S01.E06: The Breast Issue

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

 

In promoting Scarlet’s breast health awareness campaign, Kat tries to be bold with her message, but is left wondering whether her competitive nature is hurting her cause. Jane confronts past issues and current anxieties when she is tasked with writing a controversial piece about BRCA gene testing. Sutton is determined to excel at her tasks at hand, but when things fall apart, it’s Alex who rushes to her rescue. 

Promo:

[GaT]

Too much DRAMAZ

[retrograde]

I'm confused - didn't Adena run off to Paris or whatever to chase her ex? Is she doing that but still flirting with Kat? Or is she just having a European holiday instead but forgetting about the ex?

[dubbel zout]

This show is starting to really annoy me. It's so ham-fisted.

Oh, boohoo, Sutton has to run errands and do scut work as a fashion assistant. It's so unfair when you can't immediately do senior level work without the necessary experience. Sutton would need some sort of receipt to be reimbursed for her cab fare—that's business expense SOP—and that would have the cab's license number. 

I understand Jane's reluctance to get tested, but it's not as if the doctor will strap her down and give her a double mastectomy against her will. Treatment is always her choice. Ugh. Also, if you don't want to write personal stories, don't work for that sort of magazine.

And then there's Kat's stubborn refusal to look beyond her nose to the bigger picture.

Edited August 9, 2017 by dubbel zout
typo

[Whimsy]

8 hours ago, retrograde said:

I'm confused - didn't Adena run off to Paris or whatever to chase her ex? Is she doing that but still flirting with Kat? Or is she just having a European holiday instead but forgetting about the ex?

I took it as Adena ran off to Paris to be with her ex.  Kat is just social media stalking her.

[MortysCleaningLady]

How has Kat not been fired or relieved of her duties?

[funkopop]

I want to see the side of her job that does not revolve around posts on Social Media.  I would rather see the planning of things like that Soul Cycle event or when she partnered with that VR company for the ad campaign.  That was way more interesting than the Twitter, Instagram stuff.

[dubbel zout]

Same here. I liked the little throwaway scene where Kat was filling gift bags because it put her in a groove and she didn't have to think about anything. I felt that way about filing, back in the day when all communication was on paper, LOL.

[BabyVegas]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

This show is starting to really annoy me. It's so ham-fisted.

Yeah, I don't love that I can call basically every plot point before it happens. Sutton and her friend talk about the schedule for getting the items back to each other and how no one will ever know. Of course something is gonna happen to the necklace.

And I want to like Kat, she's just a lot to take. It's one thing to fight for something you believe in at work, it's quite another to smugly act like you know everything and therefore can just ignore your bosses. If I were her supervisor, her insubordination would be a real problem for me. It's good that she has fire and drive, but she needs to learn when and how to use it.

Also I don't know if it was the writing or the acting, but Jane's whole plot was really cringe-y for me. I can understand her fear, because of her mother, but her big speech in the office felt so "THIS. IS. ACTING." to me. I maintain that the show is charming in its own way, but I think it could use some time to breathe and not hit every plot development with such full force to make sure that the audience gets it.

[KaveDweller]

8 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

This show is starting to really annoy me. It's so ham-fisted.

Oh, boohoo, Sutton has to run errands and do scut work as a fashion assistant. It's so unfair when you can't immediately do senior level work without the necessary experience. Sutton would need some sort of receipt to be reimbursed for her cab fare—that's business expense SOP—and that would have the cab's license number. 

I understand Jane's reluctance to get tested, but it's not as if the doctor will strap her down and give her a double mastectomy against her will. Treatment is always her choice. Ugh. Also, if you don't want to write personal stories, don't work for that sort of magazine.

And then there's Kat's stubborn refusal to look beyond her nose to the bigger picture.

I was kind of a surprised someone shown to be such a stereotypical millennial was using an old fashioned cab and not Uber or Lyft. I guess that wouldn't work with the plot?

I only sympathize with Sutton because she seems to be really good at her job and still working as an assistant, while Kat and Jane have been promoted when they seem to be awful at their jobs. Losing the pendant was pretty careless though, but at least she pulled it together and found it and impressed her boss.

7 hours ago, MortysCleaningLady said:

How has Kat not been fired or relieved of her duties?

I was wondering the same thing. Last week she accidentally posted her "lesbian shit" comment on the Scarlett Twitter account, this week she blatantly ignored her boss and almost got the company's Instagram shut down.  And she almost blew the presentation to the board because of the death threat stuff before that. Which she had a right to be upset about, but she did start the Twitter war in the first place. I'm not sure what her actual job description is, but it can't be to be such a mess.

I don't get Jane not being fired either. It seems like every week she needs a pep talk from Jacqueline in order to get her job done. She's referred to this as her dream job, but she doesn't seem to actual want to write about the stuff Scarlett does.  Which is fine, but then don't work there. And just tell your boss you aren't comfortable with the story instead of yelling at her in front of the whole staff.  This woman is way too good to be true as a boss. And if she's high enough up to be over both the writers and the social media director, she probably wouldn't have time to be micromanaging writers.

[dubbel zout]

19 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

still working as an assistant

She just started in the fashion department. She has no fashion experience. She should be an assistant.

20 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I'm not sure what her actual job description is

She's the social media director, I believe. If that's not her actual title, she's definitely part of the social media team. Which makes it even dumber that she doesn't understand how important the overall number of followers is.

[Mabinogia]

That is her job title, but WTF does she actually do? Tweet? But she's also in charge of putting together events it seems, which, okay I guess since she tweets about the events that makes it her job.

It really bugs me when people think that flashing your boobs is raising breast cancer awareness. So should guys whip out their dicks to promote testicular cancer awareness?

[retrograde]

9 hours ago, Whimsy said:

I took it as Adena ran off to Paris to be with her ex.  Kat is just social media stalking her.

I thought that at first, but then her "Me getting an awesome idea" message seemed to be sent as a text in a window that was titled "Adena"

[Whimsy]

2 minutes ago, retrograde said:

I thought that at first, but then her "Me getting an awesome idea" message seemed to be sent as a text in a window that was titled "Adena"

I must've missed that. 

[dubbel zout]

43 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

WTF does [Kat] actually do? Tweet? But she's also in charge of putting together events it seems, which, okay I guess since she tweets about the events that makes it her job.

She maintains the magazine's presence on social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, etc. That's why she's always coming up with hashtags. She also monitors what's going on on social media, which can inspire story ideas.

Edited August 10, 2017 by dubbel zout

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

She just started in the fashion department. She has no fashion experience. She should be an assistant.

She's the social media director, I believe. If that's not her actual title, she's definitely part of the social media team. Which makes it even dumber that she doesn't understand how important the overall number of followers is.

She should be an assistant in the fashion department, but in the first episode, both Kat and Jane had already been promoted while she was in the same assistant job she'd had for years. I can't see how she was the last one to move up (or move laterally) to something else.

49 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

She maintains the magazine's presence on social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, etc. That's why she's always coming up with hashtags. She also monitors what's going on on social media, which can inspire story ideas.

Yes, but that is a really loosely defined job. Most people who do that sort of thing also do other things, and I can't tell what else she does. But I guess it is whatever the show needs it to be, and whatever gives her time to run around with her friends talking about their personal lives?

1 hour ago, retrograde said:

I thought that at first, but then her "Me getting an awesome idea" message seemed to be sent as a text in a window that was titled "Adena"

Yeah I noticed that too. It seems weird that Adena would still be talking if she really wants to make things work with her ex. It's unfair to both women.

[retrograde]

8 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

She should be an assistant in the fashion department, but in the first episode, both Kat and Jane had already been promoted while she was in the same assistant job she'd had for years. I can't see how she was the last one to move up (or move laterally) to something else.

Sutton is definitely the least stupid of the three, but her desire for stability is part of the character, so I guess it's possible she just didn't put herself out there for other gigs. The situation with her applying for that job in sales does seem like it would've come up way earlier, though.

10 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Yes, but that is a really loosely defined job. Most people who do that sort of thing also do other things, and I can't tell what else she does. But I guess it is whatever the show needs it to be, and whatever gives her time to run around with her friends talking about their personal lives?

It's not unusual for a media company to have people who just do social media posts all day long (somewhere like Buzzfeed probably has a small army), and if she is responsible for taking and editing all the photos and videos etc across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, that'd be pretty time consuming. In the real world, I would expect to see someone in her position spend more time strategizing with advertising and editorial on specific campaigns and how to present certain stories online. But still, a surprising number of companies are so confused by social media, they will gladly pay someone young to just be young on Twitter and make their brand cool. 

29 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Yeah I noticed that too. It seems weird that Adena would still be talking if she really wants to make things work with her ex. It's unfair to both women.

Also just super disconnected from the previous episode. She was a basket case then, and now she's just totally fine swapping photos with Adena knowing she flew overseas to hook up with her ex?

[dubbel zout]

12 hours ago, retrograde said:

The situation with her applying for that job in sales does seem like it would've come up way earlier, though.

I can buy her waiting a bit, though, since once she started on the sales track in a serious way, it would be harder to move to fashion. Didn't she take whatever job was offered to her to get her foot in the door at Scarlet?

12 hours ago, retrograde said:

swapping photos with Adena knowing she flew overseas to hook up with her ex

I don't think she was swapping photos, was she? I thought Kat was very gently stalking Adena.

[funkopop]

She was texting messages/pictures to Adena, and in the longest explanation of a non-relationship ever, she told Jane that they were "still in contact, keeping it light."  We see her aww over a selfie of Adena eating gelato and respond with a selfie that Sutton jumps in.  When Adena texts her a picture of herself in front of the naked statue she texts back that it gave her an idea.

Edited August 10, 2017 by funkopop

[dubbel zout]

Ah, thanks, funkopop. I wasn't paying super close attention. I only caught the photo of Adena in front of the naked statue.

[Mabinogia]

13 hours ago, retrograde said:

It's not unusual for a media company to have people who just do social media posts all day long (somewhere like Buzzfeed probably has a small army), and if she is responsible for taking and editing all the photos and videos etc across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, that'd be pretty time consuming. In the real world, I would expect to see someone in her position spend more time strategizing with advertising and editorial on specific campaigns and how to present certain stories online. But still, a surprising number of companies are so confused by social media, they will gladly pay someone young to just be young on Twitter and make their brand cool. 

The thing is, she's the social media director, yet it feels like she is doing intern work, or assistant work. I wouldn't expect the director to be doing the tweets herself. She'd be coming up with strategies, which they kind of show, like when she shouts to a room full of employees to hashtag something, but really, she mostly seems to run around taking selfies and tweeting. Not much of a director. I think the title is just to make her feel important or something.

But of the three, Sutton is easily the smartest and hardest working, yet she is still the assistant. Actually, that seems pretty sadly accurate.

[dubbel zout]

They're all 25/26. They should still be assistants of some sort. Unless they're running their own companies, 25-year-olds aren't going to be executives. They'll be entry-level or a step above. It's not sad, it's how business works. They all need to get experience, and the only way to do that is to plug along. You have to put in the time.

[twoods]

I like this show, but you guys are right with all the ridiculous drama. Now every character will be in a triangle by next week- is that really necessary? I did feel for Jane, because I have 19 year old patients that are already terrified to get the BRCA-2 gene blood work done in a few years, and their moms are as well. They don't know whether to wait until 30 because knowing early will cause a lot of stress, or just get it at 24. And then serial MRI's and ultrasounds are also time consuming and expensive. 

 

Why has Kat not been fired yet? She continues to bug with her "I know what's right for this company more than you do" snobbiness.

Edited August 10, 2017 by twoods

[dubbel zout]

46 minutes ago, twoods said:

I did feel for Jane, because I have 19 year old patients that are already terrified to get the BRCA-2 gene blood work done in a few years, and their moms are as well. They don't know whether to wait until 30 because knowing early will cause a lot of stress, or just get it at 24. And then serial MRI's and ultrasounds are also time consuming and expensive. 

That was the most realistic part of the episode. I wish the show would do more of this sort of thing. Jane struggling with health decision can be a season-long arc, too (mentioning something every so often; not taking over the show).

[KaveDweller]

8 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

They're all 25/26. They should still be assistants of some sort. Unless they're running their own companies, 25-year-olds aren't going to be executives. They'll be entry-level or a step above. It's not sad, it's how business works. They all need to get experience, and the only way to do that is to plug along. You have to put in the time.

Of course they should still be pretty low-level. That's not the sad part. The sad part is the one who seems to be most competent and hardest working is the lowest-level of the three.

8 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

The thing is, she's the social media director, yet it feels like she is doing intern work, or assistant work. I wouldn't expect the director to be doing the tweets herself. She'd be coming up with strategies, which they kind of show, like when she shouts to a room full of employees to hashtag something, but really, she mostly seems to run around taking selfies and tweeting. Not much of a director. I think the title is just to make her feel important or something.

Yeah, I think in other companies there are lots of people who do all the Tweeting and stuff because they are promoting a variety of stories and managing a lot of posts. A director usually manages people or is a higher level person who manages strategy. I'd also expect someone with her title to report to someone on the marketing side and not the editor-in-chief.  But I guess that would be too many characters.

[dubbel zout]

26 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

The sad part is the one who seems to be most competent and hardest working is the lowest-level of the three.

Like I wrote, I think some of that is self-imposed, in that Sutton took the first job at a magazine she could get, with the possible intention of moving over to fashion. Those positions don't open up often, so she had to wait. And with her money issues, she might have thought that maybe it was better to stay in the lane that had more financial stability.

28 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I'd also expect someone with her title to report to someone on the marketing side and not the editor-in-chief.  

In the first two episodes, I think, there did seem to be someone who was Kat's boss, but we haven't seen her much since. 

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

That was the most realistic part of the episode. I wish the show would do more of this sort of thing. Jane struggling with health decision can be a season-long arc, too (mentioning something every so often; not taking over the show).

They should have given the test results next ep. See what it is like to wait for the results. I agree with those who say the show wraps up each ep like a sitcom. This is a storyline that could easily have played over multiple episodes but odds are it will be forgotten if not next ep, then the one after. It's a very interesting topic, really. Is it better to do the test very early in the hopes of getting a jump on prevention or is that basically surrendering your life to something you might not ever even get? I kind of wish they'd given more time to this.

The Sutton and Alex thing came out of the blue for me. I was so happy they had a male friend/mentor type who wasn't sexually involved with any of them. Oh well. So much for that.

 

1 minute ago, dubbel zout said:

Like I wrote, I think some of that is self-imposed, in that Sutton took the first job at a magazine she could get, with the possible intention of moving over to fashion. Those positions don't open up often, so she had to wait. And with her money issues, she might have thought that maybe it was better to stay in the lane that had more financial stability.

Sutton said she had taken a temp job at Scarlett, because she needed the money and that turned into a full time job. I get the impression she actually hadn't really thought about moving to the fashion side until this job came up. Just a week ago (or however long in show time) she was going to go into ad sales. I don't think Sutton is as sure of her career goals as the other two were. I think that's why I relate to her the most. I had to make the practical choice going to college, because my mom (single parent) couldn't afford to finance my dreams. I never really thought I could do something risky like film (which is what I would have loved to do) because I needed a stable career that would pay well. I think Sutton had resigned herself to that until the fashion job came up and she saw a chance to go for her dreams rather than what was smart. I think that's why she also didn't think about asking about salary. She was dreaming and her dream suddenly became reality and she was still in the dream state.

She seems like the most realistic of the three. Jane is too...uptight/sheltered/boring to be a writer so good that her boss is inviting her over to meet the family rather than just firing her ass for insubordination (unless she is secretly Jacqueline's love child!) and Kat is just ridiculous. I find the actress incredibly charming and likable otherwise I would loathe the character.

[KaveDweller]

On 8/10/2017 at 9:20 PM, dubbel zout said:

Like I wrote, I think some of that is self-imposed, in that Sutton took the first job at a magazine she could get, with the possible intention of moving over to fashion. Those positions don't open up often, so she had to wait. And with her money issues, she might have thought that maybe it was better to stay in the lane that had more financial stability.

In the first two episodes, I think, there did seem to be someone who was Kat's boss, but we haven't seen her much since. 

I do agree it is self-imposed and probably realistic for Sutton. I just think it's a shame that happens to often in life.

[Whimsy]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 9:27 PM, Mabinogia said:

I get the impression she actually hadn't really thought about moving to the fashion side until this job came up. Just a week ago (or however long in show time) she was going to go into ad sales.

I am pretty sure she said she always wanted to be on the fashion side, but that this was the first position in three years to come up.  She even mentioned it while she was going for the ad sales job that what she really wanted to do was be in fashion, which is why she changed her mind.  So, it seems to have always been her dream. 

[Mabinogia]

Ah, thanks for the correction. So yeah, if it takes 3 years for an entry level position to come up in that department, she would be foolish to not jump on it if it is at all financially possible. Does anyone know what department she was an assistant in? It almost seemed like her boss was in some way Kat's boss or at least someone able to veto Kat's irrational decisions, like second after Jacqueline herself, since she did that presentation at the meeting.

[dubbel zout]

6 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Does anyone know what department she was an assistant in?

PR/publicity, something along those lines.

[Mabinogia]

That makes sense. Explains why her boss would try to stop idiot Kat when she doesn't think about what will happen with her impulsive tweets. Seriously, Kat's total lack of a sense of responsibility kills me. She is comes off as a spoiled little rich girl who has never had to face consequences. I really liked her in the beginning, but she's wearing on me. Still better than Jane but barely. I'm totally in this for Sutton at this point.

[KaveDweller]

I thought Sutton worked in editorial. It seemed like her boss was also above Jane and helped give out writing assignments. They have been pretty vague about stuff like that though.

[dubbel zout]

It's too bad this episode aired when it did, because I just heard on the radio that tomorrow (8/26) is National Topless Day. Hee.