S06.E07: The Wild One, Forever

[ElectricBoogaloo]

After a hurricane floods the gym of a local high school, Jules volunteers Gray's Pub as a venue for their prom, with the gang ready to serve as chaperones. Jules and Laurie try to have an amazing night, but Laurie isn't feeling it. Andy and Ellie try to stop a gang of bullies. And Travis and Grayson help their high school counterparts win a girl.

[Lizzing]

This really bugged me: when Andy was telling Ellie of his prom experience he said it happened in 1997.  I rewound (or whatever on a DVR) three times and kept hearing "1997".  Even 1987 would have been a bit of a stretch, but at least quasi believable.  Did anyone hear/see with CC on anything different?  There is no way on the planet that we're supposed to believe Andy is 35.

 

The Travis/Grayson argument was just painful to watch for me.  I keep wanting to knock their heads together and say "you both banged the same girl and Trav ended up with her."  Not that Laurie is a prize, or an object, but come on!

[biakbiak]

Even 1987 would have been a bit of a stretch, but at least quasi believable. Did anyone hear/see with CC on anything different? There is no way on the planet that we're supposed to believe Andy is 35.

My ears heard and close captioning agreed that it was 1987. Ian is 50 and I could buy him and Andy as 45-46.

Also, for what it's worth about people who were talking about how oddly Brian Van Holt's episode was filmed I thought it was apparent that Busy and Courtney weren't filming at the same time as the rest of the cast for a good portion of the episode and Christa tweeted about not actually being there when Ian got his pants pulled off (apparently one shot his boxers also came down).

Edited February 18, 2015 by biakbiak

[Lizzing]

My ears heard and close captioning agreed that it was 1987. Ian is 50 and I could buy him and Andy as 45-46.

 

Thanks. :)  I was hoping it was '87 not '97!  I need to get at TV with CC and/or one of those sound bars. 

[whiporee]

They are clearly mailing this season in from where ever, which is pretty annoying.  If you don't want to make an effort, then just walk away and stop pretending that this is something any of them care about. 

 

So much nonsense. Andy's storyline was just dumb, Travis and Grayson ... all of it. Just flat out lousy. The hurricane would have been fun to watch -- seeing them all be a little scared, or hearing what Laurie had to say, or something at all interesting. Instead we got ... just  crap. I'm a defender of most creatives doing what they want with their art, but this is just shit thrown together for the sake of I don't even know what. They are already in syndication, so it can't be that. I don't know. Just really really disappointed. 

[godonlyknows]

I think more time and effort went into curling Laurie's hair into those ridiculous knots than went into the planning of this episode. Cougar Town's been phoning it in for years but this episode was just bad. Every storyline this week seemed like an afterthought as though they were the last character they had to try to find something to do in a c-story or something. The writers really don't seem to know the characters beyond a one word summary of all of them (e.g. Ellie = mean, Andy = pathetic) and they all drink a lot of wine. They seem to have forgotten they're more than that and even if they're not, as writers they can writer stuff to change that! I thought they might be heading in that direction after Andy's decision last week, but no. I remember an old interview Bill Lawrence did where he hated stagnation and said characters had to grow and change for a show to keep going and if they reached the sixth season with Bobby still on his boat then they'd have failed Bobby. I'd say they've failed all the characters.

 

This is the final season. If they're not going to bother coming up with new/decent storylines then at the very least they could try the Parks and Rec route of making everyone ridiculously happy and have lots of sappy moments, wonderful callbacks and bring back some of the secondary characters (especially Barb) for one last hurrah just for the sake of it.

 

Best part of the episode was recognising the bench Jules and her dad had the heart-to-heart with back in the season 2 Halloween episode. 

 

They did another hurricane episode a few years ago where they boarded up Jules' house but the characters spent the episode travelling backwards and forwards between the bar.I think that was the episode they did the Perfect Storm parody.

[whiporee]

I'm not a therapist, but I get the feeling that something went terribly wrong with the cast. From the way Bobby's departure was handled to this episode where it seemed like none of them was in the same room with each other, they just don't seem to like each other anymore.  And this was a show that was never about anything other than the chemistry of the cast -- they all looked like they were having fun, and now they just almost look pissed about being there. 

 

As for the characters -- was Andy really ever pathetic? He's always been scared of Ellie and devoted to Bobby (with a big schlong to boot). It would have been fun to see Laurie thrown into June Cleaver by motherhood, but instead she's just a weird amalgamation of stuff.

 

I think what happened is they REALLY never expected this season, so they got boxed in with the pregnancy. They thought -- hey, why not end with a pregnancy and everyone pretty happy -- and that would be that. And then they came back and have no idea what to do with any of the stuff that's gone on.  Maybe they got the Pucks (if you're not watching Episodes, you should) treatment from TBS -- they thought they were done and everyone had put Cougar Town in the rear-view mirror. Then they got renewed, but nobody wanted to be. 

 

I think Lawrence creates fun and sweet shows, but him talking about character growth is a bit much. JD was the same guy in the finale he was in the pilot, just a bit older. Some with Cox and Turk and Elliot -- and the same with the CDSC. The fact that they haven't really grown (maybe Laurie, maybe a little) is almost his trademark, not a failure. 

Edited February 18, 2015 by whiporee

[biakbiak]

Both this show and Parks and Rec started in 2009 (though P&R was in the spring CT started in the fall) and while I never loved Cougar Town as much as P&R, I did love it and the cast but to compare how they are finishing their runs is startling in the contrast and makes me even more upset about this show limping to a finish. Not that it is finishing but how it's finishing.

[SmithW6079]

Man, this episode was even worse than the last. "Limping along" to the end is right: five and counting down. Laurie's hair was just awful. Was that even a style in the 1980s/1990s?

 

I get the feeling that something went terribly wrong with the cast. From the way Bobby's departure was handled to this episode where it seemed like none of them was in the same room with each other, they just don't seem to like each other anymore.  And this was a show that was never about anything other than the chemistry of the cast -- they all looked like they were having fun, and now they just almost look pissed about being there.

 

I agree. When critics blasted "Cougar Town" and audiences didn't watch it, those of us who gave it a shot realized it was more about a group of friends and not a 40-something "cougar" jumping all the young men she could. I don't even feel like Jules and Grayson are married anymore -- they're almost never in an intimate setting, and they definitely give off a platonic vibe now. 

 

I think what happened is they REALLY never expected this season, so they got boxed in with the pregnancy. They thought -- hey, why not end with a pregnancy and everyone pretty happy -- and that would be that. And then they came back and have no idea what to do with any of the stuff that's gone on...they thought they were done and everyone had put Cougar Town in the rear-view mirror. Then they got renewed, but nobody wanted to be.

 

The pregnancy idea was the dumbest thing they could have done, whether or not it was a series finale, because it condemned Travis to the same life his mother had -- a parent far too young, which in 20 years will manifest itself with a major midlife crisis. The show should have ended up Travis and Laurie realizing they wanted different things, and Travis boarding a plane to fly to New York to give it a go at being a professional photographer.

 

It's no secret I hate Laurie, but if Travis hadn't been her baby daddy, she totally would have been doing all the same things her mother did with her as a baby.
 

I think Lawrence creates fun and sweet shows, but him talking about character growth is a bit much. JD was the same guy in the finale he was in the pilot, just a bit older. Some with Cox and Turk and Elliot -- and the same with the CDSC.

 

If anything, JD from "Scrubs" grew even more infantile as the series progressed. In the beginning, he was shown to be a competent intern and doctor (Elliot was the worse doctor), but by the end, I wouldn't have even let him near me with a tongue depressor. And there was another case of a pregnancy (or two) ruining the show -- the one where he knocked up the Elizabeth Banks character, and then in "Scrubs: Interns," that JD and Elliot had gotten married and were having a baby.

 

I also hated seeing one of those interstitials with Tom, talking about how special the show was and how it was great to be in the cast, like he was an integral part of the show from the very beginning. 

 

Travis and Grayson never seemed to be antagonistic before. I wonder if it's because they both slept with Laurie (although that should really have manifested itself long before). Is Travis wondering if Grayson is "bigger" than he is and a better lover? (Although, didn't Grayson and Laurie only have sex a couple of times?) When you think about it, it's pretty incestuous/white trash: Grayson slept with Laurie and later married Jules, who is Travis's mother, then Travis slept with Laurie and had a baby with her. Only Bobby didn't get a little Laurie action.

[godonlyknows]

 

I get the feeling that something went terribly wrong with the cast. From the way Bobby's departure was handled to this episode where it seemed like none of them was in the same room with each other, they just don't seem to like each other anymore.  And this was a show that was never about anything other than the chemistry of the cast -- they all looked like they were having fun, and now they just almost look pissed about being there.

 

Couldn't agree more. Their chemistry really used to be great and you wanted to be part of the cul de sac because they seemed to be having so much fun together. Now they're all low energy and just have an "I don't care" attitude and I'm feeling the same way too.

 

Even worse, just looked it up and this episode was written by Blake McCormack - the current show runner. I'd have thought the guy in charge would have a better idea of what to do with the characters. For almost any other show, if it's getting written by the show runner, it's going to be a stellar top-10 episode.

[iMonrey]

Ugh, Cody Simpson.

 

That is all.

[RowingPains]

Laurie's hair was just awful. Was that even a style in the 1980s/1990s?

 

 

They're called Bantu knots and they're frequently used in black haircare to create natural curls. Generally you sleep on the knots and then take them out in the morning but I've seen people wear them out before. I don't think it was ever a thing for white people but I could be wrong.