Season 4 Talk

[Boofish]

20 minutes ago, teebax said:

I couldn't agree more. My mom didn't make a big deal about mine, but she did have a lovely chat with me about it. She raised us very tough-loveish, so I still remember that conversation with great fondness.

I liked this episode, but I couldn't help but think about how much of my black my mother would have knocked off of me if I'd talked to her the way Diane talked to Rainbow. Seriously, my mama does not play! I'm 45 and still a little afraid of her!

That's what makes it funny. Most of us know it could ONLY happen on television. If I dreamed about speaking to my mother that way I had to wake up and apologize. 

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, attica said:

My mom never had a period conversation with me. She was a librarian; she gave me books. :)  

At least you got books. I remember going to my mother, who was frying chicken, and saying, "I started." She didn't say anything. I wondered if she'd heard me. She finished with the chicken, wiped her hands on a dishtowel, then walked toward the bathroom -- I figured I should follow her. She got out a pad and belt, showed me how to put it together, then left the bathroom. A real bonding moment. :D

[attica]

You know what? I lied. My mom did have a period conversation with me: when I was in my 30s, she told me she had her periods until she was 55 em-efffing years old. My blood ran cold in horror of the decades that awaited me.  (That I outlasted even that miserable longevity is NOT a source of pride, lemme tell you that right now.)

[DrSparkles]

LOVED it. Startled all 6 pets more than once with my howling w laughter!!! My only regret: Charles not running into Diane during her period time. I was praying for the encounter, and I'm agnostic.

ETA: you have to PAY ATTENTION at those Lido & Stevens meetings bc you might miss some snark or vital info!!

Edited November 9, 2017 by DrSparkles

[DrSparkles]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 2:13 AM, Toothbrush said:

I remember cracking up laughing when you posted about it on the RHoP thread, and I thought of your family while watching this!

SPILL Luckyroll3

[charmed1]

2 hours ago, teebax said:

I liked this episode, but I couldn't help but think about how much of my black my mother would have knocked off of me if I'd talked to her the way Diane talked to Rainbow. Seriously, my mama does not play! I'm 45 and still a little afraid of her!

Right. Which was why I was so taken aback. I've watched every episode of Black-ish and Diane is smart, but she is not smart-mouthed or disrespectful to her parents or grandparents. None of the kids' characters are, which is why I like the show. Diane might be crazy, but she ain't that crazy, and I hope the writers don't venture too far into that territory. TV or not, smart-mouthed, grown kids make me itch.  What Bernie say? "Grown enough to talk back, grown enough to get effed up."

And are we siblings? Because I jokingly called my black mother by her first name and she balled her entire face into a fist. I was 35 and will never forget it. "Who are you talking to?" is the most dreaded rhetorical question a child can ever get. 

Edited November 9, 2017 by charmed1

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 11/8/2017 at 10:45 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I’m pretty sure it was “Ain’t nobody got time for you to make friends, Rainbow!”

I got around to watching it last night and she actually said "Ain't nobody got time for you to make a new friend, Rainbow!"

I learned about menstruation in school; had to have my parents sign off on the permission to let them teach me about sex, and it was part of that section.  But my mom also talked to me about it; which was weird, considering the way I was raised-no dating, no sex talk. But she was very calm when I started, and I was almost 11. Now my sister, who is three years younger, who learned about it from me and school, reacted like Margaret's friend in Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.  Not that she lied to her bestie that she finally got her period, but that she panicked when she did get it. Ran to the bathroom all panicked. She asked for my mom, but I asked her what was wrong and she eventually told me.

And though Diane is my least favorite kid on this show, I've never had any issues with her "feud" with Charlie or how she's portrayed there, but her rudeness this week, just took me aback.

Pops is always the best. "Psychological Warfare" Indeed!

[qtpye]

5 hours ago, teebax said:

I couldn't agree more. My mom didn't make a big deal about mine, but she did have a lovely chat with me about it. She raised us very tough-loveish, so I still remember that conversation with great fondness.

I liked this episode, but I couldn't help but think about how much of my black my mother would have knocked off of me if I'd talked to her the way Diane talked to Rainbow. Seriously, my mama does not play! I'm 45 and still a little afraid of her!

Truth

5 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Oh, yeah, real balanced, like snatching Jack's blanket because of some trifling thing.  Dre hates all his kids except Zoey and has an ego the size of the moon. 

Why does Dre love Zoey so much?  I mean Zoey is awesome, but so are the rest of the kids.  The actors have great sibling chemistry.

[Dee]

Dre loves Zoey because she's the most like him.

However, out of all his kids, the one Dre has the least relationship with is Diane.

[Quickbeam]

Great episode. I love seeing menstruation come out of the shame closet. Plus “Stink and Peach Fuzz” made me sick-laugh. 

[Racj82]

9 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Oh, yeah, real balanced, like snatching Jack's blanket because of some trifling thing.  Dre hates all his kids except Zoey and has an ego the size of the moon. 

I didn't say it was completely balanced. It's still a sitcom. They've just shown more of Dre being a concerned dad across the board. It's never going to fully change and the thought that he actually hates his kids is just wrong. Dre treats Junior basically the way Earl treats Dre and we all know he loves him. Most of the shows conflicits come from how both Bow and Dre love their children, want the best for them and worry about that future. They just also go broad with the comedy. 

[TwistedandBored]

I like any episode that focus on Diane and Junior. This episode focused on Jack, Diane, and Junior and I loved it even more. 

[jhlipton]

7 hours ago, qtpye said:

Why does Dre love Zoey so much?

First daughter.  Dre's the kind that no matter how Zoey turned, he would love her unconditionally.

3 hours ago, Racj82 said:

Dre treats Junior basically the way Earl treats Dre and we all know he loves him.

I don't know that Dre loves Junior.  I've never seen any sign of that.  All I've seen is belittlement and put-downs -- not once has he taken any interest in the things that Junior likes unless they're things Dre likes too.  Earl was raised in the "give 'em the strap" era, but Dre should know better.  He gets no pass from me.

[SosaLola]

8 hours ago, jhlipton said:

First daughter.  Dre's the kind that no matter how Zoey turned, he would love her unconditionally.

I agree. There's something about fathers and first daughters. I'm the oldest daughter in the family and my dad's fave. On the other hand, mothers have always had fondness for sons. 

[LizDC]

So now the twins are in 6th grade when they were in 3rd grade at the beginning of the season. Weird.  I hope Diane gets to move into Zoey's room when she goes off to college.  Jack and Diane are much too old to be sharing a room.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I loved Zoey's "Oh, is that where I told you I was going?" as she sashayed into the house.

[Raja]

On 11/1/2017 at 11:18 AM, Sparger Springs said:

I kept thinking the public high school that Jr would go to would be awesome giving the demographics of the area they live in. Public schools in rich areas are very good.  

Not exactly true. to overcome crowding and to racially balance the school district the buses ran in one direction in Los Angeles and white people in rich areas covered by the LAUSD fled to the private schools. You would need to get in a smaller district like the Beverly Hills School district surrounded on all four sides by the LAUSD schools that the local white folks  fled from to get those kids from  awesome  economic demographics as the base of the students.

[NUguy514]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

Not exactly true. to overcome crowding and to racially balance the school district the buses ran in one direction in Los Angeles and white people in rich areas covered by the LAUSD fled to the private schools. You would need to get in a smaller district like the Beverly Hills School district surrounded on all four sides by the LAUSD schools that the local white folks  fled from to get those kids from  awesome  economic demographics as the base of the students.

That's exactly right.  There are two schools within LAUSD itself that I would consider exceptional: LACES and SOCES (the latter of which is actually in Tarzana, not in Sherman Oaks); there are wonderful public schools in neighborhoods like South Pasadena, San Marino, Beverly Hills, and La Cañada-Flintridge, but those are very wealthy communities with their own school districts.  While it's true that private schools in general do not inherently provide a better education than public schools in the macro sense, there are certain school districts where that is absolutely the case.  LAUSD is one of those school districts.

[RedHawk]

On 11/11/2017 at 9:27 PM, LizDC said:

So now the twins are in 6th grade when they were in 3rd grade at the beginning of the season. Weird.  I hope Diane gets to move into Zoey's room when she goes off to college.  Jack and Diane are much too old to be sharing a room.

Makes me think that next season (if not sooner) a 5-year-old DeVonte (sp? even the show's Wiki has it two ways) will suddenly appear.

[qtpye]

On Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 3:42 PM, Higgs said:

Bow may have every right to be upset, but she has absolutely no right to take her resentment out on Megan, and certainly not in public. 

I'm more concerned, however, with why the writers decided to depict the character in such a negative way. (If the colors of all the characters were reversed, only a white Archie Bunker type would have been shown to act in this way.) My guess is short and brutal: it allows whites to feel superior, and gives blacks the satisfaction of revenge. It's a win-win for a bottom-feeding mainstream TV network.

 

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 9:17 AM, msrachelj said:

they are all not very nice to megan. especially bow. who is half white which i only mention because that seems to be her major issue with her. if i were megan i would have been in tears at some point. 

i was torn on the episode. it was funny at times but i was bored with the whole episode being a game of monopoly. and dre is not a nice person most of the time. but then again his parents aren't either.

Someone observed that Ruby does not like Bow because she is mixed and Bow does not like Meghan because she is white.  In being Bow Racial Bow came to terms with this and I thought moved past it. I think this show is based on a male comedianne's point of view of women and it just easier to fall back to broad comedic steriotypes the have anyone show growth...sort of like Everybody Loves Raymond.

[kaygeeret]

For a variety of reasons this is the first epi of the show I have watched this season.

I was struck about how the twins and junior have physically matured.

I was also struck by how absolutely STUPID the kids are being written.

I AM SICK of it!  Kids can be silly and sometimes stupid (and then we step in).  Kids are also learning all the time.  Not these kids....Junior apparently cannot walk, talk and chew gum at the same time - - makes no sense.

The girl twin is supposed to be smart, but .......not finding the redeemable chord here as she is often presented as quasi "evil".

The boy twin is walking in his brothers footsteps.......And there it is.......

When did we decide that it was ok to portray all boys/men (the kids and Dre) as goofballs and pretty much unable to get thru life without significant help.

I am andold white lady and I am offended.  If this treatment were the only way girls were presented I would be manning the barracades.

Maybe I need a good drink, but the show is driving me away and I am sad about that.

They have done such good work  in specific episodes - the episode about language is the one that stands out for me.

Great talent but maybe the showrunner and writers need to step it up.

I have a love/hate relationship with the tv show The Middle for the same reasons.  The kids are just ..... sort of icky.

None of the kids depicted reflect any young kids, tweens, 20 somethings that I know - - and I fit the demographics the show are trying to represent - remember I am old so I have demographic mobility :)

[Jodie Landon]

This was one of those episodes that ventured a little too far into dark territory to really be funny to me. I watch Blackish, primarily, to laugh but tackling the effects of the American prison system is a bit heavy for a comedy. That being said I appreciated this episode, particularly the reference to Kalief Browser. And as usual, I sided with Bow. She gave some really valid reasons for not wanting to house Omar, and was still willing to help him in other ways. But I'll almost always side with her because I hate Dre.

I did chuckle when Ruby claimed that after a tryst Stevie Wonder said that he could see, especially since I've heard rumors about Stevie's sight for years. And it was nice to see Curtis, Dre's assistant.

I missed Laurence Fishburne. I would have liked to hear Pop's take on the prison system or some of his own personal stories. 

Jack and Diane's rivalry with the newer cuter twins didn't fit well within the episode.

[Angeleyes]

Why does Dre always think that everyone needs to stay at his house? His house is already full of relatives that don’t pay rent. I think Bow’s position that they could help Omar without him being in their house is a valid one. As discussed in a previous episode, it’s not Dre’s job to try to fix everything for his friends and family from the old neighborhood. It was a weird choice to never actually show Omar. I wonder if he’ll end up being a recurring character?

Ruby’s confessions to Junior were hilarious. She only made it up to the 80’s. Lol. It’s a little scary she might have been a drug mule though. (The balloon story)

The twins story just didn’t interest me at all. 

[Dee]

Ruby's Phil Spector story had me in tears. Jenifer Lewis is amazing.

[mortonsalt]

19 minutes ago, Jodie Landon said:

This was one of those episodes that ventured a little too far into dark territory to really be funny to me. I watch Blackish, primarily, to laugh but tackling the effects of the American prison system is a bit heavy for a comedy. That being said I appreciated this episode, particularly the reference to Kalief Browser. And as usual, I sided with Bow. She gave some really valid reasons for not wanting to house Omar, and was still willing to help him in other ways. But I'll almost always side with her because I hate Dre.

I did chuckle when Ruby claimed that after a tryst Stevie Wonder said that he could see, especially since I've heard rumors about Stevie's sight for years. And it was nice to see Curtis, Dre's assistant.

I missed Laurence Fishburne. I would have liked to hear Pop's take on the prison system or some of his own personal stories. 

Jack and Diane's rivalry with the newer cuter twins didn't fit well within the episode.

Yes, this was yet another episode where I would have divorced Dre if I were Bow. I can't believe he had the nerve to call her a terrible person when she was the one that was supporting Omar while he was in prison and even went so far to get the Innocence Project to help him. Plus she was willing to help him once he was outside of prison by getting him a temporary place to live, and she had more sense to know that a cellphone would have been more useful to Omar than already used condiments.

Ruby had me chuckling too. As funny as her story was, I think I cracked up at her robes suddenly missing their belts the most. Charlie and his obsession with seeing Bow in a swimsuit had me rolling too even if it was just last week or the week before where Charlie was obsessing over it.

[jumper sage]

I haven't seen this one yet.  Just the snippet of the show about a "godbrother" turned me off.  What the hell is a godbrother?  A person you happen to have a godparent in common?  Why is this significant in any way?  I share godparents with with every second child in my generation and my mother's generation.  That would be every second child of any cousin or aunt or uncle.  That is a lot of people.  I would think that "aunt" or "cousin" would be more significant than having a common godparent.

Glad to hear that Ruby brought the funny.  I will watch for that.

@kaygeeret - I agree with your assessment of the characters.  I can not get into this season at all.  by the end of last season I was sick of how Dre treated Junior and how girl twin had no redeeming qualities.

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, jumper sage said:

I haven't seen this one yet.  Just the snippet of the show about a "godbrother" turned me off.  What the hell is a godbrother?  A person you happen to have a godparent in common?  Why is this significant in any way?  I share godparents with with every second child in my generation and my mother's generation.  That would be every second child of any cousin or aunt or uncle.  That is a lot of people.  I would think that "aunt" or "cousin" would be more significant than having a common godparent.

It went by pretty fast, but I think it was explained that Omar was the son of Dre's childhood neighbor--maybe the neighbor was Dre's godparent, so that person's son was Dre's godbrother. 

[Sile]

3 hours ago, Angeleyes said:

Why does Dre always think that everyone needs to stay at his house? His house is already full of relatives that don’t pay rent. I think Bow’s position that they could help Omar without him being in their house is a valid one. As discussed in a previous episode, it’s not Dre’s job to try to fix everything for his friends and family from the old neighborhood. It was a weird choice to never actually show Omar. I wonder if he’ll end up being a recurring character?

I don't know why Dre thinks that sleeping on his couch (and it's not even a pull out) would be preferable to having a hotel room to himself.  If I'd spent 10 years crammed in like a sardine I'd appreciate a little time to myself, luxuriating in a full size bed, cooking things for myself, flipping through the television channels and generally acclimating myself to 2017.

Nothing wrong with inviting him over for a home cooked meal and maybe doing a little shopping together with Bow and perhaps taking in a Clippers game with Dre (although that's arguably a punishment at the moment).  But having one's own space and a bit of autonomy cannot be downplayed.

I'd like to think that they didn't show Omar so the audience could come to their own conclusions about him.  Was he a hardened criminal type forced to learn to survive in prison or a complete innocent and a nice, appreciative guy?  But it was probably because they saved money by not casting an actor for a one off.  (Yeah, Barrington, but I think non-speaking parts can be classified as extra work and a lot less dough.)

Edited November 15, 2017 by Sile

[Toothbrush]

I thought the Diane story was handled very sensitively. My sister is 16 months older than I am and I devoured Judy Blume books so I knew the basics, but my mom sat me down and had a chat the day before we girls had to watch a film at school while the boys were sent to PE. My mom is a doctor, so it was much like Rainbow's talk with Zoe. The word "sloughing" was not used, but it was definitely clinical, and she even drew a picture of the female reproductive system. When I got my period 2-3 years later (1 month to the day after my 13th birthday), she was emotional, and she took me to lunch and shopping. Being the 3rd of 4 children, I didn't get a lot of one-on-one time with either parent, so it was a nice treat. I started at home, so no trauma. 

On 11/8/2017 at 7:30 AM, charmed1 said:

I did like seeing both grandmothers talk about their experiences. I remember being horrified when I found out my mom told everyone in our family that I got my period, plus the people at her job.

Me too! She may as well have taken out an ad in the paper. A few months later I had an appointment with a male ophthalmologist who was a medical school classmate of hers, and she told him. I was mortified! 

On 11/9/2017 at 7:39 AM, charmed1 said:

 I always refer to him as either Lyle or Eric

Heh

On 11/9/2017 at 11:14 AM, DrSparkles said:

LOVED it. Startled all 6 pets more than once with my howling w laughter!!! My only regret: Charles not running into Diane during her period time. I was praying for the encounter, and I'm agnostic.

ETA: you have to PAY ATTENTION at those Lido & Stevens meetings bc you might miss some snark or vital info!!

I was definitely hoping for a Charles/girl twin period showdown. Especially now that she knows where he lives. 

I LMAO a couple of weeks ago when the coffee bar talk at Lido & Stevens revolved around Conor killing his dad & he handed his dad a cup of coffee. Stevens took a sip and said, "mmm, tastes like almonds". 

On 11/11/2017 at 10:23 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

I loved Zoey's "Oh, is that where I told you I was going?" as she sashayed into the house.

I loved that too. I got busted 7 years later for a lie I told my mother in high school about where I was going. Evidently I told her a party I was attending was at the home of my friend's brother, when it was actually at her 28-year-old boyfriend's house. By then I was 25 and had been married for a few years and the statute of limitations had long expired..lol

[hatchetgirl]

Quote

public schools in the city of Los Angeles (which includes Sherman Oaks and the surrounding neighborhoods) are universally terrible.  

I am very pleased with the public schools in LA proper.  My son's elementary school and 5 others nearby, all have api's over 750. 

[Sile]

On 11/9/2017 at 6:39 AM, charmed1 said:

Ha! Now I have to go back and look just for that. I never knew his name was Connor. In my head, I always refer to him as either Lyle or Eric, but Stevens always calls him Pumpkin or Sweetheart. I know he has a brother that is supposedly equally horrible. I love those little subtleties that the actors give us like Josh's looks, Diane's juice box clap, Jack's defense of LeBron James, Ruby taking off her earrings to confront the Disney employee. And I love of course being able to come here and talk about it and see other people's reactions to something I may have missed. Thank goodness for this forum and all the different perspectives.

The first time his dad called him Connie and I put it together that his name was Connie Stevens... I laughed harder than when I first put the twins' names together as Jack and Diane (in the beginning they always either referred to them separately or as Diane and Jack, so it took a minute to sink in the first time).

[Kimmmmmm]

6 hours ago, Jodie Landon said:

This was one of those episodes that ventured a little too far into dark territory to really be funny to me. I watch Blackish, primarily, to laugh but tackling the effects of the American prison system is a bit heavy for a comedy. That being said I appreciated this episode, particularly the reference to Kalief Browser. And as usual, I sided with Bow. She gave some really valid reasons for not wanting to house Omar, and was still willing to help him in other ways. But I'll almost always side with her because I hate Dre.

I did chuckle when Ruby claimed that after a tryst Stevie Wonder said that he could see, especially since I've heard rumors about Stevie's sight for years. And it was nice to see Curtis, Dre's assistant.

I missed Laurence Fishburne. I would have liked to hear Pop's take on the prison system or some of his own personal stories. 

Jack and Diane's rivalry with the newer cuter twins didn't fit well within the episode.

Newer, not cuter...they looked like Chucky dolls to me.

[charmed1]

I can't believe how tall Marcus has gotten. "And that was the 80s." Ha! I love Ruby.

[Traveller519]

This one got pretty dark, but did have its pretty good moments. 

• "There, we just had a whole conversation about black stuff and didn't bring up slavery once" 
• Pops (in a Laurence Fishburne guest starring spot) running away with the TV, posing as a repaiman (I wonder if that was filmed for another episode) 
• Ruby's tales

I was hoping Michael K Williams was going to walk through that diner door

Edited November 16, 2017 by Traveller519

[attica]

1 hour ago, Traveller519 said:

I was hoping Michael K Williams was going to walk through that diner door

OMG, me too. There are no other Omars before him.

[monakane]

35 minutes ago, attica said:

1 hour ago, Traveller519 said:

I was hoping Michael K Williams was going to walk through that diner door

OMG, me too. There are no other Omars before him.

That would have made my day!

Favorite line of the night:  "He bankrupted Burma and had a gentleman's amount of cocaine."  Funny, but so sad because the sentencing for white collar crime is lenient.  

[Joimiaroxeu]

Aren't prison phone calls insanely expensive? Bow must've had a special budget allocation just for those calls.

Two low-rent suckers with the same birthday. Chest-bumping.

I just knew Darrington the crazy little goat freak was still up to some shady stuff.

Quote

I was hoping Michael K Williams was going to walk through that diner door

Right? That was cruel to set up for it and leave us with nothing. Cruel.

[peeayebee]

18 hours ago, Jodie Landon said:

I did chuckle when Ruby claimed that after a tryst Stevie Wonder said that he could see...

That cracked me UP!

Quote

...especially since I've heard rumors about Stevie's sight for years.

What? Details please.

 

18 hours ago, mortonsalt said:

Ruby had me chuckling too. As funny as her story was, I think I cracked up at her robes suddenly missing their belts the most.

I think that was my favorite line from the ep. All the belts from her robes are missing. 

But generally I wasn't into this ep. I don't mind the show's heavier eps, but this didn't have much of the funny. 

I did like when Junior told Ruby his voice hadn't cracked in 3 months, and then after her tour thru the 80's, when he speaks his voice cracks. I was expecting it, but it was still funny.

Ruby cackling in the flashback with the exploding boat and Pops stealing the tv were great.

As Dre and Bow were sitting in the diner booth, I was wondering if there'd be a little Sopranos homage, and then there was. I don't know how appropriate it was. What, are we supposed to wonder if the unseen guy who opened the door shot Dre? I doubt that was the intent. I'm guessing the show runner or director or whoever just thought it would be cool.

[Star Aristille]

19 hours ago, Angeleyes said:

It was a weird choice to never actually show Omar. 

Yeah, I don't get the show's choice to pull a Waiting for Godot on us.  That made no sense at all.

Actually, it was that one thing that kept me from truly enjoying the episode.

[Star Aristille]

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 6:30 AM, charmed1 said:

I did laugh at Stevens' knowledge of Stevens Jr.'s murder plot, so go figure.

I was a bit disappointed at this.  Not that it wasn't funny, but I thought they'd been doing a good job at dialing Connor's psychosis/killer nature way back since the season started.  But coupled with the possibility of him poisoning Stevens in the previous episode and then the reveal that he'd nearly drowned him, it seems they are dialing him right back up again.  On the upside, at least they picked a clear direction for him, so that's . . . something.

Nonetheless, Dre's "I wouldn't drink that" when he got Stevens to lower his cup made me titter.

On ‎11‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 10:12 AM, attica said:

You know what? I lied. My mom did have a period conversation with me: when I was in my 30s, she told me she had her periods until she was 55 em-efffing years old. My blood ran cold in horror of the decades that awaited me.  (That I outlasted even that miserable longevity is NOT a source of pride, lemme tell you that right now.)

That . . . was something best left private, because . . . damn.  That's biologically possible?!

[Sile]

4 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Aren't prison phone calls insanely expensive? Bow must've had a special budget allocation just for those calls.

 

He had a contraband cell phone, during one of their phone calls Bow was shocked to find out where it had been hidden to smuggle in to him.  

[sinkwriter]

Quote

The "girl gets her first period" episodes always ring false to me. I don't know anyone whose mom made a big deal about it or who made a big deal over it for their own daughters. 

I think it depends on the mom. My mom didn't make a huge deal out of it, but I recall a bit of "oh noooo... my babyyyyy..." which annoyed and embarrassed the hell out of me. And she gave me a 'talk' within the next year or so, which was very, very short, mainly because I couldn't wait to get the hell out of her bedroom and avoid talking about it. She essentially started telling me stuff, I protested that I already knew that stuff from school, she told me I could come to her with any questions and then let me leave, which I did as fast as humanly possible. LOL. So I chuckled when Diane's first real comment about it all was to brush off her mom and say she already learned it all in school. 

Quote

A few years ago when everyone was still blogging, a friend of mine posted about her first period (not sure why, but with that kind of content it might be why no one blogs anymore) and everyone in the comments jumped in with their first period story, but about half the women couldn't remember much about it. The rest of us had fairly matter-of-fact stories that didn't involve violent mood swings or school humiliation.

Man, I wish that were true for me. I started mine at 11 years old while on vacation with my family, two aunts and my grandma. So everybody knew about it because my mom pretty much announced it, she was so loud in her surprise when I told her. It was pretty humiliating. Not to mention we were at fucking Disney World. Happiest place on earth, my ass. 

Thankfully, my aunts were especially empathetic because their own periods had been really painful and awful all their lives, so they made a point of giving me support without embarrassing me, and they looked out for me during the whole trip. (There's more horror stories of that "first time" and beyond, but I'm leaving those parts out because some things are still horrifying to me after all these years. Those things are best left unsaid. LOL.)

I loved this episode, because I could relate to the emotional roller coaster of moods, the embarrassment, and the familial support. Bow's mom's antics made me cringe and laugh so hard, and I loved how Zoey came home to talk with her sister, and that opened the door for all the other women to chime in.

I also liked seeing the contrasting boy struggle, as Jack wished to be on the same growth level as his twin, and his grandpa talked him through it. The support Earl gave him was so sweet, and that line about needing a deodorant with all the chemicals to deal with that funk made me laugh out loud.

Nice to see Dre being nice to Junior, teaching him to shave too. I'm just sorry he wasn't really sincere about being proud of Junior after Dre lost to him at basketball. I'd like to think deep down he really meant it, but it's hard to tell when he's usually so mean to the poor kid.

[jhlipton]

On 11/14/2017 at 8:01 PM, Jodie Landon said:

And it was nice to see Curtis, Dre's assistant.

I liked when Stevens said they had to search Dre, Curtis and Charlie moved in to support him and Connor backed away from his dad.

22 hours ago, Sile said:

1) Nothing wrong with inviting him over for a home cooked meal and maybe doing a little shopping together with Bow and perhaps taking in a Clippers game with Dre (although that's arguably a punishment at the moment).  But having one's own space and a bit of autonomy cannot be downplayed.

I'd like to think that they didn't show Omar so the audience could come to their own conclusions about him.  Was he a hardened criminal type forced to learn to survive in prison or a complete innocent and a nice, appreciative guy? 

1) Not to mention HBO (or the Playboy Channel) and some alone time!

2) That was my thought too.  I actually liked that they didn't show Omar.

7 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Aren't prison phone calls insanely expensive? Bow must've had a special budget allocation just for those calls.

Not compared to the $300 a month she was sending him!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

16 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

I was hoping Michael K Williams was going to walk through that diner door

 

15 hours ago, attica said:

OMG, me too. There are no other Omars before him.

OMAR COMIN'!

[xander874]

I actually appreciated not seeing Omar. Because this episode wasn't about him as much as it was about the prison issue. Having him appear would have diluted that. Although I thought the B plots were random and not really even resolved so maybe I'm wrong.

Wouldn't mind seeing Omar at some point. It would be interesting to see him integrate back into society. Maybe getting a job at Bow's hospital (because I think Dre's workplace is too top heavy with characters and I'd like to see Bow work more).

[possibilities]

I can't believe Jack got Diane to do the chest bump! Has he ever had a win with her before?

[tennisgurl]

I wonder if they're going to get a decently well known actor to play Omar, and thats why they didn't show him. Because I get why they didn't show him if maybe they didn't want to show up (to let us make our own guesses on how Omar is) again, but if he ever shows up, why bother not showing him? 

So this was another Very Special Black-ish, where the episode is mostly about a social issue and less about humor. I mean, those arent awful or anything, and its great that they want to bring attention to important issues, but an ideal episode of Very Special Black-ish has a balance between the issue (like the episode this season about public school) and the humor, and this one was MUCH more heavy on the issue. I also cant help but notice how many old friends and relatives of Dre and Bow tend to pop up in these episodes. 

Ruby ended up having the best subplot, her constant stories to Junior were a great break from the more depressing A plot.

[meep.meep]

I too was wishing for a shot of Michael K. Williams at the door.  I watched a recent episode of the Graham Norton Show and Idris Elba said that Barack Obama told him that he played his second favorite character on The Wire.  The rest of the guests all yelled out "Omar!"

Were the new twins the same boys who were on Big Little Lies?

[Madding crowd]

I loved Ruby talking about maritime jail and "dolphins are the angels of the sea" cracked me up. I also like seeing Diane and Jack as a team not at odds with each other. I found it a bit unrealistic that Bow was doing so much for Omar considering he was Dre's friend and she barely knows him. I want to hear more Ruby and Pops stories. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

20 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I think that was my favorite line from the ep. All the belts from her robes are missing. 

I'm not usually in the camp that has problems when sitcoms have things that don't logically make sense--I figure it's a fictional show and give it wide latitude.  But given the revelations/discussions/debate about sexual harassment in the news these days, I have to wonder about if it had been a male character who is missing all the belts from his robes.