S01.E01: Pilot

[PurpleTentacle]

13 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I don't know how you missed it since they clearly show her changing her shoes from red knee high boots to white tennis shoes and showed her feet multiple times while she was dancing.

I don't know how you missed it but I said:

15 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Also her heels weren't as thin in the original. She actually didn't even switch her shoes before she started cleaning. She cleaned in heels. Which informs her character, I think. Weird choices by the american team here...

I linked a Youtube video of that scene above and you can see her cleaning in heels.

The weird choice by the american team was giving her less practical heels and then having her switch shoes. Both imo change her characterisation, but then they seem to try to give her the same character in the rest of the episode...

[Johannah]

13 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I don't know how you missed it since they clearly show her changing her shoes from red knee high boots to white tennis shoes and showed her feet multiple times while she was dancing.

I think she was referring to the French version...  Unless you were, too, in which case...  Nevermind.

[Yeah No]

7 hours ago, astrohip said:

Nice catch! Terribly under-rated show.

Thank you! I loved that show and still miss it. And I hated how they rushed it to a hasty conclusion when it got canceled.

[Chaser]

Suspended my belief at like 90% of the things going on but who cares. I thought the cast was great and had good chemistry. I like the cozy, quirky, procedural mysteries. 

[JAYJAY1979]

The one line that the lead protagonist said to the captain provided a layer to a character that can very easily veer into campy territory.  She is aware of her gift, but also is aware of the cost of having the gift (which leads to boredom, trouble with interpersonal relationships, keeping a job, etc).

I would like to see more cases not get resolved at thee end of each episode.. but be a multi episode story.. and also eventually give the other characters plots that are ongoing as well.

[bros402]

On 9/24/2024 at 8:20 AM, Tachi Rocinante said:

I liked it enough, but this kind of premise can get stale quick.  My thoughts:

• I'm a sucker for quick cutaways, and these were well done.
• Shopping cart on a public bus?
• Regarding the station being empty, all they needed was a throwaway line about night shift being on a different floor. (Wasn't it like that on Brooklyn 99?)
• Her IQ should be more around 170 with the way she is able to retain and process information. High potential actually starts at 130, which is nowhere near what she is able to do. (You'll have to trust me on this).
• And finally, why the fuck does she dress like a hooker with no taste? People with half her IQ do a better job. At least take the Einstein approach and remove the decision from the equation.

Didn't she say her IQ was 160?. When it's that high, it's pretty much just a bad day if you test 160 or 170.

[LaylaGirl]

On 9/19/2024 at 6:16 PM, ams1001 said:

It was driving me nuts trying to remember where I've seen the male detective (Daniel Sunjata), and then I realized he was once on an episode of Sex and the City.

He was a major player in "Rescue Me." The firefighter drama/comedy with Dennis Leary. Great show.

[rejnel]

LOL. Three minutes into the pilot and I'm wondering whether the lead actress or anyone connected with this show has ever actually cleaned anything in their lives . . . 

ETA: Five minutes in. After the custodian's dramatic scene about exactly what her groceries should cost, including dollars and cents, she wins her point and then hands over a sheaf of bills and no coins. 

For a show about someone with preternatural observation skills, so far startlingly lax on details!

Edited October 5, 2024 by rejnel
Added a thought without posting twice in a row.

[lookeyloo]

We just started watching and mostly like it.  What struck us was how dumb the script made the police look in the beginning.  As if they never thought of any of that?  But, it is a fun way to pass a part of an evening.  We usually like procedurals.

[Paloma]

On 9/20/2024 at 3:05 AM, shapeshifter said:

On 9/19/2024 at 7:58 PM, Chit Chat said:

It was driving me nuts trying to remember where I've seen the male detective (Daniel Sunjata)

Same. I was sure I knew him from a specific role, but no, for me it’s just H!ITG!
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0839326

For my husband and me, it was his role as Franco in Rescue Me (I remembered the show but not the character name--had to look it up in IMDB). 

ETA: @LaylaGirl got there first, but I hadn't read her comment yet when I posted the Rescue Me memory.

Edited January 2 by Paloma
didn't read all the comments before posting

[love2lovebadtv]

On 9/18/2024 at 6:44 AM, shapeshifter said:

The incongruity that jumped out at me was her bright blue fingernails after taking the teen daughter’s $4 lipgloss out of the shopping cart. Maybe we’re supposed to fanwank that she found the nail polish in the trash of an office where she was cleaning? Or did that happen and I missed it?

I was also taken out of the scene by the anachronous carburetor that needed replacing which was supposed to be why they were currently without a car.  

It seems they could afford to pay a real-life single mom who is doing janitorial work on the set to be a consultant for the show.

I don't see an incongruity in that scene, which was all about Morgan not spending more than the amount she had allocated. It doesn't mean she never spends money on cosmetics. Besides, as a mom, Morgan could certainly impose limits on how much her teenager spends on cosmetics. I certainly do, and it's less than my own cosmetics budget.  

What I'd say is less realistic is bringing the kids on the bus to do grocery shopping when her oldest could babysit for a while. The kids didn't even help her. 

I know some neighbors and family members who are single parents caring for their families by cleaning houses (not the same as janitorial work, I know), and they have different spending priorities. Also, it doesn't seem like Morgan has been single very long so that also plays a part. 

I'm surprised that the carburetor took you out of the story since lots of people drive old cars. Morgan dresses in dated outfits and seems likely to drive an old car that she loves. 

On 9/18/2024 at 5:22 PM, Johannah said:

I loved it!

I'm not sure how realistic it is, but as I've said regarding other shows, realism generally takes a back seat to entertaining me...and I was entertained.

What also takes a back seat is the whole "it's been done before" argument.  What hasn't?  It's how each show handles it and, ultimately, how much they entertained me.

Being someone that likes procedurals and can get annoyed sometimes with the personal lives of the characters, I actually liked her family and her (and the cop's) interactions with them.  It was fun and not overdone.

Looking forward to more episodes!

I like the show, too. I'm not looking for anything overly realistic. That would be too gritty. And I agree that it's been done before, but I like this kind of premise.

On 9/20/2024 at 11:45 AM, chaifan said:

As someone said above, she was giving major Erin Brokovich vibes as far as outfits and attitude.  A bit too much, in my opinion.  They could have toned down the 80's era hooker outfits.  I don't think they add anything to the character, and in fact, don't seem to mesh with the rest of her personality.  If she's so harried with 3 kids, not sleeping, no car, how is it that her hair is perfectly blown out/flat ironed, nails are impeccable, makeup is perfect, etc.?  Can't anyone just thrown on jeans and a t-shirt anymore?  I feel like they just have to make her scream "I am not a cop!" as loud as possible. 

Other silly point...  no cleaning service would provide such short dresses for it's cleaning staff.  No cleaning company today would provide dresses.  The company that cleans our offices have no uniform. The most I've seen in the last decade is a company logo t-shirt or polo with the cleaning company's name on it.

And I agree that someone who watches so many documentaries because they can't sleep would have known about basic police search rules/laws.  Fruit of the forbidden tree, or whatever.  They could have found another way for her to get the same info.

I like the twist of the missing husband.  I'm guessing he's in some form of witness protection.  I know, they let you bring your family, but I'm handwaiving that.  There's going to be some mob/cartel connection, or something like that.

Morgan's fashion is hard for me to watch LOL. I assumed it was to make the character appear young enough to have an infant. But to me, it has an opposite effect. As far as her hair and makeup, it goes with her character. 

The dress didn't strike me as odd because my cousin's current cleaning uniform is a dress that she wears short with leggings underneath - she said it's more comfortable that way. I figured Morgan shortened hers since she seems to prefer working in short dresses - which looks super uncomfortable to me. It's odd, but it seems on-brand for her. 

I also like the twist of her daughter's father having gone missing. I'm pretty invested. I didn't think about witness protection but I can see someone not wanting to bring their family into that. I don't think she and her daughter's dad were married, but I don't think that matters for witsec. I think that's still a possibility.

On 9/20/2024 at 3:35 PM, DMK said:

This works for me because it seems like she has decent public transportation that she can work with. I can say for myself that if I had any sort of public transportation where I live, I wouldn’t bother with a car. But we don’t even have buses, it’s awful.

The public transportation is only temporary because her car is being repaired. LA has public transportation, but it doesn't seem like a good option for her since her children are all at different ages and would be going to different schools/activities. 

On 9/20/2024 at 5:54 PM, DMK said:

I actually don’t see why not. Presumably, the police station is relatively close to her house, it can’t be that much of a hardship for them to swing by and pick her up.

I don't think it's reasonable to take a job if you have to rely on coworkers to pick you up. She doesn't know them, and even if she did, they wouldn't have the exact same schedules. 

On 9/23/2024 at 11:34 AM, shapeshifter said:

Even without an infant, if she works nights, she has to sleep during the day.
Even if the kids get picked up and dropped off by a bus (or does she have to drive them to school when the car is working?) the kids would still not be gone for more than 8 hours per day,
so she'd have the equivalent of another full time job of parenting from mid-afternoon until they went to bed, at which time she would go to her cleaning job, which is pretty physically exhausting, so the sleeping during the day is necessary.

And then there's cleaning her own house, shopping for groceries and preparing meals, taking them to the doctor when they are sick, etc. etc. 

Based on my own past as a single parent of 3 kids similarly spaced in ages, I would imagine she has the baby strapped to her back during parts of each day while she gets stuff done.
And when there's no babysitter available, she might bring the younger one to work, which, with a cleaning job at night, would mean making up a bed for him there while she cleans.
ETA: Oops. Just like @MerBearHou did above, I forgot about the baby! 
So she'd need to make up 2 beds at work.
Somebody's going to find the sweet little baby sleeping in a drawer, right?

Whether or not the writers have thought through these logistics depends a lot upon their own experiences with childcare and rearing.

She's single but her ex is involved. I don't think she's alone with her kids 24/7. 

On 9/23/2024 at 6:20 PM, shapeshifter said:

Oh. Right. I forgot about the childcare deal. These days quality daycare is available if you can afford it, but I wonder if the writers know that.

Childcare is available and I'm sure the writers know how expensive it is - that's why they included that. Negotiating that was pretty smart!

Edited January 13 by love2lovebadtv