S03.E12: Sisters Without Subtext

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Jessica is happy that her sister Connie is finally going to college until she learns it's for art; Marvin and Honey visit a retirement home with Eddie, Emery and Evan; and Honey realizes the longterm difficulties that the age difference between herself and Marvin presents.

[TV Anonymous]

I do not really follow the show, and this is the first time I see Connie. All along the episode, it was bothering me to see 'sisters' from obviously different ethnicity. Turned out I was right. Connie's actress is Korean, Jessica's is Chinese. For an Asian like me, their difference is just glaring. I know that Louis's is also Korean instead of Chinese but he and Jessica are couples, not siblings.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Is this the first time we learned that Honey is only 28? I don't know how old Marvin is supposed to be, but Ray Wise is 69. Is Nicole his only child?

Loved Connie's genuine confusion at the lack of subtext.

[Jabu]

"I JUST WISH THEY MADE PISTACHIO BELTS!"  Uh . . . totally random meltdown from Jessica, but I laughed, anyway.  Though at the same time, I can't be the only one to see her random meltdowns and wonder how the hell Louis stays married to her.

I totally get the subtext thing.  My younger brother and I do the same thing to each other when we see nice things, but we each totally know we're saying mean things beneath the surface.  He tries to be subtle about it, but I wholeheartedly, unabashedly, unashamedly like making my subtext to him as mean and nasty as possible.  I'm just a mean and nasty person, in general, so it's easy for me.

24 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Is this the first time we learned that Honey is only 28? I don't know how old Marvin is supposed to be, but Ray Wise is 69. Is Nicole his only child?

Marvin probably started having kids late in life.  I am the older of two children, and I was born when my dad was thirty-six, which is considered relatively later in life than most men would start having kids.  He was thirty-nine, three months shy of his fortieth birthday, when my brother was born.  So it's possible Marvin became a late-in-life dad with Nicole.

Edited February 8, 2017 by Jabu

[smash]

5 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

I do not really follow the show, and this is the first time I see Connie. All along the episode, it was bothering me to see 'sisters' from obviously different ethnicity. Turned out I was right. Connie's actress is Korean, Jessica's is Chinese. For an Asian like me, their difference is just glaring. I know that Louis's is also Korean instead of Chinese but he and Jessica are couples, not siblings.

What's also a little strange is that Jessica is the younger sister, but has a little hint of an accent (even stronger in S1, albeit inauthentic) while Connie virtually has none (I would think Connie also emigrated to the states). Still love the show though.

Edited February 8, 2017 by smash

[Landlord]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Is this the first time we learned that Honey is only 28? I don't know how old Marvin is supposed to be, but Ray Wise is 69. Is Nicole his only child?

Loved Connie's genuine confusion at the lack of subtext.

I was surprised too that she was that young. I would have thought (maybe it's just my TV that's got a crappy image) that she was upwards of 32? 

6 hours ago, Jabu said:

 

Marvin probably started having kids late in life.  I am the older of two children, and I was born when my dad was thirty-six, which is considered relatively later in life than most men would start having kids.  He was thirty-nine, three months shy of his fortieth birthday, when my brother was born.  So it's possible Marvin became a late-in-life dad with Nicole.

Did we not see Marvin's ex wife in his red convertible just a few episodes ago? She was younger too, clearly not as young as Honey, but I'd say mid to late forties, so Marvin liked them young? At least that's my take in it. 

6 hours ago, smash said:

What's also a little strange is that Jessica is the younger sister, but has a little hint of an accent (even stronger in S1, albeit inauthentic) while Connie virtually has none (I would think Connie also emigrated to the states). Still love the show though.

But Connie started to Americanize as soon as she got to the US (Remember the episode where Jessica revealed her real name or something or other, there was a flashback of Connie in a pink silk bathrobe with her name embroidered on it.)

[vibeology]

1 hour ago, Landlord said:

I was surprised too that she was that young. I would have thought (maybe it's just my TV that's got a crappy image) that she was upwards of 32? 

To be fair to you, Chelsey Crisp, who plays Honey, isn't 28. She doesn't have an age listed on IMDB or Wikipedia but based on her bio is probably about 34. I think the writers made Honey as young as would be believable for the sake of the joke. The younger Honey is, the more ridiculous it would be for her to move into a retirement home.

[Landlord]

1 hour ago, vibeology said:

To be fair to you, Chelsey Crisp, who plays Honey, isn't 28. She doesn't have an age listed on IMDB or Wikipedia but based on her bio is probably about 34. I think the writers made Honey as young as would be believable for the sake of the joke. The younger Honey is, the more ridiculous it would be for her to move into a retirement home.

True. She played it well tough. That bit on the threadmill, it was pretty funny. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I don't remember where Connie and her family live, but since she was looking at schools in Ithaca, Georgia and Orlando, she's willing to leave her 9th grade son (with his father) to attend art school?  Since it is purely for personal growth, can't she find an art school closer to home?  I do think that's selfish.  It would also mean that her and Jessica's mother would be left with her husband!  It really doesn't make any sense.

[biakbiak]

Connie lives in DC. 

[jumper sage]

1 hour ago, Landlord said:

True. She played it well tough. That bit on the threadmill, it was pretty funny. 

OMG I died!  My mom had a cleaning lady and a treadmill and was never a sporty person.  Add it all up and mom gets on treadmill per doctors orders and thinks it is set where he wanted it at I-am-a-toddler-and-just-learned-to-walk and then picture cleaning lady just cleaning away.......mom flew off just like Honey did and even tore down the drapes.  I could not stop laughing even while calling 911.

I really like this show.  Who is the little guy?  His smooching butt kissing was hilarious.

[peeayebee]

17 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

I do not really follow the show, and this is the first time I see Connie. All along the episode, it was bothering me to see 'sisters' from obviously different ethnicity. Turned out I was right. Connie's actress is Korean, Jessica's is Chinese. For an Asian like me, their difference is just glaring. I know that Louis's is also Korean instead of Chinese but he and Jessica are couples, not siblings.

I'm not Asian, but I noticed this too. To be honest, I'm not great at identifying different ethnicities, but at their last scene, I was thinking they must be different.

I enjoyed this ep. I love Connie and always like the scenes where we see the translations of what they're actually saying. I cracked up when Connie shoved the hot dog into her mouth and showed her hands to the guard. I also loved when Jessica warned about the "magician" coming, and they both protected their purses in the exact same way.

All of Jessica's paintings and their titles were so great. When Louis said, "What a beautiful kangaroo," and Jessica said, "That's the resurrection of Christ," seeing that the painting did look like a kangaroo was so funny.

Louis was wonderful thruout. My favorite part was when Jessica took him into the garage. "Why are we in the back of the garage? This is the spiders' land. We don't go into their home, they don't come into ours.  [flails at a web] Sorry, get off me."

[Jabu]

4 hours ago, jumper sage said:

I really like this show.  Who is the little guy?  His smooching butt kissing was hilarious.

Evan, the youngest child, played by Ian Chen.  I think he's easily the funniest and best actor of the three young actors playing the boys.  Forrest Wheeler (Emery, the middle child) is right behind him.  Hudson Yang (Eddie, the oldest child) is just as easily the weakest of the three, but I've noticed that he's been getting better this season.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Jabu

[Landlord]

4 hours ago, jumper sage said:

OMG I died!  My mom had a cleaning lady and a treadmill and was never a sporty person.  Add it all up and mom gets on treadmill per doctors orders and thinks it is set where he wanted it at I-am-a-toddler-and-just-learned-to-walk and then picture cleaning lady just cleaning away.......mom flew off just like Honey did and even tore down the drapes.  I could not stop laughing even while calling 911.

I really like this show.  Who is the little guy?  His smooching butt kissing was hilarious.

OMG! I forgot about that! I was pretty shocked when Evan called his father a kiss ass, but it was funny, I had to rewind it.

[theatremouse]

16 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Is this the first time we learned that Honey is only 28? I don't know how old Marvin is supposed to be, but Ray Wise is 69.

I am suddenly not sure if I'm remembering this from seeing an earlier episode where his age were mentioned in passing, or if it's just an idea I got in my head, but I thought Marvin was supposed to be 68 for some reason.

[mtlchick]

Quote

That bit on the threadmill, it was pretty funny. 

Sadly it reminded me of Taylor Swift's Apple Music ad from last year.   But I do enjoy the boys' relationship with Honey and Marvin.  

Connie and Jessica's war of subliminal messages will never stop being funny. 

[tennisgurl]

I always love the subliminal messages between Connie and Jessica. It has yet to get even remotely old.

I enjoyed getting a Honey and Marvin plot that didn't really have to do with the main characters, and I like seeing how well they get along with the boys. And, I don't know why, but I loved when they were leaving their house, and Marvin said they were good kids, and Evan was like "We Are good kids aren't we?" while Emory and Eddie were just like "meh, we do ok".

"Why are we in the back of the garage? This is the spiders' land. We don't go into their home, they don't come into ours!"

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Loved Jessica and Connie singing "Sister" together in harmony at the end!

Like Louis, I have a deal with the spiders. It's like what Johnny told Baby about their separate dance space in Dirty Dancing: "I don't go into yours. You don't go into mine."

[peeayebee]

11 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I always love the subliminal messages between Connie and Jessica. It has yet to get even remotely old.

I think one reason for that is that it's changed up in each episode. For instance, in this one we had Jessica's translations be exactly what she was saying.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

Liked the episode.  I understand, this is TV, and it is a plot device that was necessary to get Jessica to call Connie about her traveling and Connie to travel to Florida to then reveal her hidden passion to Jessica, but I almost feel that if the reveal had happened with Jessica and Louis in DC visiting Connie and her family and Jessica saw Connie leaving the family at night to go to night school and then find out it was only art, it would have actually rang better because in all honesty, if Connie was serious about an out of state art school, then Jessica is in the right about the adult responsibilities etc, even though Connie should pursue a hobby.

[pachebo]

is anyone worried that Lucille Soong was not in this episode?  When older cast members "go away to visit relatives" I always get nervous (Coach in Cheers....)

[smash]

12 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I think one reason for that is that it's changed up in each episode. For instance, in this one we had Jessica's translations be exactly what she was saying.

Also, in this episode they managed to have a totally random and out of context conversation about Oprah's acting prowess.

[Ottis]

On 2/7/2017 at 8:52 PM, TV Anonymous said:

I do not really follow the show, and this is the first time I see Connie. All along the episode, it was bothering me to see 'sisters' from obviously different ethnicity. Turned out I was right. Connie's actress is Korean, Jessica's is Chinese. For an Asian like me, their difference is just glaring.

We're honkies, but we said right away that the two were different Asian backgrounds, though we guessed Thai for her sister. 

I didn't understand Marvin's thinking in this ep. Honey is far younger. Why the rush for the retirement community? Even without a young spouse, most people are in no hurry to get there. With one? What was he worried about? I could see it if he thought he would go in alone, while the younger Honey still enjoyed life "outside." But both of them?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

19 hours ago, pachebo said:

is anyone worried that Lucille Soong was not in this episode?  When older cast members "go away to visit relatives" I always get nervous (Coach in Cheers....)

Her being away meant that they didn't have to have anyone sleep in the newly re-ordered pantry on bags of rice in order to find a place for Connie to sleep.

[theatremouse]

17 hours ago, smash said:

Also, in this episode they managed to have a totally random and out of context conversation about Oprah's acting prowess.

I really enjoyed that, but I was also super confused when they were singing in the car. It's been decades since I saw the movie The Color Purple, but I know Oprah was in it and I know she produced a musical of it much much later and it just closed on Broadway. Was Jessica singing something from the musical? Or the movie? Because I thought the musical post-dates this episode by about 10 years, but I don't remember that song...or any songs really from the movie. Were they just listening to the movie soundtrack?

[ClareWalks]

On 2/8/2017 at 3:36 AM, smash said:

What's also a little strange is that Jessica is the younger sister, but has a little hint of an accent (even stronger in S1, albeit inauthentic) while Connie virtually has none (I would think Connie also emigrated to the states). Still love the show though.

 

On 2/8/2017 at 9:53 AM, Landlord said:

ut Connie started to Americanize as soon as she got to the US (Remember the episode where Jessica revealed her real name or something or other, there was a flashback of Connie in a pink silk bathrobe with her name embroidered on it.)

Last time we saw Connie she did still have a bit of a Chinese accent. Didn't hear it at all this time.

[AD35]

On 2/8/2017 at 4:54 PM, peeayebee said:

All of Jessica's paintings and their titles were so great. When Louis said, "What a beautiful kangaroo," and Jessica said, "That's the resurrection of Christ," seeing that the painting did look like a kangaroo was so funny.

My favorite title was "Unemployed Virgin". LOL

[Blakeston]

20 hours ago, Ottis said:

I didn't understand Marvin's thinking in this ep. Honey is far younger. Why the rush for the retirement community? Even without a young spouse, most people are in no hurry to get there. With one? What was he worried about? I could see it if he thought he would go in alone, while the younger Honey still enjoyed life "outside." But both of them?

My take on it was that he wasn't thinking. He liked the comforts available in the retirement home, and he likes having his wife around, and he never stopped to think that she would be way too young for it to make any sense.

[Tiger]

On 2/7/2017 at 10:52 PM, TV Anonymous said:

I do not really follow the show, and this is the first time I see Connie. All along the episode, it was bothering me to see 'sisters' from obviously different ethnicity. Turned out I was right. Connie's actress is Korean, Jessica's is Chinese. For an Asian like me, their difference is just glaring. I know that Louis's is also Korean instead of Chinese but he and Jessica are couples, not siblings.

I'm a white looking cuban and even I noticed that the Connie actress was a different ethnicity than Constance.  

On 2/8/2017 at 11:57 AM, vibeology said:

To be fair to you, Chelsey Crisp, who plays Honey, isn't 28. She doesn't have an age listed on IMDB or Wikipedia but based on her bio is probably about 34. I think the writers made Honey as young as would be believable for the sake of the joke. The younger Honey is, the more ridiculous it would be for her to move into a retirement home.

Chelsey Crisp is really attractive, but no way in hell does she pass for 28.  

[MaryMitch]

1 hour ago, Tiger said:

Chelsey Crisp is really attractive, but no way in hell does she pass for 28.  

I think the 90s hairstyle ages her, but yeah, IMO her playing 28 is pushing it.

[jah1986]

On 2/10/2017 at 5:55 PM, theatremouse said:

I really enjoyed that, but I was also super confused when they were singing in the car. It's been decades since I saw the movie The Color Purple, but I know Oprah was in it and I know she produced a musical of it much much later and it just closed on Broadway. Was Jessica singing something from the musical? Or the movie? Because I thought the musical post-dates this episode by about 10 years, but I don't remember that song...or any songs really from the movie. Were they just listening to the movie soundtrack?

Wow, am I the only person here who totally got all the Color Purple refrences including why they brought up Oprah? They were singing God is Trying to Tell you Something in the car and that is from the movie, a big highlight. And the song Sister is also from the movie and is one of the better scenes where you see that someone on the planet recognizes and values Celie. But yes, anytime I see The Color Purple I get a little sad that Oprah didn't have more of an acting career. I thought those were some of the funnier scenes in this episode, which I enjoyed very much.

[ethalfrida]

3 hours ago, jah1986 said:

Wow, am I the only person here who totally got all the Color Purple refrences including why they brought up Oprah? They were singing God is Trying to Tell you Something in the car and that is from the movie, a big highlight. And the song Sister is also from the movie and is one of the better scenes where you see that someone on the planet recognizes and values Celie. But yes, anytime I see The Color Purple I get a little sad that Oprah didn't have more of an acting career. I thought those were some of the funnier scenes in this episode, which I enjoyed very much.

No, I got it. But they did go on and on with it. I liked their voices though.

[Camera One]

This episode was pretty funny.  Jessica's comments at the art school were hilarious.  As were her horrible paintings.