S03.E15: Call Me Cat's In The Cradle

[Door County Cherry]

Quote

Max receives a surprise visit from his dad for the first time in 30 years. 

 

[CrystalBlue]

Oh boy.  Dad's been MIA for most of Max's life? 

[possibilities]

That end scene where Max told his father exactly what he felt and why was really strong. Not at all funny. But a great, strong acting moment and very effective.

[Door County Cherry]

Funny enough, I thought the Jack MacBreyer scene where he talked about knowing that leaving the Amish meant he might not get to see his family ever again was a stronger dramatic scene than the Max scene with his dad. Jack's character, who I usually find annoying, really worked for me there.

Plus, it ended on a joke.  

Having the last scene of the show be a dramatic scene and then move right into a dance party was awkward as heck. 

[cinsays]

finally a good episode.  maybe the show doesn't need to try to be silly all the time.  and no sheila putting kat down, what a nice change

 

[Yeah No]

I thought it was an OK episode, not great but OK, which is probably better than average for this show.  I just hate it when shows pick actors to play parents that are only 15 years older than their child on the show in real life, especially if they look younger.  It's just a quirk of mine.  I get why they picked this guy because he looks a lot like Cheyenne, but it still bugs me.  At least they had Kat make a comment about how well he looked.

[Lifesabeach]

Does anyone else think that Swoosie is starting to look scary?  She’s either over botoxed or too tucked and pulled.  

She’s a good talented actress but the processes are so distracting.  

Apologies if this has been discussed previously, I rarely visit these forums anymore. 

Have a a good weekend.  

[Stats Queen]

Enjoyed this episode or than the last few.

Gideon was tolerable.

The story about dads (Max) and families (Gideon) was really well done.

[Liquid6]

Ok, I guess I’ll say it. Max looked older than his father. Bad casting choice. 

[Bruinsfan]

I record this show instead of watching live now, and fast-forward any time I see the camera cut to McBrayer. Or whenever Bialik starts doing some Vaudeville bit with cringeworthy puns. Pretty much I'm only sticking with it out of love for Swoosie Kurtz and in the faint hope that Cheyenne Jackson will take his shirt off again at some point.

[cinsays]

13 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

I record this show instead of watching live now, and fast-forward any time I see the camera cut to McBrayer. Or whenever Bialik starts doing some Vaudeville bit with cringeworthy puns. Pretty much I'm only sticking with it out of love for Swoosie Kurtz and in the faint hope that Cheyenne Jackson will take his shirt off again at some point.

McBrayer was actually not annoying this episode, so if he is staying, i hope this the the way they use him in the future.

[CarpeFelis]

I’m so glad they didn’t do the usual trope of “well-meaning, interfering person who came from a normal family manipulates and guilt-trips to get two estranged people back together”. As the child of an alcoholic, I hate that trope because it encourages that nonsense. It’s patronizing at best and extremely harmful at worst. They had Kat use the typical line of “I wish I could have 5 minutes with my father”. Carter gave her excellent advice that I was frankly surprised to hear in a sitcom.

Gideon was actually pretty funny and not so annoying this week.

[tennisgurl]

That was actually a surprisingly strong episode, the acting was really good from everyone, especially from Cheyenne Jackson, and I am glad that they didn't go for the cliché where Max is guilted into forgiving his father. So many times you get fed the lesson that you always need to forgive your relatives, no matter what they do wrong or how much they hurt you, so I like that they ended with Max telling his dad off. Its all well and good that his dad is doing better but that doesn't mean that Max is required let him back into his life after he hurt him. 

I was surprised at how good Jack MacBreyer was in his scene where he talked about his dad, its the first time his character has actually felt like a real person and not some bad SNL character who was created for a three minute skit but overstayed his welcome. 

I wish that they had ended on a bit more of a joke or a lighter moment, transitioning from Max crying to the cast doing their dance party felt super awkward. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by tennisgurl

[realdancemom]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

That was actually a surprisingly strong episode, the acting was really good from everyone, especially from Cheyenne Jackson, and I am glad that they didn't go for the cliché where Max is guilted into forgiving his father. So many times you get fed the lesson that you always need to forgive you relatives, no matter what they do wrong or how much they hurt you, so I like that they ended with Max telling his dad off. Its all well and good that his dad is doing better but that doesn't mean that Max is required let him back into his life after he hurt him. 

I was surprised at how good Jack MacBreyer was in his scene where he talked about his dad, its the first time his character has actually felt like a real person and not some bad SNL character who was created for a three minute skit but overstayed his welcome. 

I wish that they had ended on a bit more of a joke or a lighter moment, transitioning from Max crying to the cast doing their dance party felt super awkward. 

Agree with all this. This is the first time, I liked MacBreyer on this show.  I was hoping that his character was done when he wasn't on the previous episode.  But he can stay now that his character seems more real and not a caricature.

Also liked that everything didn't end with a big reunion of Max and his dad.  Max is in his 40s.  He doesn't need his dad in his life anymore even if his dad is doing better.  Also agree with those that said that his dad looked too young.  He was very handsome but didn't look old enough to play Max's dad. Liked Carter's advice to Kat too and that she took it when the dad wanted to stay in touch.

[Bruinsfan]

Yeah, that was a nice touch. I also thought it was pretty manipulative for Max's dad to be buttering up his girlfriend and trying to get her to intercede on his behalf, since she'd only ever met the new, improved version. I am so glad Kat maintained her boundaries in that scene in the cafe.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Bruinsfan

[chediavolo]

On 2/24/2023 at 4:42 PM, Lifesabeach said:

Does anyone else think that Swoosie is starting to look scary?  She’s either over botoxed or too tucked and pulled.  

She’s a good talented actress but the processes are so distracting.  

Apologies if this has been discussed previously, I rarely visit these forums anymore. 

Have a a good weekend.  

She’s looked scary for quite a while now. And being a total bitch on wheels character does not help. 

On 2/26/2023 at 9:00 AM, cinsays said:

McBrayer was actually not annoying this episode, so if he is staying, i hope this the the way they use him in the future.

Yes, I hope he stays tone down. He’s actually good here. I did like him on 30 rock.  but previously on this show he was quite annoying.

[chediavolo]

No one feel just a tad bad for the father? Granted, I know nothing about having an alcoholic father  who leaves you when you’re 10 years old. But isn’t alcoholism supposed to be a disease and we’re supposed to feel bad for anyone that has it and give them a second chance? I think  he and his father could have taken it very slow. Where is Max’s mother By the way? 

[Bruinsfan]

No. If you abandon your 10-year-old child whether it's over alcohol, drugs, mental health issues, or just preferring to make a new family with your new wife, you don't get to play the victim and whine about it being so sad your abandoned kid's not interested in re-establishing a relationship with you once you finally decide you want to be a parent again after 30 years of no contact.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Bruinsfan

[Yeah No]

17 hours ago, chediavolo said:

No one feel just a tad bad for the father? Granted, I know nothing about having an alcoholic father  who leaves you when you’re 10 years old. But isn’t alcoholism supposed to be a disease and we’re supposed to feel bad for anyone that has it and give them a second chance? I think  he and his father could have taken it very slow. Where is Max’s mother By the way? 

I'm not the expert on recovering alcoholics, but don't they have to apologize to everyone as a part of their recovery?  I feel like if Max's father had handled it differently he may have gotten through to him that he took full responsibility for the wrongs he did him and was attempting to make amends.  Maybe if he framed it differently in the context of his new self awareness and recovery Max might have given him a second chance.  Then again he might not have.  I personally thought he should have given him a chance, even if reluctantly and within certain strict parameters at least at first.  I think the show has written Max to be a bit of a clueless douche in a lot of ways, sorry to say.  

[CrystalBlue]

Yes, Max is a clueless douche regardless of his father turning up after 30 years.  Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has apologizing to each person you have hurt as part of their 12-step program.

Did Max's father mention anything about working a program?  Did Max talk about his fairly recent struggle with alcohol to him?

[Yeah No]

On 3/5/2023 at 12:12 AM, CrystalBlue said:

Yes, Max is a clueless douche regardless of his father turning up after 30 years.  Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has apologizing to each person you have hurt as part of their 12-step program.

Did Max's father mention anything about working a program?  Did Max talk about his fairly recent struggle with alcohol to him?

You know I don't really remember which is making me think the answer to that is "no", and that's one reason why I think his father should have mentioned those things with him more directly because it may have made him more sympathetic and willing to let him into his life slowly and cautiously.