S07.E05: Who At Peace

[DanaK]

Quote

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT

Asher's views on the construct of marriage complicate his future with Jerome. Meanwhile, Asher also briefly revisits his religious past to aid a patient's conversion to Judaism for his fiancée.

 

[Annber03]

...uhhhhhhhhhh...

Wow. 

Okay. That...was not the ending I was expecting. 

(That song playing at the end. I've heard that somewhere else. I'm going to have to look that up now.)

[mjt626]

What was the point of that? The show is going off, just let the characters be happy!

What is the message? Renounce being Jewish and gay? Asher didn’t deserve such a crappy ending.

[KaveDweller]

Did they seriously just kill Asher off like that? That really sucks.

When they showed those guys walking away after Asher started calling 911, I thought how nice that they weren't going to have something dramatic happen and we were going to have a happy ending for Asher and Jerome. Stupid me.

I thought it was nice that they showed Charlie doing something well with the patient, but then she did really mess up in the OR. The layout of the tools was just a small mistake, but then Shaun told her to stop talking so he could concentrate and she kept going. She should have waited until after to explain herself. But Shaun certainly made some mistakes himself at the start.

 

[Starchild]

Well fuck.

Asher was my favourite character. If they had to pick someone to kill off in the final season, I would have been fine with literally anyone else.

This sucks.

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

When they showed those guys walking away after Asher started calling 911, I thought how nice that they weren't going to have something dramatic happen and we were going to have a happy ending for Asher and Jerome. Stupid me.

I thought something was going to happen to the rabbi or the synagogue, and then we'd see Asher dealing with his feelings about it next episode. Yeah. Evidently not. 

I liked the rabbi. His conversation he had with Asher early on in the episode was a nice scene. 

[Grammy6]

I started crying at the end, and honestly sat here thinking maybe I won't watch this show anymore.  Asher was such an interesting character, and up until tonight's ending, i loved how the writing explored his many layers.  He deserved a better ending to his story, and I am angry that they chose to go in this direction.

[Artsda]

I'm in shock they just killed Asher off like that.  He had come so far it trying to be more family oriented, in his relationships and was ready to actually marry then they kill him in a hate crime?

He deserved so much better. 

[The Wild Sow]

49 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

That song playing at the end. I've heard that somewhere else. I'm going to have to look that up now.)

Leonard Cohen - Who By Fire, a song about death and all the ways it may come.

Awwwww, Asher! 

But Asher is the “Who At Peace” of the title. He was making his peace with his Judaism, his sexuality, his views on marriage & life, all of it.  And his death - horrifying & untimely as it was - came when he was at peace.

[Diana Berry]

That was a bummer.  Good grief.  It’s the last season, why do this? 

the only good thing  was they didn’t prolong the suspense and showed his memorial service in the preview. 

 

Edited April 3 by Diana Berry

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

Leonard Cohen - Who By Fire, a song about death and all the ways it may come.

Ohhhhh, thank you for mentioning it's a Cohen song, that helps me clarify where I'd heard it before. I kept thinking I'd heard it in "Criminal Minds" and I was right - it was the first episode of season six, and was one of many Cohen songs they'd used throughout. 

Okay, welll, there's that mystery solved, then :p. 

[bros402]

So, uh, did they just kill Asher off? Since that was a lot of blood. If so, that was a bit out of left field, since it's the final season! When the anti-Semites went away, I was expecting him or the rabbi to get shot, and the next episode dealing with that.

I was going to come here and post, "Oh wow, it looks like they must've had the same writer as last episode writing Charlie this time!" until her scene in the OR. That was just ridiculous - and it honestly seems like something Shaun would've done in the first season.

Also, uh, is it legal for Glassman to show Shaun the unredacted complaint against him? I didn't see anything blacked out on that piece of paper.

[rmontro]

6 hours ago, mjt626 said:

What was the point of that? The show is going off, just let the characters be happy!

What is the message? Renounce being Jewish and gay? Asher didn’t deserve such a crappy ending.

I agree, seems like this was just done for shock value.  Seems a shame they killed Asher off just as he was about to get married, and had come to terms with his faith.  Wonder what they will do with Jerome now?

Can't help but sympathize with Charlie in her complaint against Shawn.

[thuganomics85]

Okay, I knew something bad was going to go down at the end, but I figured it was going to be a simple assault that would lead to a dramatic "have to operate on of our own" stories next week.  But they totally just killed off Asher, right?  I mean, there was not only a lot of blood but his eyes were still open when he was lying there and that's usually the tell-tell sign of dying on television/film.  Crazy.  Keep forgetting that this is a David Shore production and they do tend to randomly kill off main characters every now and then.  Really though, Asher should have just waited with the rabbi until the cops showed up.  Even if those anti-Semites left, the possibility of them doubling back would have had to been obvious for everyone involved.  Poor Jerome.

So, Lim's issues with her mom were simply a case of her always assuming she was a boring housewife who did what her husband/Lim's father wanted, but it took this thing with Glassman to realize that she was actually her own person this entire time and had layers to her.  Certainly took a long time to figure that out, huh, Lim?  At least they are at a better place now.  Curious to see if they will go forward with this character and Glassman as an item.  They really do seem to enjoy one another.  But maybe, just maybe don't talk about y'alls sex lives in front of everyone, guys.  Not exactly wanting to know about Glassman's sexual stamina, frankly...

Looks like things have gotten even worse for Shaun and Charlie, as now the latter has filed a complaint against him.  I guess she does have some merit due to his previous actions.  Tonight though, she really did go overboard with the arguing and interrupting, and I really can't blame Shaun for making her leave.  Even then, it still feels like she goes out of her way to be this way around him, while she was more controlled with Park last week.  I don't think it is out of maliciousness, but she does seem to act like she expects to get away with things around him and is surprised when we pushes back.  Still, Shaun really hasn't handled any of this well at all, so I can still see him getting into some form of actual trouble here.

[jabRI]

I think the whole 'shaun has to teach charlie' is s a stupid story line.  It isn't working, let her work with Park.  It can't be the first time a teaching relationship didn't work out.  And he was totally in his rights to kick her out of surgery.  There was literally a life on th line, she had to shut up so he could think.

[PurpleTentacle]

Is a gastric sleeve really still the first thing you'd recommend in cases like this? Or is this just another case of surgeons only knowing about scalpels? (or is it just bad writing?)

I mean, give the poor girl some Ozempic or Mounjaro and see how she does with that first, for god's sake. No need for a potentially dangerous and life altering surgery with a 10% to 20% failure rate, until you've tried all the other options.

As for Charlie. Yeah if you can't put your needs aside in a life or death situation you really shouldn't be there. Shaun might have been unreasonable before, but he certainly wasn't here.

Is it just me or were there some massive sparks between Asher and the Rabi?

Sadly I don't think we'll be getting a love triangle there. I'd like to assume that Asher is just going to be in wheelchair for a season and be totally fine afterwards, as is tradition on this show. But I think having your eyes open while being unconcious is TV language for being dead...

[possibilities]

It's a tried and true TV trope: the only chance you have at happiness is if we kill you off before you can enjoy it:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/BuryYourGays

[rmontro]

3 hours ago, jabRI said:

And he was totally in his rights to kick her out of surgery.  There was literally a life on th line, she had to shut up so he could think.

I think kicking her out of surgery was fine.  It's his overall approach to her that's out of line.

[MaryHedwig]

3 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I'd like to assume that Asher is just going to be in wheelchair for a season and be totally fine afterwards, as is tradition on this show. But I think having your eyes open while being unconcious is TV language for being dead...

Check the previews for next week.  You will jump to a different conclusion. (So sorry.)

[PurpleTentacle]

24 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

Check the previews for next week.  You will jump to a different conclusion. (So sorry.)

I'm pretty sure that confirms my conclusion. Also aren't Promos considered spoilers here?

[jabRI]

5 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Is a gastric sleeve really still the first thing you'd recommend in cases like this? Or is this just another case of surgeons only knowing about scalpels? (or is it just bad writing?)

I mean, give the poor girl some Ozempic or Mounjaro and see how she does with that first, for god's sake. No need for a potentially dangerous and life altering surgery with a 10% to 20% failure rate, until you've tried all the other options.

This was ridiculous.  Even before drugs, try weight watchers, etc.  There must be a floor of dieticians in the hospital.  I've also known of times its not that effective, you can gain back the weight.  

 

[Driad]

5 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Is a gastric sleeve really still the first thing you'd recommend in cases like this? Or is this just another case of surgeons only knowing about scalpels? (or is it just bad writing?)

Bad writing.  This show, like many other medical dramas, is focused on surgeons, so the writing leans toward surgery as the only effective and interesting treatment.  One thing I liked about "House" is that Dr. House was not a surgeon.

[PurpleTentacle]

32 minutes ago, jabRI said:

This was ridiculous.  Even before drugs, try weight watchers, etc.  There must be a floor of dieticians in the hospital.

I think if somebody is that obese and has that many health problems (Which btw. was ridiculous. If you are young your body just tanks it. I was 170kg [375lbs] at 2m [6'8"] in my very early 20s because of undiagnosed hypothyroidism and had literally no other health problems. Health problems come later in life. [I now have a normal BMI without any surgeries, btw.]) and you are talking about the fact that you are just constantly hungry, no matter what you do, it's okay to give medication. A lot of people have described these medications as "finally turning off the constant food noise", so constant thoughts of what to eat next and where to get it. For some people their satiation hormones just don't work, so their bodies are constantly telling them that they might soon starve if they don't eat, and these medications are basically just that, artificial satiation hormones.

Of course there should also be a consult with a dietician and they should talk to the mother and daughter in multiple sessions about healthy foods. You are absolutely right about that.

46 minutes ago, jabRI said:

I've also known of times its not that effective, you can gain back the weight.  

Yeah, that's basically the 10% to 20% failure rate. It's really not that low. That's 1 in 10 to 2 in 10. When it was the only option in town, as a last ditch effort, sure. But again, these new medications are ridiculously effective for most people and they don't require life altering surgery that can have a lot of complications.

[KaveDweller]

7 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Is it just me or were there some massive sparks between Asher and the Rabi?

Yes! I thought so too.

[jacourt]

One big difference between Shaun and Charlie is that Shaun brought stuff to the table. He ability to see how to fix things. Charlie is smart, no question, but how dies she help?  

[MaryHedwig]

The message at the end was:

“If you or anyone you know has experienced antisemitism, racism, anti-LGBTQ+ related incidents or hate crimes, or if you want to learn more about what you can do to stop hate, please visit splcenter.org."

I wish this message had also included hate speech against obese people as it was fat-bullying that caused this fourteen-year-old higher-weight child to become suicidal.

[Jaundiced Eye]

I guess we haven't had a truly shocking death since Melendez, so I guess we were overdue. But why did it have to be Asher, and under such tragic circumstances?

[The Wild Sow]

Now I'm wondering how Scott immersed in the mikvah when he was just post-op from hip surgery!  I mean, he'd have an incision, stitches, a dressing.... (he shouldn't have anything between his body and the water.)   

[MaryHedwig]

13 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

Now I'm wondering how Scott immersed in the mikvah when he was just post-op from hip surgery!  I mean, he'd have an incision, stitches, a dressing.... (he shouldn't have anything between his body and the water.)   

Plus, was he naked in front of everyone? I saw no attempts to cover him with a towel until he entered the mikvah for modesty. Loved the image of the ice shooting into the (I hope) hot water.

[tvfanatic13]

As an LGBTQ Jew, this really hit home. But I am really glad Asher’s faith was restored in the end. And I loved the conversation with the Rabbi about it being ok to be both Jewish and gay. That is the mantra of my Synagogue. 

[Diana Berry]

Well with Asher not marrying Jerome assuming  Park and Reznik will get married and live happily ever after.  Guess they couldn’t have two marriages. 

[possibilities]

I don't know specifically what the rules are for the mikvah in this situation,  but I do know that there are rules that, for instance, you MUST break the Sabbath if it's necessary to save a life. So maybe there are exception for a situation like this, as well.

I'm still up set that they invoked the "Bury The Gays" trope. It's just torture porn at this point. I hate it.

I thought Charlie did need to be kicked out of the OR. She seemed to have no concept of the seriousness of the surgical situation. BUt until then, I thought it was utterly absurd that Shaun (or someone) didn't check the surgical tray after delegating it to her, especially since she had botched the consent assiugnemtn. One moment Shaun thinks she's totally incompetent. The next, he's delegating very serious tasks to her and not checking her work, like he totally trusts her. He's not being a good teacher but she's also being a compulsively rebellious student, no matter her motives. It's a mess.

Honestly, Shaun should try to get a job where he doesn't have to teach, if he doesn't want to teach. But Charlie also needs to rein in her refusal to take feedback, follow rules, or know her place as a newbie.

The problem with Charlie is the same as the problem with Shaun when the show started: neither of them act like people who are at the point in their career where they would be having these particular issues. Shaun would have learned how to not have meltdowns uunder stress or he would not have made it through medical school. And Charlie would have learned to follow rules and not be disruptive in emergency situations. It doesn't seem like either of them had coaching or support to figure stuff out before getting to their hospital jobs.

I agree that the gastric sleeve was premature, and that it would be good if we had programs to support and help people who are being bullied. I wish it was taken seriously but there still seems to be such a strong cultural assumption about what "fat" people are doing, and a really wrong-headed idea that self-esteem comes from the outside, not the inside, and could reasonably be based on what size you are rather than your character.

They didn't even assess that patient's diet. Maybe she wasn't eating that much. Many studies show that many "fat" people are not actually eating more than "thin" people. I used to eat twice as much as anyone in the room and I was still thin. 

If the show had allowed Asher and Jerome to marry and be happy, that would have done more for the world than killing Asher. But some people seem to think that they have to kill us rather than let us be happy.

I did enjoy the Rabbi. As a Jewish lesbian, it's never really been a hardship for me to relate to Judaism, but there are a lot of different braches of the culture and the faith, and certainly the Hasids are not famous for being friendly to us. But, honestly, if Asher looked even a tiny little bit, he would have found friendly Jewish congregations easily-- they exist in many places, and surely in the city/state where the show is set. 

Edited April 4 by possibilities

[possibilities]

deleted a double post-- don't even know how it got there in the first place

Edited April 4 by possibilities

[PurpleTentacle]

53 minutes ago, possibilities said:

They didn't even assess that patient's diet. Maybe she wasn't eating that much. Many studies show that many "fat" people are not actually eating more than "thin" people. I used to eat twice as much as anyone in the room and I was still thin. 

I am not aware of any such studies. Can you link some of them?

56 minutes ago, possibilities said:

If the show had allowed Asher and Jerome to marry and be happy, that would have done more for the world than killing Asher. But some people seem to think that they have to kill us rather than let us be happy.

I'm going to give the show the benefit of the doubt and say that Noah Galvin probably got a new role that depended on him leaving the show early, since this is the last season anyway.

If that's not the reason this really is maximum cringe. We really should be over the kill your gays trope by now.

17 hours ago, rmontro said:

I agree, seems like this was just done for shock value.  Seems a shame they killed Asher off just as he was about to get married, and had come to terms with his faith.  Wonder what they will do with Jerome now?

I didn't read it as him coming to terms with his faith. I think he still doesn't believe in god. He just reconnected with his jewish roots, since he'll always be a Jew culturally.

Or maybe that's just what I want to think. Atheists flipflopping on TV, actually deep down really believing in god and just denying him, because they are angry, is something that really annoys me. I for one am not an atheist because I hate god. I just never believed in him, because there is no evidence for him. And I grew up pretty christian, went to child services that were held in small groups behind the altar, went to christian youth group, etc. But I just regarded all the stories like I did Grimm's fairy tales. I mean they were pretty much on the same level of story telling and plausibility and seemed to impart roughly the same kinds of lessons. I only really grasped that adults actually believe that those stories are true, when I got older.

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I am not aware of any such studies. Can you link some of them?

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

That's a reasonable request and I will see if I can dig up the references. I read about this many years ago, so I don't still have them at hand, but I will see what I can do, and if I find them, I will come back and post them.

In the meanwhile, if anyone is interested, there is a lot of good info about "fat people" and health, available if you search the web for things like "health at any size" or similar such phrases.

There are a lot of different causes for weight differences, including everything from total calorie intake, to what people eat (not how many calories, but what kinds of foods), the state of a person's microbiome, hormonal issues, and other stuff.

And some of the time, the negative effects of weight are not as bad as people think. Sometimes, it is not how big someone is, but how FIT they are, as well, that makes a difference. It's just not as simple as the prevailing ideas make it seem.

Also, I recall a cross-cultural study that showed that in situations where fat is not stigmatized, you don't see the same degree of negative health impact (presumably because some of the problems are caused by stress and other hardships imposed by prejudice, such as when doctors assume your problems are because you're fat, and don't take other possibilities into consideration when you bring them symptoms). 

Here are a few links I found just now, with just a quick websearch:

https://asdah.org/health-at-every-size-haes-approach/

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gut-microbiomes-differ-between-obese-lean-people

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-claim-overeating-is-not-the-primary-cause-of-obesity-point-to-more-effective-weight-loss-strategies/

https://www.science.org/content/article/obesity-doesn-t-always-mean-ill-health-here-s-what-scientists-are-learning

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fat-shaming-makes-things-worse

I had not known about this particular correlation (children born via c-section have higher rates of obesity in adolescence) until just now, but, apparently even within the same families, siblings born by caesarean are more likely to be fat in adolescence:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cesareans-child-obesity-idUSKCN11D2O2/

I can't read all of this article from The Atlantic because I don't have a paid subscription, but I think this quote from it is really interesting:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

Quote

A study published recently in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice found that it’s harder for adults today to maintain the same weight as those 20 to 30 years ago did, even at the same levels of food intake and exercise.

___

Obviously, the patient in the episode of the show had fatty liver disease, and they wrote her to say she is obsessed with food, but causes of that obsession were not investigated. 

Here's an article which includes a few other possible causes of fatty liver, as well:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15831-fatty-liver-disease

___

I realize nothing about this show (not just this episode) is reality, and everything on tv is shortcuts and symbolism. But still... we're supposed to feel stuff when we watch, and when they do stuff like kill the gays, or make caricatures of autistic people, or promote stereotypes about fat people... it's hard to wash down without grumbling a bit.

Nice rabbi, though! 

Oh, and I laugh at how tv wants to make really sure we all understand that a young woman and an old guy might, in fact, really be in love! Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a curmudgeon! That's a priority messaging mission for sure!! LOL.

 

eta: one of the articles I just read says that rapid weight loss can CAUSE fatty liver! I didn't know that. I wonder if people who have gastric sleeve procedures have this as a complication to worry about-- I'm tired of searching, but the article made me wonder.

 

 

Edited April 4 by possibilities

[bros402]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought Charlie did need to be kicked out of the OR. She seemed to have no concept of the seriousness of the surgical situation. BUt until then, I thought it was utterly absurd that Shaun (or someone) didn't check the surgical tray after delegating it to her, especially since she had botched the consent assiugnemtn. One moment Shaun thinks she's totally incompetent. The next, he's delegating very serious tasks to her and not checking her work, like he totally trusts her. He's not being a good teacher but she's also being a compulsively rebellious student, no matter her motives. It's a mess.

Honestly, Shaun should try to get a job where he doesn't have to teach, if he doesn't want to teach. But Charlie also needs to rein in her refusal to take feedback, follow rules, or know her place as a newbie.

The problem with Charlie is the same as the problem with Shaun when the show started: neither of them act like people who are at the point in their career where they would be having these particular issues. Shaun would have learned how to not have meltdowns uunder stress or he would not have made it through medical school. And Charlie would have learned to follow rules and not be disruptive in emergency situations. It doesn't seem like either of them had coaching or support to figure stuff out before getting to their hospital jobs.

Yup. Charlie was righty kicked out of the ER - she shouldn't have messed with the tray, it's ordered for a reason. 

tbh I think Charlie is doing better than Shaun would've been if we had seen him in med school - she does seem to be lacking the skill of "don't be disruptive in an emergency in the OR." Since her talking when it wasn't an emergency, sure - Shaun was not giving the med student an opportunity to learn - but Shaun was not also clearly defining what talking over him meant. The two of them were in a feedback loop over their mental definitions of what talking over one another meant.

[Driad]

Besides a nutritional consultation, they could have at least considered testing the girl for conditions such as Prader-Willi Syndrome, since she said she had always been hungry even as a young child (IIRC).

One episode of "House" had a patient who weighed 600 pounds. The doctors thought his medical problems were caused by his weight, but [spoiler alert] they were not.

[circumvent]

I'm in agreement with most here about Asher and Charlie.

For a show with only a few episodes left, why so much overdramatic moments, like a murder? Why can't they just make Shaun and Charlie evolve in their relationship instead of all the set backs? A slow development and many set backs might be more realistic but there isn't enough time and they will obviously make it all good and perfect in the end, so just evolve, writers!

 

[PurpleTentacle]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

And some of the time, the negative effects of weight are not as bad as people think. Sometimes, it is not how big someone is, but how FIT they are, as well, that makes a difference. It's just not as simple as the prevailing ideas make it seem.

I mean yes, that goes up to a certain level, likely you can be totally healthy at obese I, if you are very active. Starting with obese III at the latest, it is just very hard on your body, no matter what. Like I said before, if you are young, your body will just tank it, which is why there are many young healthy at any size activists. Not so many older ones, since they usually aren't healthy anymore.

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

Also, I recall a cross-cultural study that showed that in situations where fat is not stigmatized, you don't see the same degree of negative health impact (presumably because some of the problems are caused by stress and other hardships imposed by prejudice, such as when doctors assume your problems are because you're fat, and don't take other possibilities into consideration when you bring them symptoms). 

As far as I can tell from what I've read over the years, the differences are largely genetic. Black americans and pacific islanders have much less health problems at higher weights than white people, even when they largely live in the same culture.

Doctors not taking health concerns of heavy people seriously is a big problem though, I agree.

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gut-microbiomes-differ-between-obese-lean-people

Gut microbiome is heavily associated with satiation and appetite. The bacteria will secrete hormones and even indirectly send electrical signals directly to your brain via the vargus nerve to influence your behaviour. Interestingly not just what and how much you eat but also other behaviours. It's a weirdly fascinating thing that at least partially we seem to be big ships that are steared by bacteria.

But the heavier people still eat more calories than the leaner ones. It's just that their gut biome might compel them to do so.

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-claim-overeating-is-not-the-primary-cause-of-obesity-point-to-more-effective-weight-loss-strategies/

When you read it, even if their hypothesis is true, the carbohydrate-insulin model still causes people to overeat calories, which will make them heavier. That is what this article specifically says.

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I had not known about this particular correlation (children born via c-section have higher rates of obesity in adolescence) until just now, but, apparently even within the same families, siblings born by caesarean are more likely to be fat in adolescence:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cesareans-child-obesity-idUSKCN11D2O2/

Likely again caused by gut biome. While being pressed through the birth canal babies swollow a bunch of the mothers bacteria. Nowadays after a c-section, nurses will take a good handfull of the mothers vaginal mucus and slather it on the babies mouth, precisely for that reason. But I'm not sure since when that is common practice or if it is as effective as the baby making its way through the birth canal for an hour.

Let's be glad that that is the adaptation that humans have evolved, in a lot of animals the babies will eat the mothers poop to gain the necessary gut micro biome.

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

Yeah that's a self-reported study. These things are basically worthless, since people are crap at remembering what they ate and how much physical activity they had, I'm sorry to say. People used to just do more physical activity on the side and/or have more physical demanding jobs as they do nowadays. Since it was common in every day life, they wouldn't even register it. Also food used to have far less sugar in it.

-

I think I've made it clear that I think it's much, much, much harder for some people to eat an amount of calories in a day, that won't let them gain weight, then for others, who don't even have to think about it. That still doesn't change the fact that "calories in, calories out" is largely a true fact (as much as the phrase annoys the crap out of me). From clinical studies, not self-reported ones, with all the factors controlled, calorie requirement for people of roughly the same age, sex, height and level of physical activity, differed very little, maybe in the realm of 100kcal a day.

[rmontro]

12 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I didn't read it as him coming to terms with his faith. I think he still doesn't believe in god. He just reconnected with his jewish roots, since he'll always be a Jew culturally.

Or maybe that's just what I want to think. Atheists flipflopping on TV, actually deep down really believing in god and just denying him, because they are angry, is something that really annoys me.

Well, you could be right that he just decided to become Jewish culturally.  But people go from atheism to faith, or from faith to atheism every day.  Either way, he's dead now.  

[possibilities]

The type of food, not the number of calories, makes a difference for people with carb/insulin problems. This is why people who are on a ketogenic diet (not fad keto, but real ketosis, as used to control epilepsy) do not gain weight even if they eat a crapton of calories. I personally can attest to this, as I lost 65 lbs that way. If I hate half the calories in carb form, my blood sugar went crazy and I had dangerous symptoms. Also, weight loss studies show that people who severely restrict calories often stop losing weight because their metabolism slows down. 

Of course, if you take anything to the extreme, people will die in either direction-- you can die of starvation, cause organ failure with extreme anorexia, or suffer all kinds of diseases from nutritional deficiencies, or eat yourself to death by eating non-stop.

And "communities" are experienced differently by POC than white people, and the genetic issues are not in fact consistent as you say. Take POC and put them in situations where they are not stigmatized and the health disparities fade. Move people from their majority community and put them in a racist overlay and voila! Health problems. 

I'm not going to continue this because it's clear your mind is made up, but I encourage people to delve deeper. 

Most diets fail. Calories are not the whole story. It is much more complex than people think.

[Whodunnit]

De-lurking to say:

Clearly the obesity that the girl had was caused as much by the bullying and depression (and other likely undiagnosed factors) as the FLD itself. As some others have pointed out sometimes obesity is causing by things other than the calorie count. With FLD you have a gene that means your ability to process fats and sugars is all messed up. I know because I am seeing a specialist for this. (Also I was skinny as a teen.)

But I am not the 600 lbs or whatever that the girl was on the screen. Maybe the gastric sleeve truly was the only option for her?

[Whodunnit]

To those with FLD, I have been recommended to follow the Mediterranean diet. Fish, veggies, fruit, etc. Natural fats (like omega 3) and natural sugars (like fructose) are best. Over processed foods bad.

[sadie]

Why Asher why? I loved his character. I always say Asher is what they want Schmidt on Greys Anatomy to be but fail miserably. He might be my favorite character and they just had to kill him in the most depressing way possible. Boo. Charlie can just go away, the character is horrible and now she’s filed a complaint against Shawn and I’m guessing it will be a lot of strife only to get to Shawn learning a very special lesson. Blech. Sorry Charlie but something as serious as surgery doesn’t care you have Asperger’s and no you shouldn’t get a free pass. I hate this storyline so much. 

[Driad]

Charlie's complaint against Shaun:  Are they trying to revive the "Good Lawyer" spinoff that didn't work the first time?

Asher:  I agree with others here, that it may be realistic (alas) but it's totally unnecessary when the show is about to end anyway.

[tennisgurl]

I cant believe they actually went there, I'm truly in shock. Not only did they kill off a main character, and its been awhile since they dropped a building on Melendez, but it was in such a sudden horrible way. I really liked Asher, he was a really interesting character and I would loved to explore more of him reconnecting with Jewish culture and navigating an engagement to Jerome, but instead we get this. It seems so shitty, random, and pointlessly dramatic for the shows final season, Asher deserved so much better than to be beaten to death by two random anti-Semites right when he was about to get engaged and was working towards making peace with both of his identities. 

https://www.thewrap.com/the-good-doctor-asher-death-season-7-episode-5-explained/

I found this interview about the choice to kill off Asher and while I get that the actor was ready to go, it really sucks that they decided to have him get murdered instead of giving him his happily ever after with Jerome. Apparently they wanted to remind us that "Life doesn't always have happy endings" which...I hate when show runners say shit like that when they decide to kill off a beloved character in an especially brutal and depressing way, like we all forgot for a second that people die. Oh wow, thank you SO MUCH for the reminder, for a second there I thought that we were a race of immortal elves, but thank you for your reminder of mortality!

[cinsays]

so what if the actor was going to go pursue other avenues, the series is ending!

he could have been attacked and badly hurt, still dealing with the anti-semitism. maybe the attack could have spurred him to confront his inner turmoil about his faith, much more inspiring than this mess.

 

[MaryHedwig]

34 minutes ago, cinsays said:

so what if the actor was going to go pursue other avenues, the series is ending!

he could have been attacked and badly hurt, still dealing with the anti-semitism. maybe the attack could have spurred him to confront his inner turmoil about his faith, much more inspiring than this mess.

...or he and Jerome could have gotten married and went off on an extended honeymoon.

[Driad]

41 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

1 hour ago, cinsays said:

he could have been attacked and badly hurt, still dealing with the anti-semitism. maybe the attack could have spurred him to confront his inner turmoil about his faith, much more inspiring than this mess.

...or he and Jerome could have gotten married and went off on an extended honeymoon.

Cue the fanfiction!  

[gail56]

So they are at it again, and in the final season! Just like I didn't watch when they killed off Melendez, I won't watch this. That article trying to explain why they did this makes me angry because I don't watch TV to get depressed and distressed. Real life has enough of that!

Real life doesn't always give happy endings, but TV shows and movies can! That is the beauty of telling stories. So you want to make me sad and depressed instead? No thank you.

I mentioned back when Melendez was killed off that I always read spoilers and everyones reactions to episodes, just so I won't be blindsided by "realistic" bullshit like this. Years ago I was blindsided by an ending to a movie I was enjoying and  told myself never again.