S04.E08: Not Appropriate for Miners

[nodorothyparker]

Todd seeks parenting advice from Tandy when he notices Jasper is acting reckless.  Carol and Erica realize that Jasper may be the only potential suitor for their babies and begin vying for his attention.

[Galileo908]

Carol has gone full bananas, it's so odd to see Tandy be the voice of reason here. He's right: As much as he wants the kids to be happy, there's literally no one else around. As far as we know. They really are made for each other.

Also weird to see Melissa be the sane one here.

And so Fred Armisen joins the cast. I really hope he sticks around, but since he's doing about a half dozen other things at the same time, it doesn't seem likely. But really, I feel like this show has its wheels spinning in place, hopefully Fred's a shot in the arm for this show.

Also, this is the last episode until January.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Galileo908

[GRChereck]

Carol's jealous / petty side has been coming out an awful lot lately -- after Pamela kidnapped Tandy, when she and Tandy wanted to live in a hospital and the rest of the group didn't, and since she finally became a mother she's had two episodes in a row where she put herself and her babies in competition with Erica and Dawn (first for Gail's attention, then for Jasper's). That's like half of the 8 episodes we've had so far this season; as much as I still love her relationship with Tandy, on her own she's kinda getting on my nerves and I hope the writers start varying her stories a bit more. :\

Still, I had to chuckle at Gail and Erica's talk of not getting "Caroled out" or "sucked in" to her crazy, as well as the 'Say Anything' boombox-scene parody. Plus, I always like Tandy and Todd together (the onetime  "bacon brothers"); the scene where Tandy went overboard with showing Todd how to discipline Jasper reminded me of the sort of stuff Forte used to do on 'Tim & Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job' (especially the screaming in the Will Grello bits). xD 

Also, I thought it was especially sweet that Jasper ended up turning to Melissa and opening up to her, consider he was the one she bonded with when she was first coming out of her mental-illness / medication haze (at the end of 3x15). And since she's the only character who's never really shown interest in raising children, I thought it fitting that she was best able to simply listen to him as a fellow human being (rather than treat him like a child), understand his situation and figure out how the others should try to deal with him. :)

Looking forward to the backstory on Fred's character...

Edited December 4, 2017 by GRChereck

[ottoDbusdriver]

Have we seen that limousine before this episode ? If not, how would Jasper know anything about cars ?  
Did he just find that limousine and charge up the battery, fuel it up, inflate the tires and learn how to drive from nobody ? 

This Todd-Jasper nonsense is just painful to watch.  Would Jasper even know what a miner is ?  Or what a minor is ?

I'm sorry, but poptarts in a casserole is too stupid even for this show -- and this show is the show where Carol invented raisinballs to replace meatballs.

I wouldn't let Jasper anywhere near babies unsupervised since he apparently is going through a 'blowing shit up' phase, and also gave the babies stuffed animals that might have fireworks in them.

Yet another Carol is 'petty and jealous of someone else' episode -- FFS !  Is that going to be a weekly thing ?

Have they even bothered to test Jasper to see what his language level he is at ?  Considering he was alone for several years, most of the formative years, he probably only has a limited voacbulary since he's probably never been to school beyond Kindergarten/Grade 1 (maybe ?).  And no one bothered to ask where he got the fireworks from ?

Friendship kiss ?  Have Todd and Tandy ever done that before ?  Tandy seemed to savor it just a little too much.

Jasper is probably hiding in the house next door -- so why are they out driving around in the freaking desert miles from the house ?
And where are they getting all this non-chunky style gasoline from ?

Still no follow-up about the bomb. Though Melissa was playing with the Rubik's cube that might be the detonator (but probably isn't).

Edited December 4, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[Phishbulb]

12 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Also, this is the last episode until January.

It looks like the show comes back for 2 episodes in January and then the tenth episode is the "Winter Finale". Huh?

I guess it's going off the air for a few months, but I can't tell what's going in its place, or when it will return. 

[GRChereck]

1 hour ago, Phishbulb said:

I guess it's going off the air for a few months, but I can't tell what's going in its place, or when it will return.

It usually comes back in March, the first Sunday after the Oscars. :) I'm guessing they'll have new episodes of 'Bob's Burgers' to put in the post-FG slot (since football often prevents it from airing in its usual pre-'Simpsons' slot).

[peeayebee]

15 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Did he just find that limousine and charge up the battery, fuel it up, inflate the tires and learn how to drive from nobody ? 

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Tandy once let Jasper drive a police car? In any case, I'm averse to reality-checking this show. Chunky gas, whatever. Flat tires, meh. Also, I can imagine Jasper observing Tandy or whomever driving and then trying it out by himself.

 

Quote

I'm sorry, but poptarts in a casserole is too stupid even for this show -- and this show is the show where Carol invented raisinballs to replace meatballs.

I think it's gross, but I don't think it's THAT stupid for a comedy show. Carol is desperate to impress Jasper, and she thinks he would love all his favorite foods together. I was a little surprised that Jasper didn't, because so many kids do make gross combinations of favorite foods.

 

Quote

Friendship kiss ?  Have Todd and Tandy ever done that before ?  Tandy seemed to savor it just a little too much.

Yeah, he did. He also did the same thing (smelling his hand) after slapping Todd on the butt. I have no idea if this is a just a weird little throwaway joke or if it's leading to something else.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that what made me laugh the loudest in this ep was at the end of Tandy's disciplinarian rant to Todd when he said, "And I will poo you out." That and the bit about drinking the dust of his bones (I think it was) reminded me of Daniel Day Lewis's milkshake speech in There Will Be Blood.

I agree that the show seems to be spinning its wheels. I want it to get great again.

I love Fred Armisten, and I hope he adds some funny stuff next time.

[ottoDbusdriver]

20 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I love Fred Armisten, and I hope he adds some funny stuff next time.

My expectations are pretty low after they wasted Kristen Wiig and Chris Elliott.

[possibilities]

I'm dreading Armisan.

Jaspar survived on his own for years, at a very young age. I think it's crazy to suddenly expect him to submit to rageful discipline from Todd or anyone else. I'm sure it looks really scary and random to him. Todd might talk with him about things, and try to develop a rapport that leads him to make different choices. But to just suddenly start trying to control him is the wrong approach. It's a wonder the kid didn't die of fear, despair, or just lack of skills, when he was coping solo. He deserves all the respect and kindness possible.

I think the kid who plays him is a good actor. He conveys a lot with hardly any dialogue or even much physical acting out. The look he gave Melissa, kind of a wince/crumple hybrid, was masterful. I felt so much in that moment.

[piequinn35]

Putting make up on the few days old babies was OTT stupid.