S01.E08: Sugar Pie

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If you bring a sugar pie to book club, nobody will eat it. This day and age, almost everyone's watching their sugar consumption.

[Fisher King]

I got a little scared at Christine's passing out. I would be really pissed if they killed her off. Chip did the best he could despite Dale's idiotic suggestions.

Funny that Dale's daughter called him out as gay, and he said she was 'a' gay.

 

Of course Martha is always the dutiful insurance adjuster. Not wife, not girlfriend, or even friend. Insurance adjuster.

 

[peeayebee]

I felt bad for poor Christine that no one would eat her sugar pie. However, it looks like it would put anyone into a diabetic coma.

 

I say again "poor Christine" for giving birth to Dale and then giving birth to Chip a day and a half later!

 

In the hospital scene where Dale joins Chip, I was struck by how different the two characters are. They're played by the same person, but they just seem so different. It's not like Patty Duke or Hayley Mills.

 

I loved the balloons that Chip got for Christine's room. 

 

I didn't really like the delivery guy, Curt Wheeler. I usually like the quirky little characters that pop up, but he just didn't work for me.

 

I'm very pleased that we're going to get more about their dad jumping off the bridge.

Edited March 11, 2016 by peeayebee

[cpcathy]

I missed a couple of minutes, did they say what a sugar pie actually is?

[peeayebee]

From Christine's recipe card:

Sugar Pie - makes 1 pie

- 450° for 15 min, 350° ~ 1 hr

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

pinch salt

2 cups 1/2 & 1/2

butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mama's pie crust

 

Start with white & brown sugar, flour & salt in bowl. Mix then place mixture in unbaked pie shell. Add 1/2 & 1/2 a little

That's all that's shown. Sounds like a pie that tastes like sugar.

[Fisher King]

A sugar pie is just that. I guess the brown sugar gives it a little color.

That recipe makes my teeth hurt.

[DiabLOL]

While Sugar Pie should not be eaten by anyone ever, it seemed only slightly more sugar/flour/butter than the rest of the desserts shown. I think the hostess  is really invested in making Christine feel like crap at every opportunity and I was totally ok with her kicking it into her garden. She could have graciously said oh my thanks we'll be sure to enjoy it but instead she went the all too obvious "oh we won't eat that we don't want to look like you, after all!" I LOVED the way Christine looked down when the hostess ignored what she was saying about Chip being ok now and did the whole "oh poopr him" routine. IT really reminded me of the grocery store scene in "Enlightened" where the two moms compare stories (brag/hide pain).

 

They better not kill her off, I don't think I could keep watching. 

[AuntiePam]

Lovely episode, with both Chip and Dale becoming more relate-able.  They love their mom.

 

One thing that bugged me was Chip not calling 911 right away.  I get that it was funny, watching him try to get the cell phone from under mom's body, and trying to move her -- but if I come home and see my husband lying on the floor, unresponsive, I'm not going to call one of his sisters and ask what to do.  Is Chip supposed to be that flakey? 

 

peeayebee, I kinda liked the process server, as an oddball character.  He was believable.  I know a few people like that.  But just a few, thank heaven. 

[peeayebee]

He was a process server? I thought he was a regular delivery guy. When he was expecting Chip to find good news in the envelope, was he thinking being a beneficiary of a will?

 

As far as Chip not calling 911, that was bothering me too. But then Dale had that mental flashback of his mother telling him as a child to take care of Chip at school. That led me to see Chip's not calling 911 as an example of his being too dependent on Dale, esp in times of crisis.

 

While Sugar Pie should not be eaten by anyone ever, it seemed only slightly more sugar/flour/butter than the rest of the desserts shown. I think the hostess  is really invested in making Christine feel like crap at every opportunity and I was totally ok with her kicking it into her garden. She could have graciously said oh my thanks we'll be sure to enjoy it but instead she went the all too obvious "oh we won't eat that we don't want to look like you, after all!" 

 

I might have to rewatch because I didn't get the feeling that the hostess was trying to make Christine feel bad. Her excuse of not wanting the sugar pie because they're cutting down on sugar was ridiculous because the hostess had eaten the other desserts. I also think that no one touched the pie either because Christine had brought it before and they didn't like it, or because it looked so homely compared to the other desserts.

Edited March 12, 2016 by peeayebee

[cpcathy]

Poor Christine at the lunch. That's happened to all of us. We were told once at work to bring food for a potluck, I brought homemade meatballs, then someone just bought a bunch of pizzas, so no one ate my food!

 

I've said it before, I feel Louie Anderson is hitting every note as Christine, even when he says nothing.

[heatherchandler]

From Christine's recipe card:

That's all that's shown. Sounds like a pie that tastes like sugar.

Mmmmmm sugar pie. I would assume it tastes like a sugar cookie but in pie form?

Poor Christine at the lunch. That's happened to all of us. We were told once at work to bring food for a potluck, I brought homemade meatballs, then someone just bought a bunch of pizzas, so no one ate my food!

 

I've said it before, I feel Louie Anderson is hitting every note as Christine, even when he says nothing.

Yes, we HAVE all been there. Isn't it the worst feeling in the world? When you see your food untouched. Or worse, when the hostess wraps it back up for you to take home!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

While watching this episode, I told Mr. EB that if he ever finds me unconscious to feel free to splurge on an ambulance ride to the hospital.

 

Dale's insistence that he hadn't hit the volleyball, even after watching footage of himself doing it, was ridiculously hilarious (or hilariously ridiculous?). The denial is strong in that one. I really hated that he told Chip not to call an ambulance and kept berating him for the cost because "some of us have dreams." I think ALL of us have dreams but some of us don't expect our parents to give us money to achieve them. That's the same reason I hate sitcom episodes where characters don't want their parents to spend money because they will have less to inherit. For all you know, they could donate it all to charity! But the point is that it's THEIR money, not yours, and they are not obligated to give it to you whether they're dead or alive.

[Misstify]

For some reason, the fact that the adopted twins name-dropped the Chemical Brothers again just cracked me up.

[DiabLOL]

For some reason, the fact that the adopted twins name-dropped the Chemical Brothers again just cracked me up.

It was totally cracking me up as well!

I was annoyed when Chip walked in and saw his mom obviously passed out on a floor covered in broken glass and jelly beans. His dumb nap quip really rubbed me the wrong way and knocked me out of the scene for a bit.

I've been fascinated with the way they've been revealing the eating disorder of Mrs. Baskets. So far its been very deep and complicated with I suspect (hope) more to come. Usually her type of eating disorder is depicted on a superficial demeaning way. Here, it is subtle and compassionate and intricate.

[possibilities]

I thought Chip was trying to roll her over to clear her airway and do CPR. It didn't occur to me that he was just looking for the phone.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

He muttered something about the phone and then hit the button on the phone stand to make the cordless phone beep (a sound I remember from my mom doing it all the time because she always forgot where she left the phone). After he realized the beeping was coming from underneath Christine, he tried to get his hand underneath her so he could retrieve the phone to call Dale.