S02.E07: Something To Talk About

[Tara Ariano]

Carter tries to understand Taylor's behavior while Taylor concentrates on planning a school event. Grant, meanwhile, wonders if he can continue living at home.

[anarchyangel84]

Wow- no one has commented on this yet-

That's ok, I will.

Poor Grant.

Elizabeth said to him that she didn't realize it bothered him so much. REALLY?! He is completely invisible. After everything that has happened, and as mad as he got when he thought they kissed a couple episodes ago, she didn't think it wouldn't bother him if she brought her boyfriend around?? No damn wonder he wants to move.

Taylor. I can't stand her. All she does is judge people and then she turns around and does things that are worse. She's a bitch to everyone one second & apologizing the next. She doesn't think that everyone else is having problems too? Her manic ass isn't making anything easier for anyone else. UGH. I won't mention anything exactly- but based on the previews, it doesn't look like she gets any better. She needs to stop being so rude & bitchy and figure out what she wants. NOW.

I love Max and I'm so glad he's still around. I didn't like him & Taylor together because she wasn't very nice to him.

[GaT]

What happened to the family therapy they were all going to? Why is Elizabeth so unhappy that Grant is seeing a therapist?, they should all be seeing somebody, the whole family is screwed up. 

 

I barely remembered the cop's son, I guess that's why they gave him the (totally useless) storyline, so he would have something to do & we would remember him.

Edited May 13, 2015 by GaT

[karenc3]

Awkward is when the guidance counselor you are sleeping with is arrested by your father.  That story was just ewww..   I hope that's the end of it.

 

Rest of the show is just, well, weird.   Elizabeth doesn't notice that Grant and Taylor are upset?   Elizabeth's mother is right to have him see a therapist, I think they all can use one. 

[OrientalAmish]

Could this show even be more cliche with the whole fucking Gabe hooking up with the guidance counselor storyline... The guidance counselor should know better, especially, when she went all "You think you are the first student to try to hook up with me?" speech.... She's just another THOT.... @ least that storyline disappeared as fast as it started....

 

And, oh yeah, Gabe is not that hot for a staff member to put their career on the line....And, he and the counselor still hooking up after Bird walked in on them? Dumb as fuck....Sorrynotsorry

Edited May 13, 2015 by OrientalAmish

[OrientalAmish]

 

ETA:  Is it possible for this show to have one 'significant' conversation between cast member that does not have dopey folky songs playing in the background to set the mood of the scene? Remember when shows only did that occasionally for big moments? Not for every little hangnail of a convo people have?  It's really getting on my nerves at this point. 

 

 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHA! I love that you went there! Let's not forget that this is a show on MTV... Once upon a time, MTV used to be known for playing music videos, but since they stopped doing that on the main channel for like who knows how many centuries or decades; they had to find some way to plug in music.... As a result, we are all subjected to hearing stupid ass melodramatic music every 5 mins in the background.... I just can't with that music that kinda reminds me of "Twinkle Little Star" that was playing in the background when Elizabeth was confronting her mom about secretly taking to Grant to therapy....

 

You need a standing ovation for that comment because I LOL'ed IRL for a minute.... Excuse me for bad grammar in my post....;-x

Edited May 13, 2015 by OrientalAmish

[OrientalAmish]

I love how Taylor is getting all defensive when she gets confronted about her shitty behavior....

 

"Oh how dare you give a fuck about me + try to help me out! How dare you people! The nerve!"

[Primetimer]

Taylor's depressed, Elizabeth's incompetent, Gabe's Pacey Witter, and Grant's over it.

Read the story

[Andyourlittledog2]

Let’s see.  Mom and Dad are separated but alleged not getting a divorce. They have stated that they are just ‘dating other people right now’.  Wonderful.  Mom thinks the kids should be fine with this. Especially the part where she is sleeping with her partner/father of the kids’ friend Gabe.  Fantastic. When she finds out that Grant, her 13 (?) year old son is not at all fine with this situation , her response?  ‘I don’t think you understand how hard this divorce is on ME.’  When she finds out that her own mother has been taking Grant to therapy which he desperately needs and wants, her response?  Ignore Grant’s emotional crisis and focus instead on her mother’s  alleged ‘interference’. The kids, she says, are fine and do not need therapy.  She ignored the obvious sign that Grant was only picking up phone calls from Grandma, not his parents and that he clearly doesn’t like Kyle inserting himself into their home like he lives there and is their ‘new daddy’ (that morning convo with Grant was ridiculous).  No. She just has issues with her mother’s interference and wants to emphasize to her son that the real person suffering here is MOM.  Divorce is hard, yo. On MOM.

 

I could not loathe Elizabeth and David more.  Lori looks like the more responsible parent at this point, crazytown and all.

 

For all the use the adults are on this show, they may as well simply write them as unseen voices making ‘wah wah wah’ sounds a la Charlie Brown comics because that’s about as nuanced and reasonable a characterization as I think we are going to get out of these writers.

And I didn’t go to school back east or anything but does the guidance counselor usually put the entire college day visit thingy in the hands of a seventeen year old student while she flits around uselessly, in and out of the area macking on another student , showing up only to applaud the good work it took all night to complete? No participation on her part whatsoever, just a thick manual of do or die instructions the student is responsible for seeing gets done?  And the resultant gym looks like it used thousands of dollars of decorations and set up which of course is readily available to the organizers (Taylor).  Really, show?  That whole event thing was so strange to me.  I’ve been to wedding receptions that had less money and decorations dedicated to them.   

 

I think what really bugs me about this show is how completely irresponsible it all is. I mean, I have no desire to go back to the nineties and relive the 'Kelly takes OTC diet pills and is therefore an addict', 'Brandon's drink is spiked at a rave and is now the designated alcoholic' type preachy storylines. And I can be spared the season long arc of the lead actress working her way toward that very special first time with her long time boyfriend, thanks ever so. But THIS show is so far over the edge that I just can't with it. We've gone from weirdly unrealistic plots of the nineties to a show where everybody drinks hard liquor at the drop of a hat, uses drugs (harder drugs than pot) more than just casually, deals drugs at school, etc. And we have a main character who has basically turned her first time into a fuck buddy relationship with no depth or future anticipated or desired. That's a pretty far stretch to go for a show aimed primarily at teenagers.

[OrientalAmish]

She just has issues with her mother’s interference and wants to emphasize to her son that the real person suffering here is MOM.  Divorce is hard, yo. On MOM.

 

I could not loathe Elizabeth and David more.  Lori looks like the more responsible parent at this point, crazytown and all.

 

 I mean, I have no desire to go back to the nineties and relive the 'Kelly takes OTC diet pills and is therefore an addict', 'Brandon's drink is spiked at a rave and is now the designated alcoholic' type preachy storylines.

 

I want to stand up + clap over your whole post....

 

Elizabeth's selfishness seems to turn her into a dumb ass who can't even be empathetic with her family....

 

The last 2 lines that I have quoted from your post almost killed me with laughter.... Let's not forget the infamous "Jessie Spano almost getting addicted to caffeine pills" storyline.... o.O the 90's!

Edited May 15, 2015 by OrientalAmish

[butterbody]

Taylor: She's so excited. She's so... scared.

[SonofaBiscuit]

The whole Gabe storyline was weird...I felt like I missed an episode.  Gabe was flirting with the counselor last week, and now they're texting and hooking up?  Hmm.  This could be entertaining if he was charming, or had a personality at all, really.

 

I preferred Taylor when she wasn't spiraling out of control, but I did laugh at her telling Bird that the mural was stupid.  I mean, she wasn't wrong...it had nothing to do with the college fair.

 

That was nice of Carter to take the blame for the car accident (I guess the lady that they hit didn't notice who was driving??), but I am not OK with next weeks preview.  Did the little spoiler tag icon disappear??  Doing this manually:  

Carter and Max are going to kiss.  Ugh!  FFS, sister swapping IS NOT COOL!

[TVForever]

Could this show even be more cliche with the whole fucking Gabe hooking up with the guidance counselor storyline... The guidance counselor should know better, especially, when she went all "You think you are the first student to try to hook up with me?" speech.... She's just another THOT.... @ least that storyline disappeared as fast as it started....

 

And, oh yeah, Gabe is not that hot for a staff member to put their career on the line....And, he and the counselor still hooking up after Bird walked in on them? Dumb as fuck....Sorrynotsorry

 

       Yeah, are shows still doing THAT storyline?  If this continues, no school board in the country is going to hire anyone under the age of 50.

[TVForever]

BTW, not upset AT ALL with Grandma for taking Grant to the shrink behind Elizabeth's back. Therapy is the first place the whole family should be right now.

So after showing such good judgment, why on earth would she then be so lunkheaded as to casually ask whether Elizabeth was staying at Hot Cop's place again?

And then, "Oops, was that not public knowledge?" Grandma, even if this wasn't a secret, do you really think this would be appropriate discussion to include Grant in,

for whom you're already concerned enough about to take to secret therapy?

[GaT]

BTW, not upset AT ALL with Grandma for taking Grant to the shrink behind Elizabeth's back. Therapy is the first place the whole family should be right now.

 

This is what I don't understand, they were in therapy, they showed us at least one scene (Elizabeth pretending to talk to Carter) last season, what happened? Carter gets kidnapped by Lori again, Taylor's boyfriend gets shot by Carter's boyfriend, Elizabeth & David seperate & start dating other people, & they think they need less therapy?

 

By the way, what happened to David's book?

[luckyroll3]

Could this show even be more cliche with the whole fucking Gabe hooking up with the guidance counselor storyline... The guidance counselor should know better, especially, when she went all "You think you are the first student to try to hook up with me?" speech.... She's just another THOT.... @ least that storyline disappeared as fast as it started....

 

And, oh yeah, Gabe is not that hot for a staff member to put their career on the line....And, he and the counselor still hooking up after Bird walked in on them? Dumb as fuck....Sorrynotsorry

That counselor deserved to get arrested.  She's hooking up with a student, at school, with all the blinds open, and the door unlocked.  And they get caught, and she still hooks up with him in her office with the door unlocked, but 1 set of blinds closed this time.  Plus, as someone else upthread said, if you're going to put your career and freedom on the line, it better be for someone beyond fricking hot!

 

I fucking hate Taylor.  She's wants people to pay attention to her but she acts like a fucking bitch ALL THE TIME.  If you feel that unloved, run away.  We won't miss you.

 

While I find Max to be kinda sexy (don't know why, cause he's so not my type), I hate when shows go there with opposite sex best friends.  Males and females can be friends with getting involved.  Hopefully it's one of those, "uh, that was definitely odd" situations instead of a romantic relationship one, because I actually enjoy Max and Carter's friendship.

 

Edited May 15, 2015 by luckyroll3

[dr pepper]

I'm done. I bailed at the counselor/student special meeting.

This show was supposed to be about Carter's reunion with her real family and all the associate fallout. But, it's reached a point where her life with Lori was the better option in every way. Except maybe the fact that Lori never pushed her academically. But even there, i suspect that her own natural drive would have gotten her a scholarship anyway.

Thing is, the part about Carter adjusting to being back with her family is completely over shadowed by what's going on in the family already. Her return just catalyzed that.

And now, this is just another teen sex and drama show.

And i'm not a fan of that genre.

Bye.

[Bubbles]

I feel like the show was trying to have it both ways with the storyline about Gabe and the guidance counselor. They kind of tried to address the double standard in the way people look at teacher-student relationships (where male teacher + female student = rape but female teacher + male student = student hitting the jackpot) by having her get arrested and by Bird explicitly asking Gabe how he'd feel if it was her and a male teacher. But then they made it seem in the end like the worst part of what she did was that she had a fiancé. Even Gabe's dad obviously figured out Gabe was the student she'd slept with but seemed more concerned that his son was sad about getting his heart broken than about him being sexually exploited by a teacher.

[Kromm]

Let’s see.  Mom and Dad are separated but alleged not getting a divorce. They have stated that they are just ‘dating other people right now’.  Wonderful.  Mom thinks the kids should be fine with this. Especially the part where she is sleeping with her partner/father of the kids’ friend Gabe.  Fantastic. When she finds out that Grant, her 13 (?) year old son is not at all fine with this situation , her response?  ‘I don’t think you understand how hard this divorce is on ME.’  When she finds out that her own mother has been taking Grant to therapy which he desperately needs and wants, her response?  Ignore Grant’s emotional crisis and focus instead on her mother’s  alleged ‘interference’. The kids, she says, are fine and do not need therapy.  She ignored the obvious sign that Grant was only picking up phone calls from Grandma, not his parents and that he clearly doesn’t like Kyle inserting himself into their home like he lives there and is their ‘new daddy’ (that morning convo with Grant was ridiculous).  No. She just has issues with her mother’s interference and wants to emphasize to her son that the real person suffering here is MOM.  Divorce is hard, yo. On MOM.

 

I could not loathe Elizabeth and David more.  Lori looks like the more responsible parent at this point, crazytown and all.

 

For all the use the adults are on this show, they may as well simply write them as unseen voices making ‘wah wah wah’ sounds a la Charlie Brown comics because that’s about as nuanced and reasonable a characterization as I think we are going to get out of these writers.

It's interesting that Carter is now being written as the most responsible and empathetic character. Or maybe she always was in a way, once they got past the crap with her hanging around with an asshole like Crash.

[Free]

It's interesting that Carter is now being written as the most responsible and empathetic character. Or maybe she always was in a way, once they got past the crap with her hanging around with an asshole like Crash.

 

It's more that most of the other characters are much worse, that she looks better by comparison.

 

I'm done. I bailed at the counselor/student special meeting.

This show was supposed to be about Carter's reunion with her real family and all the associate fallout. But, it's reached a point where her life with Lori was the better option in every way. Except maybe the fact that Lori never pushed her academically. But even there, i suspect that her own natural drive would have gotten her a scholarship anyway.

Thing is, the part about Carter adjusting to being back with her family is completely over shadowed by what's going on in the family already. Her return just catalyzed that.

And now, this is just another teen sex and drama show.

And i'm not a fan of that genre.

Bye.

 

This, this is what happens when you not only drop the ball on the premise last season, but you tank every aspect of it this season.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Free

[gesundheit]

. But then they made it seem in the end like the worst part of what she did was that she had a fiancé. Even Gabe's dad obviously figured out Gabe was the student she'd slept with but seemed more concerned that his son was sad about getting his heart broken than about him being sexually exploited by a teacher.

Yeah, that bugged me too. But hey, at least she was arrested. As she should have been. Thanks, MTV, and take note, ABC Family! A teacher hooking up with a student is a criminal and a sexual predator, not a love story for the ages! (Ahem, PLL.)

 

 

It's a shame that the character whose life and story I'm most interested in (Elizabeth) is so flimsily written. I don't buy for a second that the mother we saw last season would be so quick to ignore her kids and start up her affair in earnest again after Carter was just re-kidnapped AND she found out Lori was the egg donor (if the show doesn't stop saying "biological mother" I will lose my friggin' mind!) AND that her husband had slept with their child's kidnapper and lied about it. Hers is the narrative I'm most interested in, but clearly the writers do not share my feelings on that. 

[RachelKM]

Someone a few threads ago mentioned that this show seemed to be written as a teen fantasy with teen logic.  after this episode, I tend to agree.  While I am pleased that the show at least acknowledged that the guidance counselor screwing a student IN HER FUCKING OFFICE was an actual crime, the fall out was tonally off for the seriousness of the incident.

 

It's a shame that the character whose life and story I'm most interested in (Elizabeth) is so flimsily written. I don't buy for a second that the mother we saw last season would be so quick to ignore her kids and start up her affair in earnest again after Carter was just re-kidnapped AND she found out Lori was the egg donor (if the show doesn't stop saying "biological mother" I will lose my friggin' mind!) AND that her husband had slept with their child's kidnapper and lied about it. Hers is the narrative I'm most interested in, but clearly the writers do not share my feelings on that. 

I agree.  But since MTV thinks this is a teen show only, the adults aren't allowed to have a complete, much less consistent, POV. And unfortunately, the kid drama that would have been interesting, Carter assimilating into her family was totally glossed over such that, but for some conflicted feelings about her egg donor kidnapper, she seems totally at ease in her new home, in her new school, and with her new friends.

[gesundheit]

Someone a few threads ago mentioned that this show seemed to be written as a teen fantasy with teen logic.  after this episode, I tend to agree.  While I am pleased that the show at least acknowledged that the guidance counselor screwing a student IN HER FUCKING OFFICE was an actual crime, the fall out was tonally off for the seriousness of the incident.

Also, when Bird asked about the reverse-gender hypothetical, Gabe was like, "Of course I wouldn't think there was anything wrong with it, you're a grown woman who can take care of herself!" (Something like that.)

 

I mean, I get that teenagers think that they're wiser and more mature than the reality of it, but actually considering themselves adults seems off. I definitely thought I could handle anything as a teen, but I certainly didn't consider myself a grown woman! Who says that?