S01.E11: The Long Goodbye

[Tara Ariano]

Carter's loyalty to her family is tested.

[Chechuz]

Think this is gonna be a great episode

[grandemocha]

Well, at least Crash is gonna rot in prison. The show got that right.

[ihavenoidea]

I can't lie, there are things about this show that drive me nuts, but this episode, as the teens say, got me right in the feels.

[sally-can-wait]

Honestly, I hated Carter for 98% of the episode but I did love that she finally called Elizabeth "Mom" and she reconciled a bit with her sister. I still think this show is a mess but I continue to watch it (mainly cause I'm still in love with Kathryn Prescott from her Skins days). So for the final we get Lori in a ridiculous blond wig? Yippee!!

Edited September 10, 2014 by mables-child

[salvame]

I would imagine they have to play things carefully, as they would have to rename the show if they "fix" things too fast.  

 

I hoped Carter was leading Elizabeth to Crash, but right up till the car drove off with Crash, I thought he was going to grab her as a hostage or some equally dumbshit move that seems to prevail on this show.  

 

Another family that knows how to put the "fun" in dysfunctional.

[Spencer Hastings]

I watched this episode with my dad and we were disgusted with Carter the entire time. I wanted to strangle her up until she led Elizabeth to Crash and called her "mom". Then I cried.

I also liked that we saw the woman who gave birth to our precious Max. I was under the impression that his mom would be rougher than the Carter-obsessed lady that we saw. She was sweet with Taylor at the end. The Max appreciation segment was nice as well.

[GaT]

Max's hair lives!

[taragel]

I love that Max's mom is Kerri Green (of Lucas, Goonies and other '80s movies fame)! But I, too, thought he had a bad relationship with his parents, which is why he was basically able to move in with the family.

 

This was actually the most cohesive episode of the season because they were forced to only deal with one storyline. Perhaps they should've done more of that early on. 

Edited September 10, 2014 by taragel

[SonofaBiscuit]

I think that this episode moved Carter firmly into the category of characters I just don't like.  Max was the victim here, so I just couldn't deal with Carter running around telling people that Crash wasn't a villain and it was all an accident.  Sure, Crash probably didn't mean for the gun to go off, but I think that if you purchase a gun and wave it in someone's face, you must be prepared to deal with the consequences.  People who buy guns are generally prepared to use them, so my guess is that even if Crash hadn't shot Max, he eventually would have shot someone else or himself.

 

I was also bothered by Carter just drinking her cup of coffee the morning after the accident.  That didn't seem like a normal reaction for the events that had passed the night before.  If my boyfriend had just shot my friend, I could imagine that I would feel sick to my stomach, I would be distraught, and I would want to go to the hospital to see my friend first thing. 

 

I know that this show is called Finding Carter, but I would really like to see more of the other characters.  This episode was dominated by Carter, and I would have liked to see more of how Grant was dealing with all of this or I would have even liked to see David's job interview.  I actually found David and Carter's friends more likable this episode, so that's an improvement I guess.

[Whimsy]

I love that Max's mom is Kerri Green (of Lucas, Goonies and other '80s movies fame)! But I, too, thought he had a bad relationship with his parents, which is why he was basically able to move in with the family.

 

I THOUGHT she looked familiar but didn't realize she was Kerri Green!!  I loved her so much and then she disappeared. 

[Op294]

I also found it quite weird how Carter acted the morning after in the kitchen, but people cope with things differently and this is a girl whose life has been shaken up so much over the past few months. Even though it was frustrating to watch, I liked the Carter and Taylor interactions throughout this episode. I especially liked the scene in the hospital cafeteria where Taylor tells Carter she's a mess, and how Carter agrees and explains why. Prior to that part in the episode, I kept thinking Carter is being so selfish, but I started to empathize with her during that scene. Even though I think Taylor had a right to be angry at Carter over certain things, her constantly attacking Carter wasn't going to make anything better. Like I said, people cope differently, and I think when Taylor gets upset, she lets go of all this pent up anger. I think both girls really care about each other but are just learning how to be sisters.

 

Max's mom was not what I was expecting. I too thought his parents were going to be these deadbeats, but really it just seemed like Karen was in over her head when she had Max (she referenced being too young).

Edited September 10, 2014 by Op294

[calliope1975]

I couldn't sympathize with Carter at all. A lot of that is because the guy who's Crash plays him as unhinged. Which leaves me yelling 'Carter, are you blind? Dude is nuts!' at my TV which makes me nuts.

 

Thanks for identifying Max's mom - I thought she looked familiar. She looks great.  ETA: Well, nevermind, it's not her. She must look like someone I've seen before since I'm not recalling anything off her IMDB page. Isla Fisher or someone.

Edited September 10, 2014 by calliope1975

[CaliforniaLove]

That wasn't Kerri Green. According to imdb it was someone named Elizabeth Bond (I had to look it up because she looked nothing like Kerri to me).

Carter is just a dick. I don't care that she supposedly led Elizabeth to Crash...she should have notified her the second that looney tunes started making contact. Plus, she should have made damn well sure Elizabeth was following her, not just "assumed".

[Kat]

I was so annoyed (as usual) with Carter throughout this entire episode. She is so selfish and inconsiderate! And delusional, and stupid. But that said, I did appreciate her scene with Elizabeth at the end, and calling her 'mom'. Cynthia Watros' face when Elizabeth hears 'mom' was perfection.

Intrigued to see where this "David got a job" thing will go and how it will affect the book.

 

Taylor and Max 4EVER! 

[taragel]

Oh whoops! That wasn't Kerri? I even thought it sounded like her!! Ah well. Less interested in Max's mom now!! (heh.)

 

Who do we think is going to end up attending that academy where David's teaching next year? Maybe he gets a tuition discount and all their kids will go there and we can get rid of Bird and the bookie guy whose name I still don't know and maybe even less of Gabe.

[dohe]

I did not like this episode.  It is moving way, way too fast to Carter finding that she feels right in this environment.  While some of it was believable such as Carter's conflicted emotions concerning Crash, the rest seemed dumbed down.  Now I understand why that is needed.  The show has already dumbed it down quite a bit and I think that is out of a well founded fear that audiences will be bothered by a teenage girl who doesn't accept the biological parent a face value.  But isn't complexity more rewarding MTV?  I guess not.  I am not expecting Rectify or The Leftovers but c'mon.

 

Of course Max is used as a prop (the character is horribly written as is and badly acted) to elicit sympathy.  One can imagine the writers going yeah this is pandering but what the heck we need someone easily accessible and lacking in all nuance.  Congratulations MTV you succeeded at your cynical nonsense.

 

Prescott and Watros deserve better. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by dohe

[SonofaBiscuit]

This show can be dumb at times, sure, but I don't think that it's an intentional thing by the writers.  I believe that this is the story that they want to tell, not what they think the audience wants to see.  I would have actually really enjoyed a show about Carter having a hard time transitioning from being raised by a single mother to all of the sudden having a dad, brother, and sister.  I wish that the show would have continued with the therapy sessions for Carter and her biological family because I think that storyline could have been interesting. 

 

What bothers me most about this show is that most of the teens are complete assholes.  Gabe's mall prank on Elizabeth was pretty much sociopathic.  I don't blame Carter for that because I think that was mostly his plan (I could be wrong, that was one of the first few episodes so I don't really remember).  Back at the start of the season, Gabe, Ofe, and Bird were all eager to help Lori stay in hiding by fooling the police with a burner phone.  I know that they are teens, but c'mon, who raised these little shits?!  Then we had Bird and her lovely artwork of Carter as well as Bird getting Carter arrested for stealing that necklace.  Crash is a drug-dealer who narrowly escaped prison and then went and shot someone.  Could Carter have surrounded herself with worse people? 

 

Carter herself has done some pretty crappy things and that's why I don't like her.  The whole spin-the-bottle thing where she made sure that the bottle always landed on Taylor?  That grossed me out.  How thoughtful, helping your sister out by passing her from guy to guy.  I thought that it was selfish that Carter was planning to run away with Lori on her and Taylor's birthday.  I thought it was terrible that even though Max told Carter that he didn't want to be involved with contacting Lori anymore, she ignored that and put him in the middle of her drama.  It's very understandable that Carter would realistically have some issues from what she's gone through recently, but I don't believe that having a difficult life gives you an excuse to be an asshole.  Plenty of people deal with truly awful trauma in their lives, and many of them choose to not let that define them.  I'm sure that we all know some really lovely people in real life who have dealt with more than any person should ever have to.       

Edited September 12, 2014 by SonofaBiscuit

[gesundheit]

Has this already been renewed? If not, when do we get a spin-off show for Max?

[SonofaBiscuit]

@gesundheit, yes this show has been renewed for a second season.  I'm personally hoping that David's new job will allow us to do away with Bird, Gabe, and Ofe.  Maybe the kids can attend his new school and Carter can find some better friends.  I'm assuming that Crash will be going to prison, so I hope that's the last I see of him.

[Cranberry]

I'm definitely interested to see what changes in season two now that the writers have audience feedback (which I assume is something they didn't have in season one; was everything filmed, or at least written, before any of it aired?).

[ihavenoidea]

 

I'm definitely interested to see what changes in season two now that the writers have audience feedback (which I assume is something they didn't have in season one; was everything filmed, or at least written, before any of it aired?).

I'm pretty sure they had filmed all but the last two episodes when the show premiered. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by ihavenoidea

[rubyred]

Hey y'all! Carter apologist here!

 

Actually no, I get why people don't like her, I just am more interested in watching someone navigate a scenario like this (poorly, I know), so ways in which she's a terrible human being don't really bother me to the same extent. There are all kinds of ways we can speculate how Carter "should" be behaving, but like Sonofabiscuit mentioned, that's not the story these writers are interested in telling. I've kind of adapted and just roll with it now. I mean, Nessa Stein is confounding me over on The Honourable Woman but at this point I know Nessa's going to do her do and I'm just along for the ride.

 

Even the spin the bottle thing, well, when you put it that way....but in context it was not a sleazy or dangerous situation for Taylor, it was clear (to me) that it was just about making out and Taylor making out for the first time. I didn't feel like Carter was pimping out her sister. But obviously mileages vary.

 

IMO Taylor is kind of a Mary Sue. Understandably, and not irretrievably. But her pissy bitchiness -- girl he's been your boyfriend for what, 3 weeks maybe? I don't care how many "reallies", Carter has a deep bond with Max that doesn't disappear because he's your boyfriend. And being bitchy about Max's mom hugging Carter? Wha?

 

Carter has caused a huge amount of upheaval in all their lives, but the core issue is not her fault. She is not responsible for having been abducted. But she is there now and in their faces and they are forced to see how they lived their lives because of the abduction, in some cases in ways they didn't have to. The abduction fractured the family, her return made the cracks impossible to ignore. There is no doubt that she has turned their lives upside down, but she's not to blame for climate change.

 

Anyway at this point what can Lori say? This is a weird note to go out in for a finale, they could have used Max's shooting for that.

[GaT]

IMO Taylor is kind of a Mary Sue. Understandably, and not irretrievably. But her pissy bitchiness -- girl he's been your boyfriend for what, 3 weeks maybe? I don't care how many "reallies", Carter has a deep bond with Max that doesn't disappear because he's your boyfriend. And being bitchy about Max's mom hugging Carter? Wha?

 

 

 

I think Taylor's "pissy bitchiness" comes from being let out of the box after being sheltered her entire life. Max is her first boyfriend, maybe even her first real friend, she didn't even think she could have friends over to the house until Carter did it. When Max's mother didn't have a clue who she was, but was all over Carter, it was like Carter was the important one, & she was the other one. Which has pretty much been her entire life. So it's making her act bitchy.

[joanne3482]

IMO Taylor is kind of a Mary Sue. Understandably, and not irretrievably. But her pissy bitchiness -- girl he's been your boyfriend for what, 3 weeks maybe? I don't care how many "reallies", Carter has a deep bond with Max that doesn't disappear because he's your boyfriend. And being bitchy about Max's mom hugging Carter? Wha?

 

Doesn't the fact that she got jealous make her not a Mary Sue? 

[rubyred]

Doesn't the fact that she got jealous make her not a Mary Sue? 

Hm, interesting. Not to me, but I know there are differing schools of thought on what makes a Mary Sue. I don't think of it in terms only of how the character behaves, but how other characters behave towards the character, and how the show (implicitly or explicitly) showcases the character.

 

Being a pissy bitch isn't a dealbreaker, because being upset in that situation is the expected thing to be. Mary Sues (IMO) always have the appropriate emotion, even if it's not the most interesting. Taylor going to defcon 5 ("I will never forgive you" "You are a mess") over her first boyfriend of a few weeks seems a little OTT to me, but she's the traditional good girl heroine in a relationship with the unexpectedly sweet dudebro. Everyone roots for Taylor and Max. I root for Taylor and Max. I get why she's reacting this way, but it doesn't make her more likeable or relatable to me, because it's just lazy writing. ("I will never forgive you." Cheese and crackers, I should not be able to predict dialogue like it's Days of our Lives.)

 

I wouldn't expect her to behave with the circuspection of a been-there-seen-it adult. But as always I'm hoping for a little more nuance. The actress could, I think, bring it. But hey, this show is not about the nuance.

[fliptopbox]

I can see why Carter likes Crash. He's hot and has that whole bad boy thing (attitude at least, lookswise he could be a male model) that of course CopMom hates. And even though CopMom tried to warn her I am sure Carter just thought it was overdramatics. I know I would have at that age, cos parents *just don't get it!*. But I was kind of an asshole, rebellious teen myself. And I was selfish, which Carter very obviously is. But if I ever was involved with someone who shot another person that would be it. I am bothered by the fact that Carter seemed to be questioning this. Even though it was not cold blooded murder Crash is still facing some serious sentencing. Who'd want to hang around for that? Certainly not a girl like Carter who is young and pretty and has a future (probably). At least she decided not to meet Crash....although since the episode isn't over yet (watching now) that may change. But for now, smart move. OR get CopMom involved and catch his dumbass.