Good Girls - General Discussion

[Kel Varnsen]

I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this show. I think I saw onw promo and when my wife told me she recorded it I sat down expecting it to be a half hour comedy. It obviously wasn't though and I kind of liked it. I especially liked the weird half comedy half dark drama feel to it. Not sure it will km last but I am curious to see what happens to these ladies.

Also, becuse I have been watching a lot of Arrested Development lately: Her?

[UNOSEZ]

On 2/27/2018 at 6:46 PM, Marvin said:

I think them adding the issue of the gender confused / undecided teen on top of the entire plot (Mae Whitman's daughter as played by Izzy Stannard who appears to be a gender fluid actress) is a bit too much. It makes the story too busy and is not relevant to the main plot. Such a storyline would be better suited to a family drama rather than a sideline in a comedy about three women robbing a store.

Or maybe.. The kid isnt gender confused but the parents are and it doesn't become a thing.. Its just who the daughter is and it doesn't need to be a part of the plot in a major way... Probably wishful thinking... I mean that's one way of  how we normalize things.. Present it.. So we know its out there but its not the main thing. 

[Jillybean]

I wasn't excited about this based on the non-stop commercials, but I decided to give it a try since I like Mae Whitman. Wow, it was tough to get through. I liked all the women but not the storylines.  As soon as I saw the tramp stamp I knew it was going to end up showing at the robbery. So very predictable.

Don't want to see Matt Seracen as a bad guy.

Re Sadie, I'm not clear on why she has not changed her name. I don't know a lot about these things, but we have friends with a transgendered child and he has changed his name to a more "male" version of his given name. 

I'm out.

Edited March 1, 2018 by Jillybean

[BaskingsharkGTX]

That was some of the weakest writing I've seen in a televised pilot, ever. The story was on the level of an old Hanna-Barbera cartoon - besides all the plot holes everyone already mentioned, how did the stereotypical Hispanic gangbangers know the women carried out the robbery if the Police couldn't find them? And it's testament to the acting talent  of Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman and Retta - and their chemistry together -  that they were able to sell such flat, one-dimensional characters and actually make them likable/relatable in spite of their ludicrous behavior. I might watch next week for the performances alone, but the plotting and character depth both better improve drastically and fast. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Retta and Mae Whitman discuss Good Girls:

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Couldn't even make it through the entire episode, which I don't know if has ever happened to me before.  As the president would say, "Sad". Oh well.  Always too much on the DVR and on Netflix anyway. 

[marketdoctor]

Quote

I liked all the women but not the storylines.

This was my reaction as well.  I have hopes, because I've seen writing improve after a pilot, and like many pilots, this had a lot going on.  I'm in for at least another week, since I also liked the supporting cast, and I liked Retta's husband; that there was one positive male character was nice.  (OTOH, cheating on Christina Hendricks?  SERIOUSLY? Yes, I know bad people happen to everyone--I just don't understand it.)

[Empress1]

18 hours ago, marketdoctor said:

This was my reaction as well.  I have hopes, because I've seen writing improve after a pilot, and like many pilots, this had a lot going on.  I'm in for at least another week, since I also liked the supporting cast, and I liked Retta's husband; that there was one positive male character was nice.  (OTOH, cheating on Christina Hendricks?  SERIOUSLY? Yes, I know bad people happen to everyone--I just don't understand it.)

Well, Halle Berry and Beyonce have both been cheated on! 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

The women struggle to come up with the money they owe the gang which, in this case, means robbing yet again.  Meanwhile, Annie's fight for custody takes a major hit, Beth tries to navigate life as a single parent and Ruby's concerns for Sara's health escalate.

[marketdoctor]

Quote

Well, Halle Berry and Beyonce have both been cheated on! 

Sure, and truth can be very strange, but I wonder if they will come back to that later as to what rationalization he used, if any.

[grisgris]

I have mixed feelings about the pilot. The three actresses are good but like others have mentioned, there was too much too soon. There easily could have been 2-3 episodes (half hour shows) about laying out the circumstances for each family, culminating in the robbery. The violent turn in the second half kind of bothered me.

I'll give it a couple more episodes before deciding if I want to stick it out. Nine shows isn't that much to commit to. I also don't see where there show would go from there.

Maybe I am just having a senior moment, but I don't remember any of the character's names.

[BusyOctober]

I finally caught the pilot, and I am glad I didn’t come here to read the comments before I did.  I seem to be one of a very small minority because I liked it!  Yes, it has some cliche storylines and the wacky antics will get more ridiculous, but if the acting/actors are strong enough and the writing is intelligent, or interesting  enough, I can stick with this kind of show.  Because if I had to rate “good” shows based on the level of realism involved, I would never have watched (& rewatched) shows like Justified, The Sopranos, Friends, Friday Night Lights, This is Us, Deadwood, Seinfeld, Outlander, Mad Men,etc., etc.  

I am loving the female leads! Amber was my favorite Braverman in a family full of mostly unlikeable Parenthood people. Donna was my soul sister in Pawnee. Joan and her savvy are the main reasons Sterling Cooper (and eventually Sterling Cooper Draper Price) succeeded.  And I got the bonus of seeing Matt Saracen again! 

**Note to the writers and producers of Good Girls - if you can manage to get Coach Taylor to drop by occasionally, I will forever be in your debt.

[Guest]

Was that June Squibb playing the old lady?  Surely a former Oscar nominee deserved at least a mention in the guest star credits.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Guest

[UNOSEZ]

Are we supposed to like me whitman's character??  

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, UNOSEZ said:

Are we supposed to like me whitman's character??  

I don't think so. I think she's supposed to be a mess. The dynamic I get between her and Zach Gilford is that they hooked up as teens (that part Zach Gilford said, last week) and then he grew up and she didn't.

I thought the supermarket manager was dead. It would be easier for them if he were.

Ruby and her husband are so cute.

Beth needs to lock her doors. Ruby and Annie are always just walking into her house unannounced.

Why didn't they just sell the rest of the figurines? WTF with the folder of auction tips? They really expected a drug cartel to put shit up on eBay? 

[UNOSEZ]

4 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

I don't think so. I think she's supposed to be a mess. The dynamic I get between her and Zach Gilford is that they hooked up as teens (that part Zach Gilford said, last week) and then he grew up and she didn't.

I thought the supermarket manager was dead. It would be easier for them if he were.

Ruby and her husband are so cute.

Beth needs to lock her doors. Ruby and Annie are always just walking into her house unannounced.

Why didn't they just sell the rest of the figurines? WTF with the folder of auction tips? They really expected a drug cartel to put shit up on eBay? 

Lol I kno right I thought they had sold them and were giving the guys the password and accounts for the rest of the sales... 

 

To Mae Whitman.. Smh now she's hiring a lawyer after she said she wouldn't.. She was real snarky to sally pressman's character for seemingly no reason.. And I'm almost 100% sure the show is gonna find a way to make her the victim of the wealthy ex and his gf who seem to be genuinely OK ppl.. 

 

Retta and her husband are awesome.. Ruby is great... Show has been pretty good with kid actors so far.. 

 

I like Manny montana's character tho kinda dreading/hoping/anticipating his hookup with Christina hendricks character ( who after being the good sister and wife)  is probably primed for some rebellion and well.. They're both hot 

[lovinbob]

4 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

I like Manny montana's character tho kinda dreading/hoping/anticipating his hookup with Christina hendricks character ( who after being the good sister and wife)  is probably primed for some rebellion and well.. They're both hot 

Glad I wasn't the only one who detected chemistry there.

I love Retta in this. I only know her from Parks and Rec, and I wouldn't have expected her to deliver a character like this. 

In general I love all the performances. It's the plot that's a bit hard to accept.

What was up with Zach Gilford's hair in that late-night scene? It looked like a wig. 

[Unraveled]

I was pleasantly surprised by another "Friday Night Lights" alum showing up as Mae Whitman's love interest. When she was in "Parenthood" she had two men from FNL as her love interests (Matt Lauria and Scott Porter). Her ex-husband in this show is another FNL alum.

Maybe it will be Taylor Kitsch?

[txhorns79]

Quote

Was that June Squibb playing the old lady?  Surely a former Oscar nominee deserved at least a mention in the guest star credits.

She was credited in the guest star credits.  

One thing I never understand about threatening to kill people when they owe money, if you kill the person, that guarantees you will never get your money. 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

She was credited in the guest star credits.  

I must have missed it.  I even went back and looked a second time.  I thought maybe it was some type of uncredited cameo situation.  

[txhorns79]

Quote

I must have missed it.  I even went back and looked a second time.  I thought maybe it was some type of uncredited cameo situation.  

I went back and looked on NBC.com.  Her credit is the last in the guest star credits.  She gets the "And June Squibb." 

[tennisgurl]

I like the characters pretty well and the actors are doing a good job, but this show has a serious tone problem so far. 

Its like we go back satire to heart to intense drama super fast, and not in a good way.

[marketdoctor]

I thought this week was better (no surprise, since it didn't need as much exposition.)  The acting was amazing--the leads, the kid actors, and the guest stars/recurring characters are all well cast, and I liked the drug dealer helping the kid with his math homework.  That was both creepy and nice.

There were still some writing fails; they could have just said they were selling the figurines, and would have the money as soon as they did.  Giving them 90% of the money plus a commitment wouldn't have made the drug dealers happy, but it would have made more sense.

It seems like the show is still trying to figure out if it's a comedy-drama or a cartoon, with the store manager still escaping.  Also, Mae Whitman is a mess, but the blackmail reversal was clever.

[itsjustme]

Would any drug worked that fast? One day Ruby's kid can barley do anything the next day she is playing soccer?

[sacrebleu]

Quote

  I also understand that Mr. Supermarket Manager likely would not have been swayed from his rape plan, but it would have been nice for someone to point out to him that he's now an accomplice after the fact due to his blackmail scheme, so if he turns them in, he could find himself in a huge amount of trouble as well. 

 

See, I didn't think they'd go that dark. I thought-- once the Hispanic guys found them-- they would know that the manager had to be in cahoots with them-- to store that money in the store safe-- so they could turn the tables-- and let him know that if he ratted on them-- they would rat on him.

 

I was not expecting the self-defense murder. 

[BTBAM310]

18 hours ago, RogerDodger said:

I must have missed it.  I even went back and looked a second time.  I thought maybe it was some type of uncredited cameo situation.  

Was definitely there - I started laughing when her name appeared thinking of her performance in Nebraska.

[helenamonster]

The three leads are still doing well enough that I'm interested in continuing to turn in (especially Retta; loved her on Parks and Rec but had no idea she had such drama chops...her making all those lasagnas killed me!), but there is certainly a lot of mood whiplash and they are cramming a lot into these early episodes. I feel like I say this about a lot of network shows these days but maybe it would have had some room to breathe if it had found a home on cable or streaming.

Luckily, though, Hendricks, Retta, and Whitman are all adept enough at comedy and drama to find the balance and keep things as even-keeled as possible. I wish the overall show was better because they really do make a good trio of leading ladies.

As soon as they put the first Hummel on the table I knew they were all gonna get smashed. And yes, they should have explained/showed that the Hummels were going for a lot and that they'd have the rest of the money (and then some) fairly quickly. I wish they'd found another way to change the stakes without making it so contrived.

Lmao @ June Squib thinking her son was engaged to Jessica Alba. "Don't worry, she's only half." Yikes, lady!

So, wondering if they have passports...guess we're gonna see them do some muling next episode? I wonder how realistic they'd be with that because the ways that illegal drugs are transported into this country are...not pleasant.

[link417]

I remember the actor who plays Ruby’s husband (on my phone and too lazy to google) as Carl on Mike & Molly, he’s great in both shows.

[atlantaloves]

I like this show as well. It's not great, but hardly an comedy on network television is. It's delightful, and anything with Miss Hendricks always needs to e watched.  Joan Rules the World!

[link417]

Love Joan Christina and Retta so far (and Mae has had some great moments: “I choose death! GIVE ME DEATH!”), but I was hoping that wig Retta was wearing was only for the pilot. Alas . . .

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Beth, Annie and Ruby bite off more than they can chew when they agree to help Rio smuggle contraband. Ruby deals with a so-called family friend from her church and Annie prepares for a visit with a social worker that could help determine the fate of her custody battle with Greg.

[Syndicate]

This episode seemed to lean more on the drama side of things. There was still humor, but the tone felt more dramatic and even soapy in a way. I felt like this episode tried to calm things down just a bit before things become erratic yet again. All this being said, I enjoyed it yet again, and what is Beth about to become in cahoots with Rio about? The ending seemed to indicate some impending collusion between them.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Syndicate

[UNOSEZ]

I said last week that Beth is primed to take a walk on the "wild side" her life is in shambles even tho she's done everything the right way... She wants to be in control of what's going on.. And she wants to be seen as more than a housewife... So working for Rio is a bit of a rebellion a bit of an escape.. It will get her some funds that she and her crew need plus I think she's kinda intrigued by Rio.. Not just that he's a bad boy.   But one who sees her as an asset.. Plus he looks at her like he wants to jump her bones.. So there's that

[BusyOctober]

Still liking this show!  I don't know how long they can sustain the weaselly store manager's role before he is too big a liability.

One thing confused me.  The stolen car- the ladies only took one car, right?  Why did the police/car lot owner act like several were missing?  Beth's husband said he was waiting on inventory to find out how many were gone.  Um....look at the lot and see how many spaces are empty?  One.  Problem solved!  Or, did they take more cars and we didn't see it??

Loved how Ruby shut down the "thirsty skank" in church! 

[lovinbob]

38 minutes ago, BusyOctober said:

Loved how Ruby shut down the "thirsty skank" in church! 

When they stole the car, and then when Annie had synced her phone, I thought that might have been a bridge too far in terms of contriving their situation, but Christina and Retta are too good! (Plus I have a soft spot for Mae Whitman.) That scene in church renewed my love for Ruby. 

[Empress1]

So Beth only "took care of the mortgage" for a month. She NEEDS to keep up their criminal enterprise! Also, do you need to have good credit to open accounts? I opened my first checking account when I was a teenager and had my first job, and presumably no credit history.

(My best friend's brother is getting divorced. He lives in the Bay area and his wife works part-time as a freelancer. They have two young kids. He moved out, but he told my friend that he understands how people can't afford to get divorced.)

Retta shading the woman at church had me cracking up. Don't mess with her, hussy!

[bilgistic]

Did I hear correctly that their mortgage is $4,000 a month?!? Even if they have a second mortgage, that's still a shitload of money. They live in Michigan, not NYC or L.A.!

[Lovecat]

4 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Plus [Rio] looks at [Beth] like he wants to jump her bones.. So there's that

Oh, that's totally happening, and I am here for it!

2 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Loved how Ruby shut down the "thirsty skank" in church! 

I'm not even religious, and I yelled a big AMEN!!!! at the teevee when she was done.  "I understand."  "Oh I know you do."  Rhetta is everything.

[Empress1]

40 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Did I hear correctly that their mortgage is $4,000 a month?!? Even if they have a second mortgage, that's still a shitload of money. They live in Michigan, not NYC or L.A.!

They have three mortgages and all were overdue.

[qtpye]

I am so proud of Donna from Parks and Rec, she is really giving a lot of nuance to the character. Love how she stomped that lady who was hitting on her husband.  You are really going to sit there and lie about donating money....in CHURCH!!!!!

I can't believe Mathew Lillard had the nerve to refer to his gorgeous wife as an old Toyota Celica when he looks like an old Mathew Lilliard.

I am going to need Mae Whitman's character to get a tad bit smarter,  but I still kind of like her.

I'm totally here for this show.

Edited March 14, 2018 by qtpye

[CKTV123]

Quote

While it's foreign to me (not making my own money and being in the dark about my finances is intolerable to me personally), I don't think it's that unusual. I used to work with a woman who was clueless about her finances aside from what she brought home. Once the company implemented a new payroll system and it goofed, which meant that people on a certain pay schedule didn't get paid. (Some people in the company were paid on the 15th and 30th and some were paid every other Friday. She and I were on the former; the people on the latter didn't get paid due to the system error.) So on that day, everyone was running around checking their accounts to see what was going on, and she just ... didn't. She was like "Oh, I don't look at that stuff. [Husband] handles it." Our team was laid off eventually and she decided to stay home with her kid (she was on maternity leave when she was laid off), so she could easily be in Christina Hendricks' character's position now. Hell - her husband was in outside sales so traveled a lot, and it would be very easy for him to cheat.

This reminds me of my childhood in the 80's. My mom was a divorce attorney and a lot of her clientele were women who had married very young in the 1950's-early 60's and had never worked outside the home. No clue how to read mortgage paperwork or a credit card bill or utility statement. Hell, some of the wealthier women had never written a check. Groceries and clothing were charged and husband paid the bills. Mom would bring these scared, newly single women home with her and drag out our bills and stuff and basically teach them how to survive post divorce. It does indeed seem foreign to us in this generation to be that clueless and naive but back then it was not at all uncommon. And in the big, giant scheme of things it wasn't that long ago. 

[link417]

42 minutes ago, qtpye said:

I can't believe Mathew Lillard had the nerve to refer to his gorgeous wife as an old Toyota Celica when he looks like an old Mathew Lillard.

BWAHAHA! ? You’ve got me bursting out laughing on my lunch break! ?

[atlantaloves]

God Lillard is butt ugly, but I am loving this show. Somebody tell me, did they manage to steal any of the money that they brought through Canada? These gals need some money honey. 

[Boofish]

On 3/11/2018 at 11:05 PM, link417 said:

Love Joan Christina and Retta so far (and Mae has had some great moments: “I choose death! GIVE ME DEATH!”), but I was hoping that wig Retta was wearing was only for the pilot. Alas . . .

Network TV does not have a black women wig budget.  I had to stop watching Criminal Minds because Aisha Tyler and them Whitney Houston last week of life wigs was too much for my spirit.  They need to hire someone from one of the reality TV shows like RHOA or LAHP because those girls hair for the most part is always beautiful (with exceptions of course)

[bilgistic]

6 hours ago, Empress1 said:

They have three mortgages and all were overdue.

They said Beth had caught them up to date [with the stolen money from the grocery store]. I don't understand how people get third mortgages when they are presumably stretched to the max on the first and second, but I'll handwave it. I can understand a ~$1300 mortgage payment on a home for five people (I think they have three kids?). Then that times three...

I think I would fake my death if I owed that every month.

[chocolatine]

6 hours ago, qtpye said:

I going to need Mae Whitman's character to get a tad bit smarter,  but I still kind of like her.

It's like she's destined to play stupid, impulsive characters. Annie could totally be an older version of Amber from Parenthood. "I need enough time to get back and clean up before the social worker comes" - gee, I don't know, how about you clean up the night before?

8 hours ago, Empress1 said:

So Beth only "took care of the mortgage" for a month. She NEEDS to keep up their criminal enterprise!

That was my understanding all along. She made the past due payments, but the money wasn't nearly enough to pay off all the mortgages. And obviously the trip to Canada was not going to be the end to the criminal activity since that's the whole premise of the show. I liked how she hung her pearl necklace on the doorknob to signal the mobster that she wanted to talk, it was a very Nancy Botwin move.

I noticed that Matthew Lillard said Beth hasn't had a job since she worked at a Dairy Queen in high school - are we supposed to believe that she married and started having kids right out of high school? That would mean she's in her early 30s now. Christina Hendricks is 42, and while she's gorgeous, she doesn't look much younger than her age. I guess the show needed to make her closer in age to Annie to make it plausible for them to be sisters.

Retta is the MVP of the show for me, I love her line delivery and facial expressions.

[howiveaddict]

7 hours ago, qtpye said:

I am so proud of Donna from Parks and Rec, she is really giving a lot of nuance to the character. Love how she stomped that lady who was hitting on her husband.  You are really going to sit there and lie about donating money....in CHURCH!!!!!

I can't believe Mathew Lillard had the nerve to refer to his gorgeous wife as an old Toyota Celica when he looks like an old Mathew Lilliard.

I going to need Mae Whitman's character to get a tad bit smarter,  but I still kind of like her.

I'm totally here for this show.

I can't believe George Clooney's wife cheated with Mathew Lillard in the Descendants.   

I am enjoying this show.   This week was better than last.  

Why would Mae Whitman's character go out drinking, when she was expecting the child protective person to visit.

[txhorns79]

Quote

Why would Mae Whitman's character go out drinking, when she was expecting the child protective person to visit.

This is something that kind of bugs me in general about the character.  I feel at times like she is too dumb.  Syncing her phone to the stolen car, and drinking heavily on the same day she had the appointment with the CPS lady just seem almost purposefully stupid. 

I also kind of felt like Christina Hendrick's character was a little too old to have such a poor understanding of how credit scores work, particularly when you are married to someone who likely has a terrible one. 

[helenamonster]

Ruby calling out the woman in church for lying about the money was everything I never knew I needed. 

Maybe it's because I was fortunate enough to have parents that split amicably, but I feel like tv shows never get custody battles right. Annie and her ex clearly have joint custody now, since Sadie stays at both homes. Annie appears to be the primary custodian, yes, but even if she wasn't at her best with the social worker, she has yet to show herself to be a negligent or unfit parent. Judges have awarded custody to parents who are demonstrably much worse. And at eleven, isn't Sadie old enough to have a say in the proceedings? She clearly doesn't want to be taken from Annie. Also, as a former latchkey kid, I have trouble clutching my pearls at an eleven-year-old being left home alone for less than a day.

Given that we now know that Rio's main operation is running counterfeit cash, not drugs, I wonder if Annie's marker from work is going to become a plot point? It's shown up twice in three episodes.

11 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

One thing confused me.  The stolen car- the ladies only took one car, right?  Why did the police/car lot owner act like several were missing?  Beth's husband said he was waiting on inventory to find out how many were gone.  Um....look at the lot and see how many spaces are empty?  One.  Problem solved!  Or, did they take more cars and we didn't see it??

They made a point to have Boomer see them steal the car, and while at first I thought that was just giving him another thing to hold over Annie, he still thinks she sent the picture of his junk to Sadie so he doesn't really have a move he can make at this point. I thought for some reason that maybe he went back and stole a few of the cars (leaving them abandoned/drowned/torched somewhere) to add to the list of the things he can get them on when he's finally in the clear to report them, but I really don't know.

8 hours ago, qtpye said:

I can't believe Mathew Lillard had the nerve to refer to his gorgeous wife as an old Toyota Celica when he looks like an old Mathew Lilliard.

Right? And it's not like he was exactly a looker back when he was chasing Neve Campbell around Woodsboro, either.

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

I noticed that Matthew Lillard said Beth hasn't had a job since she worked at a Dairy Queen in high school - are we supposed to believe that she married and started having kids right out of high school? That would mean she's in her early 30s now. Christina Hendricks is 42, and while she's gorgeous, she doesn't look much younger than her age. I guess the show needed to make her closer in age to Annie to make it plausible for them to be sisters.

In a previous episode Beth mentioned 22 years of marriage--so assuming Beth and Doug are the same ages as Christina and Matthew, that would have made them 20 and 26, respectively, when they got married, and even younger when they started dating. I think it would be in line with what we know about the characters so far for Beth to be just out of high school--or still in high school--when they started dating. It would explain why she knows nothing about personal finances: if the only job you've had is at the DQ and your boyfriend/fiance/husband is making serious money at the car dealership, well hell, why bother going to college/having a career/learning to take care of yourself?

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

It's like she's destined to play stupid, impulsive characters. Annie could totally be an older version of Amber from Parenthood. "I need enough time to get back and clean up before the social worker comes" - gee, I don't know, how about you clean up the night before?

That was my understanding all along. She made the past due payments, but the money wasn't nearly enough to pay off all the mortgages. And obviously the trip to Canada was not going to be the end to the criminal activity since that's the whole premise of the show. I liked how she hung her pearl necklace on the doorknob to signal the mobster that she wanted to talk, it was a very Nancy Botwin move.

I noticed that Matthew Lillard said Beth hasn't had a job since she worked at a Dairy Queen in high school - are we supposed to believe that she married and started having kids right out of high school? That would mean she's in her early 30s now. Christina Hendricks is 42, and while she's gorgeous, she doesn't look much younger than her age. I guess the show needed to make her closer in age to Annie to make it plausible for them to be sisters.

Retta is the MVP of the show for me, I love her line delivery and facial expressions.

She could have gone to college out of high school and not worked there, and started a family after graduating. That would make her in her mid-30s. I agree with you that Christina Hendricks looks her age. (I actually think she looks younger without her Mad Men wig.) Mae Whitman's character is supposed to be in her late 20s (daughter is 11, her ex mentioned them having been 17 when they had her. Mae Whitman is 29 IRL). I do know a family in which the two sisters (only two kids in the family) are 12 years apart, so it wouldn't be weird to me if Mae and Christina were playing their real ages.

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

They said Beth had caught them up to date [with the stolen money from the grocery store]. I don't understand how people get third mortgages when they are presumably stretched to the max on the first and second, but I'll handwave it. I can understand a ~$1300 mortgage payment on a home for five people (I think they have three kids?). Then that times three...

I think I would fake my death if I owed that every month.

They have four kids. Beth clearly only got them off the foreclosure list - she didn't pay off the house in full (that would have taken her whole haul from the robbery). Matthew Lillard said he'd "made some bad decisions at work," thus the three mortgages. (He also spent some money on his mistress, although I doubt it's a few pairs of expensive underwear that that got them into that kind of financial trouble.) It seems like he owns the dealership but the rest of the sales team doesn't seem to know the dealership is struggling. 

It's funny because looking at their house, if you told me their mortgage was $4K a month, I wouldn't think anything of it. (I actually forgot they were in Michigan until they drove to Canada.) Or rather, $1300 a month strikes me as very cheap for a house that size. I'm from the urban northeast so my view is skewed. (That's why I like House Hunters - I like seeing what the COL is in different parts of the country. Their house in LA would be like $1.2M.)

4 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

And at eleven, isn't Sadie old enough to have a say in the proceedings? She clearly doesn't want to be taken from Annie. Also, as a former latchkey kid, I have trouble clutching my pearls at an eleven-year-old being left home alone for less than a day.

Yeah, my parents left me alone at 11 and I was babysitting by 12, so when the social worker was like "How long was she alone for?!" all indignant, I was like " ... Maybe things are different now."

Edited March 14, 2018 by Empress1