S01.E14: Jessie's Story

[statsgirl]

Quote

When all her attempts to discover the identity of her biological father hit roadblocks, a teenager takes extreme measures to uncover the truth.

Airdate May 2, 2023.

Stars Bebe Wood, Betsy Brandt, Natalie Brown, Skylar Gaertner

[Snazzy Daisy]

Accused | 1x14 Promo "Jessie's Story"

 

[AnimeMania]

Bebe Wood as Jessie
Betsy Brandt as Kara
Skylar Gaertner as Wyatt
Josh Hamilton as Dominic
Natalie Brown as Andrea
Georgie Anne Murphy as Fern
Keilah Griffiths as Edie

[Chicago Redshirt]

Because  it was "Jessie's story," it was pretty clear from early on that Jessie was the product of an affair between Jessie and the other dude.

The only thing that was a surprise was that Jessie's mom was the only one who knew. I was for sure that Dad and Mom suspected or knew, which explained why Friend became ex-friend. It does seem totally ridiculous that Dad did not ever put together that Mom got preggers roughly around the time that they hooked up. 

It almost goes without saying but Mom is kinda crazy for staying so close physically to Dad and his family, for not simply saying "I have no information about the donor, for concocting the entirety of a profile. Like that was the least believable thing ever that the facility would collect all that material. let alone divulge it.

Sorry but Bro would almost certainly not be able to tell from Jessie's DNA results that they were related. I csn't imagine that there would be detailed enough results that would allow a comparison between her results and his, and even if they were somehow that granular (and easy enough for a teen boy to decipher) there wouldn't really be anything to prompt him to compare his results to hers. 

I kinda hate how they gloss over that Dad and Mom are cheaters and the complexities and awkwardness of the situation to end up at the happy playing bad party games together stage.

[Madding crowd]

The DNA tests often give you a list of people you share DNA with so that part didn’t bother me. This episode didn’t seem to fit in with the others in this series though. There was very little about the court case and not many layers here. I thought it was kind of boring compared to the other episodes.

[Crashcourse]

So, the mom didn't move out because they were living in a rent-controlled apartment.  I wondered why the dad and his family were living there, since he was a lawyer and the wife was a nurse(?).  I was surprised that they didn't live in a house somewhere.

Anyway, this episode was boring, and I didn't like any of the characters except the mom who was cheated on. 

Oh, and I thought the "one big happy family" at the end was utter bullshit.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Crashcourse

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, LtKelley said:

If you both are tested in the same DNA service they will usually link it right to you with "possible first cousin" or "likely brother". They never specifically say "this is your family absolutely" but they do tell you the percentage of genes you share and from my own  experience its pretty accurate at deciding who is and isn't related. A first cousin, an uncle and a great uncle all did the test to settle a family story - namely that great uncle was really my grandma's first son and brother to my uncle and sure enough the percentages were such that I probably have two uncles not one uncle and one great uncle. I wouldn't stake a paternity claim on a 23andme kit but I would accept the results mean a more accurate test might be appropriate.

It blows my mind, then, that the test would explicitly say "These other specific people by name might be related to you" on the test. As opposed to pinging people and saying "Hey, we received a result that might be match to you. Would you like to know more?" I'd expect as part of testing you give the testing agencies a pretty wide berth of what they can do. But still...

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

This episode didn’t seem to fit in with the others in this series though. There was very little about the court case and not many layers here. I thought it was kind of boring compared to the other episodes.

This episode featured (it seemed to me, anyway) the weakest acting of the series so far. I think mostly there have been good to great performances generally across the board. Jessie and her mom were IMO particularly bad.

I actually appreciate that there was little about the underlying case because the show doesn't really do court very well.

No offense, but seems doubtful a white girl first time offender is going to be charged with a felony in the first place in the real world. 

If we're taking it seriously that someone shows up at the clinic and catches Jessie, they are going to also have to arrest Half-Bro. After all, Half-Bro was the one who took the ID that was used for the breaking and entering in the first place. I do feel bad for Clinic Clerk, who if this was in the real world would be disciplined or even fired for allowing her ID to be taken and letting teenagers have the run of the place. 

Like most episodes, there were a lot of themes that could have been better developed or ideas that could be made to make more sense.

[marceline]

This episode was terrible. Everything was awful. Jessie's obsession, the idea that one could easily break into a sperm bank with one person's stolen ID, the fact that Jessie was going to destroy other samples because her feelings were hurt, nobody in this episode was rootable. 

[possibilities]

I guess this was the show's first happy ending.

I hated that brat and also the show, for implying that children without dads are suffering terribly. I know so many families with sperm donors or absent parents and I've never seen anything like the kind of obsession and tantrumming and angst this show portrayed. 

However, unlike everybody else in the forum, I actually liked the happy ending, because I've also been around and participated in a lot of relationships that didn't fit the nuclear family norms, and that part actually seemed like the most adult and credible outcome, to me.

I realize a lot of people freak out over things like this, but it always seems really nuts from my perspective. I have a friend whose husband had an out of wedlock baby and she welcomed the child into their lives because it wasn't the kid's fault and she's not a monster who thinks her ego is the only game in town. 

So I liked that these people, who were all actually friends before the secret-keeping blew them apart, managed to get over their egos and repair their bonds.

I thought they did a good job of showing how Jesse's mom was struggling with good intentions and guilt, and I firmly believe that secrets are toxic, so for me, seeing them work it out and get past it was a sign of maturity and not at all lacking credibility. There are lots and lots of people who either repair a monogamous marriage after someone cheats, or who have respectful non-monogamous relationships based on mutual respect. And it's rarely portrayed on tv or movies, so I liked that they gave it some air.

[possibilities]

The other thing I really liked was that they showed how the wife was hurt and confused by the loss of her friendship with Jesse's mom. So often, beyond teenagers, adult friendships are treated (by media) as disposable, and losing one for a reason you don't understand is not talked about like a real wound. It's handwaved as "they grew apart" or else there's a huge fight. But I liked that the epsode showed that it did matter, and it confused her that her friend was suddenly being distant and she didn't know why.

[Madding crowd]

I have wanted all of the stories to have a happy ending but in this case there really wasn’t a true ‘accused’ and the hot button issues brought up by the other episodes was simply missing here. This could have been an episode of any show where a person wants to find a relative. Jesse breaking into the clinic was kind of minor really and she didn’t find anything related to her situation. So for me, there was no tension as to what might happen in the courtroom. 

[Whimsy]

22 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It blows my mind, then, that the test would explicitly say "These other specific people by name might be related to you" on the test. As opposed to pinging people and saying "Hey, we received a result that might be match to you. Would you like to know more?" I'd expect as part of testing you give the testing agencies a pretty wide berth of what they can do. But still...

I found 2 unknown half-sisters (and their extended family) and one unknown uncle through DNA testing on Ancestry.com. It happens. This is part of the service, so it didn’t seem that weird to me that I was connected to all these people. There were also a lot of matches for much more distantly related family that I didn’t really bother trying to contact. 
 

Jessie was so over-the-top with her tantrums about never knowing her dad. She knew (pr thought she knew) her mom got regnant by a donor. She was too old to not realize what that meant. But, the rest of the story was so messy and unlikely that I didn’t really enjoy it. 

[possibilities]

I have never done one of those DNA testing things, but from what other people tell me, you can opt out of being notified of possible relatives, but most people seem to want that info.

[Diana Berry]

That was awful

[connieinnc]

On 5/3/2023 at 12:25 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

It blows my mind, then, that the test would explicitly say "These other specific people by name might be related to you" on the test. As opposed to pinging people and saying "Hey, we received a result that might be match to you. Would you like to know more?" I'd expect as part of testing you give the testing agencies a pretty wide berth of what they can do. But still...

When I took mine (both ancestry and 23&me), I was asked when sending in the kit if I'd want to see and be seen. My dad took the rest and opted to not be seen. I matched with his sister (my aunt), but not to dad, and to cousins on both paternal and maternal sides, as the correct relationships.

[Simba122504]

Remember when mothers use to tell their kids that their father died in the war or left to get milk and never returned?  I didn't know people were out here creating faux professional sperm donor stories now. Times really have changed. Mom just decides to stay in the building and assumes her daughter and secret half brother would never develop romantic feelings towards each other?  It's not unheard of for professionals with kids to live in apartments. But I don't know what Jessie's mom did for a living to afford to live in the building. I don't personally know any donor children. Most of the population doesn't, so there aren't many studies done on them as far as I know?  Studies usually focus on the default in every situation. I too was looking for someone to snap doing this entire episode, but it never happened. 

[Halting Hex]

Nice enough, albeit clearly Accused-light.  I knew Dominic was the dad by the second ad (after Kara freaked out about Jessie possibly dating Will).  And the only thing that kept me uncertain for that long was that I was wondering if the issue between Kara and Andrea was a failed lesbian affair.

As others have written, the only thing I didn't much care for was the idea that Andrea had no clue.  IMO it's dubious that she would have reached such full-on antipathy simply because Kara wasn't as close to her as before.  I would have thought that Dominic had confessed the one-night stand later on, and that started the trouble.

So, if Jessie decides that "wth, I know how to use contraception" and still wants to climb Will's hill, does Fern object with an "I knew him first!" burst of territoriality?  Seriously, though, nice to see a happily-blended family at the end.

(I wonder how much it would cost to knock down the wall and convert the two apartments into one?)

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Halting Hex

[MicheleinPhilly]

On 5/6/2023 at 5:05 AM, Diana Berry said:

That was awful

CO-SIGN. This episode cemented for me that I will not be following this show in season 2. Some episodes have been wonderful but others, like this one, were absolutely abysmal. 

[Diana Berry]

On 5/13/2023 at 6:03 PM, MicheleinPhilly said:

CO-SIGN. This episode cemented for me that I will not be following this show in season 2. Some episodes have been wonderful but others, like this one, were absolutely abysmal. 

I’ll probably watch season 2 just because of the possible good episodes and some standout acting.

i read somewhere not sure if true, but the network made the decision on the placement of the episodes. Guess they felt well we are stuck with this episode let’s put it as far off in the future as possible  and hype the finale with Carradine.  

[CoyoteBlue]

On 5/4/2023 at 10:10 AM, Whimsy said:

I found 2 unknown half-sisters (and their extended family) and one unknown uncle through DNA testing on Ancestry.com. It happens. This is part of the service, so it didn’t seem that weird to me that I was connected to all these people. There were also a lot of matches for much more distantly related family that I didn’t really bother trying to contact.

23andMe and the kids of the-uncle-we-never-knew-we-had. Apparently Grandpa had a first wife and a son that none of the grandkids ever heard of. Uncle then went on to have like, three different babymamas, two of whom gave up their kids for adoption. They found me looking for Uncle (who died in the 90s).

On 5/4/2023 at 10:10 AM, Whimsy said:

Jessie was so over-the-top with her tantrums about never knowing her dad. She knew (pr thought she knew) her mom got regnant by a donor. She was too old to not realize what that meant. But, the rest of the story was so messy and unlikely that I didn’t really enjoy it.

I hope we weren't supposed to be sympathetic with Jessie, because she needed a good old-fashioned ass whuppin'. She knew her entire life that she her father was a sperm donor and should have known that it's not like sperm donors are doing that with the romantic hope that their seed will take root and blossom into children who would one day go on a quest to find them to create a REAL family. They are most likely college guys wanking into a cup on the regular to make a couple bucks. The whole point is that they don't ever want to know the results of their wankfest, or else the guy would just donate sperm directly to someone who wanted it.

She was a brat and horrible to her mother and spit on their entire family. Jessie didn't really deserve for it to turn out as well as it did.

But I'm glad they all made it work.

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by CoyoteBlue

[Tdoc72]

On 5/3/2023 at 11:44 AM, Crashcourse said:

 

Oh, and I thought the "one big happy family" at the end was utter bullshit.

I thought they could’ve gotten there eventually but not as quick as they made it seem. I think they should’ve flashed forward 3-5 years. Maybe a future thanksgiving w/the kids visiting from college. 
 

I agree that Jessie was ridiculous with her pursuit. I mean, that’s how sperm banks work and she should’ve known that after even a little research.