S01.E14: A Fair to Remember

[jewel21]

Quote

The crews respond to mass chaos and injuries when a ride malfunctions at the annual Edgewater town fair. Meanwhile, Sharon receives life-changing news.

Airdate: 02/10/2023

[FnkyChkn34]

Well, an hour passed, but I feel like nothing happened.

[possibilities]

Where was Freddy?

No fire, either. I guess we're never going to get follow up on the firebug at the end of the forest fire.

I have to say, I never minded Gabriela before, but tonight I hated her guts. You know you have panic attacks and PTSD? So get therapy for godsake! Don't join the Fire Dept until you deal with that problem. Joining the Fire Dept and making excuses while someone nearly dies in front of you-- twice--  because you can't move? Chief Leone was way too quick to forgive that shit.

I liked Eve, but I always like Eve. Manny's a baby lke his daughter. 

[Danielg342]

I'm going to tell the writers the same thing Sharon was telling (or should have told) Gabriella in this episode.

Just breathe.

There was probably a season's worth of heart-stopping moments packed into one episode, from Bode having to break up with Rebecca, to Sharon's continued kidney issue, Gabby's choking on the job, Jake on his first date, the ride at the fair breaking down, the ride's operator having a health crisis, the kid going missing, that same kid also experiencing a health crisis, the kid's father being a jerk to Bode, and the shade Manny threw at Eve.

Unprofessional shade, I would add.

*phew*

Did you get all that? I'm sure I missed something, because too much happened in this episode.

Rather than state the obvious and say "this show needs to narrow down its stories and focus on the few that matter", I want to offer something different that this episode could have done.

I was thinking this show could use an episode where things don't go haywire. Just a normal day at the office, where everyone is going about their business. Maybe with someone having the day off too and we witness that day.

The winter fair would have been a great time to do it. You could have had Vince simply be the Grand Marshall offering fake smiles while Billy Burke brings out his best snark, with Sharon giving him those puppy eye looks and happily snapping the pictures.

Jake and Cara could have had their date at the fair, where we see how good both of them are at games like Whack-A-Mole and the shooting gallery.

Gabriella could have spent the entire episode working on Clyde before finally succeeding in the end.

Manny and Eve could have spent the entire day just supervising Three Rock, so when Manny makes his snarky aside to Eve, we can actually focus on that instead of it getting lost in the shuffle within the rest of the episode.

Just like how the story with Bode and Rebecca should have been handled. They could have just done sandbag duty, allowing them to talk out their feelings without other events causing those feelings getting lost.

Then the episode ends with Jake getting that phone call that changes Sharon's life.

Smiles. Group hug. Roll credits. The end.

Sure, it's probably not something that could win Emmys, but sometimes less is more.

Heck, Seinfeld made its name in turning seemingly small events into must-see television. "The Chinese Restaurant" doesn't get any more minimalist, but it's arguably one of TV's greatest episodes ever.

You'd think a show like this one could learn from that episode.

Now, I'm not saying this show has to abandon the action and the urgent episodes.

Rather, they need to learn to figure out what stories are most important to tell and focus on those. They can't write every episode with 30 different things happening because, as we see here, it all gets lost in the shuffle.

[Rainbow]

Gabby is the biggest waste of space on this series 🙄🙄Bode has way more chemistry with Rebecca but tptb want Bode with the boring Gabby and sorry he is being wasted on the twit ! 

  Jake is becoming the most improved character and tonight episode was great but would have been better without Gabby imo !! 

[Dowel Jones]

Okay, having lived in Humboldt County, who schedules a fair in midwinter?  Forget the malfunction; those kids would be freezing their tails off in the mid 40°, 95% humidity.  Poor panda bear at the end there.  Nobody to pick him up and hold him.

I'd like to know who built that sandbag cabinet.  I counted ~50 bags stacked up in there.  At ~30# per bag, that's 3/4 of a ton of dead weight on the supports.  If I were Rebecca, Bode would know in no uncertain terms that it's time to get to work.

OSHA is going to a field day with that concessionaire.  By the way, was anyone else channeling the Whirl-A-Way scene from Sandlot?

[jabRI]

With the ride, I kept thinking, couldn't they have just smashed the control panel with a hammer or something?

[Rainbow]

3 hours ago, jabRI said:

With the ride, I kept thinking, couldn't they have just smashed the control panel with a hammer or something?

Was thinking the same thing ! 

[possibilities]

6 hours ago, jabRI said:

With the ride, I kept thinking, couldn't they have just smashed the control panel with a hammer or something?

Or cut the wires to the power supply? 

[SonofaBiscuit]

Hmm, I’m not sure I really care for the direction this show is heading.

I recall Bode and Rebecca hooking up like once, but apparently she thinks they are boyfriend and girlfriend? Okay…weird. (But I am disappointed they seem to be ditching her as a possible love interest).

Gabriella is so distraught by that woman dying a few episodes ago that we are just now hearing about it, and she now she has a history of panic attacks or whatever?  Also weird.

Manny thinks Eve is spying on him for some weird reason???

That kid running the carnival ride could lift that hatch, but somehow it was so heavy it crushed and nearly killed him? What?

I’m still irritated they haven’t course corrected away from the Bode/Gabriella pairing. They’re going to wait to be together until his sentence is over, and then it will be so much sweeter (or whatever the 🤢 line was)? LOL, no.

[mythoughtis]

Things I noticed:

Bode and Gabriella yakking  while Rebecca  is throwing sandbags  

Gabriella being useless and arrogant at the same time/ disobeying direct orders on the job leaving the triage tent short

Rebecca leaving the ride to go find a medical person - cutting to commercial and the next scene Gabriella is already  crouched  next to Jamie whose heart has stopped 

Jamie has no injuries at all and Gabriella just lets him sit up without a neck collar after he got thrown off a ride and has been wandering around for a couple hours( daylight to dark ). 

 

 

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, mythoughtis said:

Rebecca leaving the ride to go find a medical person - cutting to commercial and the next scene Gabriella is already  crouched  next to Jamie whose heart has stopped 

There was a scene where Rebecca found Gabriella and brought her to the kid. At least, my station aired it.

I was also really frustrated about the gabbing while Rebecca hoisted sandbags, and the other stuff you mentioned. 

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

There was a scene where Rebecca found Gabriella and brought her to the kid. At least, my station aired it.

I was also really frustrated about the gabbing while Rebecca hoisted sandbags, and the other stuff you mentioned. 

I thought there might have been a scene like that.  I assume our local station ran too many commercials.   I know I didn’t miss it because I rewound the Tivo recording to check. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mythoughtis

[circumvent]

Why is the actress who plays Gabriela a lead-adjacent in this show? She is so bad, the only way she can convey urgency is by hyperventilating, and the character is bad too. So, nothing is saved. She must have some deep relationships in the industry, or at least the studio because I don't see how they could not have found a better actor. Rebecca is much, much better.

Agree that all of a sudden Rebecca seems to believe that she is in a steady relationship with Bode.

I laughed when Bode said that he and Gabriela found the kid. No Bode, Rebecca was the one with you. And of course, Bode was the one who found the boy. 

So, the kid flew far away, landed in a bunch of stuffed animals, and not even a sore. Sure, show.

The ride going that fast was also preposterous. I know they needed a reason for the drama but I would think that a ride has a maximum speed that are supposedly tested and remain safe. If something malfunctions, it does not go way over the speed initially set. More likely, it would stop and people would be stranded

Sharon continues to over act 

I actually liked Billy Burke in this episode, only because Vince seemed bored. I hear you, BB

[Stevie Nicks]

On 2/12/2023 at 3:50 AM, circumvent said:

 

So, the kid flew far away, landed in a bunch of stuffed animals, and not even a sore. Sure, show.

The ride going that fast was also preposterous. I know they needed a reason for the drama but I would think that a ride has a maximum speed that are supposedly tested and remain safe. If something malfunctions, it does not go way over the speed initially set. More likely, it would stop and people would be stranded

 

This. No way that kid flew off, and was ok. No way.  I was yelling at them to just pull the plug. The ride is getting power from somewhere. And I agree with another poster who said that grating was that heavy that it crushed the operator. Suuuure. 

[NJRadioGuy]

On 2/11/2023 at 1:47 AM, Dowel Jones said:

OSHA is going to a field day with that concessionaire.  By the way, was anyone else channeling the Whirl-A-Way scene from Sandlot?

On 2/11/2023 at 6:53 AM, jabRI said:

With the ride, I kept thinking, couldn't they have just smashed the control panel with a hammer or something?

It runs on electricity for heaven's sake, and I doubt there's a direct connection from a pole pig on site, and if there is, there'd be a disconnect right after the transformer. So odds are they bring their own power from site to site. "SOMEONE KILL THE GENERATOR--NOW!" The end.

[Danielg342]

Those more proficient in engineering can correct me on this, but wouldn't smashing the control panel or killing the generator make the Ferris wheel come to a sudden stop, likely throwing the passengers out of their seats or making them collide with their seats? Hitting the emergency stop at least allows the wheel to come to a slower, more controlled stop that would keep more people safe, I think.

[circumvent]

35 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

Those more proficient in engineering can correct me on this, but wouldn't smashing the control panel or killing the generator make the Ferris wheel come to a sudden stop, likely throwing the passengers out of their seats or making them collide with their seats? Hitting the emergency stop at least allows the wheel to come to a slower, more controlled stop that would keep more people safe, I think.

You may be right, I think it makes sense, but I am also pretty sure that's not why the writers decided to go all overly dramatic with the whole thing. That's how bad they are.

[FnkyChkn34]

5 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Those more proficient in engineering can correct me on this, but wouldn't smashing the control panel or killing the generator make the Ferris wheel come to a sudden stop, likely throwing the passengers out of their seats or making them collide with their seats? Hitting the emergency stop at least allows the wheel to come to a slower, more controlled stop that would keep more people safe, I think.

I think cutting the power might be more like shifting your car into neutral, and hitting the emergency stop would be like hitting the emergency brake?  But maybe that's backwards?  I'd go with the neutral option, whatever it would be.

[possibilities]

I am not sure, either.

But if you've ever played with a dreydel or a spinning top, they come to a stop gradually once you stop actively winding them up, as the momentum from movement takes a little time to wind down.

A braking system generally causes an immediate stop, but if you take your foot off the gas, a vehicle will more slowly peter out.

[b4pjoe]

I must have led a very sheltered life as I do not have 37 life threatening events happen everyday of my life. 🙄

On 2/15/2023 at 4:52 AM, Danielg342 said:

Those more proficient in engineering can correct me on this, but wouldn't smashing the control panel or killing the generator make the Ferris wheel come to a sudden stop, likely throwing the passengers out of their seats or making them collide with their seats? Hitting the emergency stop at least allows the wheel to come to a slower, more controlled stop that would keep more people safe, I think.

I'm not an engineer but pretty sure cutting power would just make it gradually slow down.

On 2/11/2023 at 2:03 PM, SonofaBiscuit said:

That kid running the carnival ride could lift that hatch, but somehow it was so heavy it crushed and nearly killed him? What?

He wasn't crushed. Something punctured him. They said if they pulled it out of him he would bleed out and they would have to leave it for the hospital to remove.

[Stevie Nicks]

5 hours ago, b4pjoe said:

I must have led a very sheltered life as I do not have 37 life threatening events happen everyday of my life. 🙄

He wasn't crushed. Something punctured him. They said if they pulled it out of him he would bleed out and they would have to leave it for the hospital to remove.

I thought they meant that if they took the weight off him, he would bleed out. 

[b4pjoe]

36 minutes ago, Stevie Nicks said:

I thought they meant that if they took the weight off him, he would bleed out. 

His exact words were “get this thing out of me” at the 18 minute and 30 second mark of the show.

 

[Stevie Nicks]

1 hour ago, b4pjoe said:

His exact words were “get this thing out of me” at the 18 minute and 30 second mark of the show.

 

Ah ok. I thought he said "off me". Closed captioning for the win.  👍