S02.E08: Spooky Sunday Funday

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Jimmy sneakily tries to cure Gretchen of her depression by showing her a Halloween-themed fun day.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

That was a seriously fucked up haunted house. No wonder they had to sign waivers before they entered. But I loved the guy helping Lindsay so she could turn her power back on.

 

Ha, I never would have guessed that Edgar was supposed to be the Situation. I thought he was dressed as AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. I didn't understand why Jimmy picked out that particular costume for Gretchen. It certainly wasn't worth $400/day plus a $1000 deposit (which he is clearly not getting back after all the fake blood from the haunted house).

 

While I understand Jimmy's intentions came from a good place, he obviously has no understanding of how depression works. You can be depressed and still have a good time. You can laugh and enjoy yourself for a few seconds, a few minutes, a few hours, etc. but that doesn't mean you are cured. Planning a fun Halloween is a great idea but that isn't going to make Gretchen's depression go away permanently.

 

On the flip side, Gretchen is adamant that she's broken and can't be fixed but I wonder if she has sought treatment for her depression or if she just tries to ride it out whenever it hits her. I know that medication is not the right choice for everyone, but for some people it works really well. When my dad got sick (he had cancer and then a bunch of other health issues after he was in remission), he was very angry and depressed. He would lash out about the most ridiculous things. Sometimes he would just sit and stew or obsess about something that someone said to him years ago. But mostly he was just always unhappy. Shortly before he died, he was finally given some anti-depressants and the difference was like night and day. He was finally smiling, laughing, and happy instead of miserable. Again, I know that it doesn't work for everyone but last week when Gretchen insisted that Jimmy couldn't fix her, I really wanted him to ask her how she deals with it. I mean, besides sobbing in her car late at night.

 

Ha, I loved briefly seeing Vernon in the haunted house. I was surprised he was there instead of at some suburban party where he and Becca had themed costumes that took advantage of her pregnancy. I was imagining her dressed as a fried egg (with the baby bump as the yolk) and Vernon dressed as bacon.

Edited October 29, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Skyfall]

Lindsay was even more attractive this episode...

[NorthstarATL]

I think Edgar's costume was specifically chosen for the gay sex visual gag in the haunted house. I always run and turn everything off when there is a power outage so that I don't have the situation that Lindsay had when she returned home, which made me laugh.

  Gretchen should tell Jimmy more, but the impression I got was that this might be the first time someone (other than Lindsey) was in it for the long haul with her despite the depression. I just hope the show doesn't go where I think it seems it might with Jimmy and the bar owner, with Gretchen's condition being the excuse for creating a distance. That's kind of a lazy way of not dealing directly.

[Traveller519]

The thing with Jimmy, is I don't think he thought he was trying to "fix" Gretchen so much as he wanted to provide the temporary relief. He knew it would come back, but he was trying to (Paraphrasing his words here) "Break her out of her funk" at the moment. To Gretchen, "Fixing" is anyone thinking they can help with her feelings at any point, to Jimmy "Fixing" would be a more involved process than what he went through, offering a permanent save.

 

I think that's written very honestly. When you care about somebody it's so hard to sit by and let them be sad or hurt. Parents will do anything to keep their kids from feeling bad, and the same thing is happening here with Jimmy. In his head, I think he thought he was honouring Gretchen's wishes while still trying to help.

[arc]

I felt like Jimmy did think this would be a permanent 'fix', or semi-permanent -- longer than a day or two, anyways.  Which made me resent Jimmy a bunch and find it a bit hard to enjoy Sunday Funday II.  Also, I kinda missed the frenetic pace of Sunday Funday, where they had so many locations.  This one had four major stops, I think, albeit with a tremendous, tremendous set piece of the insane haunted house. (Which, BTW, I've thought a bit about it and that is a giant nope for me. I'd never pay for an experience like that.)

 

I still love Dorothy.  I wonder if there's gonna be heartbreak down the road for Edgar and if so, how that will manifest because right now she's pretty great.

 

I gotta assume Gretch isn't taking medication right now, or at least she hides it in her office rather than at the house.  Also, I felt super bad for her that she felt that lying to Jimmy was the best decision, and worse that it probably was a good decision in context, because full honesty would actually not have gone down that well with Jimmy, who is incredibly stubborn.

Edited October 29, 2015 by arc

[Texasmom1970]

I continue to love the show more and more. I love how they have slowly changed Jimmy where he is still himself but is obviously changed for and by his relationship with Gretchen.

The haunted house, hilarious! Seeing their reactions and screaming.

[JustaPerson]

I really hope the show doesn't go there with that bartender that Jimmy met.

[Jodithgrace]

I love that Jimmy's costume was from some obscure British sitcom that nobody ever heard of. (I pretty sure it was made up, but I'm not 100% sure) I wonder if Nina, the bar owner is addicted to BBC America. Not happy with Jimmy being so easily tempted.

 

Okay..two nitpicks: Was this supposed to be Sunday or Halloween? Halloween is on Saturday this year, and there is nothing less Halloweeny than November 1st, somehow. It just kept bugging me, is all.

Also, I'm not sure how a call to customer service would have restored Lindsay's power..didn't she have an unpaid bill? She could have paid over the phone, but that would have involved more information than she would have had, like her checking account number, etc.

 

That was quite a haunted house. A bit too interactive for my taste. 

 

I, too, wonder why Gretchen isn't being medicated. She may have had an issue with meds in the past or something, but I think it should be mentioned at some point. 

[rho]

I don't know if I'm opposed to Jimmy and the bartender or not. I think the show is definitely going to go there and I will surely be displeased if he cheats on Gretchen because he can't handle her depression. But I do think it would be interesting to see them broken up but still friends after creating this weird squad with Edgar and Lindsay. If anything I think it's Gretchen who feels more claustrophobic in the relationship. My money is on her bailing first, especially because she seems to resent being indebted to Jimmy somehow.

[arc]

I was rewatching the ep, and there's really something amazing about Aya Cash's acting near the end when Gretchen lies to Jimmy about how his plan worked. It's not a big showy "I AM LYING" kind of acting. If anything, it's so subtle I can't even articulate what she did, but you know she's lying, and not just because she said she would a minute earlier.

Edited October 30, 2015 by arc

[wendyg]

I would say she acted a little too cheerful - a break with her mood when Jimmy left her not long before.

 

This is the first episode of this show I didn't care for, but that's really because I just don't find fictional haunted houses/Halloween shenanigans particularly interesting (look what you could do if you had an entire special effects department!). I think it or something like it was necessary if they were going to show Jimmy not really understanding what clinical depression meant in terms of both Gretchen herself and their relationship. Lying to him is stupid and destructive and going to cause them all sorts of problems; from what little she's said, though, it sounds like she's had previous experience with the sort of failure of understanding Jimmy showed here and doesn't believe she can ever really get through to him what it means.

[NoNeinNyet]

I genuinely teared up a bit when Gretchen went in pretending to be happy for Jimmy. They're both such beautifully broken people that are both getting it wrong with the best of intentions.

[Lone Wolf]

That was a seriously fucked up haunted house. No wonder they had to sign waivers before they entered. But I loved the guy helping Lindsay so she could turn her power back on.

 

 

 

I was waiting for, "It makes the payment on its phone!"

[StrictTime]

I think this was one of the best episodes of this show. I hate Halloween and haunted houses, and the direction/photography/editing reinforced my attitude--which was great LOL. I really like the way the dialogue has been dialed down a notch; at the beginning of the season it seemed too quick and unrealistic. These characters are developing into more realistic, multi-layered people and I find myself looking forward to seeing where each of their relationships are heading.

Glad this show seems to be surviving, whereas Married seems to have bitten the dust

[Ottis]

Again, I know that it doesn't work for everyone but last week when Gretchen insisted that Jimmy couldn't fix her, I really wanted him to ask her how she deals with it. I mean, besides sobbing in her car late at night.

 

 

And then ...

 

I felt like Jimmy did think this would be a permanent 'fix', or semi-permanent -- longer than a day or two, anyways.  Which made me resent Jimmy a bunch and find it a bit hard to enjoy Sunday Funday II

 

 

This plot line is starting to feel like a shout out to women everywhere who think men just want to solve things rather than listen, as the direction of these two prior comments seems to indicate. And that's hugely annoying. Of course men want to fix things, including the problems of people who they care about. And there is nothing wrong with Jimmy trying to "fix" Gretchen in the only way he knows how. It's all he has left, because she only seems to communicate anything meaningful about her condition when she is reacting (negatively) to what he has done to try to help. The rest of the time she throws up a block and won't engage. 

 

It feels like one big "You can't fix me, stupid!" pity party, and somehow Jimmy is the bad guy. That seems wrong.

[inyourmarrow]

It feels like one big "You can't fix me, stupid!" pity party, and somehow Jimmy is the bad guy. That seems wrong.

 

While I totally get how this is off-putting, I don't think the direction is false, or purposely weighting in favor of trying to make Jimmy the "bad guy." Understandably, Jimmy wants to "fix" her, and justifiably Gretchen is going to feel the way she feels. This storyline has always been about making clinical depression understandable. Gretchen already told him what she needs from him, is for him to accept her and accept that she can't be fixed. That's as clear as day of a message; don't know what else she can say to make that anymore direct. If Jimmy was interested in understanding her perspective, he would've asked her (as someone mentioned above) how she deals. What I really liked was when Lindsay came out of the haunted house and Gretchen told her about Jimmy's agenda -- it was no surprise to Lindsay, as it should be no surprise to Gretchen or any of us. Relationships are hard in general, but coping with half of that relationship living with mental illness is a task for all sides. I don't even know what I'm trying to say in response here, sorry for the tangent, I just don't think the writers are actively trying to paint Jimmy in any bad light in favor of Gretchen. Both are justified in feeling how they feel and dealing how they deal -- wrong or right.

 

BUT, what did rub me the wrong way was Jimmy's thinking she was merely "sad." While I hated to hear him say that, I think it was an intentional point to make that he as well as most people don't understand clinical depression. Being sad doesn't necessarily equate to being clinically depressed, and the fact that he thought Sunday Funday wouldn't make her sad anymore was a perfect illustration to highlight an aspect of the stigma surrounding it. 

 

The most heartbreaking part of this episode was Jimmy's initial excitement that his plan was working, and then Gretchen's (well-intentioned) lie to pacify him. 

 

I watched that haunted house sequence numerous times, it was so fucking terrifying, all I could do was laugh. And to think, there are house experiences like that that exist, and I can't believe people actually pay for it. (I found myself inclined to be curious enough to sign up for that)

 

For all the VALID talk about Aya Cash's performance on this show, Kether Donohue continues to be a treasure, and the little win Lindsay got at the end of the episode was perfection. She finally got her power back (oh, look at that double meaning!! nice writers); she comes out of the dark and into the light only to see her ridiculous mess she has left. Man, the ladies are crushing it this season. 

 

I love this show so fucking much, and this is pretty much my concluding thoughts after every episode. 

Edited November 3, 2015 by inyourmarrow

[wayne67]

While I totally get how this is off-putting, I don't think the direction is false, or purposely weighting in favor of trying to make Jimmy the "bad guy." Understandably, Jimmy wants to "fix" her, and justifiably Gretchen is going to feel the way she feels. This storyline has always been about making clinical depression understandable. Gretchen already told him what she needs from him, is for him to accept her and accept that she can't be fixed. That's as clear as day of a message; don't know what else she can say to make that anymore direct. If Jimmy was interested in understanding her perspective, he would've asked her (as someone mentioned above) how she deals. What I really liked was when Lindsay came out of the haunted house and Gretchen told her about Jimmy's agenda -- it was no surprise to Lindsay, as it should be no surprise to Gretchen or any of us. Relationships are hard in general, but coping with half of that relationship living with mental illness is a task for all sides. I don't even know what I'm trying to say in response here, sorry for the tangent, I just don't think the writers are actively trying to paint Jimmy in any bad light in favor of Gretchen. Both are justified in feeling how they feel and dealing how they deal -- wrong or right.

 

BUT, what did rub me the wrong way was Jimmy's thinking she was merely "sad." While I hated to hear him say that, I think it was an intentional point to make that he as well as most people don't understand clinical depression. Being sad doesn't necessarily equate to being clinically depressed, and the fact that he thought Sunday Funday wouldn't make her sad anymore was a perfect illustration to highlight an aspect of the stigma surrounding it. 

 

The most heartbreaking part of this episode was Jimmy's initial excitement that his plan was working, and then Gretchen's (well-intentioned) lie to pacify him. 

 

I watched that haunted house sequence numerous times, it was so fucking terrifying, all I could do was laugh. And to think, there are house experiences like that that exist, and I can't believe people actually pay for it. (I found myself inclined to be curious enough to sign up for that)

 

I can see both sides. Jimmy wants to help but he has no idea what Gretchen is going through and Gretchen doesn't really want to deal with his generally well meaning but unhelpful help/expectations. It would help if Gretchen told Jimmy how she normally deals with it or if Jimmy bothered to look up clinical depression but Jimmy is Jimmy and he is a narcissist who thinks the world should revolve around him and he doesn't want to admit that there is no real way of resolving Gretchen's underlying condition other than to be there and help her ride the waves of depression. 

[booklvr]

They really don't know quite what to do with Edgar at this point, do they? For me, his story line is definitely the weakest. The addition of Dorothy isn't bringing anything to the table. I continue to love Lindsay.