S02.E08: For The Kids

[formerlyfreedom]

In the series finale, Michelle rallies her family and supporters to make a last-ditch attempt to save her vision for the charter school.

 

[Firestorm]

How sad that this is the last episode! Hope they don't leave it on a cliffhanger.

[qtpye]

That episode description sound so trite.  I hope they do not just wrap up everything with a big bow and say they all lived happily ever after.  Not that I do not want them to be happy, but the the closure should be a little bit more complex.

[Firestorm]

I would like it if they left it a bit open ended- with the possibility to continue, but a little bit like you know where things look like they're going. I can't imagine them saying everyone lived happily ever after! That would be so out of character for the show, I would even rather a cliff hanger than that!

[WhosThatGirl]

Well. I don't know how I feel about this. It.. just feels kind of empty. Like, I really don't know. It sort of feels open-ended and then it feels like everything was tied up in a bow. I could have called the Tina/Alex hookup from right away, though. Knew it was coming. And I've been on the fence about that pairing for forever. 

 

Otherwise, Brett and Michelle's daughter is adorable. 

 

Oh Togetherness, I will miss you. You were fun, I just didn't think the network knew what to do with this show and where it fit alongside it's other programs, but it happens to  good shows a lot. 

[Primetimer]

How the second and final season forgot what made the first so good.

Read the story

[RabbitEars]

Now I am never going to know how Alex gets that rainbow sleeping bag nightmare off Tina.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ha, I know, right? The zipper was already stuck and now they're going to have to figure out a way to get her out of it before they Do It!

 

As much as I enjoyed this show, this was a disappointing finale, mostly because it was so predictable. OF COURSE the four adults somehow manage to pull everything together in one day and put on a show and OF COURSE that convinces the board to go with Michelle's school. OF COURSE Brett and Michelle reconcile and OF COURSE Alex and Tina finally hook up.

 

I get that the interactive part of the presentation engaged the kids which is great, but I would not send my kid to a school based on that little play about saving the planet. How are they going to use interactive art to teach my kid grammar, spelling, and math?

[BooBear]

As much as I enjoyed this show, this was a disappointing finale, mostly because it was so predictable. OF COURSE the four adults somehow manage to pull everything together in one day and put on a show and OF COURSE that convinces the board to go with Michelle's school. OF COURSE Brett and Michelle reconcile and OF COURSE Alex and Tina finally hook up.

 

Same feeling here.  This season was rather poor and the finale had me switching channels during the boring part.  I hated the way Michelle was back to normal this week. I love Brett and Michelle's daughter but I love the way they pull her out when they need it for the story.  I just really see Brett and Michelle in this same place in 2 years. He is essentially selfish. I was horrified at how he was putting Michelle in danger with his driving to get to the hospital.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was actually kind of glad when he drove into that railing because it stopped him from driving like a maniac and endangering not only himself and his wife but everyone else in their vicinity. I get that you're frantic and worried about your kid, but driving recklessly and being a dick is not the way to deal with your anxiety.

 

ITA that Michelle and Brett are going to end up in the exact same place sooner or later. They need to go to counseling, start communicating better, and make some changes in their attitudes/behavior towards each other if they want their marriage to work. I know we're supposed to think that his apology and moving back into the house will magically fix everything, but it won't. That is just the first tiny step. Great, he admitted that he's selfish. That's all well and fine but it doesn't matter unless he is going to make a conscious effort to stop being selfish.

 

This episode was so full of predictable cliches which was so disappointing after the first season.

[BooBear]

Great, he admitted that he's selfish. That's all well and fine but it doesn't matter unless he is going to make a conscious effort to stop being selfish.

 

Which he won't. They have been to counseling - this entire season was... what does Bret really want to do?  And it was not, be with his wife and kids. It was, until the very end, play Dune. It is all well and good that he momentarily wants back with his family but what happens when they get annoying again?  What happens when Alex has a life and kids with Tina and can't be his sounding board?

 

I thought Michelle was going to end up hurt as the guard rail was on her side of the car.  He clearly does not really care about her. I can't believe he got out of that so easily.

 

Overall, maybe a good thing they ended it. It was stalling out anyway.

[DarkRaichu]

Lol 2 seasons to figure out that Brett is a huge passive aggressive dick.  He did not even want to change.  He spent so much time thinking about it and his solution was "we'll figure it out".  I bet he still had not broken off with his girlfriend just in case it did not work out with Michelle :D

 

What good was a charter school if they had to move out of their home because nobody wanted to earn a wage to cover that house of theirs.  Plus Brett just completely total-ed their car, that was going to be at least $10k to repair.

Oh btw, why weren't their airbags deployed in the crash?? That was not a very good endorsement of Toyota.

 

Seriously, I'd rather watch 5 minutes of Alex trying to get Tina out of costume lol

Edited April 11, 2016 by DarkRaichu

[wendyg]

This posting articulates very well why I've found this second season so depressing; thank you.

[EdnasEdibles]

I hated this finale. The first season of the show was brilliant. This season hasn't been as good but I've still really liked it.  Tonight's episode was terrible. Way too much time on that terrible art play. And I can't believe that she won the vote. I mean, fantastic, I guess but she still seems wildly unprepared to open a school. Her child would be better off if she channeled her energy into a full-time job and paid for private school run by people who actually know what they're doing. 

 

I hated the whole highway fight - and to me it showed how completely bad they are for each other. Brett was a selfish hot-head who was ignoring the needs of every other person. Michelle was trying to explain that there was nothing to be done at that point and he was ignoring her. I honestly could not believe that they got back together at the end. Those two should not be together without tons of serious couples therapy. 

[peeayebee]

I didn't think it was all that bad. One thing I was kind of confused about was what Michelle's initial idea was for using the Dune play to demonstrate what the curriculum would be like. I thought it was going to be involving the kids in making puppets, costumes, sets, and so forth, and therefore learning about various things like planning a project, troubleshooting, etc., with lessons about English, math, history, et al, included. And that's basically what they ended up with after Michelle's big brainstorm after Sophie showed interest in the leftover stuff. 

 

I know this ep is functioning as the series finale, but if one looks at it as simply the season finale then you can imagine all the bumps and issues that each character will deal with as things continue. So I don't see Michelle and Brett as having a happily-ever-after ending, nor Alex and Tina. 

 

Sophie was very very cute and a good actress.

[qtpye]

If they were being truthful, Michelle and Brett should probably agree to an open marriage.  They love their kids and want to provide a two parent home and they still love each other to some degree.

 

However, they are too different to fulfill each other completely.  They are both horribly needy, but in different ways.

[cpcathy]

Ok, so I'm confused, I don't have kids so opening a charter school is like going to the moon, I don't understand how it's done. Is Michelle supposed to obtain funds for the school or the teachers? Will she get a salary from somewhere? With Brett driving Uber, how will they pay for childcare now that Michelle is working? Will these questions ever be answered? Should I care?

That said, I thought I enjoyed the episode while I was watching it, but then, with Brett and Michelle getting back together (I actually can't stand them as a couple) and Alex and Tina predictably getting it on, I guess I won't miss this show as much as I thought I would. Perhaps the Duplii knew they would be canceled and wrote something like this so we wouldn't care anymore.

[Readalot]

Agree to all of cpcathy's questions But that's that. I admit when I went with my daughter last Fall for an Occidental tour (in Eagle Rock) I was thinking about this show a lot. From the first season, can you walk to nightlife from home (yes), is there a hipster (and charter school parent) vibe? (Yes) We went to a local cafe on the main drag and could totally picture the togetherness gang there. Because I felt that connection and I love all the actors I will miss this show.

[Accidental Martyr]

Getting all that stuff ready for the school presentation in less than 24 hours was Saved by the Bell level of absurdity.

I like the Duplass brothers and I enjoyed most of what they did with the series but this ending was pretty disappointing.

[jbrecken]

I liked the bookending of the series with Sophie not wanting to go to school

[WhosThatGirl]

Perhaps the Duplii knew they would be canceled and wrote something like this so we wouldn't care anymore.

 

Yeah, I mean..something felt really off in this episode. I really liked this show last year and I liked parts of it this season as well, but last night's finale was all..so... I don't know.  It feels too good that they were able to pull off the charter school presentation in less than a day and too much that Brett and Michelle I guess got back together and that Tina and Alex hooked up. I feel like the Tina and Alex hooking up thing is what did me in by shaking my head. I called that at the start of this episode and almost like a "it won't happen, but the finale will alluded to it, possibly happening but it won't, right?" because I would have preferred them staying friends, but whatever. 

[cpcathy]

I like Alex, and we know he's a great friend to Brett and a good actor, but frankly, if Tina doesn't feel anything for him, then having sex and possibly having a baby isn't going to make things better. She's just too desperate to have a baby and I feel the storyline came out of nowhere, so, of course, Alex is right there and he already has the hots for her, so why not? It all struck me as fake.

[bunnywithanaxe]

Ha, I know, right? The zipper was already stuck and now they're going to have to figure out a way to get her out of it before they Do It!

 

As much as I enjoyed this show, this was a disappointing finale, mostly because it was so predictable. OF COURSE the four adults somehow manage to pull everything together in one day and put on a show and OF COURSE that convinces the board to go with Michelle's school. OF COURSE Brett and Michelle reconcile and OF COURSE Alex and Tina finally hook up.

 

I get that the interactive part of the presentation engaged the kids which is great, but I would not send my kid to a school based on that little play about saving the planet. How are they going to use interactive art to teach my kid grammar, spelling, and math?

(Pissy educator attitude warning)

Here's what bugs me-- what they " cobbled together" was actually pretty close to " project approach curriculum" -- which is actually an effective, holistic way to approach education in an organic, self-paced way. They could have shown the kind of effort and involvement such a curriculum approach takes-- kids could have created drafted blueprints for the sets( there's your math) researched the kind of animals that would have evolved on a Dune terrain ( science), created scripts and storyboards ( lit) teachers spending hours discussing cross- curriculum application -- shit, a bunch of stuff. Butsince the producers decided to do a charter school storyline withou bothering to research jack shit about curriculum, they took the very solid idea of an art and lit curriculum and made it seem like something any idiot could pull out of their ass with no effort, education, or thought. Which is a slap in the face to teachers, when you think about it.

While I'm hear bitching-- ok, so, the Latino love interest is out of the picture and all of a sudden we don't care about the school being inclusive of middle-- lower income Students? Which in that neighborhood seemed to mean Latino kids? Because that was one thing Michelle was PASSIONATE about, right, when she talked about her dream school? Fuck you, Show.

[blixie]

It was certainly rushed, and the charter school whatever,  but I loved the ending of both couples coming together, Bret did give up Dune and support Michelle's new plan, he did apologize for behaving like shit head, and he did indicate they would "work it out" which to me meant therapy and real communication. I don't know that they're fixed, but who is fixed? Everybody struggles in a marriage, and in life, it's okay with me that these characters are imperfect and still love each other enough to stay "together".

 

 

f Tina doesn't feel anything for him, then having sex and possibly having a baby isn't going to make things better.

 

I disagree with you completely, totally and absolutely in every possible way. In the show I've watched for 16 episode, Tina has feelings for Alex, she has had feelings for him since at least Texas, and she's struggled to come to terms with that and her baggage ever since. I think Alex and Tina, will be fine with a kid or without one, romantically involved or not. Relationships are never issue free and they'll have to cope with theirs the same way everyone else does.

[Readalot]

On rewatch, why the heck did Brett and Michelle NOT run up to Sophie when she can back from the hospital? Let alone why weren't they waiting on the porch for her?

[jtallman]

I wish HBO hadn't cancelled this one. I'd have dug in for another season, even if it did sometimes smack of people with privilege. Well, a lot of times.

[cpcathy]

On rewatch, why the heck did Brett and Michelle NOT run up to Sophie when she can back from the hospital? Let alone why weren't they waiting on the porch for her?

 

 

My husband said the same thing, and we don't even have kids! Even he knows this is what a parent does!

[scrb]

Too tidy the way they wrapped everything up.

Maybe HBO told them to write it as a possible series finale before they officially cancelled it.

Yeah, just because you impressed the kids doesn't mean the parents would be uncritical when it comes to determining which curriculum would be better.

And both sisters kind of relented easily. Tina when she was exasperated with the costume decides to finally give in to Alex?

[WhosThatGirl]

Too tidy the way they wrapped everything up.

Maybe HBO told them to write it as a possible series finale before they officially cancelled it.

Yeah, just because you impressed the kids doesn't mean the parents would be uncritical when it comes to determining which curriculum would be better.

And both sisters kind of relented easily. Tina when she was exasperated with the costume decides to finally give in to Alex?

I wonder if HBO had given them up a heads up as well. Because it was set up with everything tied up nicely, but also, these endings could have been left open to possibilities had we gotten another season. Michelle and Brett working on their marriage, also the charter school,  the aftermath of Tina and Alex. Whether the aftermath is them figuring out their situation or her possibly becoming pregnant. But I agree, it does feel like they knew what was coming as far as the show was concerned. 

 

Honestly.. I don't know if I would have wanted another season based on this ending. This season had it's moments but also, this finale left me underwhelmed and while I will miss this show, maybe it's best it ended the way it did. I don't need both sets of couples getting their happily ever afters with each other honestly, that didn't feel very real life to me, where at the start of the season, Brett and Michelle's issues felt somewhat real to me, even Tina and Alex's problems did too. And then all of a sudden, everyone is back together.. it didn't make sense. 

[Momof2boyz]

I wonder if they filmed two endings - one that wrapped things up in case they didn't get renewed.

[qtpye]

This is my theory on the non cancellation ending:

 

Michelle gets the charter school and she is happy.  She goes to Brett and tells him to make a decision.  Michelle says she is ready to continue with their marriage, but is also ready to move on (divorce), if he does not agree.  She forces him to make a solid decision and therefore ending his fantasy life of bromance and Dune.

 

Alex also tells Brett that it is time to grow up.  He now has a chance at a real acting career and now has to focus on that and can no longer devote time to the puppet show.  Alex gets invited to a big party that is celebrating the t.v. show he is now a part of.

 

Tina finally admits that she has feelings for Alex.  She finds out from Brett about the party and decides to crash it.  She is able to easily get in because she looks like Amanda Peet.  When she gets there she sees Alex surrounded by beautiful young women and industry insiders, being the center of attention and having the time of his life.  She starts to feel insecure and silly and walks out of the party before he sees her.

 

The jerky director guy gives Brett a call.  He says that he has meeting with a studio that is interested in producing their Dune puppet show movie.  The studio is very art house and backs a lot of independent film, so Brett will not feel like a giant sell out.  He says that he now needs to work closely with Brett so they can develop a pitch.

 

Brett is walking around in a daze trying to process all the changes that have taken place in the past couple of days.  In the end of the episode we see him walk into a bedroom, but do not whose bedroom it is.

 

Then we come back next season with Alex getting used to the life of a mildly successful actor (partying, drugs, paparazzi, social media disasters), Michelle is in over her head with the charter School, Tina trying to find some purpose in her life, and finally, we find also find out about Michelle and Brett's marriage.

 

I am now going to go and try to get a life.

[BooBear]

I wonder if HBO had given them up a heads up as well. Because it was set up with everything tied up nicely, but also, these endings could have been left open to possibilities had we gotten another season. Michelle and Brett working on their marriage, also the charter school,  the aftermath of Tina and Alex. Whether the aftermath is them figuring out their situation or her possibly becoming pregnant. But I agree, it does feel like they knew what was coming as far as the show was concerned.

 

They are doing a marathon on HBO 2 and I am sort of wondering if they did give them a heads up about 4 episodes in to this season's writing process. I think episodes 1-4 were high quality but then you can see like a swift left turn. I am also suspicious about Mark Duplass' wife showing up in the final season in kind of a shoe horned and odd plot that to me was a distraction and not at all organic.  Also, Tina's baby crazy plot was... fast and odd.

[Firestorm]

"...with Brett and Michelle getting back together (I actually can't stand them as a couple) and Alex and Tina predictably getting it on, I guess I won't miss this show as much as I thought I would. Perhaps the Duplii knew they would be canceled and wrote something like this so we wouldn't care anymore."

 

I wondered this, too. And thought Brett and Michelle should be getting a divorce since S 1 Ep 1. I don't think Brett is an asshole, at all. They're just clearly not good together. Same with Alex and Tina. She's awful and ridiculous and he deserves better- he's a very thoughtful guy. The show would've been better if he had accepted that job offer and she agreed to coach/manage him. That would've been a more realistic and workable relationship.

 

After watching this episode, I'm not sad that this show is over. I want to be. I really want to be, but I was left feeling ambivalent.

 

Was it just me, or was the first season infinitely better?? 

[WhosThatGirl]

I agree that the first season was better, but I liked the first couple of episodes this season. I think they had an inkling that this wouldn't get another season, they did speed up Tina wanting to be a mother fast. I think had we gotten more seasons, Sandy Cohen and her wouldn't have broken up so fast, I can think maybe we would have gotten Tina pretending to be cool with not wanting kids and then realizing she really does want them. 

 

I don't know. I will miss parts of this show but based on this episode, no.. I wouldn't have been excited to watch Brett and Michelle do counseling again or Tina and Alex doing whatever, I never shipped them together and I only wanted them as friends and to stay that way. And I hated the Charter school. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

[BooBear]

I agree that the first season was better, but I liked the first couple of episodes this season. I think they had an inkling that this wouldn't get another season, they did speed up Tina wanting to be a mother fast.

 

Agreed. I think Mark Duplass saw an opportunity to give his wife a plumb role and get her exposure but it wasn't a good story line.  I do not think Brett and Michelle should be together. I do think that Brett is in a selfish time in his life and I didn't really get any hint that he has ever been any different (but maybe hid it better). I thought on another show Brett would have been the "bad guy". Definitely the first season was better. I thought Michelle's flirtation with David was well done.  The under the door technique in the final episode of season 1 should be stolen by other projects in the future.  I am a bit ambivalent on Tina and Alex because I think the show wanted to try to show Tina was growing up via her wish to have kids but imho it came off the other way making her look more childish and impulsive than ever. I didn't care about the charter school and I didn't care about the dune play and I didn't care about Vlad the Pimp / Vampire.. and I didn't care about that director that was mean to Brett last year.

[KnoxForPres]

That finale was so weak.

It seemed like over half of he episode was watching that boring interactive play. Why should I care to see five seconds of that?

And everything seemingly working out? No condom and grins?

I'm glad it's over. Which at the beginning of this season never would have called that.

[sasha206]

I just finished binge watching this show and all I can say is it started with promise and then incredibly sucked.

Michelle, by far, was the most selfish of them all but she was portrayed as a sympathetic character.  She craved excitement and cloaked it in entitlement.  She basically goes after a man when she's unfulfilled, seduces him, makes him fall in love with her, dumps him.  Goes back to her husband, fucks him and for her own sense of entitlement cleanses herself by coming clean.   But her husband, who was suffocated by a job and actually tried to do the *right* thing by offering her separation, is the selfish prick?  She abandons her husband, her lover, her kids at the young and tender age to develop a charter school?  This isnt a vent on working mothers, but they certainly portray her as a tireless advocate that spends day and night working on a charter school but her husband is the one who is a deadbeat?  

And the Alex and Tina love story was never believeable to me.  It would've made more sense to me if Alex, at his fattest, was actually an attractive man who just needed to lose a few pounds before having plum roles.  Have they actually *seen* the vampires that are on TV shows?  They don't look like Alex.  He wasn't nearly attractive enough once he lost weight to make me believe his sudden fame would happen.  And there are *plenty* of fat, balding, unattractive men who get acting jobs that are lead roles -- like in sitcoms where they have unbelievably hot wives.  Or they are successful character actors.  This show's authenticity was lost on me when the goal of Tina was to get Alex into the lead actor roles, presumably as some sexy leading man by him losing weight.  He wasn't attractive enough at all for that to be a possibility.  And Tina was so focused on his exterior and the superficial for me to ever buy that she ever fell in love with him before he eventually became successful. 

Then there is this ridiculous premise of the devious mom with her vision of a charter school.  That subplot was silly.  It would've made more sense for the lover she spurned to show up and be a thorn in her side along the way than have him just sort of quietly exit stage left once she was done with him.  The fundraising dinner when Michelle needs a distraction to get into evil mom's computer to check to see if she was left off a distribution listing was beyond incredulous. Then everyone's relationship was going to be fixed b/c of a stage production and a ridiculous thing where her kid engages all of them to come see the play?

On Brett, there wasn't anything truly compelling to me about him.  It's hard for me to believe, as suffocated as he was by his first job, that he suddenly does a 180 and becomes the carefree fun person that Michelle wanted him to be.  And it defies logic to me that the man she seemed to have the msot in common with, the most chemistry with, is suddenly tossed aside so quickly and so easily.  He just gets out of the car and disappears?  An interesting subplot would be his own anger -- he was pursued by her, seduced by her, and then hung out to dry. And suddenly he has no involvement with the charter school he was initially so passionate about?  They missed an opportunity for this show to feel real.  

And how does Brett seem so shocked by her relevation?  I understand hurt, but he actually asked David if there was anything he should worry about.  He knew there was an emotional connection and his marriage was hanging on by a thread.  So how does he seem so shocked?  And even if you were shocked, would you not think, well, as unforgiveable as it might be, he was the one who said they should separate?

First season was somewhat relatable.  Second season was improbable, silly, and too convenient.  

[qtpye]

By the way, John Oliver did a great piece on why Charter Schools are horrible and are based on privilege and gentrification.

You could tell that they knew they were not coming back half way through the second season and really stopped giving a shit.  Too bad...everyone loves a well done program that gets canceled too soon.  Instead of remembering this show fondly, I wonder why I wasted my time.