S03.E05: You Wanna Roll With This? / S03.06: Ride The Dragon

[yeswedo]

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Maggie and Emma face their biggest challenge yet. Mark sends back-up.

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Emma crashes Maggie’s owl-themed craft night. Zach brings Emma a treat and the gang goes on a real ride...

[Black Knight]

Well, I jumped ahead because I couldn't wait for the USA airings of the post-diagnosis episodes.

I found Emma's doctor a little off-putting personally, but Emma (and Jessica IRL) clearly responded to her and that's all that matters. Different strokes for different folks. Again I liked that Emma's major concern was being there for Charlotte, and Maggie's quiet insistence that Charlotte is Emma's daughter was lovely. I had never heard about one-stop surgery before and that was interesting information. I also liked how the scene where they pick out implants for Emma conveyed the surrealness of the entire situation - you're so stressed, yet things are moving at warp speed and you have to move along at warp speed too and so you find yourself picking out implants in fifteen seconds when you've never even imagined being in that position.

Of course Maggie was being strong and positive around Emma, but a scene of her dealing with her own feelings about Emma's cancer was really needed and I'm glad the show delivered.

In the second episode, the bit where Emma came downstairs only to have to listen to the other women say things (even though they were positive) about her cancer and she just got this look on her face - which Maggie immediately noted and responded to by trying to kick everyone out - was well done.

[dubbel zout]

I couldn't wait until next week, either.

"I'm the Google." Hee. My doctor said the same thing: "Maybe ask me anything you want to know, okay?" They're doing a great job of giving real information without it sounding like one long PSA. 

 I loved everyone's reaction to Emma's boobs having to be a little bigger than they were.

I feel like episode 6 skipped a few steps: Zach was in Greece? Cookie suddenly thinks Maggie is still in love with Bruce?

All of Tina's owl-themed food was adorable.

Fun fact: The actor who plays Dr. Ericson was in Bridget Jones's Baby—he was Giles. (I have no idea who that was. I was disappointed with the movie.) I wonder if Emma wanting to watch BJD was sort of a shoutout.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Zach had no right to drug Emma with the baclava, but just as bad was him choosing to get high with everyone else, leaving no one sober to take care of Charlotte if need be. They did say that she would be at home during the owl craft party, and it really bothered me 

[joanne3482]

I jumped ahead too. I was too excited and I love this season (and show) so much. I like all the little touches too, besides the one surgery I liked the discussion about the hair loss. I read an article that the doctor was very similar to her own doctor so I thought that was pretty neat too. 

[ganesh]

Even with the cancer plot, the show is fun and sweet and caring. It's shameful that the network has treated it this way. There should be room for shows like this. 

"I have cancer you have to do what I say" was hilarious. 

I always got the impression that Cookie was actually into Maggie. 

I certainly don't mind people hanging out, getting high, and doing owl crafts, but, yeah, Zach shouldn't have not disclosed the pot. He's a grown man. 

[rhys]

12 hours ago, ganesh said:

Even with the cancer plot, the show is fun and sweet and caring. It's shameful that the network has treated it this way. 

Help a girl out here please, Ganesh. What do you mean?

[ganesh]

It's on at 11 pm! They just dumped the season on demand. There's been zero ads that I've seen beyond a two sentence blurb in EW. This show would be a good fit for Hulu. 

[Bastet]

The first episode was filled to the brim with the things that charm the pants off me about this show, despite it being about such a serious issue.

Maggie saying Charlotte is Emma’s daughter was wonderful, but it was her expressing her frustrated, nearly-desperate desire to do something to help that most got to me.  Mark and Maggie together were very touching, too.  And then the three of them at Emma’s bed post-op.  This is truly one of my favorite shows of my entire TV-watching life, and it is simply wrong that it’s not more popular (or, you know, properly handled by its own network).  I even like Charlotte, and I can’t stand kids!

Yes – Laurie Metcalf!  I love her.  And I love her character, too -- loving the binder (without even knowing Maggie made a late night drive to Rhode Island to raid a Paper Source), liking to listen to Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, or Fleetwood Mac during surgery, saying Emma will dance at Charlotte’s wedding – if Charlotte wants to get married, because we’re not going to force that on her – everything about her, really.  I hope this means Jessica had this great a team.

Picking the implant gave me a chuckle; my parents have tales from selecting my mom’s first prosthesis.  (Yes, of course, my dad played with all of them to see which felt the most like the surviving boob.)

Mark Febreeze-ing the bag and filling it with 3/$1 tube socks, a mix tape and a Walkman (from Evidence), and the sweatshirt she always steals was adorable.  And I like when she explains why she doesn’t want him there and that he immediately accepts that (and then sits outside the hospital and sends his cop buddies in).  This is very quickly becoming not just one of the few romantic relationships on TV I’ve ever liked (among those that didn’t exist from the beginning of the show; I have liked several established couples), but my favorite.

The cops provided the much-needed moments of full-out humor.  I like the calls back to the striptease, but it was all great.

 

Re. the second episode, why is Emma having chemo after undergoing a double mastectomy with clear margins, when lumpectomy with radiation was one of her original options?  Did her lymph nodes turn up positive for cancer?  Maybe I - so excited in the last episode about Laurie Metcalf, missed something about her diagnosis, or maybe things have just changed since my mom went through this; for her, with clear nodes, it was either lumpectomy with radiation or mastectomy and five years of Tamoxifen; she went with the latter - instantly, like Emma, saying, "Take it off!" (and was cancer free for almost 15 years before it metastasized, but she’s several years into remission from that).

I love Birdbones!  And that she included healthy options for the owl craft night in case Emma came down.  The way this show has presented Emma and Tina, given the Mark connection, has been so refreshing. 

Not quite as much with Cookie suddenly thinking Maggie wants Bruce back, but okay.  I liked learning Cookie is a survivor of triple-negative breast cancer and just who Emma needed to talk to, but it wasn’t a damn Hallmark movie.  “When we’re 80, we’re going to have the perkiest tits around.”  And Emma being pissed off that this is happening to her, not ready yet to just fully embrace, “Hell yes, life!”

Same with Emma curling up with her mom, and their hug at the door; it’s sweet, but in character.

I wish Bruce’s mom had been at Craft Night.

These people are all more amusing on pot than I am, but I enjoyed it:

“I was following Jefferson Airplane around the country, and that white rabbit, he don’t let no one ride for free.”

“Guys, this owl is real.  I painted it.  It’s reality.”

“Canceroles.”

Edited July 8, 2017 by Bastet

[clarkbar]

I love this show so much.  Tonight's episodes had me tearing up.  I had a breast cancer scare a year ago (God bless the radiologist who called me with good news at 5:40 pm on Good Friday because she didn't want me worrying through Easter weekend), was care-giver to my mom through 3 different cancers over the years, currently have a family member going through chemo prior to cancer surgery, and had a text from a friend this evening venting her anxiety with her family's medical issues that are now resulting in them having to sell their business and their home.  I teared up multiple times--such truth, fear, humor, courage, and friendship.  Love these ladies, and their bravery in sharing a story so close to their reality.

[possibilities]

When Emma and Mark got back together, I was worried the show would put her friendship with Maggie on the back burner and I am so glad they didn't do that. I like Mark, but I like the friendships even more. I also love how the exes are friends. Tina/Bird Bones is really starting to fit in and they aren't just hanging out with her out of pity like before, and wow were those owl snacks awesome! I truly think she SHOULD have a bakery or catering business or something.

Sometimes I love a show that I realize has a limited appeal. But I truly believe this show could be very popular, if only people knew about it.

[Black Knight]

19 hours ago, Bastet said:

Re. the second episode, why is Emma having chemo after undergoing a double mastectomy with clear margins, when lumpectomy with radiation was one of her original options?  Did her lymph nodes turn up positive for cancer?  Maybe I - so excited in the last episode about Laurie Metcalf, missed something about her diagnosis, or maybe things have just changed since my mom went through this; for her, with clear nodes, it was either lumpectomy with radiation or mastectomy and five years of Tamoxifen; she went with the latter - instantly, like Emma, saying, "Take it off!" (and was cancer free for almost 15 years before it metastasized, but she’s several years into remission from that).

They didn't explain it on the show, but some women still have chemotherapy recommended for them, even after a double mastectomy and with clean nodes, as there can still be cancer cells elsewhere in the body that can invade other organs (metastasis). Emma would have had an oncotype test done to predict her likelihood of metastasis, and her score must've been high, thus indicating that chemotherapy was warranted. Your mother either had a low score or went through this in earlier, different days.

It is interesting they didn't explain this on the show, but Jessica has said they thought people would get taken out of the show if they got too specific. You can only explain so much before it turns from a comedy into a PSA. Jessica and Lennon also chose to skip the chemo onscreen because they couldn't figure out how to make it funny, and maybe the necessary conversation between Emma and her doctor about why chemo was recommended for Emma was part of that. It had to be terribly upsetting for Jessica to learn she was at such high risk of metastasis.

[sweetsuzannah]

I was disappointed that they perpetuated the myth that you "trip"  on marijuana.  It's simply not true.  It is a wonderful drug...relaxing, peaceful.

[jumper sage]

2 hours ago, sweetsuzannah said:

I was disappointed that they perpetuated the myth that you "trip"  on marijuana.  It's simply not true.  It is a wonderful drug...relaxing, peaceful.

Depends what kind.  My friend has been fighting cancer for 5 years.  In Michigan you can get a license for Marijuana.  Her oncologist got her a license and she had me try an edible.  Now I grew up in the 70s and That 70s Show is exactly what we did, going from basement to basement smoking, I liked pot and will hit a joint now and then.  That edible was literally almost too much.  I was trippin!  Medical grade is very strong and very clean.  It sneaks up on you and blasts you for almost 8 hours, for me anyways, and I am no lightweight.  My advice is too get the hard candy and smash with a meat mallet and try a bit at a time.  Eating 1 piece of an edible was way to strong for me but was perfect for the sick person.

I love this show and am glad it is on.  I thought it might not come back because it was off for so long.  Hurray!

[Thrifty]

I'm not liking the cancer plot.  I never like it when light shows try to take on heavy subjects.  It rings hollow because there's just no suspense.  I can't get emotionally invested because it's obvious that everything will be fine.  It reminds me a lot a a 3 part episode of Frasier where Niles discovers a serious heart condition and he has to go in for emergency surgery.  They played it up very serious because it was a life threatening situation.  Except you knew that a show like Frasier would never kill off a character; it's just too light and simple for something that dark.  So the whole thing comes off as silly and melodramatic.

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, Thrifty said:

I can't get emotionally invested because it's obvious that everything will be fine. 

Cancer doesn't automatically equal death (thank everything), so Jessica getting better isn't unrealistic. For a comedy, and one with only eight episodes, I thought they handled it well. It doesn't take over the show, but it's always there.

[possibilities]

I find that "laughing through the tears" is a big part of what gets me through tough things in real life, so I don't mind at all when funny shows take on painful subjects. Making painful things funny is a relief. I don't need suspense to make a story engaging.

[Thrifty]

Michaela Watkins appeared as the plastic surgeon.  She just keeps showing up in like 70% of movies and TV shows I watch.  Very prolific character actress.

 

This show is weird though.  The entire cast is all actors who traditionally play supporting characters.

[possibilities]

I love the actors on this show. I think I love everything about this show. It's almost embarrassing how much I love it.

Michaela W was on "Off Camera with Sam Jones" this week, and she talked at length about how she's in everything but rarely the lead.

[jumper sage]

I saw the actress who played the cancer patient on a talk show and she said it really happened to her in real life and the cast and writers wanted to include her story.  She said the way she just upped and decided on a double mastectomy was just that quick of a decision for her in real life as it was on the show.  A friend of mine has had breast cancer twice now and her husband wanted her to choose a double mastectomy but she chose the lumpectomy.  Her friends and family are choosing up sides in the war.  Obviously her choice should be her own but I have to say that her husband and children have a lot at stake too.

The actress also said that choosing her implants was just that quick too but it was, I think, her sister who chose them.  I think her resignation and fight in real life may not have translated well to the episode.

[Phebemarie]

Lennon Parham, Maggie on the show, actually chose Jessica's implants.  The scene in the show was based on their real-life experiences.  

[julia1130]

On 7/8/2017 at 6:49 PM, Black Knight said:

They didn't explain it on the show, but some women still have chemotherapy recommended for them, even after a double mastectomy and with clean nodes, as there can still be cancer cells elsewhere in the body that can invade other organs (metastasis). Emma would have had an oncotype test done to predict her likelihood of metastasis, and her score must've been high, thus indicating that chemotherapy was warranted.

Yes, this was me at 27 years old. Stage 1 but HUGE family history, so I opted for the double mastectomy and hoped for no chemo.  But alas, even with clear margins and no evidence of lymph node issues, the doctor recommended chemo based upon the family history and my young age (I don't think my oncotype test came back particularly high/dangerous).  Chemo was zero fun, but at least I "knew" that I was going to survive BC and would likely be killing any other cancer cells left in my body!  Going through chemo not knowing if you are not going to live...I cannot even imagine the emotional torture on top of the physical pain...

ETA: Mine was also a "one stop procedure," sort of... When they removed the breasts, they put in little saline "balloons" and filled them up over a few months while they were in my chest (to stretch my skin, as I had to lose the nipples).  Then they swapped the saline balloons out for nice soft silicone implants :-)  This was 10 years ago so things may have changed a bit.

Edited August 10, 2017 by julia1130