S04.E30: Vital Signs

[TeslaNewton]

15 hours ago, MissEwa said:

And the premmie thing, given her size, was just dumb.

Yes! They should've just had Andrea pregnant with twins. Then, the preemie thing would work with her size.

[Klaw]

Quote

Writing a pregnancy into the show was always going to be iffy but it could have worked and been done in a semi-realistic, interesting way. Just... not with the visibly oldest, mumsiest cast member. And the premmie thing, given her size, was just dumb. I'm sure Carteris was lovely, but the producers listening to a 30-something playing a teenager asking them to write her pregnancy into the show? I can just see her telling them it would be so interesting and good for young girls to see blah blah blah, but no. They should have written her out for a season.  

This! I think because, demographically, the writers and Carteris were probably close in  age - or at least Gaby could relate to them more than she could obviously relate to being a teenager. Anyway, I always hated "pregnant woman in peril" stories (e.g. Kirsten Cohen's earthquake pregnancy in peril story on the O.C. /eyeroll), they're always just so damn boring - when you know they're gonna have a healthy kid in the end. 

Thanks CurlyATX for thoughts about the Erica as infant phenom - I don't have kids, but I have friends who have kids around Erica's age and they do not act like they just learned how to color in the lines. In fact, they tend to try to behave as if they're older, not younger, than they are  - they don't usually succeed (after all, they're still kids) but they don't want to do anything that would make them seem like they're doing "baby stuff." At least, that's what I've observed. But then, the show has a tendency to infantalize children and women (see Donna with her "tee hee i'm a virgin" routine, Kelly's baby voice, etc.). Ugh. So gross.  It's so weird and creepy.

[MissEwa]

6 hours ago, TimeyWimey52 said:

Ok, seriously we can establish that Carteris/Ohndrea is wearing a giant square pillow because she had already given birth at some point before these episodes, right? That CANNOT be real! She's soooo big!

She looks pretty normal for full-term, IMO. The thing is that, as mentioned in the podcast, they're making her look even bigger than she is by shooting her from below, and in that shot of her in the doorway, it looks like she's deliberately pulling her shoulders back and pushing her belly forward. If they shot it differently and she straightened up, I'd *almost* buy big-for-27-weeks, but it's like they're trying to make her look as big as possible. I just don't get why, unless someone up high hated this storyline so much they decided to humiliate Carteris as punishment. 

[Petunia13]

Dylan's car was awesome. I think Rachel Zoe's husband Rodger bought it for her. 

A good gift for Kelly that would be Dylany is a book on Andy Warhol since she has those faux Warhol prints of herself. But it's true her personality is very bland and she is not talented or gifted in anything unlike the others. 

[benteen]

According to that interview posted with that producer from Season 4-7, they did ask Carteris if she could hold if getting pregnant.

[Cekrypton1]

I will say as the Brenda/Shannen stories start to dovetail in these final season 4 episodes, the meta-ness of it all makes for some good storytelling and watching.