S05.E03: About Damn Time

[BreezieBitch]

Mariana returns to Speckulate; Davia evaluates her next career move when a friend from her theatre days resurfaces; Luca struggles to keep up in his first-ever professional dance class; Malika attempts to find work/life balance.

Edited March 30, 2023 by BreezieBitch
Typo

[gesundheit]

Granted, we don't have the backstory about how this friend "disappointed" Davia in the past, but it felt like overkill that she looks so offended that a big star had passed on the role before he offered it to her. He still offered it to her! And he still may have written it with her in mind! 

For some reason this one TV trope where people go to a first readthrough and get introduced to each other with character descriptions always drives me nuts. I know he's apparently not written the ending but they would know the basics of the show by the first table read. Obviously it's for the TV audience but for some reason I just find it clunkier than a lot of other exposition shortcuts. 

I did like the parallels between Mariana and Malika's storylines.

I know this show is didactic by design and meant for young people, so I get why they do it, but I still get a good laugh from the afterschool-special-esque nature of it all, like Dennis's dangerous! cokehead buddy!

[possibilities]

I don't understand the structure of Spekulate. It's Evan's business, but he answers to a Board? So... is it not really his business, and he's just a hired hand there? And if it is his business, why is the culture so horribly hostile, when he himself is not happy with that? Doesn't the owner, or the head honcho, set the tone and dictate the operational culture? 

Davia can always go back to teaching if she wants to, can't she? And what was that about her Teach For America contract? Didn't she get fired? She just had the one homeschooling kid, right?

Malika's officemates need to work collectively to set limits. Otherwise that boss is going to always exploit one or another of them and make them work til 10pm. 

 

 

 

 

[circumvent]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I don't understand the structure of Spekulate. It's Evan's business, but he answers to a Board?

I think it has to do with Spekulate having gone public, so they need a board that responds to shareholders, that protects the shareholders - in theory, at least. 

[KaveDweller]

16 hours ago, possibilities said:

I don't understand the structure of Spekulate. It's Evan's business, but he answers to a Board? So... is it not really his business, and he's just a hired hand there? And if it is his business, why is the culture so horribly hostile, when he himself is not happy with that? Doesn't the owner, or the head honcho, set the tone and dictate the operational culture? 

Davia can always go back to teaching if she wants to, can't she? And what was that about her Teach For America contract? Didn't she get fired? She just had the one homeschooling kid, right?

Malika's officemates need to work collectively to set limits. Otherwise that boss is going to always exploit one or another of them and make them work til 10pm. 

Yes, Davia got fired from her teaching job. I was also confused about her mention of Teach for America. Maybe she meant, she could try to renew her contract and get them to place her in a different school? It was the school that fired her, not the Teach for America organization (I think).

I think usually upper management sets the culture, but the problem is that Evan is not the strongest person, and isn't the best at interacting with people, so there have been a lot of other sketchy people he's hired in high level jobs who have influenced the culture. And the fact that they went public makes it harder to control, because he has to answer to a board that seems to dislike him.

[possibilities]

How is the board chosen for a company like that, which switches from private to public? I realize it doesn't matter for the show, but now I'm curious. If it's off-topic, do we have a small talk thread?

[Scarlett45]

16 hours ago, circumvent said:

I think it has to do with Spekulate having gone public, so they need a board that responds to shareholders, that protects the shareholders - in theory, at least. 

Yeah you’re right- Spekulate is a public corporation, they have a board. Evan is CEO but he can’t just do whatever the hell he wants, the board has to approve (in theory). It’s not his privately owned company any more. 

[circumvent]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

How is the board chosen for a company like that, which switches from private to public? I realize it doesn't matter for the show, but now I'm curious. If it's off-topic, do we have a small talk thread?

It is one of the things that capitalism does to pretend that having invested money in Wall Street makes one rich and powerful, or that one will be rich one day, maybe a billionaire. Illusion, that is. I don't really know but when companies get too big, they usually are somewhat forced to have shares and slow people to join in. It is all bullshit, pretend stuff, a play. It is the fantasy of "we are sharing with everyone". I know it is not the answer you are looking for but I don't know the whys and hows. I do know that Zuck resisted for a while to go public with Facebook. Maybe the idea - ideal - was to make sure one person alone could not control so much money in a company that offers a public service. Just "spekulating"

[possibilities]

9 hours ago, circumvent said:

It is one of the things that capitalism does to pretend that having invested money in Wall Street makes one rich and powerful, or that one will be rich one day, maybe a billionaire. Illusion, that is. I don't really know but when companies get too big, they usually are somewhat forced to have shares and slow people to join in. It is all bullshit, pretend stuff, a play. It is the fantasy of "we are sharing with everyone". I know it is not the answer you are looking for but I don't know the whys and hows. I do know that Zuck resisted for a while to go public with Facebook. Maybe the idea - ideal - was to make sure one person alone could not control so much money in a company that offers a public service. Just "spekulating"

I know the why, but I am wondering how the members of the Board are chosen. Does the first bunch get appointed by the former owner? Do they sell shares to the public and THEN the shareholders nominate and elect the Board? 

[marny]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I know the why, but I am wondering how the members of the Board are chosen. Does the first bunch get appointed by the former owner? Do they sell shares to the public and THEN the shareholders nominate and elect the Board? 

Typically, at first, people who invested in the business before it went public would get board seats once the company went public because they’d be the largest shareholders. Evan was the CEO and apparently started the business, but he certainly had investors who helped him financially in the beginning and they’d own a stake in the business (like on Shark Tank).  Large investors would likely be on the board, as well as people who Evan and other investors believed would be good decision-makers for the company (attorneys, financial advisors, etc.). As time passes, board members may change based on members selling shares of the business, getting voted out by other board members, or resignations. But if the board thinks Evan isn’t running the company in the best way for the company, they can vote to remove him as CEO. He’d still be financially invested in the company as a shareholder and would still make money, he just wouldn’t be in charge anymore. Make sense?

[circumvent]

I am behind and just watched this episode today. Nothing much to say other than I don't get the wardrobe department in this show. Why do they have to dress Mariana with those awful clothes? do real people really dress like that? 

Also, Malika doesn't really know what she wants, does she? She is not poly anymore? She is bi, lesbian, what? Maybe because LA is such a big place, people who work for council members don't really have a life. In my small town they just go home at the end of the working day. But it LA is different, Malika should just decide what she wants in her professional life.