S03.E10: Save My Place

[paulvdb]

Quote

Erik makes a decision about his future. Miss Paula announces her new plan. The town turns out to celebrate a happy couple, but an unwanted guest appears.

 

[greekmom]

Very disappointed overall.

I would have thought by season 3 more than 1 of the Sweet Magnolias would have been married. Maddie should have been married by this season as well as Dana Sue.

I found they really inserted god and prayer alot more this season than the last ones. Or else I am not remembering correctly.

Helen was a real beyotch when Maddie gave her the same degree of questions that Helen did through seasons 1-2.  Maddie shouldn't have apologized for trying to fix anything.

I did like Helen's braids over the short do.

Kathy being the evil sister was predictable. So the bank didn't give you the loan to buy the restaurant but gave it to Dana Sue and Ronnie. Boo hoo.  Neither Ronnie or Dana owe u diddle squat. If you couldn't get a reference like Dana got, then that is your own issue. 

The gaps between seasons do not assist with remember who is Issac's father, the names of all the kids, etc. Honestly either they pick up the pace and get the seasons done in a much shorter time.  Now with the strike isn't going to help much and the fact that this season was more of a snooze than the last 2.

4/10 since I had to ff a bit. 

 

[bichonblitz]

Disappointed in Dana Sue's reaction to Ronnie telling her he paid off Kathy with out telling her. Dana Sue got angry for about 10 seconds then blew it off not to mention she was going to call off the wedding due to Ronnie using the last of her money. That is NOT the way the old Dana would have reacted to that situation. 

At least have her not talk to Ronnie for a couple of episodes and make him grovel for her forgiveness. 

Didn't like the Cal and Maddie storyline this season. First constantly all over each other. Then the ohhhhh noooo we can't touch or kiss agreement. Finally, Times up! We can now sleep together and still paw each other every chance we get! C'mon. Grow up!

Edited July 22, 2023 by bichonblitz

[Orcinus orca]

Well, I plowed my way through to the end but more to get it out of the way than to enjoy it.  Mostly it was on in the background.

I need a double dose of insulin about now. If I hear one more sappy speech about peace, joy, and love I think I will throw up.  

There is no way they can wring another season out of this.

 

[memememe76]

Is that it for the show? No real cliffhangers. What happened to the NASCAR woman? Erik forgave Helen wayyyy too easily. 

[Orcinus orca]

Let me just say that the dress Maddie wore to the vow renewal was one of the most hideous things I have ever seen.  The costume department really must have hated the actress.

[SonofaBiscuit]

To sum this season up, meh.

The dialogue on this show is SOO bad. Nobody actually talks like these people. They need better writers, because it was just basically ten episodes of crappy filler and no plot.

They also need better wardrobe people. You know, ones who won’t scour the globe in search of the biggest, poofiest sleeves in existence.

What was with ramping up Kyle’s Shakespeare in the Park impromptu little performances to like a ten? This is real life, please don’t go around “acting” all the time yikes.

Also yikes…Helen in the Ryan break-up scene. Was not a fan of how the actress played that at all.

I can’t believe we didn’t see Bill try to get to know Isaac, or Noreen/Maddie’s kids find out that Isaac is Bill’s son. Isaac suddenly acting like Bill was some deadbeat who abandoned him was ridiculous, sigh. 

[mrsbagnet]

3 hours ago, SonofaBiscuit said:

Also yikes…Helen in the Ryan break-up scene. Was not a fan of how the actress played that at all.

The director had Heather Headley play that scene as if she were on the stage. She doesn't need to be that extra on a little TV show.

[CarpeFelis]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:04 AM, Orcinus orca said:

Let me just say that the dress Maddie wore to the vow renewal was one of the most hideous things I have ever seen.  The costume department really must have hated the actress.

The dress would’ve been okay if they’d left off the peplum and that godawful front bow.

On 7/23/2023 at 11:48 AM, SonofaBiscuit said:

Also yikes…Helen in the Ryan break-up scene. Was not a fan of how the actress played that at all.

I can’t believe we didn’t see Bill try to get to know Isaac, or Noreen/Maddie’s kids find out that Isaac is Bill’s son. Isaac suddenly acting like Bill was some deadbeat who abandoned him was ridiculous, sigh. 

Helen in that scene seemed like she was trying to impersonate a screech owl or something.

Isaac and Noreen were saying they had something each needed to tell the other. No idea what Noreen’s thing was but I think Isaac was going to tell her he’s Rebecca’s half brother.

When Cal’s ex Vicki showed up I thought the show was really going to turn up the soap opera melodrama and have her introduce him to a child he didn’t know he had. Just having her be bitchy and one-upping was sort of anticlimactic.

ETA: Cal’s hair. Give that man a haircut already! It’s too short to pull back and too long not to hang down looking greasy.

And Kathy… give me a break. Bill of all people convinces this vindictive snake in the grass to apologize? I’d find it more believable if a UFO landed and aliens attended the vow renewal.

Edited July 26, 2023 by CarpeFelis

[slayer2]

Woooow colour me surprised. I was positive they were going to kill off Bill with all that foreshadowing and sidelining. Glad they didn't kill him off but also kind of disturbed that they didn't realize how much they wrote him into a corner and that however slimey he is to Maddie (or dumb Noreen) he's still those kids' dad and Isaac's.

It's insane to me that the show thinks kids get over their fathers that quickly. Like none of his kids miss him not even Katie and Isaac after a whole life of wanting to know who his parents are and moving to Serenity explicitly for that, has zero interest in getting to know him whatsoever. So unrealistic.

Isaac is more concerned with moonface Noreen's reaction than his relationship with his own Dad and he has all of the smoke for Bill and zero for Peggy not to mention that all his kids were at this stupid vow renewal and Bill wasn't even permitted to attend but his mistress was. Make it make sense!!

[slayer2]

On 7/23/2023 at 2:48 PM, SonofaBiscuit said:

To sum this season up, meh.

Also yikes…Helen in the Ryan break-up scene. Was not a fan of how the actress played that at all.

I can’t believe we didn’t see Bill try to get to know Isaac, or Noreen/Maddie’s kids find out that Isaac is Bill’s son. Isaac suddenly acting like Bill was some deadbeat who abandoned him was ridiculous, sigh. 

Yeah, I'd probably sum up this season as "overwrought" everything, the acting, the storylines, Isaac's random hatred of Bill...everything. overwrought. HH acting has really bothered me lately as well and I hate to say it because I'm really happy to see a Black character as a star and that Helen is finally being given plot and agency and isn't just in service of her annoying friends but the choices are a little much.

 

I feel strongly that HH hasn't made the transition from stage acting to film acting yet. There's absolutely zero problem with her line readings if they were on stage but it doesn't work on television. It's like watching the actors from films in the 1920s and 1930s/40s who hadn't made the transition yet. It's too much. When Ryan and Helen broke up HH took it real Tennessee Williams and I wanted to say "Darling this is a primetime, fluffy soap opera, ease up".

 

Anyway the vow renewal was boring, I can't stand Dana Sue so I don't GAF if her harpy ass is happy and I was rooting for Jackson so I'm disappointed that they gave him zero arc. I find the actor fun to watch and I feel he makes the actress who plays Annie less stilted  I also don't want Erik to forgive Helen at least not without some groveling on her part because she did him very dirty especially knowing what he'd been through. That fact that Isaac will talk to her and not Bill is nuts.

I'm also disappointed I didn't get to see any Cece and Helen this episode. It's one of the few relationships (also Erik and Isaac) that I enjoy.

[Puffaroo]

Quote

"The dress would’ve been okay if they’d left off the peplum and that godawful front bow."

And if the bodice had actually FIT instead of gaping and falling off her shoulder!

This felt like a series finale -- amost everything all tied up in a (huge) bow.

 

[tennisgurl]

I normally enjoy this show in a very light frothy sort of way that's easy to enjoy when you want to turn your brain off or have something to watch in the background while doing other things, but this season was really pushing my froth tolerance. So many speeches about love and peace and happiness every five seconds, and the show so desperately needs everyone to see the light and warm our hearts that anyone who isn't a wonderful awesome person had to either disappear or have a turn around for no reason. I still enjoyed a lot of aspects of the season, but its definitely my least favorite season.  

I know that this shows dialogue has always been on the theatrical side, but it just got ridiculous this season. At least in the previous season it was mostly just the main ladies who talked like they have a team of script writers working for them, but now its everyone constantly, even the teens. Its like no one is capable of just having a normal conversation, we need three bible verses and a whole ass speech to answer even the simplest question. 

There were so many plots I wanted to see this season, especially Bill trying to get to know Isaac, the fall out with Cal losing his job, and figuring out what the mayor is up to, but we hardly got any of that. The mayor just resigned and disappeared, Cal pretty easily moved into a new career, and the only time Bill and Isaac ever interacted was whenever he was telling Bill to fuck off on behalf of his bestie Noreen. The whole thing with Bill was really weird in particular, its like the show thinks that Bill is an even worse guy than he actually is, this show gets so weird about what it thinks is unforgivable. Yeah Bill is an asshole and he wasn't a good husband to Maddie or boyfriend/baby daddy to Noreen, but the way Noreen and Isaac were talking about him you would think he was a violent psychopath who Noreen needed a restraining order from. Also, a lot of Bill's problems are his own fault, but its not his fault he wasn't there for Isaac growing up, he had no idea he existed, Isaac really has no reason to be mad at him about that in particular.

The big fight between Helen and Maddie was super overblown, but I do actually buy that Helen would get so upset, because she knows that Maddie was right to question how happy she is. I don't think that Maddie should apologize, she was just asking a good question, she wasn't even really meddling.

Kathy was a disappointment, I was hoping for some real soap opera bad girl drama, but her reasons for hating everyone are ridiculously petty, her evil plans didn't accomplish much, and in the end she shows up to say she's sorry out of nowhere. No way do I buy that Bill, of all people, helped her to see the light. 

[Angeleyes]

I’m not understanding how Kathy giving Ronnie the tea set makes up for her taking thousands of dollars from him and committing vandalism on Dana Sue’s business. If she was really sorry she should have returned the money after apologizing and then left town. 
 

Are the creators downsizing the cast for next season due to budget cuts? They just 86’d Maddie’s Mom, the guy who works at the spa, and potentially Bill all suddenly.