Season 4 Talk

[In2You]

1 minute ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

It was't known at the time they filmed the episode.

I'm not talking about the recent scandal I'm talking about the constant ones they've had over the past few years including rats in the dorms. It's not a new issue with Howard and their students have been complaining on Twitter for the longest. 

[OnceSane]

The Bow vs. Dre Parental Battle Royal has veered way off-topic.  Stick to what happened in the episode; if you've stated your opinion, it's time to MOVE ON.

[incandescent]

I don't think this has ever happened to me before, but I was on Dre's side for just about everything except wanting a purebred. And the Johnsons have no business getting a dog when they couldn't even manage to keep a set of eyes on the baby despite having six people in the house this week, so of course they went ahead and got one anyway.

[readster]

2 minutes ago, incandescent said:

I don't think this has ever happened to me before, but I was on Dre's side for just about everything except wanting a purebred. And the Johnsons have no business getting a dog when they couldn't even manage to keep a set of eyes on the baby despite having six people in the house this week, so of course they went ahead and got one anyway.

I know, I actually completely got Dre's side no problem. Even his coming around, but it's not funny having a baby just there no one watching them. I'm sorry writers, it was your BIG idea to do another baby and half the time you either ignore the kid exists or do things like this. 

[LadyintheLoop]

Saw Roseanne earlier --  was this Get a Dog night on ABC?

 

I was starting to think that Dre might have a point about Junior.

Edited April 11, 2018 by LadyintheLoop

[paulvdb]

It doesn't happen often, but I was on Dre's side this week except at the end. Not that it surprised me because this is tv but if that dog had been trying to slobber my face I'd have hated it even more. And the twins still wanted that stupid dog even after Junior showed them all the negative things about dogs. But I guess it was to much to hope for that this would be the one show that ended up with the family not getting a dog.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, incandescent said:

I don't think this has ever happened to me before, but I was on Dre's side for just about everything except wanting a purebred. And the Johnsons have no business getting a dog when they couldn't even manage to keep a set of eyes on the baby despite having six people in the house this week, so of course they went ahead and got one anyway.

So a shelter dog has to have a human home with it at all times?  Bow can never go back to work because they now have a dog?

If the dog isn't in every future episode (excusing a decent explanation for its absence), then this was a particularly annoying episode. 

[NUguy514]

2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

So a shelter dog has to have a human home with it at all times?  Bow can never go back to work because they now have a dog?

No, they were just spoofing certain types of people who work at non-profit rescue foundations.  They can be innnnnnsane with some of their demands; however, there are plenty of rescue foundations that just want their cats and dogs to find loving forever homes (the foundation from which I adopted my two cats was easy and so grateful I wanted to adopt two).  I actually found those scenes with the crazy rescue lady really funny because I worked at a no-kill rescue shelter for a few years and have known a few rescue workers like that in my day.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Dre and Bow have been fighting more than usual, and they decide to go back to their therapist who suggests they make time for a date night. Meanwhile, after Devante's first birthday party, the bouncy house gets left behind, and Jack and Diane take advantage of it in different ways.

[Empress1]

Laugh out loud moments:

• The teacher grabbing her brown liquor and kicking over her chair when she found out she'd hit the lotto.
• "It's a long story, but I was asked to leave France." 
• "I told you you should have let me carry that child."
• Johann's pouty walk, step on the couch, and sit.

I hate dogs at work. I like (some) dogs, I hate dogs at work. THERE I SAID IT. I opted out of a job when I found out the office was dog-friendly. Actually, like most of you, I was with Dre for most of this.

[attica]

41 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

I opted out of a job when I found out the office was dog-friendly. 

I totally would do this too. People inclined to bring their dogs to work are (in my experience) oblivious that others might not be so keen on 1) the notion; 2) the particular dog. Not to mention those that have allergies!

[Empress1]

13 minutes ago, attica said:

I totally would do this too. People inclined to bring their dogs to work are (in my experience) oblivious that others might not be so keen on 1) the notion; 2) the particular dog. Not to mention those that have allergies!

At a previous job, someone floated the idea of doing a pet day and the CEO immediately vetoed it, saying a) people have allergies; b) people have fears; c) we don't know how the animals will interact with each other or how well-behaved they will be; d) we have clients in here all the time and we don't know how they feel about animals, so all it would take is one fearful or allergic person and we lose a client. I remember somewhere else, a coworker got a new puppy and asked to bring it to work and her boss was like " ... What? No." Animals don't belong everywhere (see also: children, and I love kids), and I get annoyed that acknowledging that makes me a monster in some peoples' eyes.

I liked Junior trying to show the twins that having a pet isn't just playing fetch and petting them. They break shit, they have accidents, they get on your nerves. Diane was voting for chaos, after all.

[NUguy514]

I was anti-Dre because I thought his reasons for not wanting a dog were petty (and my knee-jerk response is just to be anti-Dre) (unless he's around his coworkers); Junior was the one who brought up viable concerns, although I'm still very pro-pet in general.

I don't work a typical office job, so I don't have to deal with Bring Your Dog to Work Day or anything; however, I do live in LA, and the number of people who have "emotional support" dogs and just HAVE to have their dogs with them at all times is staggering and out of control and drives me fucking crazy.  I know there are people who genuinely need the emotional support, but the people who abuse that designation far outnumber those who don't in my experience.  I love dogs, but I don't want them in the grocery store, in the restaurant, in Starbucks, etc.  If you're that codependent with your dog that you need it with you at all times, you need a 12-step program to deal with your addiction to your dog.  I could rant further about it, but I'll stop.

[tennisgurl]

This one is tough, because I love dogs. I love pets in general, and think they can do a lot of good for people. They arent just dumb animals, they have personalities and identities and likes and dislikes and all that. That being said, I can get not wanting a dog when they have four other kids in the house (plus Zoe in school) including a baby* that they only remember exists every other day anyway. And, Junior is right that dogs can be a lot of work. They are super fun, but also cab be a huge pain. My dog is definitely of the "big dogs who thinks their a lap dig" variety, and while I love her and she brightens my life...she can also be a pain. 

I love that Dres co-workers know Dres black history rants so well, that they can do their own! Especially as Dre notes that he will be using those later. And, while pets are not allowed where I work, sometimes people do bring their pets to visit (mostly because we work with teenagers and they LOVE them) but they have to stay in the lobby. I wouldn't want pets running around all the time, its distracting, and it would suck for people who get freaked out by animals or have allergies. I would just want to hang out with the pets all day instead of working!

Johann is back! "Its a long story, but I was asked to leave France". Also, Johann has some issues to work out apparently...

*I still have no idea why they decided to add a baby. Its not like anyone was pregnant for real, and the kids are still young enough to be cute, so whats the point? They dont do much with him, and it makes Bow and Dre look pretty bad when they spend more time on the issue of the week than on their baby!

[Quickbeam]

As soon as I saw that dog, all I could think was: "Oy, that's a lot of coat work". 

[joanne3482]

I love pets and have several of my own, but I don't feel like owning one is a democratic family decision because it is a huge thing.  It feels, to me, like if even one person was against it, it should be a no-go since having a pet isn't something the non-pet people can avoid. So even though I love animals, I was totally on Dre's side. His reasons may or may not have been stupid to me, but they were his reasons and therefore valid. 

Does Johan live with them when he isn't running away from Ruby (and honestly I find his and Ruby's relationship creepy and I was okay with him not wanting her to sexually harass him anymore and a little sad he went back on it)?  If so, then there's your dog. 

21 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

As soon as I saw that dog, all I could think was: "Oy, that's a lot of coat work". 

That dog is one week away from being a matted ball of mess if it isn't brushed daily.   

[Luciano]

They got a white Buck Bundy! At least, it looks like the same breed. Hopefully, he actually shows up around the house after this (and not with a chewing on Dre's sneakers storyline) for the purely selfish reason that I love looking at them. Buck was best TV dog.

I noticed Peaches and Herb missing from the office scene before I noticed that poor Josh wasn't there either. I laughed at them pulling Charlie in that quick West Covina Dog Show scene.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Luciano

[jhlipton]

22 hours ago, After7Only said:

I'm guessing the Elvis Costello song may be some type of writer's inside joke.   I've heard of Elvis Costello, but not familiar with any of his music.   I kind of associate him with "white hipsters" for some reason.  

In a way, Elvis Costello was a "hipster" before there were hipsters.  He's sort of the proto-hipster.

[readster]

1 hour ago, Luciano said:

They got a white Buck Bundy! At least, it looks like the same breed. Hopefully, he actually shows up around the house after this (and not with a chewing on Dre's sneakers storyline) for the purely selfish reason that I love looking at them. Buck was best TV dog.

I noticed Peaches and Herb missing from the office scene before I noticed that poor Josh wasn't there either. I laughed at them pulling Charlie in that quick West Covina Dog Show scene.

I loved Buck too. Growing with dogs myself, I always thought I would own one, but yes they can be a pain and yes, they can cost money to where you have kid 2 or kid 3 or 6 on this show. However, it's a family commitment and if one person is against, then it's a no go. It's just they did all this with the dog and Dre and Junior were perfectly showing why having a dog isn't the best idea. Then you add in these constant: "It's funny that no one pays attention to the baby" on going joke all year. Which just shows that the writers don't know what to with the baby and it makes Bow not working even more stupid then add in the nanny that was hired and then never seen again. If Junior does leave the show at the end of the year, there is still plenty with the twins, but at the same time. They think they it's cute to use Demonte when they want to enforce their "no one is watching the baby, OMG!" then the writers are out of ideas. Not to say spoilers, but if next week they are going to focus an entire story with Dre and Bow questioning after over 20 years of splitting up, I'm calling foul. They have both done extremely stupid things I'm surprise they haven't split up by now. 

[Kimmmmmm]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

This one is tough, because I love dogs. I love pets in general, and think they can do a lot of good for people. They arent just dumb animals, they have personalities and identities and likes and dislikes and all that. That being said, I can get not wanting a dog when they have four other kids in the house (plus Zoe in school) including a baby* that they only remember exists every other day anyway. And, Junior is right that dogs can be a lot of work. They are super fun, but also cab be a huge pain. My dog is definitely of the "big dogs who thinks their a lap dig" variety, and while I love her and she brightens my life...she can also be a pain. 

I love that Dres co-workers know Dres black history rants so well, that they can do their own! Especially as Dre notes that he will be using those later. And, while pets are not allowed where I work, sometimes people do bring their pets to visit (mostly because we work with teenagers and they LOVE them) but they have to stay in the lobby. I wouldn't want pets running around all the time, its distracting, and it would suck for people who get freaked out by animals or have allergies. I would just want to hang out with the pets all day instead of working!

Johann is back! "Its a long story, but I was asked to leave France". Also, Johann has some issues to work out apparently...

*I still have no idea why they decided to add a baby. Its not like anyone was pregnant for real, and the kids are still young enough to be cute, so whats the point? They dont do much with him, and it makes Bow and Dre look pretty bad when they spend more time on the issue of the week than on their baby!

Me, either!  With the exception of Tabitha on "Bewitched" (yep, I go waaaaaay back), babies ruin everything on sitcoms.

[qtpye]

4 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

As soon as I saw that dog, all I could think was: "Oy, that's a lot of coat work". 

Yes, not only did they get a dog when no one can watch a baby, but they got one with an extremely high maintenance coat.

[Joimiaroxeu]

"Let me get that dog, playboy." Nice callback to the Monopoly episode.

Jack barking like M'Baku in Black Panther.

Diane: I choose chaos.
Littlefinger: Chaos is a ladder.
Diane: This isn't the north and winter isn't coming, Peytr.

I didn't realize Ruby was a lowkey predator. I don't know how I feel about Johann coming around to being okay with it. If the genders were reversed it might not be so funny and I'm surprised that in the #metoo environment Black-ish went there.

[Mama No Life]

Junior is a treasure.

 

That's all.

[itsjustme]

I love dogs and have them nearly all my life but not one time have never felt the need to bring them to work.

But Dre  and Bow made a promise and the kid delivered.  They should have never made that promise or sit him down and tell him why they can not get a dog. .

[ItCouldBeWorse]

6 minutes ago, itsjustme said:

I love dogs and have them nearly all my life but not one time have never felt the need to bring them to work.

But Dre  and Bow made a promise and the kid delivered.  They should have never made that promise or sit him down and tell him why they can not get a dog. .

I guess Jack delivered from his point of view, but I don't understand how a teacher giving him an undeserved "A" on one exam got him all A's on his report card if he's as bad a student as we've been led to believe.

[snoopypez]

Kicking dogs is never funny to me. So that alone put me very much NOT on Dre's side.

Junior, on the other hand, showed actual reasons to really seriously consider whether or not to get a dog; Dre's "reasons" were petty, selfish, and pretty much what I expect from him.

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I love that Dres co-workers know Dres black history rants so well, that they can do their own! Especially as Dre notes that he will be using those later.

Now this, however, was hilarious!

[greekmom]

Not only did Jack not deserve a dog with the way he spoke to his parents but deserved a darn good spanking.

I know it's only a show and played for laughs but seriously - calling your dad "player"???

Junior kills it. I wish he would get his own show.

[Gwen-Stacys]

7 hours ago, snoopypez said:

Kicking dogs is never funny to me. So that alone put me very much NOT on Dre's side.

I agree that kicking animals is not funny, but that whole scene brought up a major issue I have with some people w/reply to their pets (and I say this as a dog owner and as someone that is nervous around cats). Not everyone likes animals. Some people are actually afraid of them. Get control of your animal and don't let them jump all over people. A fearful reaction is sometimes a violent one, so I understood that.

Dre should've brought up them constantly forgetting about Devonte as a reason for not getting a dog. That would have been a major trump card in that argument!

[attica]

So, I just finished reading Jenifer Lewis's memoir, and in it, she goes into exhaustive detail about her, erm, affection for sex in the years before getting diagnosed as bipolar. (Orgasms were self-medication, apparently.) She had many, many, many partners, which she describes in a sex-positive way. But of course a woman who likes sex is often viewed as 'fallen', so that's a thing she had to learn to deal with.  Which she did with humor, mostly.  Anyway, she tells the story of when she was working on Fresh Prince, and one day Will Smith came over to her and started low-key flirting with her.  JL pointed out some Smith-groupies on the other side of the set and encouraged him to "go on and flirt with those girls over there. Because if you stay and flirt with me, I will fuck you." Will backed off ("Uh-oh, uh-oh", you know like he does) and they remained (and remain) friends. 

All of this is to say that her scene with Johan, offering to take off her top, had layers for me.

[StatisticalOutlier]

20 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

I do live in LA, and the number of people who have "emotional support" dogs and just HAVE to have their dogs with them at all times is staggering and out of control and drives me fucking crazy.  I know there are people who genuinely need the emotional support, but the people who abuse that designation far outnumber those who don't in my experience. 

Even the ones who "genuinely need" their emotional support animals--emotional support animals are not the same as service animals and unlike actual service animals, they are not entitled to any more access to anywhere than a regular old pet would be, no matter how much the owner wants or needs it to be with them.  Service animals are trained to perform a task for a disabled person, and "emotional support animals" don't meet that definition, vest or no vest, credentials or no credentials.

If Home Depot wants to let people bring emotional support animals or pets (which are the same thing) in with them, that's Home Depot's call, but there's no law that requires it.

If you see stories about emotional support animals on airplanes, that's because they have different rules.  Those don't apply to grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, etc.

 

18 hours ago, Luciano said:

They got a white Buck Bundy!

It also looked like Tiger from the Brady Bunch.

[mookster]

I know, I know, it's a sitcom, but Dre could have gone back on his "promise" and suggested they start with a cat. I was never stupid enough to promise our children a dog, but when they asked for one I explained why it didn't work for our family and suggested a cat instead. Cats are much easier to take care of, cuddly and fun - and easy to write into a sitcom because they sleep most of the time! 

 Dre was his usual annoying self. I agreed with him but the way he whined about it was off-putting. I also thought the dog licking him at the end would have grossed him out.

Jack is getting a little bratty - although with a father like Dre, I can understand - but I still love Diane: "Chaos!"

Next week's teaser: I've wondered what they're doing together every single week. But come on - are they going to break them up? Seriously.

[peeayebee]

22 hours ago, Luciano said:

They got a white Buck Bundy! At least, it looks like the same breed. Hopefully, he actually shows up around the house after this (and not with a chewing on Dre's sneakers storyline) for the purely selfish reason that I love looking at them. Buck was best TV dog.

I thought this dog that Dre brought in was kinda odd looking. I don't think it looks the same as Buck Bundy (and I looked at several images of him because I never watched Married with Children). Maybe it was just the haircut -- or in this dog's case, lack of haircut. I'm curious what breed or mix it is.

I love Jack. I didn't find him obnoxious or slap-worthy. To me, he's just funny, and Miles Brown is so good. Dropping his report card like he was dropping a mic cracked me up.

I also loved Junior doing all the annoying dog stuff. He's the best.

 

Quote

I noticed Peaches and Herb missing from the office scene before I noticed that poor Josh wasn't there either. I laughed at them pulling Charlie in that quick West Covina Dog Show scene.

Same here. Josh's (unnoticed) absence was a great setup for that joke.

I did not like that Dre kicked the dog. He picked up little Zoe, so he didn't need to kick the dog. I think maybe the writers still could have had the flashback with the people yelling at Dre if Dre had just yelled at the dog, like, "Get away, you d*** m*****f***er!" Or just a whole string of bleeps. 

I have this article marked to read. It's about how many dog rescue groups have been buying dogs from breeders in order to offer them for adoption. I think the article is going to make me very angry.

[Luciano]

10 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I thought this dog that Dre brought in was kinda odd looking. I don't think it looks the same as Buck Bundy (and I looked at several images of him because I never watched Married with Children). Maybe it was just the haircut -- or in this dog's case, lack of haircut. I'm curious what breed or mix it is.

It looks like it may be a Bearded Collie? Buck was a Briard, which looks similar with the cascade of hair all over but is larger.

I love fluffy large dogs. And pitbulls. I had heart-eyes throughout a chunk of this episode. I wish I had the space and patience for any of the above. I had a Rough Collie when I was very young and remember her being the sweetest thing.

[Guest]

It looked like a mix of bearded collie and old English sheepdog to me.  We had those latter when I was growing up.  It doesn’t surprise me they’re not seen much now.  That coat is a nightmare.  

I’m tired of seeing dogs in stores and restaurants.  I suspect they’re breeding docileness into toy breeds now to make them more content to just sit in the crook of your arm or purse, and look stupid.  Why not just carry around a plush if it’s just an accessory?   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I’m tired of seeing dogs in stores and restaurants.  I suspect they’re breeding docileness into toy breeds now to make them more content to just sit in the crook of your arm or purse, and look stupid.  Why not just carry around a plush if it’s just an accessory?   

It used to be just tiny purse dogs brought into stores and restaurants but lately it seems like people are bringing all kinds of dogs everywhere. A few years ago, I was at Nordstrom and some woman in there had a fully grown lab with her - and not even one of those fake emotional support dogs*. She just had the dog on a leash while she was at the jewelry counter.

I was surprised that Dre ended up choosing a big fluffy dog. I thought he would either bring home something big and manly looking or tiny enough that he could kick it if necessary.

* The issue I have with emotional support animals is that there's no regulation for it so anyone can get a certificate saying that their puppy or kitty or iguana is their emotional support animal and therefore they need to be able to bring it everywhere with them. People also get these certificates so they can fly with their pets in the cabin or be allowed to have their pet in a house or apartment that normally doesn't allow renters to have pets. It's so annoying.

[NannyBails]

22 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I did not like that Dre kicked the dog. He picked up little Zoe, so he didn't need to kick the dog. I think maybe the writers still could have had the flashback with the people yelling at Dre if Dre had just yelled at the dog, like, "Get away, you d*** m*****f***er!" Or just a whole string of bleeps. 

 

I'd have to watch again, but didn't Dre and his mother say that the dog he kicked was a chihuahua?   Which makes me think the writers were really just going for laughs as well as trying to make Dre look ridiculous for over-reacting.  Again, I'd have to watch again, but I don't remember actually seeing the dog, so I'm assuming he had plenty of time to pick Zoe up or scream "stop!" at the dog or even put his body in front of Zoe.   Chihuahuas do bite, but I haven't heard of a chihuahua bite doing major damage to a large adult, like Dre. ]

[GHScorpiosRule]

34 minutes ago, NannyBails said:

didn't Dre and his mother say that the dog he kicked was a chihuahua?  

Yes.  And I agree with you, that it was done to make Dre look vicious and ridiculous.

[peeayebee]

I don't mind exaggeration in a comedy like this. For instance, Diane's "evilness" is funny. However, I couldn't really laugh at Dre kicking a dog. I wish they had done this whole joke and flashback in a different way, like I said. Have him overreact to the approaching dog by yelling expletives at it instead of kicking it, and still have the crowd of people shout and chastise him. When we go back to present-day, instead of chihuahua (which I picture as being small but barky and snarly), we hear (from Bow?) that the dog was a teacup poodle, a yorkie-poo, or something like that. 

[snoopypez]

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I don't mind exaggeration in a comedy like this. For instance, Diane's "evilness" is funny. However, I couldn't really laugh at Dre kicking a dog. I wish they had done this whole joke and flashback in a different way, like I said. Have him overreact to the approaching dog by yelling expletives at it instead of kicking it, and still have the crowd of people shout and chastise him. When we go back to present-day, instead of chihuahua (which I picture as being small but barky and snarly), we hear (from Bow?) that the dog was a teacup poodle, a yorkie-poo, or something like that. 

Yes! Or even if in the flashback he was screaming expletives at it and it turned out the dog was not only small, but it wasn't even barking or being aggressive at all, but instead was calmly looking at Dre with confusion over why it's being yelled at. That would've been funny to me, but animal violence is not. Plus a change like that would show that Dre is actually scared of dogs, not just petty and hating them for no real reason behind it.

I did like how he was going to get a big, so-called 'manly' dog at first but then got scared of said dog.

[jhlipton]

On 4/11/2018 at 12:13 PM, Quickbeam said:

As soon as I saw that dog, all I could think was: "Oy, that's a lot of coat work". 

Yep -- as others have said a daily brushing.  I had a Cocker Spaniel when I was a kid and he needed a lot of brushing (especially since he loved to play in the burrs).

On 4/11/2018 at 1:28 PM, Luciano said:

They got a white Buck Bundy!

If their dog starts commenting like Buck, I would totally lose it!

On 4/11/2018 at 5:38 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

I didn't realize Ruby was a lowkey predator. I don't know how I feel about Johann coming around to being okay with it. If the genders were reversed it might not be so funny and I'm surprised that in the #metoo environment Black-ish went there.

Ruby has no real hold over Johan -- she can;t kick him out, or fire him, or anything like that.  When Johan said NO, Ruby backed off.  So both parties had full consent, which os a major component of #metoo.

On 4/12/2018 at 8:28 AM, attica said:

All of this is to say that her scene with Johan, offering to take off her top, had layers for me.

Dayum -- that just makes the scene more fun, and makes my love Lewis all the more; that she was able to use her past like that.

[shipmate]

We told the ship-kids the only way we were getting a dog is if they were willing to pick up poop in the back yard. Junior missed an ample opportunity for a lesson there ?

[Kimmmmmm]

20 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Yes.  And I agree with you, that it was done to make Dre look vicious and ridiculous.

Dre IS vicious and ridiculous...along with many other unattractive adjectives

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Ruby has no real hold over Johan -- she can;t kick him out, or fire him, or anything like that.  When Johan said NO, Ruby backed off. 

No, she kept coming at him, and then used the ploy of ignoring him to get him to "miss" the attention. And this despite his having a restraining order against her.

Quote

So both parties had full consent, which os a major component of #metoo.

Only at the end did Johann acquiesce. Up until that point her particular attentions toward him were unwelcome and she knew it. Continuing to come at someone with sexual intentions until you wear their defenses down would indeed, IMO, be a #metoo situation. I've seen several shows of late, like Black-ish, trying to put a doubtful spin on the issue by reversing the genders. Many have a hard time seeing men as victims of women in such scenarios but AFAIC the problem is the same.

And this is probably moving into the off-topic zone...

[jhlipton]

12 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I've seen several shows of late, like Black-ish, trying to put a doubtful spin on the issue by reversing the genders. Many have a hard time seeing men as victims of women in such scenarios but AFAIC the problem is the same.

I get what you're saying -- there have been several shows where a woman has pretended to be a guy's love interest to have sex with him, and it's treated as no big deal.

I think one reason that I'm more OK with it than I might otherwise be is that we rarely get to see a black woman be sensual / sexy/ in control, especially one of Ruby/Jennifer's age.  That puts a different spin on it for me.

[Joimiaroxeu]

For sure I don't have a problem with Ruby getting her groove on, and the show hasn't been shy about letting the audience know that she has lovers. But this episode I think they stumbled on their approach.

[BoogieBurns]

On 3/27/2018 at 10:42 PM, In2You said:

I loved that they included the great plate debate in this episode.  I always see arguing online about who makes their husband's plate but I've never heard it in real life. 

 

On 3/29/2018 at 10:46 PM, Meedis said:

With that said my favorite part of the episode was the serving of plates debate and how Marla's character shut that debate down with why she made a plate for her husband. 

This plate issue is a huge topic in my extended family during holidays. When we were kids, we used to get so mad that the women (and us girls) cooked the food, made the men's plates, then cleaned the dishes while the men watched the game. We said "when we're adults, it's going to be different," and it is not. My sister and cousin are the only two who are married, and they kiss their husbands asses. I think it's because the husband is spending the holiday with HER family instead of HIS. But it's the worst. So, being an asshole, and single, I decided I like football now. I make the dressing and rolls at my own home in the morning, I bring them over in disposable pans and sit back and relax. 

Seeing my sister make her then-boyfriend his plate at Thanksgiving made me so mad I even called her out. I will not be making anyone a plate, and no one is welcome to make mine. Maybe it's why I'm single, but I don't care. My sister and cousin loved seeing our grandma makes our grandpa's plate. It seemed romantic to them. It seems like the patriarchy to me. I would guess my grandma would have said something similar to what Marla said about making a hard working black man feel special and safe at home. Good for her. Not for me.

[jhlipton]

14 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

For sure I don't have a problem with Ruby getting her groove on, and the show hasn't been shy about letting the audience know that she has lovers. But this episode I think they stumbled on their approach.

I'll agree with that.

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, BoogieBurns said:

I will not be making anyone a plate, and no one is welcome to make mine. Maybe it's why I'm single, but I don't care.

Sometimes my wife makes my plate and sometimes I make hers.  Her sister's ex-husband demanded a plate and we both hated it.  It's nice that her new boyfriend doesn't.  So you're cool with us!

[BoogieBurns]

On 4/11/2018 at 4:13 PM, jhlipton said:

In a way, Elvis Costello was a "hipster" before there were hipsters.  He's sort of the proto-hipster.

Now I know why I've never heard any of his stuff! I've been black my whole life. I think I know what he looks like, but I'm not positive. I thought it was Elvis Presley's real last name for like 25 years of my life.

[vibeology]

That was stressful and unpleasant. Plus, they took up all the air and there was no point to the bouncy house story. DeVonte was cute. That's the highlight.