Recovery Road - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[paulvdb]

Jessica Sula plays the main character Maddie. She was Grace in the third generation of Skins.

Sebastain De Souza (Wes) was also in the third generation of Skins as Matty. In addition to that he was Alfonso of Aragon on The Borgias.

And I've also seen some of the other cast members in other roles (in order of appearance in the opening credits):

Alexis Carra (Cynthia) was on an episode of Young & Hungry as Sarah, a woman who dated Josh.

Daniel Franzese (Vern) was in Mean Girls as Damian who was described by Janis as "almost too gay to function."

Kyla Pratt (Trish) was on an episode of Veronica Mars as Georgia, a girl who was the victim of an internet scam. Wallace liked her so he asked Veronica to help her get her money back.

David Witts (Craig) wasn't in anything I watched, but according to IMDB he was on 156 episodes of Eastenders as Joey Branning.

Sharon Leal (Maddie's mother Charlotte) was on Hellcats as Vanessa, the coach of the cheerleaders. In addition to coaching she also found time to be in a love triangle with the football coach and her fiance, a doctor on the team's medical staff.

[teapot]

Episode Synopsis:

 

Maddie accompanies Craig and Wes on a 12 Steps Call to convince Wes's ex-girlfriend Ali to return to the program.

hey there, I just watched it.  I believe the ex's name is Harper.  I got kind of a Marissa Cooper vibe from her. 

 

Strangely, I heard that Mischa Barton herself has signed on to this show...

[paulvdb]

I never pay much attention to the episode synopsis, but now that you mention it. The synopsis does give the wrong name for the ex. It is indeed Harper. And I stopped watching the OC during the second season so I didn't really notice it while watching the episode, but she does remind me a bit of Mischa Barton.

[Meredith Quill]

hey there, I just watched it.  I believe the ex's name is Harper.  I got kind of a Marissa Cooper vibe from her. 

 

Strangely, I heard that Mischa Barton herself has signed on to this show...

 

Fixed.

[AmandaPanda]

I loved Daniel Franzese in Mean Girls and more recently for his role on Looking. Super excited to see him working again.

 

Kyla Pratt is also fun to see again. I haven't seen much of her since Veronica Mars. She was in a sitcom on UPN called One on One that I remember liking, but it got lost to the WB/UPN merger. Plus, she was in Doctor Doolittle and was the voice of Penny on The Proud Family. 

 

I first heard about this show because of Lindsay Pearce, who was a finalist on the first season of The Glee Project. It looks like she's a guest star in about half the episodes for this show. 

[marieYOTZ]

This show is ridiculous - the zany fun caricatures that populate the rehab place are insulting to actual addicts. I'm actually not getting any sense that the main character is, in fact, an alcoholic. They showed it, but i'm just not feeling it. A 25 year old counselor being in charge of the place seems absurd somehow.

It is the ultimate ABC Family (SOON TO BE FREEFORM, y'all!) piece-of-fluff offering. I can already see all the melodrama-writing on the wall that usually sinks their shows by season 2.

All that said, i'm off to watch episode 2 - because i have a problem, and it's silly tv shows.

Edited January 9, 2016 by marieYOTZ

[marieYOTZ]

Sure, of course main girl and rehab love interest are both kung fu movie fans. What a fun and quirky trait.

[marieYOTZ]

Ex is Audrey Peebles, i believe, of Nashville and Jem fame (or notoriety)

[BooBear]

Wow I really liked it. Though I agree they did not make the case that she really was an alcoholic. I think that was done mostly for time. I also don't know about this idea that Maddie is in high school and going to rehab... and I am not sure about her love interest who seems to be much older than her.  And finally, how long can this show go on? I would presume it should be a mini series...

[BooBear]

I liked this one the best. I work with addicts and so I have often said they should just send teenagers out to see a real one freshman year of high school and problem solved.  Loved when the guidance counselor called out mom for wanting to pull the plug because she was lonely.

[AmandaPanda]

I really liked it. I do think they could have shown more how she's an addict, but I think that's also true for a lot of high school-aged addicts. I think the moment when Maddie saw the condom wrapper was a great way to bring her back to reality and change her outlook.

 

Overall, I think it's a really great fit for Freeform and a great pairing for The Fosters. I'm intrigued by what's going on with the love interest and the head counselor. I always love Daniel Franzese, so it's nice to see him working again. I would think the roommate was unbearable, but Kyla Pratt manages to make her just charming enough. And I loved Lindsay Pearce on The Glee Project, so I'm excited to see what she does with Rebecca.

[Primetimer]

Freeform's addiction drama gives a nod to the '90s, but is that enough to make it worth checking out?

Read the story

[Chaos Theory]

I liked it more then I thought I would. I like addiction dramas so I really wanted to like this but ABC Fam/Freeform shows have been more miss then hit lately. I like the main character which is always a plus. I understand the insigting insistent. The main cast has chemistry. The one thing that may annoy is teenage show insistence on luv stories. Bah!

Edited January 26, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

In no way shape or form would a recovery house only have one staff member. They need at least two staff round the clock so there would be a minimum of six line staff/residential advisors (3 shifts) plus per diem folks to sub in on their respective days off. And there would be two counsellors in addition to them who ran groups and created plans, plus an on-site nurse. And no way in hell would residents ever be involved in taking down an unstable patient--hence the need for so many staff. I'll handwave not having copious amounts of staff due to plot and casting issues, but they make it seem like Craig lives there full time and runs the place single handedly, which, no. Also not sure why they had to make him 25, when you're still interning at that age and definitely not experienced enough to run a program alone. Also not sure why they had to make it an adult facility when adolescent facilities treat patients up to age 21, and only bathrobe guy and the husband stabbing lady look like they're out of their teens anyway. But this show also purports that a teenager would be put in an adult facility instead of going to a teen treatment center which would have a school on campus.

Don't like that Maddie had to take a pee test but scruffy guy didn't since they were both likely to have consumed something during their spree. Also, a school guidance counselor would NEVER out herself as an addict to a current student unless she was incredibly stupid.

I worked for three years in a similar facility (for kids and teens with behavioral disorders, not addicts, but there's a lot of crossover) and so far this show makes it look fun, which it very much is not. It's a very low, vulnerable point in someone's life, and while there are great stories to be told in a place like that, you can't gloss over how bad it is. I don't mean the bad stuff in people's pasts (like Maddie's rape or her roommate's loss of custody) I mean the actual hell that is recovery. Even the good parts are hard.

Also, nitpick, they called it residential outpatient treatment. Residential treatment is by definition not outpatient treatment, as outpatients live independently or with family and only attend treatment by appointment.

[Chicken Wing]

The previews looked intriguing enough for me to check this out, and I was surprised to enjoy it. Knowing nothing about addiction and recovery, I can still tell that almost nothing about this show's depictions of such situations and treatment centers is accurate or realistic, so I will just turn that part of my brain off and enjoy the drama and the characters' stories.

[TeapotWakeen]

ZuluQueen, I agree with so much of what you said. Having worked in the field, I'm irritated by so much being so completely wrong. And I did work in addictions/recovery, so it's even more glaring that some of the language is "close but no cigar"  (almost-but-not-quite quoting the Big Book of AA, for example). Anyway, I had been looking forward to this show since I first saw the commercials. I like the casting and the acting for the most part. I'll keep coming back (SWIDT?) for now....

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

I'm quite sure there will be a lot of glaring inconsistencies as this show progresses, and I liked the pilot in spite of it, so I'll be watching for the time being. I just don't know why the drama has to be so obvious and manufactured when hewing closer to reality makes for more fascinating stories, IMHO. Shows like MASH and Scrubs were really fantastic and beloved by the professions they represented because they nailed the cultures of their environments. There's virtually nothing in Hollywood representing my profession, so I sincerely would love TPTB to honor what we do with some dignity and accuracy. It's a hard, thankless job, and I wish the general public had a better idea of what it's like.

[Chaos Theory]

I do agree with you ZuluQueen. it would be nice but Freeform is the exact opposite of right channel to do that. They will take manufactured drama over reality ever single time which is my point about the unnessasary romance I see in the pipeline. Which by the way is what turned me off of The Fosters a show I really wanted to like.

[TeapotWakeen]

Chaos Theory, boy are you right about the unnecessary romance and The Fosters!!! I'm about done with that show for just the same reason!!

I really wanted to get to know the players before they start googly-eying each other. I mean, I know about the pink cloud that comes with new recovery, but  holy crap the main character's boyfriend is smoking hot, so what does she see in the guy at the co-ed facility with only one staffperson and presumably no locked wings? I mean.... hello, I can't even remember her name yet and she's all forgetting her main man?? despite what FreeForm thinks, teenagers are actually in fact capable of using their brains at times, and not just their hormones. Yes, romance is big on their minds.... but it's by far not the only thing that drives their decision making and friendships.

[dmmetler]

I wish they'd cast someone more like Rosie O'Donnell's character on The Fosters to run the group home. Someone who is older, more mature, and can sell being the adult in charge. The only way I can buy a 25 yr old is if he was some sort of child prodigy (and I do know a 17 yr old who graduated with a degree in psychology last Spring and is now in graduate school, so it does happen)-and I doubt seriously most facilities would hire a 23 yr old straight out of school to manage a program.

[Chaos Theory]

I wish they'd cast someone more like Rosie O'Donnell's character on The Fosters to run the group home. Someone who is older, more mature, and can sell being the adult in charge. The only way I can buy a 25 yr old is if he was some sort of child prodigy (and I do know a 17 yr old who graduated with a degree in psychology last Spring and is now in graduate school, so it does happen)-and I doubt seriously most facilities would hire a 23 yr old straight out of school to manage a program.

It's supposed to be an adult facility right? So why does everyone look younger then the cast of PLL? Again wrong channel for realism but it would be more realistic if there was at least one person who could you know vote.

[candall]

I was disappointed.

 

I had some small hope this would be a television series along the lines of the movie, It's Kind Of A Funny Story.  (Teenager in adult psychiatric ward.)  But so far it seems they've just added a recovery angle to your basic entitled teen show--running around on school nights, getting drunk/stoned, being snotty to parents and teachers, romantic triangles. . .  

 

My favorite character was Cheesy Poof man--not a good sign.

[Chaos Theory]

This isn't awful. There are things about it I do like. I liked the scenes in the movie theater and the stuff with the drugs. However it is still a major sticking point with me that this is supposed to be an adult fascility and there is like one person over twenty one, How hard would it have been to cut the bull and cal it what it really is a teenage sober house with an old guy in it?

Edited February 2, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Reghan]

I miss skins, I wish they'd bring in more Skins cast members!

[KaveDweller]

I feel so bad for Rebecca (that's the ex friend, right?).  Her father forces her to take Ritalin? And then makes her cover up that he was giving it to her? That's just terrible.

 

I don't quite get why Maddie's friend all think Rebecca's such a loser though. So, she was selling drugs? Don't they all take drugs?

[dmmetler]

Wow, there are a lot of drugs in a place designed to help addicts stay sober!

Wow, there are a lot of drugs in a place designed to help addicts stay sober!

Also, if Rebecca's dad is a doctor, couldn't he legally prescribe her Ritalin? Why would that need to be hidden? It stinks that he'd do that, but I know a lot of kids who have had Ritalin prescribed by family doctors based on reports from the school, without ever having a Neuropsych, neurologist, or child psychiatrist involved.

Edited February 3, 2016 by dmmetler

[KaveDweller]

Also, if Rebecca's dad is a doctor, couldn't he legally prescribe her Ritalin? Why would that need to be hidden? It stinks that he'd do that, but I know a lot of kids who have had Ritalin prescribed by family doctors based on reports from the school, without ever having a Neuropsych, neurologist, or child psychiatrist involved.

 

I guess it would come out that she didn't really need Ritalin? Or he's doing other shady stuff and doesn't want any attention whatsoever because then people would find out about that.

 

I know doctors aren't supposed to treat family members, but I don't think it's such a terrible offense that he'd need to cover it up. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Since Rebecca didn't really have ADD and under exam from another physician wouldn't meet any markers I assume that's why it would cost him his license. I did love the irony of telling her he didn't raise her to break the law while conscripting her assistance in breaking the law. He's a real piece of work.

Love how the idea of working at a movie theater is somehow the worst fate in the world to the drugged out rich kid best friends. I went to high school in a pretty affluent area but all the kids still had after school jobs. Finding a classmate at the grocery store or movie theater wasn't a big deal.

This has to be the world's least effective, most permissive sober house.

[izabella]

What were those lozenges Rebecca was hiding/swallowing?  They looked flat, like Sweet Tarts, rather than like pills.

 

I'm wondering how Rebecca got arrested.  Did Maddie rat her out?

[TeapotWakeen]

izabella,

 

'm wondering how Rebecca got arrested.  Did Maddie rat her out?

 

This show is a hot mess. Don't try to make sense of it. It's so wrong on so many levels, Rebecca probably got arrested for international kidnapping of a dog without travel papers, but Interpol just happened to find drugs in her doggie bag from the restaurant she ate at last night.... that's how much a mess this show is.

[AmandaPanda]

I'm really enjoying this show so far. I really enjoyed learning Rebecca's back story. I'd like to see their relationship develop some more. I was super worried when she was setting up the bathtub at the end. Definitely thought she was going to kill herself. 

[candall]

Seems like "consequences" are pretty fluid at this teen rehab+old guy.

 

But I just watched 28 Days, with Sandra Bullock, for the 400th time and she repeatedly slides by, too.  (Love that movie.)

 

I didn't notice, in the first episode, that this whole setup is just a little dealio the guidance counselor privately engineered--as opposed to following the rules for her job, which essentially hands equivalent power to Maddie.  Good move!

[KaveDweller]

I didn't notice, in the first episode, that this whole setup is just a little dealio the guidance counselor privately engineered--as opposed to following the rules for her job, which essentially hands equivalent power to Maddie.  Good move!

 

Yeah, I didn't totally notice that in the first episode either. I thought the school itself was behind the set up, but in this episode made it clear that's not the case.

 

Which is weird....why would the guidance counselor go to all that trouble for Maddie?

[possibilities]

I think the guidance counselor is involved because Maddie's mother asked her to do the drug bust and then help with the recovery process, and Maddie's mom and the guidance counselor seem to be friends.

[AmandaPanda]

There are definitely some questionable ethical choices on the part of the school counselor. I hope we'll get more information on the counselor's connection to Maddie and they won't just hand wave it away, like I suspect they will.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Loved the scene with the perfume and jewelry. The mom was so realistically naïve. At the psych hospital I worked at, there were parents who were shocked their kids couldn't have that stuff. In fact, one parent wanted to sue us for not letting her daughter shave, her logic being that her daughter could have a razor because she didn't self-harm. She failed to see how a razor being available to the other patients, who DID struggle with suicidal feelings and self-harm, would be problematic.

Hate that the inventory was done by a resident, though. And does the guidance counselor actually have a role there, or is she just part of the program from years past? Either way, don't know why she couldn't be there for moral support/exposition while an extra did the inventory? Why must Craig be the only employee? Why is a sober house seemingly as permissive as a frat house?

Edited February 9, 2016 by ZuluQueenOfDwarves

[KaveDweller]

I wish this show spent a little more time convincing us that Maddie is an addict. Blacking out like she did isn't good, but it is possible to do that without being an alcoholic. Like her mom said, lots of kids party a lot at that age.

I'm not saying she doesn't have a problem, but they should try and give more evidence of it. She doesn't seem to be struggling with not being able to drink at the house, just with not being able to leave freely. The other people there seem to have more serious issues.

[AmandaPanda]

Affluent residents of a nearby rehab facility visit Springtime Meadows; Vern glimpses an unexpected side of his favorite actress; Maddie struggles with temptation at a wild birthday party for her boyfriend, Zach.

[candall]

Okay!  Someone was actually kicked out.  But I see that next week, "Maddie faces temptation at a wild party," so anything short of fresh bruisey track marks probably still gets a pass.

 

Since there's only one staff person, I think Margarita should get some resident-management power.  She was solid with both the shutdown and the compassion.  (Ditzy girl stepping up as wait staff?  Mm-hmm.)

 

I dunno, show.  Charging out to retrieve a former resident who makes one inebriated phone call to her ex-boyfriend seems odd.  A resident's mother dropping by and roaming around tidying up her daughter's bedroom seems odd.

 

I guess we're due to spend some time with the guidance counselor and her fiancé, who can't break a golf date to practice his wedding dance steps, the bastid. 

[Chicken Wing]

I wish this show spent a little more time convincing us that Maddie is an addict. Blacking out like she did isn't good, but it is possible to do that without being an alcoholic. Like her mom said, lots of kids party a lot at that age.

I'm not saying she doesn't have a problem, but they should try and give more evidence of it. She doesn't seem to be struggling with not being able to drink at the house, just with not being able to leave freely. The other people there seem to have more serious issues.

 

That's the thing (well, one of several things) that's irking me about this show. I am not remotely convinced that Maddie is an alcoholic. If that's the conceit of the story, fine, I'll go along with it, but nothing about her that we've seen or been told suggests that she is a legitimate, clinical substance abuser. All I see is a kid who parties too hard and too much. Many teens at that age do the same; most of them are not addicts. Most of them can go without just fine. And Maddie seems just fine without too. Her near "slips" at the convenience store with Wes and out with her friends at the movies seemed more about typical teen rebelliousness and peer pressure than an actual craving to drink. I don't see her struggling with not drinking. The only thing that appears to be bothering her is being trapped in that house and not being able to use her phone. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Her detox was suspect too. She mostly just seemed fidgety and bored IIRC. Nothing like what detox tremors actually look like.

[Chaos Theory]

Another character (resident) over the age of consent. You know actually old enough to drink...yay!!!! The adult sober house has actual adults. I am not looking for realism in this show but that was kinda a sticking point with me. This show is a little too cutesy and predictably after school specially but I kinda dig it.

I think I'm addicted.

<~~~one thing though. Would someone...especially a teen who has been sober for like a week who enters a drug den and is left virtually unsupervised not do drugs? Hell I was temped. Honestly I think she has turned around way to quickly but that is just me been nitpicky and wanting to watch teenagers do drugs.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Chaos Theory]

I like this show more then I thought I would.  I do like addiction shows.  This one is a little to ABCFamily for me (Yeah Yeah Freeform blah blah),   I would have actually liked it better if Maddie had gotten wasted at the party it would have been more realistic.  I think that is the one drawback of the show it is too.....sugar coated for me.  I like my dramas with a tinge of darkness to them.

 

I did however like the flashback with Vern and Cynthia.   That at least was well done.  And the scenes with her and her seeming future husband look like it is doomed to  failure/e is 

[KaveDweller]

So the headmaster that the guidance counselor is lying to about Maddie is also her fiance?  That's not going to end well.  I mean, the guys a douche (who complains about someone going to AA?), but it just means the lie will make things blow up professionally and personally.

 

I thought it was interesting that Maddie's friend looked worried after realizing she wasn't drinking and not mad or annoyed. I don't really get why Maddie's trying to keep the whole thing secret. Would she rather they think she hates them? Surely they would understand if she just said she had to go to avoid getting expelled?

 

I didn't even recognize that the celebrity was played by Mischa Barton until they listed the hashtag. I liked her character, but I guess she was just a guest star?

[possibilities]

I'm surprised the program doesn't mandate family therapy or that Maddie's mom get a clue of some kind, somehow. I guess they can't do that if it's a program mostly for adults, but it would do a world of good, and god knows her mother is a huge part of the problem here.

[candall]

Watching now, and. . . hahahaha.  I just submitted a cranky post to The Walking Dead thread about annoying children who get their own way with pitiful lip quivering promises and indulgent parents who cave to that bullshit in spite of their own good judgment. 

Did not end well for the family unit on TWD.

 

 

Will Maddie be getting smashed on Rum Zombies at the party?

 

My life is over if you don't help me lie my way out of my sober living facility so I can celebrate my boyfriend's 18th birthday with him! 

Okay, I totally get that, but is the mom 17 years old, too?

*****************

 

ETA:  Ah.  I may have snarked too soon.  Very nice ending.  Except who's that nefarious character in the shadows?

Edited February 16, 2016 by candall

[AmandaPanda]

It seems to me that the mom is way too focused on making sure that Maddie still likes her and wants to be her friend. She's not taking into account what is best for Maddie. That's her whole job as a mother. 

 

I thought this episode was the most realistic for what we have seen of Maddie's addiction. Her biggest problem definitely would be trying to fit in with her friends again and figure out what her identity is. I feel like the show is finally hitting its stride and I really like what I'm seeing.

[AmandaPanda]

Maddie chooses Cynthia as her sponsor, leading to friction with Charlotte; and Wes and Maddie bond when they break his grandmother out of her nursing home for an afternoon. Meanwhile, Trish begins working at Margarita's restaurant; and Ellie and Nyla question what's going on with Maddie.

[Chaos Theory]

This show continues to impress me. It is not perfect and the Maddie and Wes romance is far to predictable for my tastes but the rest of it works for me.

I actually like the Cynthia/Maddie/Charlotte thing the show is doing. Both women want what is best for Maddie abd Charlotte is bound to get jealous that her daughter is going to someone else instead of her. I think the show handled the friction well.

I also like the Trish/Margarita stuff. The storyline worked well. Plus seeing the flashback into the Trish's life made me wonder if she has mental issues that go beyond the meth use.