S02.E07: Family Secrets

[AnnaRose]

Quote

Greg makes big plans to impress his parents when they visit for Thanksgiving; but his vision is shattered when his neighbor Spencer and Katie's mom, Kathryn, arrives unannounced and nothing goes as intended.

[readster]

Sad to say, I know how Greg felt. You try and do the things to may a parent happy and it drives everyone else insane, but in the long run, it hurts you more. The truth of Greg's father having a secret family was shocking. However, I loved how he said his brother is also named Greg to avoid calling them the wrong name was hilarious. I really enjoyed this episode, Katie was spot on in everything and her mom can come back any time. 

[MaryMitch]

I thought this was a great episode - the conflict was (mostly) external with the core family sticking together.

It was a blast seeing Barry Bostwick and Julia Duffy!

Edited November 16, 2017 by MaryMitch

[possibilities]

Oliver felt guilty-- I didn't see that coming!

[TheLastKidPicked]

2 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

It was a blast seeing Barry Bostwick and Julia Duffy!

Yes it was, but was startling to see them both looking so old.

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Oliver felt guilty-- I didn't see that coming!

And it was made even better when Spencer hinted that he knew what Oliver was up to the whole time.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Yes it was, but was startling to see them both looking so old.

Oh, so not just me. I will always think of Julia Duffy as Stephanie on Newhart. Seeing her looking this old made me feel so old! It's not that she - nor Barry Bostwick - look bad, it's just so jarring when you identify an actor in an iconic role. 

[Cowgirl]

Fun episode! I'm surprised Viv didn't show up too for dinner. My only disappointment was that the pig was not in his pilgrim costume when Greg brought him back downstairs.  Guess we'll have to wait til next episode to find out what exactly happened between Taylor and Kio.  

[iMonrey]

Didn't Taylor say they broke up?

I have to say, for the most part this was a pretty strong episode, but the pacing was badly broken by (what must be) a contractual obligation to feature Doris and Angela in every episode. It made exactly zero sense for Katie to leave the house in the midst of visiting family to meet her pals outside a closed coffee shop. Why didn't she just invite them over to have Thanksgiving dinner with her own family?

[Snarklepuss]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I have to say, for the most part this was a pretty strong episode, but the pacing was badly broken by (what must be) a contractual obligation to feature Doris and Angela in every episode. It made exactly zero sense for Katie to leave the house in the midst of visiting family to meet her pals outside a closed coffee shop. Why didn't she just invite them over to have Thanksgiving dinner with her own family?

I think it would have made more sense if she amped up the desperation to escape from all the drama and craziness going on in her house, but to expect two girlfriends to ditch their own Thanksgivings to meet outside a closed coffee shop is IMO stretching it just a little too far.

Despite that, I thought this was one of the best (if not the best) episode yet.  It brought a tear to my eye and that's kind of rare for me from TV shows these days.  They managed to go deeper than a lot of sitcoms I've watched.  I especially liked the sub plot with Spencer and Oliver even if Katy's mother is now pursuing Spencer for his money (which he probably knows about but doesn't care).  The shock of Greg's Dad's dual life is pretty horrible.  Equally horrible is that his wife stays with him anyway!  He reminded me of Leonard's mom on "Big Bang Theory" with the way he belittled his son. 

My only Connecticut nitpick is that Thanksgiving here is usually in the 40s or 50s, not light sweater weather, but given the crazy warm fall we had I suppose anything is possible!

[Cowgirl]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Didn't Taylor say they broke up?

Yes, but I meant we might learn exactly what happened when she went over to his house.  She didn't know if she loved him (meaning she probably doesn't) so that was probably an awkward conversation it might be fun to see snippets of.

[readster]

On 11/16/2017 at 11:37 PM, Snarklepuss said:

I think it would have made more sense if she amped up the desperation to escape from all the drama and craziness going on in her house, but to expect two girlfriends to ditch their own Thanksgivings to meet outside a closed coffee shop is IMO stretching it just a little too far.

Despite that, I thought this was one of the best (if not the best) episode yet.  It brought a tear to my eye and that's kind of rare for me from TV shows these days.  They managed to go deeper than a lot of sitcoms I've watched.  I especially liked the sub plot with Spencer and Oliver even if Katy's mother is now pursuing Spencer for his money (which he probably knows about but doesn't care).  The shock of Greg's Dad's dual life is pretty horrible.  Equally horrible is that his wife stays with him anyway!  He reminded me of Leonard's mom on "Big Bang Theory" with the way he belittled his son. 

My only Connecticut nitpick is that Thanksgiving here is usually in the 40s or 50s, not light sweater weather, but given the crazy warm fall we had I suppose anything is possible!

Mrs. Readster and I were saying the same, looked odd for them to be out of the coffee house on Thanksgiving when it was closed. Even if they would have said: "Yeah, thanks for this, I only can take my aunt so long at Thanksgiving." Would have helped a bit. It took me a minute to recognize Julia Duffy before my wife said: "Isn't that what's her name from Newhart?"

[tribeca]

I really like the cast of this show.  Kate seems to be getting meanier every episode.  

I do wonder how many kids were told they could not hand in their movie and instead get an F.   Some secrets just need to stay in the family.  

[Big Mother]

This is my favorite sitcom this season. I love this quirky family. lol.

and it's always a treat to see Wendy!

[galaxychaser]

I thought the husband name was Craig! I love the pig.  Good episode.