S05.E04: Too Fast, Too Furious

[ShortyMac]

Quote

Callie and Aaron discuss taking their relationship to the next level; Mariana finds fulfillment training with the Latina derby team; and Brandon's new girlfriend, Grace, catches him playing hero to his ex-girlfriend, Courtney.

[UNOSEZ]

OMG... Thank you....Mike and AJ are back it's nice seeing their little family unit again I hope they won't disappear for numerous episodes again... I cannot believe Callie had the nerve to be so upset with AJ and to play the victim... AJ is too nice when Brandon was sniping at him abt cheating I woulda put Callie on blast.. But he didn't he kept his cool until she showed up at his crib to dump more garbage in him... He shoulda unloaded more but at least he got some of it off his chest... I even liked Marianna and Jesus this episode... Man everyone was good except Callie and Brandon who was like 50/50...but back to doing silly things towards the end of the epi... 

[possibilities]

I thought Callie actually showed growth this episode. She and AJ were both partly right when they hashed things out, and she wound up taking responsibility for herself and went back and talked with Aaron instead of fleeing.

Brandon is reverting to his previous habits, but he actually did a little better this time, by noticing it at least, when they were talking about relationships at dinner with Mike, Ana, and AJ. And, later on, he and Grace talked honestly, instead of continuing to pout/lie. So that was also good.

Even Jesus listened and reflected a little, after Emma called him out on trying to avoid being honest, and trying to manipulate her by just saying what she wants to hear.

Mariana... is the team captain favoring her because she has a crush on her? If so, that's trouble. It's clear the teammate is jealous and angry because she wants the position Mariana is being groomed for, and I think it's crazy that a total newbie who can hardly stay on her feet is suddenly showing so much promise that she's the natural choice for a prime spot others want. I thought it was interesting, though, that the teammate decided to include Mariana in team socializing instead of ostracizing her. I am just waiting for Mariana to get injured and the moms to find out she forged the permission to join... Mariana has not learned yet. I guess someone has to be a dumbass or the show wouldn't be annoying enough.

Jude was absent, so I'm sure he's being a dumbass off screen somewhere.

The moms... I dunno. I think they handle Jesus in a totally incompetent way. They talk to him like a small child, not an injured teen. He's right to be frustrated with them.

I don't like seeing Emma be a mean girl with Mariana. I have never seen her behave like that before. That "we're meeting off campus, do you want to join us-- not!" was shocking to me. It was so out of character.

[UNOSEZ]

Yeah I hope that's the end of Emma being catty with Marianna if she just wants to ice her out that's cool.. Just don't be the mean girl... I didn't see Callie take any responsibility for her relationship with aj.. She threw him under the bus in the beginning of the episode when walking with brandon... Scoffing at how fast aj hooked up with Toby's dead wife.. When like an episode after breaking up with aj she was all over aaron at his parents house... If anything as I said aj let her off easy about how she treated him and also about her cheating on him way before he did anything to her

[possibilities]

The part I thought was growth was that she confronted AJ instead of continuing to talk behind his back, and then when he threw it back at her, she sort of seemed to realize it was true that they were both at fault and it wasn't all on him. That's what I think about their relationship, i.e. that they both made mistakes. So maybe that's how I interpreted their conversation, but it seemed like growth to me that they had it out in the open, and then she went back to Aaron to speak to him directly, too. She has a habit of fleeing and doing things covertly, so I liked that she confronted things directly instead of doing that.

[UNOSEZ]

Agreed... Although she could have said something more to aj instead of just storming off.  .if it's like u said... She realized he was right.. Then just leaves... No words she dumps all this on him out the blue.. Because she's in yet another relationship pickle then just leaves....i am glad she talked to Aaron even tho I continue to not like him as I'm nit cool with anyone who so blatantly goes after someone in a relationship.. Callue shot him down and he just popped back up... Aj speaks to him and he falls back then he's up on Callie again.. 

Also the lions share of blame for Callie/aj split is on her... He put up with quite a bit and tried to be supportive and then I guess just got worn down.   I hope they are kind if antagonistic to each other for a little longer because they both seem to have some residual rage.. As long as it doesn't last too long or get too nasty( which means the show makes aj look real bad as we can't taint super Callie too much) 

[FrumiusManxome]

My real issue with Callie was that all of that, even the AJ stuff could have been resolved had she just talked to Aaron in the first place. It can't be growth, imo, because she ended up doing the right thing. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. She has to choose to do the right thing in the first place.  Instead she did the usual thing by screwing up and then finally came back around to talking to Aaron. Rather than going behind Aaron's back to get some weird insider tips from Cole she should have just been honest with him. And then she had the nerve to actually get mad at him for not wanting to sleep with her/sending her mixed messages. And yeah I know she wasn't technically mad about that, she was just in the moment, but that was such a supremely crappy thing to suggest and be pushy about especially considering Callie's own history regarding sex. Actually getting hurt about Aaron not being prepared to be that intimate with her really pissed me off. Does Wyatt ring any bells, Callie? 

 

And again she did the same exact thing she did last week which was not goddamn communicate with Aaron. They've been dating literally one episode and I am so over this misunderstandings nonsense. Callie should not be in a relationship if she can't use her words. 

Edited August 2, 2017 by FrumiusManxome

[possibilities]

I guess it's true that she did the same thing last week, so maybe it's not growth. Damn.

[ShortyMac]

I just want to express again how much I hate Mike/Ana. Their whole relationship is contrived and unrealistic (Isabella is cute, though). So, Ana's going to be Brandon's second stepmom? WTF? And she's the twins' birth mom, too!

I forgot Jude was missing. Didn't miss him at all.

I can't believe Lena actually believed Mariana's "I fell at school" excuse for her giant bruise. I wonder how this derby stuff is going to come back to bite her?

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Mariana... is the team captain favoring her because she has a crush on her? If so, that's trouble. It's clear the teammate is jealous and angry because she wants the position Mariana is being groomed for, and I think it's crazy that a total newbie who can hardly stay on her feet is suddenly showing so much promise that she's the natural choice for a prime spot others want. I thought it was interesting, though, that the teammate decided to include Mariana in team socializing instead of ostracizing her. I am just waiting for Mariana to get injured and the moms to find out she forged the permission to join... Mariana has not learned yet. I guess someone has to be a dumbass or the show wouldn't be annoying enough.

The moms... I dunno. I think they handle Jesus in a totally incompetent way. They talk to him like a small child, not an injured teen. He's right to be frustrated with them.

I don't like seeing Emma be a mean girl with Mariana. I have never seen her behave like that before. That "we're meeting off campus, do you want to join us-- not!" was shocking to me. It was so out of character.

The 'team captain' is Ximena, the coach of the junior team. Poppy, the jealous teammate, is Ximena's sister.

Yes, and nobody is considering Jesus' thoughts or feelings or how he's struggling; it's all about how his TBI is affecting others. He is talked down to, patronized, and pacified all the time and basically anything he says is immediately dismissed. Ableism at its finest. I'm so glad that the neurologist told the moms about managing their expections and Jesus'. Absolutely needed to be said. 

I agree about Emma. Way OOC. 

Edited August 2, 2017 by ShortyMac

[ZootSuitWyatt]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

 

Mariana... is the team captain favoring her because she has a crush on her? If so, that's trouble. It's clear the teammate is jealous and angry because she wants the position Mariana is being groomed for, and I think it's crazy that a total newbie who can hardly stay on her feet is suddenly showing so much promise that she's the natural choice for a prime spot others want. I thought it was interesting, though, that the teammate decided to include Mariana in team socializing instead of ostracizing her. I am just waiting for Mariana to get injured and the moms to find out she forged the permission to join... Mariana has not learned yet. I guess someone has to be a dumbass or the show wouldn't be annoying enough.

 

If part of the point of this plotline is for Mariana to learn how to be a team player, she should focus on being a blocker (but it's fiction so she'll probably suddenly become an amazing jammer).

[TVForever]

I'm wondering when the Moms are going to get concerned about Jesus' (over) focus on sex. Because that, combined with his lack of impulse control, could lead to some real problems at some point. 

And yes, the family might infantize Jesus to some extent, but that's because he's acting like an infant right now. Not his fault- but still. They're all walking on eggshells around him because they never know what's going to set him off. And that's real. No one should be afraid for their safety in their own home, no matter what the reason.

Like Mariana said many episodes back- "He goes off when we forget to order pepperoni on the pizza".

Just one more reason for this entire family to be in therapy.

[Lady Calypso]

Yeah, so I had a little bit of a problem with Callie's story this week. And by a little bit, I mean a pretty big issue with it. I know that this will be the season for Callie's growth, to stop with her self-loathing thing that she tends to do and her trying to communicate better. Callie didn't even bug me in the first half of the episode. Her first scene with Aaron was nice, and her scene with Cole was great. I like Cole a lot so I was glad to see his reappearance. Her going to Cole to ask for sex advice because she was afraid of doing or saying something wrong was very realistic, especially since they are in such a new relationship. I mean, her snippy remark toward AJ's new girlfriend was a little frustrating, especially since she's also jumped into a new relationship very quickly so there's no room for judgment there, Judge Callie.

My issue started with Aaron/Callie at his place and continued for the rest of the episode. I think that Callie got thinking when Cole asked her what she wanted; to her, that was probably a foreign concept. So, in that sense, I can understand part of her outburst at Aaron. She doesn't really do things for herself but she should be. I just didn't get why, to Aaron's response about him trying to be careful in the sex department because it's a sensitive subject for him, she started yelling about herself and how she wants to have a voice for herself. 

And then going over to AJ's and getting closure was a fine idea, but she was, once again, putting all the blame on AJ. He's the one that told Callie this episode that they're both at fault, while she continued to play the victim. I get it; he hurt her, and all that. But she clearly hurt him too, and she doesn't seem to get that what she did might not be right either. I'm not quite sure that she learned that lesson at the end of the episode, judging by the way she said that she was over AJ but not over him hurting her, but whatever. The thing is that, this season, she's been starting to show a habit about pulling away, freaking and fleeing but then coming back after a conversation with someone to apologize for freaking and leaving. She needs to be learning to not leave and to talk first. 

At least her and Aaron had a conversation at the end about sex and how neither are actually ready. Good; they just started a relationship, so there's no need to rush into anything. 

Well, at least I was wrong about Courtney coming back pregnant, so that gives me a little bit of relief. But him inviting her and Mason to stay with the family for a few days? Why do I get the feeling that he never actually asked his moms if it was ok? Maybe they did say yes, which would surprise me. I just find it ridiculous that Courtney/Mason are back, presumably to cause issues for Grace and Brandon. I actually like Grace and her chemistry with Brandon, so I don't want that ruined over ex girlfriend and toddler son. 

Mike/Ana is my least favourite couple on this show. I don't like Ana, I don't want more of Ana, and I think that the whole relationship is ridiculous in the first place. And now they're engaged? I am glad Mike didn't listen to Stef and not propose....but I didn't want a proposal in the first place. 

I'm not really sure why Mariana is being praised by the team captain and being called a natural while the other girl, Poppy, seems to be a lot better than Mariana. I don't blame Poppy for getting jealous and I am glad that she seemed to notice Mariana's lonely demeanour. Cierra sold Mariana's sadness over not having any friends very well. So, even with Poppy's jealousy over Mariana getting praised and maybe taking the spot that she wants, she still invited her out to hang. I like when shows go a slightly different route. But yeah, Mariana is not that good to get that supposed sacred spot on the team. She's just starting out, and Ximena needs to give more than a few days to declare her a frontrunner for a jammer.

Emma's behaviour toward Mariana also seems rather harsh. Apologetic and guilt-ridden or not, that was not cool of her to diss Mariana like that. 

I still think it's sad when Brandon makes more progress toward Jesus' recovery than Stef/Lena. They seem to be having a difficult time even talking to him. Of course Jesus has his emotional outbursts and it's scary, but they're showing that they're scared and he's reacting to that. It's fine if they don't know how to deal with Jesus; they're in a new territory, just like Jesus is, and they don't know how to help him. Then...maybe find a way to get him more help, instead of complaining about how scared you are! Stop dealing with Callie drama for a bit and take time to help Jesus instead. 

I loved the making up scene between Jesus and Brandon. I think that was the first time someone wasn't walking on eggshells around him. Brandon was blunt, but got to relate his own experiences to Jesus. So, even with Jesus having issues with Emma possibly breaking up with him (I couldn't quite tell if it was an official breakup) and his moms being too scared to really talk to him, he has his issues with Brandon fixed. Maybe Brandon's true path is becoming a teacher of some kind. 

I just want Stef/Lena to stop complaining about how hard it is on them and then not really taking steps to move forward. They've only just gotten to talking about Jesus going back to school. Now that he doesn't want an aide, how are they going to handle that? 

[ShadowFacts]

Like others I was happy to see Mike and AJ and not just in passing.  But please, no, not Ana and Mike getting married.  She just does not come across as a very healthy person and I feel like she still has some attraction to Gabe.  I'd like better for Mike. 

Emma has to apologize to Mariana or she is on my shit list.  It was too bad, I did like her speaking her truth to Jesus about the abortion and how it was her body, her decision. 

[tennisgurl]

Callie, you do not get to be all judgmental of AJ moving onto a new relationship quickly when your doing the exact same thing! I get that AJ hurt her, and that's on him, but did Callie forget that she kissed Aaron when she was still with AJ? The exact same thing that she keeps crying about that AJ did? And she was so obviously into Aaron the second she met him, I totally get why AJ pulled away. It was a nice idea of her to clear the air, but she clearly had no desire to take responsibility for her part in the breakup, and just went to tell AJ how much he sucked, and to play the victim again. I guess I should just be happy that we got to see Mike and AJ again, even if it also means we need more Anna. I'm so not invested in Anna.

I did like that Callie and Aaron had a real conversation, and they decided that they aren't ready to have sex. Given all of Callies issues, and Aarons apparent insecurities, that's definitely for the best. That being said, I'm still pretty convinced that Callie is going to get bored with Aaron pretty soon, and find another Boyfriend Project to take on. She got bored of AJ when he started to get a more stable life, so when Aaron becomes fully comfortable with being Trans? Maybe there's a biracial, gender fluid teen runaway in a wheelchair for her next?

Brandon was a pretty big jerk to AJ (especially because he doesn't know the whole story), but I like him and Grace, and his talk with Jesus was really great. He didn't patronize him, he just told him that he knew getting better would suck, but it would get better, and I think that's all Jesus needed to hear. I think the rest of the family could learn from him. Stef and Lena need to stop walking on eggshells around him, and give the guy some Real Talk, and listen to what he actually wants. I agree with them that dropping out of school is a bad idea, but maybe get some feedback, instead of talking to him like a two years old. I get that Jesus is hurt and unpredictable (he also has a history of violence due to his illness), but it wont help him if they don't treat him like Jesus.

Mariana is so going to get busted. I'm amazed Lena actually bought into her lame "I totally fell at school" excuse. This story is alright, but it seems like it could turn into a slightly less Mean Girl filled version of the Dance Team, where Mariana is desperate to fit in, and becomes a total pushover to get a group of girls to like her. Talk to your therapist, Mariana.

Oh, because that's who I wanted to see again. Courtney. Oh joy. WHY is she here?!?!

[LekoBoy]

6 hours ago, TVForever said:

Like Mariana said many episodes back- "He goes off when we forget to order pepperoni on the pizza".

Wait, right after they brought him home from the hospital, didn't Hay-Zeus have a freak-out when there WAS pepperoni on the pizza?  

So does he do the big pepperoni or what?

[KaveDweller]

I think Callie was more upset about AJ dumping her than cheating. She didn't really seem to care that much about him kissing that other girl when she thought it didn't mean anything and they were still a couple. But after he ended things she suddenly got all hurt about it. I think she actually just was hurt and so she started finding more things she could use against him. It bothers me a lot less than some of her other issues.

I liked seeing that Emma is still on the wrestling team.

Mariana talked about college applications, but isn't it going to look bad to them that she jumps into all these activities and than drops them when she finds something new. She dropped dance team for STEAM, and now she's done with that and doing roller derby?

[ShadowFacts]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

Mariana talked about college applications, but isn't it going to look bad to them that she jumps into all these activities and than drops them when she finds something new. She dropped dance team for STEAM, and now she's done with that and doing roller derby?

The roller derby thing is just so hard for me to buy.  She doesn't know how to skate.  Maybe she can take to skating fairly quickly, but she's petite and unsure of herself, and the team captain wants to elevate her above experienced, tough girls.  Yeah, right.  I'm also not sure I'm buying that the rival/little sister of Callie's friend (not sure of names) doesn't have something up her sleeve against Mariana.  Mariana might "accidentally" get hurt.

[Cassandre]

I need someone to explain me the logic of this show. It seems like when you are wrong, you're actually right. Like When Mariana cheated on Mat and then was all like "I don't care you're mad at me cause I cheated on you, I don't care you have the right to be angry with me, but you know what ? I forgave myself, and that's all matter". Or that time when Brandon  was yelling at his moms about how they would keep bringing "stray kids" in their house without asking for his permission, and even if that was a mean thing to say, still, Stef had to appologized for the poor boy. Now Callie is saying that AJ has to feel bad for what he did while the girl let Aaron kiss her when she still was seeing AJ. I'm so tired of Callie playing the victim. 

It was nice seeing AJ, that's the only thing I liked in that episode. I can't appreciate an episode without Stef and Lena's scenes. 

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, ShadowFacts said:

The roller derby thing is just so hard for me to buy.  She doesn't know how to skate.  Maybe she can take to skating fairly quickly, but she's petite and unsure of herself, and the team captain wants to elevate her above experienced, tough girls.  Yeah, right.  I'm also not sure I'm buying that the rival/little sister of Callie's friend (not sure of names) doesn't have something up her sleeve against Mariana.  Mariana might "accidentally" get hurt.

At first I thought the captain was just trying to be encouraging, but it seems they are actually going with Marianna being magically great and surpassing all others.

[ZootSuitWyatt]

2 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

At first I thought the captain was just trying to be encouraging, but it seems they are actually going with Marianna being magically great and surpassing all others.

There are definitely plenty of people in roller derby who couldn't skate at all before starting and hadn't done a sport previously, but it's definitely a steep learning curve (just learning how to skate and also learning how to play derby). I thought it was great at the beginning that Mariana struggled to stay upright and wasn't immediately the best skater, because that's very realistic -- I definitely spent way more time than that on the floor at my first fresh meat practice. I am a little worried that she's going to all of a sudden be a great skater and player. I think it would be a much better storyline for Mariana to (realistically) struggle a lot with learning the skills and how to play but put in the work to improve even though she's not immediately great at it, because when it does start to click after all your hard work it feels amazing. It just seems like, from a storytelling perspective, she gets good quickly and becomes a jammer she's not actually going to learn anything about teamwork and how to not be good at something.

They also kind of made it sound like there's only one jammer per team in a game, but most teams have a rotation of three to four. You do have to be strong and fast with good footwork, so most newbies are not going to be very successful right away. 

[retrograde]

4 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

The roller derby thing is just so hard for me to buy.  She doesn't know how to skate.  Maybe she can take to skating fairly quickly, but she's petite and unsure of herself, and the team captain wants to elevate her above experienced, tough girls.  Yeah, right.  I'm also not sure I'm buying that the rival/little sister of Callie's friend (not sure of names) doesn't have something up her sleeve against Mariana.  Mariana might "accidentally" get hurt.

I'm not buying that she has to go behind Stef and Lena's back with this. Unless I missed something, they made one comment about not wanting the kids to get hurt, but as someone pointed out, they let Jesus wrestle. Seems like the kind of thing they wouldn't love but would begrudgingly allow. It's hard to imagine most parents barring a 16 year old from a relatively mainstream activity. The whole lie is just so they can be angry about it, then she can sneak out to play anyway, and they'll come and see how great she is and decide it's ok after all. I think that was also the plot of that roller derby Ellen Page movie. 

Yay Cole!

[Lady Calypso]

16 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I think Callie was more upset about AJ dumping her than cheating. She didn't really seem to care that much about him kissing that other girl when she thought it didn't mean anything and they were still a couple. But after he ended things she suddenly got all hurt about it. I think she actually just was hurt and so she started finding more things she could use against him. It bothers me a lot less than some of her other issues.

I could see this, which makes it worse because then she would have directly lied to Aaron. She even told him that she was over AJ, but not over him hurting her by cheating. I guess she might not even realize this consciously, but it'll still hurt Aaron if this is true and if it comes out. 

[luckyroll3]

So glad they brought AJ and all his sexiness back.  And loved that he was putting everyone (and by everyone I mean Brandon and Callie) in their place all episode.  

[possibilities]

I've been thinking Aaron will dump Callie because he's more of a grown up than she is at this point and he doesn't want the drama. At first, he was sympathetic to her woundedness and her crusading. But he is already coming across as increasingly exasperated with her, now that it's playing out between them personally.

[ShadowFacts]

A shallow thought I had during Aaron and Callie's close encounters was how much they look alike (sort of, generally).

[KaveDweller]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I could see this, which makes it worse because then she would have directly lied to Aaron. She even told him that she was over AJ, but not over him hurting her by cheating. I guess she might not even realize this consciously, but it'll still hurt Aaron if this is true and if it comes out. 

Did she actually say she wasn't over the cheating? I thought she just said she wasn't over the fact that he hurt her, which could mean him cheating, but it could also mean in general.

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

I've been thinking Aaron will dump Callie because he's more of a grown up than she is at this point and he doesn't want the drama. At first, he was sympathetic to her woundedness and her crusading. But he is already coming across as increasingly exasperated with her, now that it's playing out between them personally.

This is pretty much why AJ dumped Callie too. And I can't really remember what happened with Wyatt, but didn't he get tired of her drama?

[LisaM]

Not as enamored with this episode as last week's but it was still far better than anything from last season because of the focus on the characters and not on Super Callie Saves the World. I liked the Jesus storyline but since when has Emma been shown to be such a bitch? Her comment to Mariana in front of the STEAM members was out of character for her. I did like seeing the continuity with the wrestling team.  Would like to see some evidence of ongoing home therapy with Jesus for his TBI. We get - nothing.

I liked the Mariana joins the roller derby storyline too although her ascent to jammer was pretty fast for someone who couldn't skate at the outset. Looking forward to the fallout when the moms find out that she lied and forged Lena's name on the permission slip.

Two steps forward and a giant step back for Brandon. Really liked his scene with Jesus - best brother scene we've likely ever had. I also like Grace in small doses. Cannot stand the reintroduction of Mason and Cortney. She doesn't appear to be pregnant - luckily - but she is a complication that isn't necessary.

Liked seeing Mike again - and Danny's name in the credits. Who knows if he and Ana will work - two recovering addicts, a baby and a foster son - but I am in favor of them moving forward.

Not an Aaron fan. At least Callie finally spoke to Aaron about what was bothering her instead of running away or only talking to a third party (Cole, Daphne).

Didn't miss Jude. Didn't miss the Anchor Beach storyline.

More Stef/Lena please.

[possibilities]

10 hours ago, LisaM said:

More Stef/Lena please.

This!! They got my hopes up when they introduced the neighbor as Stef's former crush. But I don't know if that was just a throwaway, because they do seem to have made a hard turn into teen drama rather than focus on the moms.

[ShadowFacts]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

This!! They got my hopes up when they introduced the neighbor as Stef's former crush. But I don't know if that was just a throwaway, because they do seem to have made a hard turn into teen drama rather than focus on the moms.

I'll bet it's more than a throwaway, Lena was teasing Stef pretty hard and I think having them over and having Mariana be interested in their son leaves the door open to some more adult drama.  At least I hope so.  Plus I think they're setting up a clash about how to deal with Jesus.

[Cherry Bomb]

I definitely feel that Stef's former teen flame now neighbors son  will develop into something. I know Mariana is certainly thinking he is pretty hot and wouldn't mind getting to know him better.