S03.E05: Interlude III

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

2000. After a Y2K doomsday fails to materialize, Eli and Aimee-Leigh find themselves flooded with criticism from their congregants…and the Montgomerys. Later, the arrival of Jesse’s girlfriend Amber throws an already fragile Judy for a loop.

Original air date 2023.07.08

 

[thuganomics85]

Interlude time!!

Definitely was feeling some odd nostalgia-like vibes with everyone pertaining to those Y2K Survivor Buckets, because, yeah, I still remember when the Y2K craze went down and seeing stuff like that in real life.  Guess I can't be too surprised that Eli took advantage of that, even if it almost blew up in all of their faces.  Aimee-Leigh continues to be an interesting one, as she clearly sees what he is doing is wrong and misleading, but still can't help but to go along with it because she always yearns for that pipe dream of going back to "simpler times."  Well, at least the good parts because when ever someone talks about the "good old days", they never address all the flat-out bad stuff that was going on during that time.  While the casting as a whole has always been top notch, I find myself thinking that Jennifer Nettles really is one of the their biggest gets, because they needed someone who could juggle all of these balls and make it believable that she'd be beloved by all despite her flaws, and I thinks she pulls it off with ease.

Once again, the actors playing the younger versions of Jesse and Judy are amazing: really feels like Danny McBride and Edi Patterson have somehow been transported into these younger actors' bodies.  Almost eerie at times.  Liked seeing more of their relationship her and how they both obviously got on each others nerves, but you can see the bizarre, but truly real love they have for one another as siblings.  Also liked seeing more of Judy's history with Young Amber and I thought that actress did a good job too.

As usual, I got a kick out of all the 2000 nostalgia bait and references.  My favorite was seeing Judy's wall with pictures of the Backstreet Boys, Ryan Phillippe, and Russell Crowe (yeah, there was a time he was actually considered a heartthrob!)

So, I wonder if the reason May-May attacks Aimee-Leigh in the premiere is because she blames her (and Eli) for selling Peter the buckets and it leading to him being desperate enough to try and rob that bank.  Or will there end up being another reason for it?  I also wonder if May-May deep down feels a little guilt herself because she refused Eli's offer to buy back the shares due to it being "blood money."

Edited July 11, 2023 by thuganomics85

[revbfc]

Much like the Sopranos & Breaking Bad (but nowhere in the same league), this show makes me feel sympathy for absolutely horrible people.

What I liked about this episode is that it took a moment to remind viewers that the showrunners are fully aware of how terrible they are.

What this makes me want to know is: are viewers supposed to root for this family to successfully defend their bubble against reality, or hope that it gets popped and they can weather life outside of it?

I think it’s the former (because Gideon is obviously going to save the family business), but I’d love to see the latter.

[cardigirl]

I'm not sure I watch this show with any sort of idea of where I'd like it to go. Mostly I watch in awe of the world Danny McBride et al have created. How pitch perfect their portrayal of southern evangelical religion as it must look like from the outside, is, while still having their characters carry some real humanity in their hearts. Each of the characters are so well drawn and given depth, instead of be caricatures. 

This episode, which focuses on the young Gemstones and their cousins was superb. The Gemstone children love to insult each other but they also stand up for each other. There is definitely a family bond between them. 

While I cheered that Jesse "avenged" his sister, I felt rather bad for the young man he assaulted, because Judy was definitely the aggressor with him. Whether or not cutting her hair was deserved or not, she was certainly not taking his feelings into account when she threw herself at him.   And when he pulled out that huge pair of scissors, all I could think was that he would not have been allowed to carry such things at school. 

I adore this show.  How many episodes do we get this season?

Edited July 10, 2023 by cardigirl

[aghst]

Gemstones sibling rivalry goes across generations.  Even back then May-May wouldn't allow for peace with Eli, any more than Judy will give Jesse any quarter.

Though Eli seems to be trying to be kind to May-May and her family back then and now and even Jesse got revenge for the kid who cut Judy's hair -- well more than getting even.

Amber is also more forgiving of Judy than she could have been.

But it explains a lot about Judy, how she was bullied and even her parents considered her too much sometimes.  She suffered a lot of emotional injuries and her response is to put up this armor of bravado, about being desirable.

Wow, McBride inserted some moments of heartache and nuance.

Peter has nobody to blame but himself but now is plotting some revenge against the Gemstones for his own choices.

 

BTW, were those Y2K buckets really a thing?  Maybe it was regional?  Because where I was, it was about fixing computers and having alternate methods if the systems went down, not resorting to survivalist impulses.

 

[tennisgurl]

I always love seeing the flashbacks, especially now that we have May-May and her family around dealing with everything that happened in the past. So is this why May-May attacked Aimee-Leigh? She blames her and Eli's T2K scam for getting their family into so much debt that her husband tried to commit a robbery, failed, and everything fell apart after that? I can definitely see why she would be pissed but I can also imagine she's lashing out because she's mad at herself for not taking Eli's money, if she had just let Eli pay back what they spent things could have turned out different. I even felt bad for her husband, who really did seem like a well meaning decent person at this point before he became desperate enough to try his hand at robbery and then later became the guy we have met in the present. I also continue to be amazed at the excellent casting for young Judy and Jessie, they really do completely nail the adult actors tones and body language. 

I can really appreciate the complicated picture they paint of the Gemstones and even of their extended family. May-May really isn't wrong about how Eli and Aimee-Leigh scammed their own congregation and are more invested in money than religion, but Eli isn't wrong that she's way too harsh on her boys, is pretty high on her own righteousness, and that growing up poor isn't exactly a fun thing even with principles. I also thought it was interesting seeing more of Aimee-Leigh and how conflicted she was about some of the shady things their church was into. She knew that she was scamming people with their Y2K packs but talked herself into seeing it as a nice thing for her to hold onto. I find her to be such an interesting character, she makes such an impression every time we get to see her. I also liked seeing some of the Gemstone kids with their cousins, its sad that their parts of the family fell out like that, they did seem to get along in their weird way. 

I was absolutely living for all of those early 00s references, especially the fashions at Judy's school. Those leather pants! Those boyband cuts! Those leopard skin skirts!

[dsteele]

22 hours ago, aghst said:

BTW, were those Y2K buckets really a thing?

Definitely. And they still are. Only now that the predicted Y2K disaster failed to happen, a scammer has to be more, shall we say, creative and just come up with a different excuse. For example, the End Times are coming next Thursday. Unless, of course, that doesn't happen. And JFK Jr. is going to appear in Dallas. Oh wait, that didn't happen? Well, it was because he actually decided to run for president in 2024.  And so on.

Food buckets are still being hawked, primarily by televangelists and doomsday preppers. Which? Are often one and the same. Remember Jim Bakker, the disgraced televangelist and convicted felon? He's back at it and funding his TV show in part with food buckets. I won't link to the jerk's website but here is an article from 2015 describing what the 'food' is like.

Sadly, there are plenty of others also doing the same scam. And people fall for it, over and over.

[Me from ME]

I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I saw a bucket of freeze dried meals in the grocery section (not camping) at a rural Super-Walmart. It is in a town that is well known for attracting back woods type folks so there are probably a lot of preppers within driving distance.

Will have to take a photo of the "survival bucket" next time I see it.

[Sailorgirl26]

4 hours ago, Me from ME said:

I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I saw a bucket of freeze dried meals in the grocery section (not camping) at a rural Super-Walmart. It is in a town that is well known for attracting back woods type folks so there are probably a lot of preppers within driving distance.

Will have to take a photo of the "survival bucket" next time I see it.

Costco has these in store sometimes, but I'm in Florida, so. . . . ya' know . . . 🙄

Can't have those Gravy Seals military wanna-bes goin' hungry! 

[zengirl1215]

On 7/10/2023 at 12:43 PM, aghst said:

BTW, were those Y2K buckets really a thing?  Maybe it was regional?  Because where I was, it was about fixing computers and having alternate methods if the systems went down, not resorting to survivalist impulses.

 

It's mentioned here, https://abcnews.go.com/US/scandals-brought-bakkers-uss-famous-televangelists/story?id=60389342 at the bottom of the article. But I recall seeing it in a documentary about them too. The Bakker's buckets were after Y2K but still for the "end of the world' scenario. 🫤