S01.E06: Our Man in Sacramento

[AnimeMania]

As the Pacific View community reels from a sudden loss, Charles goes on an emotional journey with Emily. Didi weighs an intriguing offer from corporate.

Premiere Date: November 21, 2024   Netflix   

[Bastet]

I thought it was odd that when the staff member came in to tell Didi someone had died overnight, she said "Room [Whatever]" rather than the resident's name since this place prides itself on actually knowing and caring for its residents, but also knew that's because it was going to be someone we know, not a random resident.  As soon as Florence wasn't at the table, my heart sank.  I really liked her.

I enjoyed Emily's "I love you, too" translation of Charles giving her all those instructions for being comfortable at his house.

Her useless sons usually make me groan rather than laugh, but they finally got me with "Mom wants you to take that hose outside".

[Harvey]

I thought playing games with your grandsons can actually be a good bonding experience. In general Charles seems like he would be a fun grandparent so it is surprising he is not around much.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 12/11/2024 at 4:50 AM, Harvey said:

I thought playing games with your grandsons can actually be a good bonding experience. In general Charles seems like he would be a fun grandparent so it is surprising he is not around much.

Honestly I continued to have difficulty seeing Ted Danson as emotionally distant enough to match the description of Charles' personality. Do you know who I kept picturing as Charles instead? Richard Sanders, who played Les Nessman on WKRP in Cincinnati.

Edited December 17, 2024 by SomeTameGazelle

[possibilities]

I didn't really see Charles as emotionally distant. Were we supposed to?

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

I didn't really see Charles as emotionally distant. Were we supposed to?

 

That was what I took from Emily's frustration with him -- according to her, even when her mother was alive, she [Emily] and Charles mostly talked about logistics rather than anything personal. And then after Victoria died Emily interpreted Charles' behaviour as closing himself off more and withdrawing. And with that and his habit of sending her newspaper clippings I pictured someone nerdier and more difficult to engage emotionally. Not that he was unwilling, but that he was more uncomfortable with emotions and needed to be drawn out.  

[Bastet]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

I didn't really see Charles as emotionally distant. Were we supposed to?

I didn't, either, at least to a meaningful degree, just expressed differently.  I saw the late wife/mother as the traditional emotional glue of the family, with him expressing his love all along in his own valid ways, with her to translate into a shared language they all understood.  With that pivotal person gone, the father and daughter had to learn how to communicate directly in a way they'd never done before.  But they fundamentally knew each other, exchanging "I love you too" sentiments when each said it indirectly by offering helpful advice.  They both changed their means of expression to adjust for the wife/mom's absence and bolster this new it's just us now relationship, but that was to make explicitly said the emotional connection that was already there.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 12/5/2024 at 6:32 PM, Bastet said:

Her useless sons usually make me groan rather than laugh, but they finally got me with "Mom wants you to take that hose outside".

It freaks me out how good adult writers nailed how people at that age talk. I have 2 girls (one teen and one almost teen) and even they call everyone (even each other) "bro".

Also Stephanie Beatriz was awesome in this episode. She didn't get to do a lot of emotional stuff in 99 but it's clearly not because she couldn't.

[auntiemel]

Oh, man! I loved Emily’s husband’s line about nobody being good at having difficult emotional conversations. There are just people who do it and people who don’t.

[chediavolo]

On 12/5/2024 at 6:32 PM, Bastet said:

I thought it was odd that when the staff member came in to tell Didi someone had died overnight, she said "Room [Whatever]" rather than the resident's name since this place prides itself on actually knowing and caring for its residents, but also knew that's because it was going to be someone we know, not a random resident.  As soon as Florence wasn't at the table, my heart sank.  I really liked her.

I enjoyed Emily's "I love you, too" translation of Charles giving her all those instructions for being comfortable at his house.

Her useless sons usually make me groan rather than laugh, but they finally got me with "Mom wants you to take that hose outside".

I do not like the way the parents are parenting the sons. The sons rule the house. There is no discipline. No way would I put up with their ignoring me or playing on the phone or with video games constantly.