S01.E01: Tirana

[Keepitmoving]

Quote

I was just confused about a couple of things; is Virginia supposed to be a lady-boy or transgender? Quiet Ann yelled out "f*****" in the parking lot after the beatdown.

I just thought that, that was another example of an oppressed group taking back a word that is used to degrade them. In other words, she's part of the LGBTQ community and she is going to take that word and using it on someone who in her opinion is exhibiting what as far as she is concerned is (insert F word) behavior. In other words, who I sleep with and my sexual identity is not what defines that word as far as she is concerned. It's the nasty back stabbing shit that Virginia just pulled on someone who was kind to her and gave her a chance in life when she really needed it, that's (insert F word) behavior, that's who you call a (insert F word) as far as Quiet Ann is concerned.  That's how I thought about it after I laughed.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Keepitmoving

[Deanie87]

Niecy Nash is a national treasure!  As good as everyone in Reno 911 was, she still stood out, and she was the best thing in Scream Queens, not to mention how good she was in Getting On and in the last season of Masters of Sex.  She is so versatile and talented, so I was going to give this a shot no matter, what.  Very glad that I enjoyed it.

I will say this, though.  Between The Americans, Fargo, this show and...real life, I have had my fill of Russians.  No offense to any Russians out there, but #Lordy.

[howiveaddict]

On 6/12/2017 at 11:34 AM, Lord Donia said:

Oy, sorry to go against the grain, but Roller -- or Cooter as I kept calling him in my head -- was disgusting and I was happy to see what I thought was the end of him. I think the actor is unattractive as well. It was seriously one of those visceral "I hate you on sight" rear-backs; it remains to be seen how big a role he'll have and if I can stomach him.

I couldn't stand him either. Nice body.  He he was a woman he would be a butter face.

[Deanie87]

On 6/12/2017 at 0:34 PM, Lord Donia said:

I really enjoyed this and hope the quality keeps up.

Oy, sorry to go against the grain, but Roller -- or Cooter as I kept calling him in my head -- was disgusting and I was happy to see what I thought was the end of him. I think the actor is unattractive as well. It was seriously one of those visceral "I hate you on sight" rear-backs; it remains to be seen how big a role he'll have and if I can stomach him.

Uncle Daddy is also a creep but he didn't bother me as a character.

I gather Polly has come down in life but I wasn't feeling her sadness in the motel room. It's gotta be better than prison even if the TV only gets the wrestling channel. And her anklet seems to have a pretty forgiving range, from work to the motel to the strip club.

Versace or not, isn't it weird to give someone a single towel as a gift?

Quiet Ann looked familiar but her IMDB photos look NOTHING like her character on this show and I don't recognize any of her other roles, so I guess I'm tripping.

My two quibbles with the show involve the bolded.  Hank from Breaking Bad AKA Uncle Daddy (ugh, and also ew), was way too over the top for me.  Dean Norris (?) is a good actor but he was hamming it up way too much for me here.  It may be that TNT is going over the top with the drugs and the violence simply to show how "edgy" they can be, but so far Hank/UD seems way too cartoonish for me and I hope that changes.

 

Secondly, I don't care how many sensible flats and pearl necklaces Polly shows up in, I feel absolutely no sympathy for someone who scams money from old people.  None.  My 87 year old dad was a victim of identity theft and it was so, so stressful and bewildering for him.  All of the online stuff confused him and he had a hard time clearing everything up because the bank people were using terms he didn't understand and it just didn't make sense to him how he could have the credit card ON HIS PERSON and yet he was being stolen from.  He still gets hassled about his credit because of it and that is a point of pride for many people of that generation.  My dad worked for NASA, he isn't dumb, but it is just wasn't in his realm of knowledge, which just makes it more victimizing.  Identity fraud is awful for anyone, bu the extra level of cruelty to do this kind of thing to a senior citizen is just too much.  So Polly can miss me with her tears, her Carrie prom dress and her purple dildo.  The fact that she was getting sympathy because she actually had to pay the money back - NOPE!

[Ohwell]

I wasn't following Polly's story that closely because I was still familiarizing myself with the characters.  But scamming anyone, especially old people?  I have no sympathy for her at all.  Bitch is lucky she got out of jail.

[Syndicate]

I don't think Polly's story has really begun yet. I'm interested in learning the specifics of her story. I suspect she and Quiet Ann will be used as mostly subplot characters, sorta doing their own thing.

[talktoomuch]

The pilot kind of dragged for me but I'm in. I love Niecy Nash and her godawful weave. Who knew she had so much range? I loved how once she realized she wouldn't have enough money for the down payment on her shop, Des gave the money to her girls. I love their crew and I want to see how/if Virginia ("reminds me of me") fits.

[sugarbaker design]

I still don't get the significance of the title of the episode.

[Ohwell]

It's the capital of Albania.  That's all I got.

[formerlyfreedom]

1 hour ago, sugarbaker design said:

I still don't get the significance of the title of the episode.

It's the song that Quiet Ann lip synchs to when the salon is opening - La Tirana by La Lupe.

[sugarbaker design]

Gracias!

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, saoirse said:

It's the song that Quiet Ann lip synchs to when the salon is opening - La Tirana by La Lupe.

Then it would have made more sense for the title to have been "La Tirana," instead of making some of us think of Albania, lol.

[Jade Foxx]

Everyone pretty much covered it. 

I'm all the way in. Huge Niecy fan!

[Syndicate]

They've been re-airing the pilot every night this week. I take it that they really want this show to find an audience. I'm eagerly awaiting the twist at the end of episode 3 in which one review says the audience will immediately want to get to episode 4. I'm wondering what this shocking twist is going to be?

[themaddiest]

On 6/15/2017 at 0:44 PM, Ohwell said:

Then it would have made more sense for the title to have been "La Tirana," instead of making some of us think of Albania, lol.

It also means "tyrant" in Spanish.

[bilgistic]

On 6/12/2017 at 0:34 PM, Lord Donia said:

I really enjoyed this and hope the quality keeps up.

Oy, sorry to go against the grain, but Roller -- or Cooter as I kept calling him in my head -- was disgusting and I was happy to see what I thought was the end of him. I think the actor is unattractive as well. It was seriously one of those visceral "I hate you on sight" rear-backs; it remains to be seen how big a role he'll have and if I can stomach him.

Uncle Daddy is also a creep but he didn't bother me as a character.

I gather Polly has come down in life but I wasn't feeling her sadness in the motel room. It's gotta be better than prison even if the TV only gets the wrestling channel. And her anklet seems to have a pretty forgiving range, from work to the motel to the strip club.

Versace or not, isn't it weird to give someone a single towel as a gift?

Quiet Ann looked familiar but her IMDB photos look NOTHING like her character on this show and I don't recognize any of her other roles, so I guess I'm tripping.

I immediately hated Roller and Uncle Daddy. Just disgusting.

Total speculation--maybe something's sewn into the towel?

[callie lee 29]

If I can ever find what night this is on, i'll dvr it. Niece Nash is a dream and whoever is playing the blonde sidekick (Jennifer) pretty great as week. I'm looking to hear about more from them all.

Really glad the little wanna be thug Roller got tapped out by Virginia.. that boy had no use expect to be fucktard of existence for Niece and uncle-daddy.

Mostly I want some backstory on theses women.

[bilgistic]

The episode is on the TNT app.

[formerlyfreedom]

2 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

If I can ever find what night this is on, i'll dvr it.

It's on Sunday nights on TNT.

[J-Man]

My DVR cut off right after Virginia asked Desna if she was now a member of her crew. Was there a response or was that the end of the scene?

So it sounds like Dean is calling his sister "Desnie" or some similar nickname, but the closed captioning is showing it as "Dennie," which I'm not hearing.

[jhlipton]

"Threading: is a hot new thing, largely done in nail salons.  It's just what they showed -- excess eyebrow hair is plucked by wrapping a thread around each follicle and pulling it out.  It's replaced tweezers for a lot of people.

Last thing I saw Judy Reyes in was Scrubs -- so very different!

I love the characters -- I'm definitely in.

Edited June 24, 2017 by jhlipton

[kwnyc]

Quote

Dean Norris (?) is a good actor but he was hamming it up way too much for me here.

Oh thank goodness I found this forum! Someone posted a link, because it is NOT searchable on this site, for some reason.

That said...I don't think Dean Norris is a good actor, but he has fun. He pretty much plays the same kind of guy, whether he's law enforcement (Breaking Bad, Under the Dome) or even military (The Big Bang Theory.) But he's never not fascinating to watch, even when he is consuming the entire set.

[Cigale]

Oh yeah!  Dean Norris was hamming it up a lot.  Hope he gets his groove back.

[BurqueBelle]

On 5/28/2017 at 7:29 PM, Poohbear617 said:

I really liked the pilot episode and i will definitely be tuning in. I do have a question though...what was Niecy's character doing to that guy with the thread? 

I hope that it is not a stupid question but I had no idea what she was doing. Can somebody please enlighten me.

She's threading his eyebrows. The latest trend in eyebrow grooming.

On 6/23/2017 at 10:18 PM, jhlipton said:

"Threading: is a hot new thing, largely done in nail salons.  It's just what they showed -- excess eyebrow hair is plucked by wrapping a thread around each follicle and pulling it out.  It's replaced tweezers for a lot of people.

Last thing I saw Judy Reyes in was Scrubs -- so very different!

I love the characters -- I'm definitely in.

Very often by THE RUSSIANS.

[aradia22]

Things I loved...

The music is fire. I immediately knew I would like this show.

Niecy Nash's body is ridiculous. How is she almost 50? It's like that Jessica Rabbit thing where artists draw women with unrealistic proportions except she actually looks like that.

They actually work in a salon. I haven't really done my own in a while but I still love nails and nail art.

The trashy aesthetic of this show. It's more in the costuming than the sets (which are a little bland) but I don't know... I'm into this vibe. 

The mix of USA (the TV network) fun "characters" with Showtime drama (sex and drugs). 

Judy Reyes giving me this amazing butch lesbian energy. So into it.

Dean Norris should be above this but at the same time was perfectly cast. 

Jennifer's family is cute. I want to see more of them.

The sisterhood between Desna and her crew.

It's a fictional show so I'm fine taking pleasure in watching Desna take care of business. Even when a female character gets to take action, she's usually a slick martial arts fighter. I liked Desna and Jenn just taking out the trash with Virginia and Desna throwing that lucky cat when no one was listening to her. In this heightened reality with few rules, yeah, don't take anyone's shit that you don't need to take. (Roller and Uncle Daddy were the exceptions in the episode. She's feisty but not stupid.) Obviously there was also the end of the episode.

Things I did not love...

So much of the hate directed at Virginia was anti-Asian racism. I'm not sensitive about language but I am not so hot on the imbalance of the one Asian-identifying person in the cast being the only one dealing with racist remarks.

The rest of the hate directed at Virginia being about her being a sex worker. This bothered me a little less because she was having sex with Roller. But the way her ethnicity and the sex work was linked was particularly uncool. I do think that the anti-sex worker bias was balanced by the show generally being sex positive up to that point. So the judgment was more on her using sex as a form of manipulation and being the other woman than just because she had been a stripper.

What is Roller's appeal besides being a fit younger man? I don't get it. She should have dumped him long before now.