S01.E08: The Drama Of Original Choice

[jenrising]

Available April 6 on Netflix

[Roccos Brother]

Just when I think things couldn't get any messier, they somehow manage to up the ante. Suddenly, Amy's struggle with closing the deal and Danny's money woes seem like small potatoes compared to the wild web they've created and the challenges they are facing now.

Me during the flashback scene when Danny is sabotaging Paul's college applications,"Nooo, don't do ittt." It really is a twist that all along we thought Paul was codependent on Danny, when it had always been the other way around. I didn't know if Danny as a kid encouraging Paul to "skip three grades" so they could be together was adorable, or just plain sad.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Roccos Brother

[dubbel zout]

14 hours ago, Roccos Brother said:

Me during the flashback scene when Danny is sabotaging Paul's college applications,"Nooo, don't do ittt." It really is a twist that all along we thought Paul was codependent on Danny, when it had always been the other way around. I didn't know if Danny as a kid encouraging Paul to "skip three grades" so they could be together was adorable, or just plain sad.

I found it so sad, and for Danny to sabotage Paul's applications because of his (Danny's) needs was brutally selfish and yet it also showed how desperately Danny needed Paul around so he could feel better about himself. Ugh, this show is not afraid to show people at their worst.

[overtherainbow]

This was my favorite episode. I really enjoyed the flashbacks and the little insights they gave into both Danny and Amy's self-destructiveness. It was difficult to watch Amy have to hold onto her dad's infidelity for so long and put pressure on herself starting from a young age. Danny throwing away Paul's acceptance letters was absolutely brutal.

[calliope1975]

3 hours ago, overtherainbow said:

 Danny throwing away Paul's acceptance letters was absolutely brutal.

It really was. And he carried that all these years knowing it was wrong but still unable to let Paul go. And poor Paul thought all those schools rejected him. And it all started when Baby Danny was insecure and just wanted a connection with his little bro. The writing of this show is superb. 

Edited April 10, 2023 by calliope1975

[MaggieG]

Nobody is talking about the witch?? She scared the crap out of me

[PurpleTentacle]

Danny really fucked up that bad wiring the house? Didn't he even google it? Did the missing youtube dislikes screw him?

I mean I figured it was his wiring that did it, but I didn't think it would be that bad...

And while Amy tries to become a better person and comes clean about what she did, he just doubles down. This is so sad. I can see why he wouldn't want to tell his parents, but he should trust his bro.

---

I wrote the above before finishing the episode. Throwing away his brother's college letters is really low. I can see now why there can never be real trust between them. But would that even work? I'm not american, but what I know from american movies is that you get a letter either way, if you are accepted or not. If you don't get anything, wouldn't you call and they'd tell you that they never recieved an application? I guess you would be screwed for that year, but you could apply the next, say you took a gap year.

[KittyQ]

On 4/30/2023 at 11:46 AM, PurpleTentacle said:

Throwing away his brother's college letters is really low. I can see now why there can never be real trust between them. But would that even work? I'm not american, but what I know from american movies is that you get a letter either way, if you are accepted or not. If you don't get anything, wouldn't you call and they'd tell you that they never recieved an application? I guess you would be screwed for that year, but you could apply the next, say you took a gap year.

That seemed like a horrible betrayal to me. I also wondered if Paul wouldn't have wondered why he didn't at least get the rejection/wish you luck letter from anyone. You'd think that he'd know about what to expect from his friends at least, even though it doesn't seem as though his immediate family had any experience with the application process. 

[KittyQ]

When they were showing Amy's flashbacks, I got that apparently her dad brought another woman home with him in the middle of the day, presumably cheating on the mom, and Amy never said anything about it and maybe suppressed that memory. But what was the deal with the sex with a stranger? She made herself available to random strangers for money with the stipulation that they wouldn't see her face? Is/was that a thing at some point? Was this part of her low self-esteem problem? 

It did seem that Danny and Amy both had some bad experiences as kids that affected their relationships with their parents and siblings, but they then also did pretty strange and damaging things and developed a habit of lying to everyone. So their road rage incident was like putting a match to gasoline with two volatile people. 

[aghst]

I wasn't too convinced by this episode.

They're trying to explain their extreme behavior as adults going back to what, she seeing her dad cheat and him being bullied or made fun of?

Thing about Amy's flashback is that it's right after the sex with the random guy and she sees the witch being screwed from behind like she was.  The same witch she saw as a high school senior?

So her weird sexual predilection connects to her memory of seeing her dad how?  Strange juxtaposition.

Also why is she fighting for the marriage or willing to give everything up to have custody of the daughter?  She seems preoccupied with many things other than the little girl.  George also wasn't doing it for her sexually so again, why try to avoid divorce?

 

As a little kid, Danny wants his younger brother to always be with him.  But as teens or young adult, was he willing to sabotage his brother's future as depicted or was he jealous that Paul was about to go off to college while he was being a handy man?  Paul already had a snotty attitude then.

And his plan to frame Amy wasn't going to work.  They have the Ring doorbell showing he was at the house and the glove he planted, he touched it with his bare hands.  Also the fire inspector told him that arson isn't covered by insurance, so what is his motive for trying to frame Amy?

 

Starting to suspect that they committed to too many episodes.  It should have been 6 or at max 8 episodes.  These are suppose to be messed up people but to sustain the hate months, maybe over a year afterwards?

In the first half of the season, the road rage is depicted as impulse control, anger management.  But then they drop this, tries a facile way to explain their childhood made them likely to have this conflict and sustain it for so long.

Seems like NF wanted 10 episodes and this dark comedy about road rage didn't really have enough to produce that many episodes.

Now I haven't seen the final 2 episodes yet but they've already strung this incident way too far.

 

[SunnyBeBe]

On 7/7/2023 at 2:18 PM, KittyQ said:

When they were showing Amy's flashbacks, I got that apparently her dad brought another woman home with him in the middle of the day, presumably cheating on the mom, and Amy never said anything about it and maybe suppressed that memory. But what was the deal with the sex with a stranger? She made herself available to random strangers for money with the stipulation that they wouldn't see her face? Is/was that a thing at some point? Was this part of her low self-esteem problem? 

It did seem that Danny and Amy both had some bad experiences as kids that affected their relationships with their parents and siblings, but they then also did pretty strange and damaging things and developed a habit of lying to everyone. So their road rage incident was like putting a match to gasoline with two volatile people. 

I want Danny and Amy to go to prison.  To me, not enough redeeming qualities.  Even their backgrounds aren’t enough to evoke sympathy.