner and co-parent.

That, and he gets on well with kids because he's a big kid himself. Which can be fun...until the girlfriend feels more like she's mothering her boyfriend instead of the two of them being equal partners who can behave like mature adults. 

[possibilities]

He is good with kids, but I wouldn't want him to be a babysitter (let alone a father) because he's not responsible enough. He's fun interacting with kids for a few minutes the way any kid is cute. But it fades fast because he's not a kid, and he doesn't have the limits kids live with, to  keep him out of making trouble.

[Crashcourse]

Janine is a teacher so she's good with kids,  However, I think Tariq would actually be a more responsible father.  If she had kids, she'd have them doing stupid stuff because, ya know, they can do anything!  🙄