Dear Edward - General Discussion

[BetterButter]

 

[juno]

Spoiler

I added the spoiler as I am not sure if anyone has seen this yet.

I have to add that I hate flashbacks. Why? because you get into the present moment in a show and boom they cut to the past. It really bothers me and mostly it is not useful especially when they are extended. Either you get into them or you just wait to go back to the present such as myself. A couple of flashbacks is good but when they are extended and take up a third of the show they can really take away from the show.

The present scenes with Edward are great and Taylor Schilling is knocking it out of the park with her character. The sad part is that this is the only story of the show that is interesting to me. As a result I fast forward to the Edward present day scenes and watch about 20 minutes of this show. The other stories are not interesting and even the great Connie Britton can't save her story for me.

 

 

[gesundheit]

Watched all three today. Dee Dee is a great character, I want even more of her story! And I love Kojo and Adriana and Becks. I have to say I'm not all that into Edward himself -- I'd like to spend more time with his aunt and uncle and less time with him and his new friend, but considering the title I guess this is what we'll be sticking with. 

The first episode was so grim but it's settling in to a nice place where there's both tragedy and a lot of hope.

[Mindthinkr]

36 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

The first episode was so grim

Not only that, it was so realistic. It pumped me full of emotion. Probably one of the best plane crash scenes I’ve ever watched. (Not into disaster movies in general so perhaps I’m wrong). I’m enjoying this so far. I especially love the mystery of Edward and the mystery girl who gave him the 

Spoiler

Shrunken head

I can’t wait to see where that storyline goes. 
The Congresswoman’s granddaughter storyline is a bit textbook romance. 

[gesundheit]

Also, I wonder what the point was of showing us the rescuer with a drug problem in the first episode and then never revisiting? Saving it for later? Tossing in a few "hooks" for possible future seasons of folks to go back and track?

[bigmag]

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

Also, I wonder what the point was of showing us the rescuer with a drug problem in the first episode and then never revisiting? Saving it for later? Tossing in a few "hooks" for possible future seasons of folks to go back and track?

I wondered about that too.  Since it obviously didn't affect his ability once they got to the crash site it seemed rather pointless and random unless there is some future blowback.

[Jillybean]

I was interested in this because Connie Britton, but I decided to read the book first. Now I'm not as interested in the show because it doesn't seem to follow the book (which, admittedly, would be challenging). Seems to be another "loosely based," like Firefly Lane.

[bilgistic]

On 2/3/2023 at 11:16 PM, gesundheit said:

Watched all three today. Dee Dee is a great character, I want even more of her story! And I love Kojo and Adriana and Becks. I have to say I'm not all that into Edward himself -- I'd like to spend more time with his aunt and uncle and less time with him and his new friend, but considering the title I guess this is what we'll be sticking with. 

The first episode was so grim but it's settling in to a nice place where there's both tragedy and a lot of hope.

I'm glad to see that someone else feels the way I do. I'm just not interested in another story about a boy who's a brooding, precocious, "misunderstood genius."

Literally everyone else's story is more compelling, although I don't understand why Linda bothered with flying across the country to tell her dead boyfriend's parents that she's pregnant with their grandchild if she doesn't want anything from them. Just...don't tell them? Of course they're going to want something from you, Linda.

It was broadcast from space that Adriana was going to go into politics as soon as she said she wasn't going into politics. Because we knew in episode one that her grandmother was going to perish in the crash, I was just waiting for her to "decide" that she was going to run for her grandmother's seat. I really like her, though, so I'm glad to see her story develop.

Dee Dee's husband is gay, right?

[gesundheit]

20 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Dee Dee's husband is gay, right?

I guess? But I have so many questions! And of course was infuriated that Dee Dee just walked away from that woman's house without asking any! (I totally understand that it's in character and works for the story, it's just not in my character, so it drove me nuts!)

[juno]

Episode 4. When Lacey (who is my favorite character) said to Edward "What can I do for you hon" I wept. What I would have given to hear those words once in my lifetime.

This show just has real moments of greatness.

[bilgistic]

I still don't care about Edward, but I feel bad about it. I really don't care about the neighbor kid.

The funeral was beautiful. I wept.

[Straycat80]

Two episodes in and so far so good. I’m assuming Dee Dee’s husband had a secret mistress he was going to visit in LA. hence the condo she didn’t know about. 
I’m liking the rest of the characters so far except the weird neighbor girl. The flashbacks don’t bother me either. 

[Straycat80]

I watched episodes 3 & 4 today. Charles was gay. And I don’t know how he was able to afford that condo, support those kids, and Dee Dee’s extravagant lifestyle when he lost his job two years before. 
I cried at the funeral for Beks mom.

I have to go back to the first episode because I missed the ex-drug addict and his fiancé. Also don’t remember much about pregnant girl and her fiancé either. 
I changed my mind about Shea, I’m glad she’s being a good friend to Edward. 

[Unraveled]

On 2/12/2023 at 9:01 PM, Straycat80 said:

I watched episodes 3 & 4 today. Charles was gay. And I don’t know how he was able to afford that condo, support those kids, and Dee Dee’s extravagant lifestyle when he lost his job two years before. 

I think he went into a lot of debt to support his other life. The financial advisor(?) talked about mortgages to the house, depleted retirement accounts, etc.

[gesundheit]

I don't know about this show. Good actors, good stories and characters (for the most part), but there's something kind of hackneyed about the smaller moments. Shay's dialogue. Adrianna's silly, question-evading speech getting a standing O?? ("You don't want to see me before coffee!" Cringe.) "There's no playbook for this." John couldn't just tell the angry people at the bar that he was a family member of the one crash survivor? Mystery girl at the bodega acting like she had something urgent to tell Edward but spending every moment of her available time just telling him to be quiet? 

Anyway, this week's episode was definitely a backslide for me. Also, it's nice that everyone understands Edward may need a wider berth than most 12-year-olds, but no, in fact, he cannot "sleep wherever he wants." I'd imagine Shay's mom did not want to inherit an extra kid but has too much compassion to tell him he can't just stay there every night. For now. 

Connie Britton continues to be the magical entity she is, though. And I'm glad we finally got a little more justification for those big moments with Rescue Dude in the first episode. And Amanda and her fiance's brother hadn't had nearly enough to drink to be making terrible decisions like that! I also feel like we hadn't spent enough time with her for a moment like that yet?

 

[Dminches]

This show is a mile wide and an inch deep. The topic is serious and thought-provoking but they are making it too much of a soap opera. The love triangle is weak as is the brother sleeping with his could-have-been sister-in-law.  

 

[Straycat80]

I don’t know where they are going with this show. Maybe too many characters and storylines? Agree it’s becoming soap opera-ish. I’ll keep watching to see if anything happens with the letters to Edward and the mystery of was the shrunken head girl really Jordan’s girlfriend. Everyone else I’m losing interest in. 

[Harvey]

Huh, I just watched episode 1 and I quite liked it, but based on the reception here I'll just wait until the entire season is out and then I'll see if it's worth continuing with.

[Sarahsmile416]

On 2/18/2023 at 11:02 AM, Straycat80 said:

I don’t know where they are going with this show. Maybe too many characters and storylines? Agree it’s becoming soap opera-ish. I’ll keep watching to see if anything happens with the letters to Edward and the mystery of was the shrunken head girl really Jordan’s girlfriend. Everyone else I’m losing interest in. 

Watching the most recent episode and yes, way too many characters.  They just shoehorned another into the plot and I don’t even remember who he is other than the fact that he is a loved one and in the support group.  Yet this show is asking me to remember not only who he is but his entire relationship with his loved one, which I don’t.  Very frustrating. 

Then, shrunken head girl asks Edward to tell her about the accident for what purpose exactly? Assuage her own anxiety? I get it, she’s a kid, but common sense honey? Get some.  

Connie Britton’s daughter and her selfishness wanting to buy a 700 dollar sleeping bag…I cannot.  

Sticking with this show for Connie Britton at this point because I am struggling to like anyone else at this point

[Mindthinkr]

43 minutes ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

Connie Britton’s daughter and her selfishness wanting to buy a 700 dollar sleeping bag…

   I’m amazed that she’s willing to try and bankroll her daughter’s one year sabbatical backpacking through Europe. Meanwhile the bank is coming for her house. She just needs to be up front and tell her child that financial sacrifices have to be made. 
   At the end when Sam was on her computer, was he trying to help her get her finances in order? 

[Sarahsmile416]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

   I’m amazed that she’s willing to try and bankroll her daughter’s one year sabbatical backpacking through Europe. Meanwhile the bank is coming for her house. She just needs to be up front and tell her child that financial sacrifices have to be made. 
   At the end when Sam was on her computer, was he trying to help her get her finances in order? 

I am too! I thought she could have at least told her that they couldn’t afford that at this point.  I can understand not saying anything about her husband’s second life, but come on, the finances affect her daughter too.

Yes, as I understand it, that was what he was trying to do. 

Honestly, the worst thing about all these characters is that I can’t keep up with their names!

 

I have never been one for hate watching a show, but this may turn into that for me because this show is truly starting to irritate. 

Lacey basically blaming everything on her husband yet cannot take responsibility for anything she might have done such as basically just putting up with pregnant Linda for reasons? 

Fiancée of dead guy (Amanda?) sleeping with dead guy’s brother and then screaming at him because he turned his back on his brother and blaming his falling off the wagon on him and yet she herself ended her engagement for the same reason??? Perhaps AlAnon might be a good meeting for both of them to attend as well.   

These people are all too stupid at this point…

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Sarahsmile416
Watched rest and had to comment further

[Straycat80]

It’s been hard enough keeping up with these characters and their names and now there’s a Ben? Sam? A guy (name?) who bartends in a gay bar? Where did these guys come from? 
At least Edward is starting to deal with his trauma. That’s good I guess. 
I too am hate watching at this point. 
 

[juno]

I am having the strangest relationship with this show. I watched the first few episodes and found that I only like Edward's thread. BTW Taylor Schilling is amazing in this role and Carter Hudson (John) is starting to break through as well.

So now I fast forward through all the other sections and just watch Edward's story. I am really enjoying it. Really strange though.

[Sarahsmile416]

3 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

It’s been hard enough keeping up with these characters and their names and now there’s a Ben? Sam? A guy (name?) who bartends in a gay bar? Where did these guys come from? 
At least Edward is starting to deal with his trauma. That’s good I guess. 
I too am hate watching at this point. 
 

I have no idea how someone can heal from trauma with these idiots picking at his wounds like it’s his responsibility to give them peace.  Damn I hate these people. 

1 hour ago, juno said:

I am having the strangest relationship with this show. I watched the first few episodes and found that I only like Edward's thread. BTW Taylor Schilling is amazing in this role and Carter Hudson (John) is starting to break through as well.

So now I fast forward through all the other sections and just watch Edward's story. I am really enjoying it. Really strange though.

 

I liked Edward until this last episode.  Leaving Shae waiting for 72 minutes and then basically minimizing their friendship in one fell swoop.  He really was being an asshole.  I felt for Shae more in this episode than in any other.  

For me, I am really only enjoying DeeDee’s story…but then, I love Connie Britton.  I kind of loved her going from destroying the walls of her house to putting makeup on dead man brother’s eye and shrugging off his puking on her shirt because it was “last year” 🤣

Edited February 25, 2023 by Sarahsmile416

[Harvey]

12 hours ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

Watching the most recent episode and yes, way too many characters.  They just shoehorned another into the plot and I don’t even remember who he is other than the fact that he is a loved one and in the support group.  Yet this show is asking me to remember not only who he is but his entire relationship with his loved one, which I don’t.  Very frustrating.

Connie Britton’s daughter and her selfishness wanting to buy a 700 dollar sleeping bag…I cannot.  

Sticking with this show for Connie Britton at this point because I am struggling to like anyone else at this point

 

11 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

   I’m amazed that she’s willing to try and bankroll her daughter’s one year sabbatical backpacking through Europe. Meanwhile the bank is coming for her house. She just needs to be up front and tell her child that financial sacrifices have to be made. 
   At the end when Sam was on her computer, was he trying to help her get her finances in order? 

 

10 hours ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

I am too! I thought she could have at least told her that they couldn’t afford that at this point.  I can understand not saying anything about her husband’s second life, but come on, the finances affect her daughter too.

Yes, as I understand it, that was what he was trying to do. 

Honestly, the worst thing about all these characters is that I can’t keep up with their names!

 

I have never been one for hate watching a show, but this may turn into that for me because this show is truly starting to irritate. 

Lacey basically blaming everything on her husband yet cannot take responsibility for anything she might have done such as basically just putting up with pregnant Linda for reasons? 

Fiancée of dead guy (Amanda?) sleeping with dead guy’s brother and then screaming at him because he turned his back on his brother and blaming his falling off the wagon on him and yet she herself ended her engagement for the same reason??? Perhaps AlAnon might be a good meeting for both of them to attend as well.   

These people are all too stupid at this point…

 

So many good points in these comments! I agree, there are way too many storylines going on. For me, only Dee Dee, Edward and the pregnant lady's stroylines grabbed me, I mostly skip the others. The one with the politician x guy from Uganda and their romance is so completely obvious, okay they will get together and she will win the election, can we just get it over with? We don't need to see so much development for something so cliché. And the story with the woman who sleeps with her would be brother in law is just completely stupid and as others pointed out above, unreasonable.

Dee Dee's daughter's entitlement is just another level and very irritating to watch, and then here we are asking, well why doesn't Dee Dee just tell her what is going on? But so much of the show relies on people being secretive around each other for no real reason. Like, if they just had a normal, honest conversation, most of these storylines would be resolved in 1-2 episodes and there would be no show. But this approach is quite noticeable when 80% of ongoing storylines depend on this.

2 hours ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

I liked Edward until this last episode.  Leaving Shae waiting for 72 minutes and then basically minimizing their friendship in one fell swoop.  He really was being an asshole.  I felt for Shae more in this episode than in any other. 

It's inconsistent writing. In the first episode they made a big point out of how smart he is and it frustrated his brother, but then he doesn't have enough social intelligence to realize that he is being rude to the only person who he likes at this point. Like I know that social intelligence can be different than musical one which he needs to play the piano, but come on now....

[bilgistic]

Are you all me? Because we all have the same thoughts. I can sort of understand Edward's brother's girlfriend asking about the crash because she's a kid, but for Linda, an adult, to ask seems very not OK. No one is thinking about anyone but themselves, and it's exhausting.

I really don't want Lacey to "miraculously" get pregnant as soon as she gives all her baby supplies to Linda.

I keep yelling at DeeDee to SELL THE HOUSE! Stop busting holes in the walls! Even if it's a short sale, the bank will likely accept it. I know the money problems are worse than that, but stop dicking around and spending money! Sell the high-fashion clothes that are "last season", sell the house, sell it all and become a real estate agent or whatever. Damn!

[Empress1]

15 hours ago, Harvey said:

Dee Dee's daughter's entitlement is just another level and very irritating to watch, and then here we are asking, well why doesn't Dee Dee just tell her what is going on? But so much of the show relies on people being secretive around each other for no real reason.

This is definitely one of those shows where if people talked to each other, none of these conflicts would exist. I get Dee Dee (I adore Connie Britton and have since Friday Night Lights -Tami Taylor has a lot of goodwill with me) not telling her bratty-ass daughter about her father’s sexuality, but she has to tell her about their finances. My parents would have been like “you want to drop out of school and have us pay for a vacation? Nah, kid.”

I find myself so bothered by Charles’s secret life. It sort of feels like the show wants us to accept the cheating and lying as okay because he was struggling with his sexuality. I have a family friend who left his wife of 20+ years because he came out, and while hurting his ex-wife was inevitable (I don’t know if there was any infidelity, but she was very hurt and angry), he at least tried to end the marriage as kindly as possible. Charles wasn’t acting intentionally maliciously but he wasn’t acting kindly either.

Also everyone in LA knew about DeeDee - what was he telling them? We know the boyfriend knew Charles was married and that their situation wasn’t open since he called himself a home wrecker, but what was Charles telling the people at the center about her? 

5 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I keep yelling at DeeDee to SELL THE HOUSE! Stop busting holes in the walls! Even if it's a short sale, the bank will likely accept it. I know the money problems are worse than that, but stop dicking around and spending money! Sell the high-fashion clothes that are "last season", sell the house, sell it all and become a real estate agent or whatever. Damn!

Yeah, I think she’s in denial about how bad it is. She’s going to be left with nothing - it sounds like the debts are bigger than the value of the estate - and didn’t she say she only has a high school education? The prospect of starting from scratch in your 50s has got to be daunting. I get why she doesn’t want to face it. (Resale value of clothing is pretty low though!)

(Dee Dee sitting at the table trying to cancel all the utilities took me back to the absolutely horrible experience Verizon put me through trying to cancel my late father’s phone.)

On 2/24/2023 at 4:44 PM, Sarahsmile416 said:

Fiancée of dead guy (Amanda?) sleeping with dead guy’s brother and then screaming at him because he turned his back on his brother and blaming his falling off the wagon on him and yet she herself ended her engagement for the same reason??? Perhaps AlAnon might be a good meeting for both of them to attend as well.  

Right? He was an addict. When he was using, he put people he loved and who loved him through hell, and eventually they had enough and distanced themselves - which is the right thing to do, in my opinion. I fully understand the brother feeling guilty, but the fiancée doesn’t have a leg to stand on. She’s projecting. And his addiction isn’t the brother’s fault.

(The brother is very good-looking.)

[gesundheit]

I'm feeling pretty similarly to everyone else. Like, now we have a new guy? So now we have two "man coming to terms with his sexuality" storylines, one in the present and one coming out in pieces from the past?

On 2/24/2023 at 2:43 PM, Sarahsmile416 said:

Watching the most recent episode and yes, way too many characters.  They just shoehorned another into the plot and I don’t even remember who he is other than the fact that he is a loved one and in the support group.  Yet this show is asking me to remember not only who he is but his entire relationship with his loved one, which I don’t.  

I don't think we're even supposed to remember that, because I don't think we've heard anything from him before. He's been there, having significant-looking reactions to other people's stories (especially Dee Dee's), but I honestly don't remember him ever talking before. It's too much. If they wanted to follow this many people, they should've had more of them from the jump instead of basically introducing them and asking us to care this many episodes in.

On 2/24/2023 at 3:28 PM, Mindthinkr said:

   I’m amazed that she’s willing to try and bankroll her daughter’s one year sabbatical backpacking through Europe. Meanwhile the bank is coming for her house. She just needs to be up front and tell her child that financial sacrifices have to be made. 
   At the end when Sam was on her computer, was he trying to help her get her finances in order? 

Yes, I'm aching for her to just tell the daughter she cannot afford it. She's absolutely got the right instinct to protect her daughter from ugly truths, but unfortunately the lack of money is cold fact. 

I think that might've been the implication at the end? I do like Sam, even as a late add. Dee Dee must be so irritated though, that somehow she became the group mom. Everyone keeps coming to her with their problems. Doesn't that grief group have a facilitator?? (He always looks bored on the rare occasion that they show him.)

It's been bugging me this whole series that the grief group is in NYC when obviously people on the plane could've been from anywhere, it could've been a connection, they could've been flying home, etc. I'm such a dope that it didn't even occur to me till this episode that there's probably another grief group for the crash's bereaved in LA. (Oh god, they'll probably start making us watch their stories out of nowhere two episodes from now!)

[Harvey]

5 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I don't think we're even supposed to remember that, because I don't think we've heard anything from him before. He's been there, having significant-looking reactions to other people's stories (especially Dee Dee's), but I honestly don't remember him ever talking before.

 

I always found this part strange, there is so much focus on him just making sad / distraught faces in the therapy group without actually being a character we know. Now of course it makes sense: he was reacting strongly to Dee Dee's stories because he was kinda doing the same thing: he had a thing for the guy who is dead while being married to a woman. And now he is toying with the idea of hooking up with the bartender guy while also being married. 😵

I'm curious if this will get a 2nd season, as it feels like a lot of these storylines could be tied up in the remaining 4 episodes, but we'll see.

[Sarahsmile416]

18 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I'm feeling pretty similarly to everyone else. Like, now we have a new guy? So now we have two "man coming to terms with his sexuality" storylines, one in the present and one coming out in pieces from the past?

I don't think we're even supposed to remember that, because I don't think we've heard anything from him before. He's been there, having significant-looking reactions to other people's stories (especially Dee Dee's), but I honestly don't remember him ever talking before. It's too much. If they wanted to follow this many people, they should've had more of them from the jump instead of basically introducing them and asking us to care this many episodes in.

Yes, I'm aching for her to just tell the daughter she cannot afford it. She's absolutely got the right instinct to protect her daughter from ugly truths, but unfortunately the lack of money is cold fact. 

I think that might've been the implication at the end? I do like Sam, even as a late add. Dee Dee must be so irritated though, that somehow she became the group mom. Everyone keeps coming to her with their problems. Doesn't that grief group have a facilitator?? (He always looks bored on the rare occasion that they show him.)

It's been bugging me this whole series that the grief group is in NYC when obviously people on the plane could've been from anywhere, it could've been a connection, they could've been flying home, etc. I'm such a dope that it didn't even occur to me till this episode that there's probably another grief group for the crash's bereaved in LA. (Oh god, they'll probably start making us watch their stories out of nowhere two episodes from now!)

For some reason, I thought he was the guy who was giving Lacey advice on Edward and telling her she should insist on having him not sleep at Shae’s.  Was that not him? Too many people, again lol. 

What I am also not understanding is if Lacey’s husband is also grieving her sister and her husband (which I believe), why isn’t he attending the grief group as well?

I’ve been pissed at Amanda since she basically told her fiancée’s brother he couldn’t come to the grief group.  Like wtf lady, you don’t own the damned group, let him grieve his brother.  

 

12 hours ago, Harvey said:

I always found this part strange, there is so much focus on him just making sad / distraught faces in the therapy group without actually being a character we know. Now of course it makes sense: he was reacting strongly to Dee Dee's stories because he was kinda doing the same thing: he had a thing for the guy who is dead while being married to a woman. And now he is toying with the idea of hooking up with the bartender guy while also being married. 😵

I'm curious if this will get a 2nd season, as it feels like a lot of these storylines could be tied up in the remaining 4 episodes, but we'll see.

A second season? Oh hell, I hope not…they’ll start adding in more characters and then I’ll need a damned chyron on the screen…more than I already do lol

Edited February 26, 2023 by Sarahsmile416

[Empress1]

43 minutes ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

Like wtf lady, you don’t own the damned group, let him grieve his brother.  

I wanted the grief counselor to intervene then. He’s barely said anything! As someone said, he usually looks bored when people are talking.

[juno]

45 minutes ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

A second season? Oh hell, I hope not…they’ll start adding in more characters and then I’ll need a damned chyron on the screen…more than I already do lol

Actually, I was hoping they would start to merge the characters into each other's stories. Somehow I want Connie to be in Edward's universe.

[iggysaurus]

I was super interested in this show at first but it’s losing me now. Like everyone else said, why introduce new characters so late when there’s already too many to keep up with? Plus some of the dialog and acting is just bad. 
 

This might be mean, but I don’t really like kid characters in general. Edward is ok, but I can’t get myself to care about his drama with Shay and the other girl. I felt like I was watching a bad tween show. The way the brother’s mysterious gf appeared at the museum with her hair blowing glamorously, and Shay’s obvious jealousy…whatever. They’re 12! I don’t care about a triangle between 12 year olds. And again, the acting isn’t great. I know you have to cut some slack for kid actors, but that’s part of why I don’t really want to watch a major storyline about some kids’ drama. 
 

Adriana and Kojo are so predictable and cliche. It’s so obvious where that storyline is going and it just makes me impatient. 
 

The only one I care about is Connie Britton. The whole show should just be about her, losing her husband in a plane crash and then trying to piece together who he really was. That alone would make for a good show and would be enough to fill 10 episodes if they gave it the depth it deserves. 

[gesundheit]

1 hour ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

What I am also not understanding is if Lacey’s husband is also grieving her sister and her husband (which I believe), why isn’t he attending the grief group as well?

My guess is is the ring theory approach to crisis/grief. He is less affected than Lacey (who in turn is less affected than Edward, the center). Or maybe he just isn't interested in talk therapy -- which wouldn't surprise me since he has a "say the hard thing then leave the room if it's not well received" approach to discussions. John (I think that's his name) should definitely get some therapy, though! And I think Lacey needs more than the support group, too. And obviously Edward does. They should be in family therapy with somebody just focused on them. Not that I understand how slowly or quickly inheritances move since I've never gotten one o' those, but it's clear Edward's family was wealthy so it seems like Lacey and John would've gotten a good chunk of it, and even if the bulk of it is going to take a while to get, they should certainly have some right away as Edward's legal guardians. 

I've been in a grief group but never one in response to a specific event that took all our loved ones, so I'm just not sure how that would work anyway -- particularly because of complications like people grilling the survivor for details. But what I can say is that our facilitator was much more engaged and helpful!

2 hours ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

For some reason, I thought he was the guy who was giving Lacey advice on Edward and telling her she should insist on having him not sleep at Shae’s.  Was that not him? Too many people, again lol. 

That definitely may have been him! But I'm pretty sure we've never heard him talk about his own situation before this episode.

[Sarahsmile416]

1 hour ago, iggysaurus said:

I was super interested in this show at first but it’s losing me now. Like everyone else said, why introduce new characters so late when there’s already too many to keep up with? Plus some of the dialog and acting is just bad. 
 

This might be mean, but I don’t really like kid characters in general. Edward is ok, but I can’t get myself to care about his drama with Shay and the other girl. I felt like I was watching a bad tween show. The way the brother’s mysterious gf appeared at the museum with her hair blowing glamorously, and Shay’s obvious jealousy…whatever. They’re 12! I don’t care about a triangle between 12 year olds. And again, the acting isn’t great. I know you have to cut some slack for kid actors, but that’s part of why I don’t really want to watch a major storyline about some kids’ drama. 
 

Adriana and Kojo are so predictable and cliche. It’s so obvious where that storyline is going and it just makes me impatient. 
 

The only one I care about is Connie Britton. The whole show should just be about her, losing her husband in a plane crash and then trying to piece together who he really was. That alone would make for a good show and would be enough to fill 10 episodes if they gave it the depth it deserves. 

I completely agree about Connie Britton…I would definitely watch an entire series about her and how she comes to grips with her grief and finding out who her husband really was.

That should have been the show…I would have been all in on that.

Mentioning Adriana, Becks and Kojo - I am with you.  This is such a cliche storyline and dare I say it, Kojo was right.  She is getting too close to Becks. This isn’t emotionally healthy for her…she is literally sublimating her grief and pouring it all into this new pseudo mother relationship with Adriana.  Kojo needs to get the heck out of there and get to Ghana.   Adriana may have helped you initially but now you are all crazy enmeshed in each other’s lives and it’s not helping any of you.

53 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

My guess is is the ring theory approach to crisis/grief. He is less affected than Lacey (who in turn is less affected than Edward, the center). Or maybe he just isn't interested in talk therapy -- which wouldn't surprise me since he has a "say the hard thing then leave the room if it's not well received" approach to discussions. John (I think that's his name) should definitely get some therapy, though! And I think Lacey needs more than the support group, too. And obviously Edward does. They should be in family therapy with somebody just focused on them. Not that I understand how slowly or quickly inheritances move since I've never gotten one o' those, but it's clear Edward's family was wealthy so it seems like Lacey and John would've gotten a good chunk of it, and even if the bulk of it is going to take a while to get, they should certainly have some right away as Edward's legal guardians. 

I've been in a grief group but never one in response to a specific event that took all our loved ones, so I'm just not sure how that would work anyway -- particularly because of complications like people grilling the survivor for details. But what I can say is that our facilitator was much more engaged and helpful!

That definitely may have been him! But I'm pretty sure we've never heard him talk about his own situation before this episode.

No, I agree.  That’s what I kind of meant - he was always in the periphery of other people’s drama within the group and now they want to make me care about whatever the hell he’s got going on.  Since I don’t even know who he is, I’m not going to care.  

Jason Katims is better than this show…at least I thought he was…

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I wanted the grief counselor to intervene then. He’s barely said anything! As someone said, he usually looks bored when people are talking.

He should have.  But let’s face it, he is useless.  DeeDee should be running this group or at least find someone better than this guy.  

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

Not that I understand how slowly or quickly inheritances move since I've never gotten one o' those, but it's clear Edward's family was wealthy so it seems like Lacey and John would've gotten a good chunk of it, and even if the bulk of it is going to take a while to get, they should certainly have some right away as Edward's legal guardians. 

Depends on how complex the estate is, if there are any debts to settle, if there are named beneficiaries (which trumps a will - if my will says “I leave everything to the circus” and my retirement account has my sibling as the named beneficiary, the sibling gets the retirement account, not the circus) or transfer-on-death accounts, and if there’s a will, but settling an estate can take years. If there’s property to sell, for example, that takes as long as it takes to sell, which depends on the market. I think Prince’s estate is still up in the air because he didn’t have a will.

This reminds me that I’m not sure how much time has passed since the crash. I’m guessing not much since the pregnant one is still pregnant.

I was in a grief group right after I lost my dad (less than a month), and the grief counselor … you know, talked. Counseled. This guy just sits there!

[Harvey]

15 hours ago, iggysaurus said:

This might be mean, but I don’t really like kid characters in general. Edward is ok, but I can’t get myself to care about his drama with Shay and the other girl. I felt like I was watching a bad tween show.

This so much. Like, the show tries to create this big mistery about the letters that Edward is receiving, but really, what kind of stuff was going on in his brother's life that makes us think that those letter would hold any interesting information? He was 15, it's not like he was out there living some exciting double life, they are probably about nothing big, it's just mystery for mystery's sake + added drama when Edward finds out that his aunt has been hiding the letters from him.

[bilgistic]

18 hours ago, Sarahsmile416 said:

they’ll start adding in more characters and then I’ll need a damned chyron on the screen…more than I already do lol

I said this exact thing when I was watching the show last week. With the addition of the new guy, I definitely need names and descriptions of who they are and how they relate to the rest of the cast and storyline.

[gesundheit]

19 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Depends on how complex the estate is, if there are any debts to settle, if there are named beneficiaries (which trumps a will - if my will says “I leave everything to the circus” and my retirement account has my sibling as the named beneficiary, the sibling gets the retirement account, not the circus) or transfer-on-death accounts, and if there’s a will, but settling an estate can take years. If there’s property to sell, for example, that takes as long as it takes to sell, which depends on the market. I think Prince’s estate is still up in the air because he didn’t have a will.

But if a living child goes to new guardians, one would assume some sort of trust would immediately be available for his care? Which would be separate from the rest of it?

 

(None of this is really important of course, I'm just obsessed with the idea that you could inherit a rich family's kid but not be provided with any immediate funding for the care of said kid!)

[Empress1]

35 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

But if a living child goes to new guardians, one would assume some sort of trust would immediately be available for his care? Which would be separate from the rest of it?

 

(None of this is really important of course, I'm just obsessed with the idea that you could inherit a rich family's kid but not be provided with any immediate funding for the care of said kid!)

With the caveat that I am not an estate attorney, this does not constitute legal advice, and I am happy to be corrected by someone whose domain this is, I guess there would be a couple of scenarios. In one, Edward's parents had all their ducks in a row: they had a will, a named executor of said will, the estate plan has all the account information so whoever the executor is knows where to look, they named Lacey and John the legal guardians of their children, and they have it set up so that all their assets go to them, or in trust for Edward and they've designated someone to manage the trust until he's of age. My best friend and her husband have a long list of guardians for their kids (I'm on it but pretty far down, although higher up than one of their siblings, which is a trip) and their will has that spelled out, and if anything happens to both of them at once, First Choice Guardian gets everything so that, as you say, they can care for their kids. (My best friend and her husband are both lawyers; they plan.) I think this would be the situation in which guardians would have access to funds the fastest, though still not, like, the next day; you have to submit death certificates and whatnot, it's a pretty bureaucratic process. Banks of any size have bereavement departments that handle this stuff.

If there's no will, it gets messier. I think Edward would actually be the one to inherit over Lacey, but again, because he's a minor, someone would have to be the custodian and manage the trust until he's legal. If you have to file to become the custodian, you'd be at the mercy of however fast or slowly the court moved to approve you. (Someone would also have to file to be the administrator and do all the work of settling the estate, or hire someone to do all the work of settling the estate.) The line of succession varies state to state, but in NY it's living spouse first; if there's no living spouse it's kids; if there's neither living spouse nor kids, I think it's parents (so Edward's grandparents) next; if none of the above, then it's siblings, and then I think it's like "every other blood relative." I think if some combination of these relatives are living (e.g. surviving spouse and adult children, like DeeDee and her daughter), it's shared among them, but I'm not certain.

I guess if there were no will and more living relatives, there could be a custody fight over Edward - like if the dad had a sister, that aunt would have as much right to Edward as Lacey does if there were no will saying otherwise.

So I think the bottom line is, the more prepared you are, the faster things go, so I suppose the moral of the story is to have your legal affairs in order!

[ZeeEnnui]

I'm all in on the DeeDee train (Tami Taylor 4eva!). It's funny before this show premiered I read a review and a critic that I quite like said that her performance was way too OTT, and it felt as though she was on another show. I couldn't disagree more with that. DeeDee is a lot, but she's self-aware enough to acknowledge that. Her journey feels very messy. She's dealing with the discovery that her life with her husband was a lie (didn't she say that she'd been with him since she was 17?!?) and is trying to clean up a financial dumpster fire. Frankly, I'm shocked she's only gone to town on the walls of her dining room. What I also like is that while she's very kind to everyone (who doesn't love a sympathy crepe?) she also has boundaries like when the pregnant girl asked her to go to the ultra-sound. It wasn't cruel but there is only so much someone who is also dealing with grief can give. 

Speaking of boundaries...pregnant girl could use a few. Cornering Edward in a dark kitchen like that was so inappropriate. The kid survived a terrible crash. He's not the second coming of Jesus. Back off. 

Glad the guy who just seems so supportive but is just "there" at the focus group got a subplot (because we needed yet another character to follow). I will never stop rolling my eyes if he ends up helping DeeDee to come to terms with her husband's secret life.

Junkie fiancee can kick rocks. Just because someone apologizes does not mean they are owed forgiveness. That's the risk you take when you burn bridges. Her rage towards the brother is ridiculous. 

I love Lacey. That is all. 

 

[Empress1]

17 hours ago, ZeeEnnui said:

She's dealing with the discovery that her life with her husband was a lie (didn't she say that she'd been with him since she was 17?!?)

Yep - her entire adult life, probably her only romantic relationship. None of it is what she thought it was. That’s huge. If I were her I’d be wondering if he ever loved me or if I was just a beard. And as she said, she’s humiliated (that struck me most in her monologue at the group), and she can’t even fight with him. She sat there with her financial advisor saying “we tell each other everything,” and then she learns the extent to which that’s not true. If he were alive and she found all this out, they could have the big fights and she could scream and cry and he’d know how much he hurt her and she wouldn’t have to bear it all herself, but he died and she has to bear the whole emotional burden - to say nothing of the financial. That SUCKS.

17 hours ago, ZeeEnnui said:

Junkie fiancee can kick rocks. Just because someone apologizes does not mean they are owed forgiveness.

And also, forgiveness doesn’t necessarily mean everything is cool and back to the way it was. You can forgive someone and still decide not to speak to them again or keep them at a distance. Even if the brother had forgiven him, that doesn’t give the addict (I forget their names) the right to be in his brother’s life.

[Harvey]

It was quite hard to watch Steve try to help Dee Dee with her finances and her being so belligerent about it. And then her daughter coming over on her anniversary just to tell her that she is leaving....ouch. At least she made up for it in the end.

Edward ditching Shay just because Mahra sent a picture was not cool. He's so self-centered. And crushing on your dead brother's girlfriend? Creepy.

The drama with the politician woman: I can just not care. The whole storyline is so damn cliché, both professionally and romantically. I skip most of her scenes each episode and I still have no problem following what's happening because it's just so basic. That said, she was justified in asking Kojo, why is he not the one to move.

[Straycat80]

Honestly, this is getting boring, I can barely pay attention. My only take away from episode 7 is the gay guy (name?) is married? Why didn’t Zoe ask her mom why there where huge holes in the wall? And Edwards uncle left his aunt, and I don’t know why. 
And I’m over the teen angst drama between Shay, Edward, Mahra and dead Jordan. 

[Sarahsmile416]

1 hour ago, Straycat80 said:

Honestly, this is getting boring, I can barely pay attention. My only take away from episode 7 is the gay guy (name?) is married? Why didn’t Zoe ask her mom why there where huge holes in the wall? And Edwards uncle left his aunt, and I don’t know why. 
And I’m over the teen angst drama between Shay, Edward, Mahra and dead Jordan. 

I mean, MMV, but probably because Lacey is kind of trash right now.  She is kind of squeezing him out of his own life, not telling him things he should probably be consulted on (pregnant lady staying with them).  I understand her emotions and I can understand why she would do what she did but a heads up would probably not be out of bounds.

[Harvey]

10 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

 My only take away from episode 7 is the gay guy (name?) is married?

The scene where he was talking about "why would I want a guy with a scratchy face when you are here and you are so soft" I cringed so hard since it was clear he was really just trying to convince himself not to be interested in men. That level of self-manipulation was hard to watch 😬

[Sarahsmile416]

5 hours ago, Harvey said:

The scene where he was talking about "why would I want a guy with a scratchy face when you are here and you are so soft" I cringed so hard since it was clear he was really just trying to convince himself not to be interested in men. That level of self-manipulation was hard to watch 😬

Agreed.  It was just way too obvious and actually annoyed me.  Though, to be fair, right now, the show annoys me in general.  

Full disclosure, my last post about Lacey was before I watched the entire episode, but now that I did, my opinion stands.  
 

Here are the characters I am actually interested in - DeeDee and Steve.  Everyone else I am either bored or annoyed.  

Edward’s storyline - I am just done.  I don’t care enough about pre-teen drama to want to know about how this all ends for him.  

This new closeted character and his boring wife - also could not care less.  Oddly, I liked the guy he is interested in a lot more and would rather follow his story than this closeted tool who let his wife, who just met these people, insult my sweet Tami Taylor and her sweets.  

Kofo and whatever her name is - I just do not care, cannot bring myself to care.  As far as I can see she doesn’t even go to the group anymore so why should I care about her political storyline.   Let him go to Ghana and leave him alone.  

Now the good.

The one scene that absolutely wrecked me was the flashback of Steve’s brother (Brent?) giving him the dumplings as a peace offering and him angrily tossing them all over the room.  More of this, show.  Though again, it strikes me, these people need more al anon and less grief group with disinterested leader.  Also are we supposed to believe that this in and of itself would lead Brent? to relapse? He doesn’t go to meetings? He doesn’t have a sponsor? Someone 18 months into it, while still not THAT long should probably have acquired enough support for himself, at this point, to not let it get to that point.  Who knows though - I only really have Mr Sarahsmile as a reference point - he is in recovery (almost 30 years clean now) and so I am fairly familiar with the recovery world so this all strikes me as a bit much, but I could be wrong.  

[marceline]

The garage sale was a fascinating idea and watching the group come up with it was an oddly fun scene. Dee Dee's comments were perfect. (Is it my imagination or is Dee Dee's New York accent becoming more prominent with each episode?) It was such a healthy thing for the group to do. I'm genuinely surprised no media picked up on it but I guess they were too busy covering Adriana's valedictorian speech. It was such a angsty, lighthearted event and then John had to hijack the whole thing to make it about his experience at the crash site. I mean, how up your own ass do you have to be to do something like that?

[t7686]

I agree that the show is getting boring. I want to care about Edward I do, but he’s a jerk. Plus, while it makes sense that he keeps so much inside, it’s frustrating to watch. I’m much more interested in his dead family members than him. Also while Shay is annoying, he’s completely unfair to her and using her.

 

Wouldn’t DeeDee and all the families be be getting a life insurance payment or money from a settlement with the airline? It’s seems unlikely that she wouldn’t have something like that to help her out. That said she’s the most interesting character by far. 
 

Two closeted married men now? They are reusing their own storyline already haha. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by t7686

[Empress1]

5 hours ago, t7686 said:

Wouldn’t DeeDee and all the families be be getting a life insurance payment or money from a settlement with the airline?

I have definitely wondered about a payout from the airline for the victims’ families. Lacey said early on that the airline would pay for counseling, but I’d think at least one of the victims would have a litigious relative  and they could get a class action suit going.