S01.E05: The Clock

[juno]

Hank and Lily host the annual English department dinner; Lily has a decision to make; Hank’s past involving his troubled relationship with his father catches up to him.

Airing Apr 16, 2023

[peeayebee]

Once again I'm back to liking only Lily. I don't think there's one English dept faculty member that I like. I do covet Hank and Lily's house, but NOT like Paul does, though it seems like it's more the location than the house. Boy, was he obnoxious.

I guess I missed, or forgot, what's keeping Hank where he is. Simple inertia? The inability to make changes? Is it connected to his parents? The trauma of his father leaving?

How awful of his father to just turn away when he discovered Hank tried to kill himself. 

[cinsays]

Huh, you're one-up on me then, i don't like any of them, including Lily.  The dinner with these awful people was not the place to decide.  

Obnoxious guy that wanted to buy the house and other obnoxious guy who wanted the other guy's wife.

Yuck

[anoninrva]

This was a really tense episode.  Not that I disliked it, or thought it was poorly acted, but it certainly felt the darkest.  Hank seems to really exhibit some unsympathetic behavior.  For some reason, I was thinking Lily was planning on commuting to New York during the week, since it's only a few hours away by car or train, but I guess it fit better with the show to juxtapose Hank's abandonment from his father, the clock, and Lily's job.  The swinger bit was weird.  It sounds like they may only be theoretical swingers, unless I missed something.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

The writers have taken this show into the shitter. If I wanted to see depressing tv,I'd watch the news. 

[cardigirl]

If someone ends up shooting Gracie (the poetess) before the show's end, I would be just fine with it. She's a weird character, because sometimes she seems smart, but the little display of utter obnoxiousness when she found out she was going to be published (in the Atlantic!) was just horrible. The actress played it beautifully. That character hasn't learned that no one else cares that she is being published. It sounds like they don't really respect her writing, and the more the department resists it, the more obnoxious she becomes about it. So, the actress did a great job of making her character utterly annoying and making me hate dislike her extremely. 

[peeayebee]

I think all the actors are great, but there are way too many obnoxious characters.

[Broderbits]

18 hours ago, anoninrva said:

For some reason, I was thinking Lily was planning on commuting to New York during the week, since it's only a few hours away by car or train,

I thought the same thing. Don't know how much her new job pays, but I can't believe it would be enough to afford a decent place in NY, especially if she has to house daughter & son-in-law. I certainly wouldn't want to be cramped in a tiny space with that daughter!

Furthermore, I think Lily was absolutely wrong and stupid to clean up that urine. She should have just waited for her idiot principal to come to his senses and figure out a solution himself. I bet he didn't even speak to that kid's parents.

[Dowel Jones]

Another episode of Life in Hell.  Given Hank's father's abandonment of him, I'm really surprised he stored all that stuff in his own house.  The clock was nice, but I would have made a bonfire in the front yard.

[Arcey]

In the final scene in the kitchen, was Hank actually telling Lily the story, or was he just thinking about it, and as his mother said to him, "they would never speak of it again." If so, that makes me sad that he wouldn't share that with Lily.

By the way, I liked this episode the best so far, even though the show is still a little silly/banal in a way that makes it good TV, but not great TV.

As I said in another post, I'll always give Bob Odenkirk the benefit of the doubt due to Better Call Saul. :)

Edited April 19, 2023 by Arcey

[Starchild]

4 hours ago, Arcey said:

In the final scene in the kitchen, was Hank actually telling Lily the story, or was he just thinking about it, and as his mother said to him, "they would never speak of it again." If so, that makes me sad that he wouldn't share that with Lily.

Pretty sure he just imagined telling her, but then didn't.

 

4 hours ago, Arcey said:

As I said in another post, I'll always give Bob Odenkirk the benefit of the doubt due to Better Call Saul. :)

Same. Will probably even check out the lockdown movie, Life Upside Down.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13756106/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_8_nm_0_q_life%20up

 

[peeayebee]

Thanks for the heads-up about that movie. I hadn't heard of it.

And I'll need to rewatch that scene in the kitchen. I thought he had actually said that to Lily.

[Blackie]

I really was looking forward to this show and am trying hard, but tonight was BRUTAL. Mr Blackie and I have decided that there are just no good characters and even Hank isn't that good of a character. The only one that has given any laughs is the one with the smallest roll- Billie (Nancy Robertson -Wanda from Corner Gas). I LOL when she said the paprika stew tasted the same. She is a similar character to Wanda, maybe they should get her husband Brett Butt in the writers room. I can't see this show going to a second season

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

the character Billie is always catching shit from everybody, reminds me of "The Big Lebowski " character who was always getting slammed with "Shut The Fuck___ Up__ Donnie" !!!!

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

 

[KittyQ]

I understand that Lily was excited about her job offer, even though she supposedly didn't intend to take the job but sharing that information with anyone other than Hank before they actually had time to talk about it was kind of jerky. If she hadn't done that, knowing how gossipy and weird that group was, the dinner might have gone off better. So, I kind of blame her for a significant amount of the awkwardness during the dinner. 

I will say though that I find the actress off-putting. There's just something about her that seems off to me. It's as if her expression doesn't match her lines. That's just me, though.

[stewedsquash]

On 5/9/2023 at 11:42 AM, KittyQ said:

I understand that Lily was excited about her job offer, even though she supposedly didn't intend to take the job but sharing that information with anyone other than Hank before they actually had time to talk about it was kind of jerky. If she hadn't done that, knowing how gossipy and weird that group was, the dinner might have gone off better. So, I kind of blame her for a significant amount of the awkwardness during the dinner. 

I will say though that I find the actress off-putting. There's just something about her that seems off to me. It's as if her expression doesn't match her lines. That's just me, though.

I agree with your last paragraph and I haven’t been able to work out why the actress irks me. Part is what you said and there is more that I can’t put my finger on. It’s like she is playing her scenes alone and being put in later or something. There is a disconnect. 
 

I get the first paragraph and would agree in real life that would be better. But for a book I am reading and a show I am watching, I am all there for the awkwardness. I loved this whole episode, especially the table scenes. Then the over the top reaction to The Atlantic!! were in keeping with that character. Minority opinion, I like her character. I like all the characters. They all have a place to move the story. I even loved the sell me this house plot. 
 

I guess it was missed how Hank revealed his unselfish motive for not leaving. If he leaves someone else will be made to leave the group. He doesn’t want to betray them.