S05.E05: Poodle Fuzz and a Twinge of Jealousy

[paulvdb]

Quote

When an injury temporarily lands Bonnie in a wheelchair, Christy is forced to take over as building manager and makes a surprising discovery.

[jewel21]

This episode cracked me up. It was nice to see a softer side to Bonnie. Or at least to hear of it, heh. I like that Christie didn't fall for Bonnie's lie at the end.

Also, Christie apparently wanted Bonnie to pick up her waitress uniform at the dry cleaners. I guess that means she's still working at the restaurant. Too bad they got rid of the set and the cast.

[paulvdb]

I spent the whole episode waiting for a reveal that the tenants just told Christy about Bonnie to trick her into doing things for them, but that never happened. So I guess we are supposed to believe that Bonnie really did all those things for them.

[AnimeMania]

It might be easier to do stuff for the tenants than it is to fix stuff. You want to stay on their good side.

[Sarah 103]

8 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I spent the whole episode waiting for a reveal that the tenants just told Christy about Bonnie to trick her into doing things for them, but that never happened. So I guess we are supposed to believe that Bonnie really did all those things for them.

That would have been fantastic! The tasks could have escalated over the course of the episode as the tenants talked to each other. Christy would have been happy to find out she wasn't going crazy and that her mother is the person Christy thinks she is. 

[iMonrey]

I really didn't get the point of this episode. So, Bonnie is secretly doing nice things for people and has moments of self-awareness. Yet she's still milking her injury for all it's worth and trying to extend it so people will keep waiting on her and doing her work. What's the show trying to tell me? She's not 100% awful? I think it's highly more likely that the tenants were taking advantage of Christy by lying about stuff they say Bonnie usually does for them so Christy will do those things.

I did get a kick out of Jill watching Christy eating a muffin over Skype. I'm guessing once Jamie Pressley's maternity leave is over, she'll come back thin again, because of this spa she's at.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I did get a kick out of Jill watching Christy eating a muffin over Skype. I'm guessing once Jamie Pressley's maternity leave is over, she'll come back thin again, because of this spa she's at.

That was hilarious!

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I really didn't get the point of this episode. So, Bonnie is secretly doing nice things for people and has moments of self-awareness. Yet she's still milking her injury for all it's worth and trying to extend it so people will keep waiting on her and doing her work. What's the show trying to tell me? She's not 100% awful? I think it's highly more likely that the tenants were taking advantage of Christy by lying about stuff they say Bonnie usually does for them so Christy will do those things.

I thought maybe the moral of the story is supposed to be that Bonnie is a complex human being full of contradictions? But of course the tenants could have also been lying. That plot didn't really work for me.

I just realized that in the new opening credits Wendy is wearing scrubs as she's being handcuffed, which probably means she stole narcotics from the hospital she worked at and was arrested there. Wouldn't that be a career-ending offense for a nurse? But we know that she works as a nurse currently, so apparently a hospital hired her despite her record. How realistic is that? 

[bichonblitz]

37 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I just realized that in the new opening credits Wendy is wearing scrubs as she's being handcuffed, which probably means she stole narcotics from the hospital she worked at and was arrested there. Wouldn't that be a career-ending offense for a nurse?

Eh, It wasn't for Nurse Jackie. 

[sugarbaker design]

Wendy's picture doesn't even hint at her criminal offense, it just tells the viewer that when Wendy got arrested she was wearing scrubs.  

Now that we're on the subject of the opening credits, Marjorie's pic is my favorite!

[illdoc]

I laughed more than I probably should have at the "Now we're back at Matlock in Spanish", since we have a Spanish station we pop in on and watch parts of (no English subtitles) and try to guess which episode is showing. No "Spanish Matlock", but we are quite fond of "Buffy le cazavampiros"!

[Red Bridey]

I would love to see Buffy en espagnol!

[iMonrey]

Quote

I just realized that in the new opening credits Wendy is wearing scrubs as she's being handcuffed, which probably means she stole narcotics from the hospital she worked at and was arrested there.

I wouldn't read anything into the photos. It used to be just Christy in various stages of drunkenness. Since they've added Bonnie, Marjorie, Jill and Wendy they've attempted to emulate the "worst possible moment" poses for each of them. 

[Maharincess]

14 hours ago, chocolatine said:

That was hilarious!

I thought maybe the moral of the story is supposed to be that Bonnie is a complex human being full of contradictions? But of course the tenants could have also been lying. That plot didn't really work for me.

I just realized that in the new opening credits Wendy is wearing scrubs as she's being handcuffed, which probably means she stole narcotics from the hospital she worked at and was arrested there. Wouldn't that be a career-ending offense for a nurse? But we know that she works as a nurse currently, so apparently a hospital hired her despite her record. How realistic is that? 

But it's a sitcom. If I wanted realistic stuff I'd watch a documentary. I don't like to nitpick shows like this because I don't want them to be super realistic. I watch TV to escape for a while so I don't want to always watch things that are exactly like real life. 

[MaryMitch]

8 hours ago, Maharincess said:

But it's a sitcom. If I wanted realistic stuff I'd watch a documentary. I don't like to nitpick shows like this because I don't want them to be super realistic. I watch TV to escape for a while so I don't want to always watch things that are exactly like real life. 

I agree with this, but it's funny how different things bug different people. For example, whenever someone is "driving" and they turn their head to have a conversation, I immediately think "Eyes on the road! You'll hit something!"

[bichonblitz]

4 minutes ago, MaryMitch said:

I agree with this, but it's funny how different things bug different people. For example, whenever someone is "driving" and they turn their head to have a conversation, I immediately think "Eyes on the road! You'll hit something!"

Add to that when people are driving and take their hands completely off the wheel, start waving them around,  and turn their heads to talk. I can never understand why the directors don't tell them not to do that, it shows how fake the driving scene is. 

[wendyg]

The muffin thing reminded me a lot of Howard in space on The Big Bang Theory begging Bernadette to drop a pencil so he could watch gravity in action because he missed it so much. I'd say that's a perfectly good reuse of a joke.

Re driving: best TV driving ever has to be Melora Hardin in season 1 of Transparent. Apparently there was a very expensive camera mounted to each side of the car.

[TigerLynx]

On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 1:38 AM, paulvdb said:

I spent the whole episode waiting for a reveal that the tenants just told Christy about Bonnie to trick her into doing things for them, but that never happened. So I guess we are supposed to believe that Bonnie really did all those things for them.

 

On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 3:22 AM, AnimeMania said:

It might be easier to do stuff for the tenants than it is to fix stuff. You want to stay on their good side.

I like both of these ideas.

I was wondering if Christy and Bonnie are both so used to their dynamic that after 40 years even if they changed, the way they deal with each other doesn't.  So Bonnie can be different with the way she acts towards other people, but resets to default when she's with Christy.  However, the ending pretty much showed Bonnie can still be a jerk to everyone.  She was lying to both Adam and Christy about still being injured.

I don't know how it would have worked, but I wish both Kevin Pollock and William Fichtner had been on the show at the same time.  I love their dry delivery of comments.

"My granddaughter is a real treat."  "Because we hadn't had sex yet, and I'm not stupid."

[theatremouse]

My bigger problem is apparently after Bonnie injured both legs Christy (and presumably Marjorie or one of the others, off camera) took the time to move the couch 90 degrees to facilitate that scene of two wheelchairs watching television.

[MissLucas]

I guess the fact that Bonnie is actually doing nice things for the tenants explains why she's still holding her job. And as horrible as she often is she has behaved decent on occasion so I did not find that OOC. Also this is a Chuck Lorre show - jerk characters having small moments of redemption and then sliding right back into jerk-land is par for the course (s. The Big Bang Theory).

The scene where Adam explains to Bonnie how she embarrassed him was fantastic - that's why I appreciate Fichtner on this show.

[Tosia]

On 12/1/2017 at 10:29 AM, chocolatine said:

That was hilarious!

I thought maybe the moral of the story is supposed to be that Bonnie is a complex human being full of contradictions? But of course the tenants could have also been lying. That plot didn't really work for me.

I just realized that in the new opening credits Wendy is wearing scrubs as she's being handcuffed, which probably means she stole narcotics from the hospital she worked at and was arrested there. Wouldn't that be a career-ending offense for a nurse? But we know that she works as a nurse currently, so apparently a hospital hired her despite her record. How realistic is that? 

I like Wendy alot cuz she serms nice and normal, and not super smartass about cracking jokes.

My SIL was an R.N. and stole drugs when she was addicted. She's been sober for approx. 10-15 years now. She lives in a very southern state where they needed nursing staff desperately.   SIL was fired and her license suspended for a few years. She could only get low jobs at nursing homes,   so she went back to school for a counseling M.A.  She got back into a regular hospital about three years ago,  but was fired for arguing with a doctor over patient care. Now that I think about it,  she's kinda  like Bonnie--know-it-all,  forceful personality, dissatisfied with life, narcississtic,  but can be very sweet sometimes.  

My MIL  was an R.N. and always talked about how much more she knew than the drs.  Apple doesn't fall far from the tree in-laws. 

Edited December 3, 2017 by Tosia
Annoying family traits that hubby exhibits sometimes but we live far away from them. .

[msrachelj]

On 12/2/2017 at 10:41 AM, MaryMitch said:

I agree with this, but it's funny how different things bug different people. For example, whenever someone is "driving" and they turn their head to have a conversation, I immediately think "Eyes on the road! You'll hit something!"

yes, there's no way these drivers don't get into more accidents. it's scary how very little time it takes to swerve off the road. this drives me crazy.

[Judi Sunshine]

Quote

Also this is a Chuck Lorre show - jerk characters having small moments of redemption and then sliding right back into jerk-land is par for the course

 

One of the most prime examples of this to me is the ep in "Free Therapy and a Dead Lady's Yard Sale." The snark in the ep is mainly contained to the first half, but/so is IMO one of the most heartwarming, family-centered eps of the show. The part from when Bonnie tells Violet the truth about her dad and Christy so quietly just leaves the office, to ALMOST the very end. I'm sobbing, then Christy spits on a GRAVE, and then implies to his widow that he did something horrible! The speed with which she goes from sympathetic to "jerk-land" is breathtaking!

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by Judi Sunshine

[Gothish520]

On 12/2/2017 at 10:47 AM, bichonblitz said:

Add to that when people are driving and take their hands completely off the wheel, start waving them around,  and turn their heads to talk. I can never understand why the directors don't tell them not to do that, it shows how fake the driving scene is. 

Not that fake - my father used to drive my mother crazy because he would do the same thing, turn his head around to talk to the people in the back seat while driving - nearly gave her a heart attack several times!