S03.E08: Nathaniel Needs My Help!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Rebecca wonders if history is repeating itself as Darryl embraces a newfound superpower and Paula schemes again, this time for good.

Promo:

[beadgirl]

So the titles now have someone other than Josh's name in them. I wonder if the sign that Rebecca is finally in a healthy, content place is when the titles don't refer to men at all.

[Spartan Girl]

Mrs. Chan singing "Get Your Ass Out of My House" complete with mic drop for the win!!

Oy, Rebecca. One step forward and two steps back. But hey, at least she's able to notice that she's repeating her old patterns.

I did like how Josh went over to see Rebecca and finally owned up to him being a coward. Maybe there is hope for him yet. I still want to know what the moron did with the puppy though.

I didn't think any song could top "Very First Penis I Saw" in TMI, but Darryl's "My Sperm is Nice and Healthy" managed to do that. ??????

[Rinaldo]

On 1/1/2018 at 6:39 PM, beadgirl said:

So the titles now have someone other than Josh's name in them. I wonder if the sign that Rebecca is finally in a healthy, content place is when the titles don't refer to men at all.

Could be. Also, the exclamation point made its reappearance this week, as she slid back into some old unhealthy patterns.

11 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Mrs. Chan singing "Get Your Ass Out of My House" complete with mic drop for the win!!

Good Lord, I was giggling so hard at that one. Song of the week for me, if not several weeks. When it shows up separately on YouTube, I'm tempted to send a link to my brother, if I could be sure he'd find it funny and not painfully on-the-nose. (He has two sons in their 20s, both smart college grads, who are still living in the family house with no apparent eagerness to get jobs or move anywhere else.) Bravo, Amy Hill!

[Mockingbird]

Does anyone else now just watch all of Rebecca's scenes quietly going "Noooooooooooooooooooo" the entire time? 

I do appreciate that the show is committed to showing Rebecca's therapy. I don't appreciate Rebecca threatening to commit suicide if George didn't do what she wanted. It's not out of character for her to be absurdly manipulative, but please don't do that again, show. 

The songs this week were fun, and earnest, motivated Darryl is my favorite Darryl. His face when the egg wasn't fertilized was heartbreaking.

[HunterHunted]

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Mrs. Chan singing "Get Your Ass Out of My House" complete with mic drop for the win!!

Best song in a long while. I wish more people watched this show because "Get Your Ass Out of My House" could go viral with parents.

Quote

Oy, Rebecca. One step forward and two steps back. But hey, at least she's able to notice that she's repeating her old patterns.

I did like how Josh went over to see Rebecca and finally owned up to him being a coward. Maybe there is hope for him yet. I still want to know what the moron did with the puppy though.

I loved that the show had the sense to have Rebecca use the exact same lines for Josh and Nathaniel. And I'm glad that Rebecca noticed that she's repeating her patterns. I appreciated them showing her therapy group and that most of the members had anosognosia, which is not atypical with mental illness. I don't appreciate how Rebecca got George to participate in her caper, but it was good to have someone along who isn't so codependent and an enabler.... cough ... Paula ...cough.

I really liked Josh realizing that being with Rebecca forced him to grow and change.

Edited January 6, 2018 by HunterHunted

[possibilities]

Was Darryl using a surrogate after the fertilization? I missed that part of the plan.

[Irlandesa]

22 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Was Darryl using a surrogate after the fertilization? I missed that part of the plan.

Yes. They mentioned a surrogate was ready after the fertilization. I wonder if Paula or Rebecca will end up being the egg donor. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Get Your Ass Out of My House:

My Sperm Is Healthy:

[Roccos Brother]

Aww, Lourdes was pretty harsh towards Josh, although the song lyrics were hilarious. She really did a 180 compared to when she was so excited to have Josh back home, possibly forever (in typical Asian parents fashion). I'm sure I'm in the minority but as someone who is also feeling lost in life, I actually identify with aspects of both Josh's and Rebecca's plights, and find them both to be sympathetic characters. 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Roccos Brother

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I can't blame Lourdes for kicking Josh's ass out of the house. His attitude is usually one of complacency so I doubt he would have been motivated or ambitious enough to get himself another job if he were allowed to keep living at home rent free indefinitely.

Yes, I know there are people out there who move back in with their parents out of necessity and they have my sympathy, but I don't think Josh is really one of those people. Let's look at Josh's past work experience that we know of: when he got back from New York, he wasn't working at all until his dad gave him a job at the radiation lab, which he then quit when Rebecca got him a job at Aloha. When he was on probation from Aloha, the manager at Home Base gave him a job without Josh even asking. So the three jobs that we know he has definitely had over three seasons were all handed to him. Given that pattern, he would have just sat on his ass waiting for someone else to offer him a job if his mom hadn't kicked him out.

The thing is that Josh isn't lazy. He isn't afraid to work or learn new things (as we saw with the flair bartending and when he stayed up all night to assemble a table for Valencia as a housewarming present  ). He has the willingness to put in the effort once he has something specific to do, but he doesn't really have the ambition to seek out a new job (partly because he doesn't know what he wants to do). I hope that Lourdes kicking him out of the house will finally motivate him to find a new job because right now it seems like he's just floundering.

As much as I understand Lourdes kicking him out, I have totally been in his position when trying to go through old stuff. I really WANT to get rid of unnecessary junk, but I always get caught up in the nostalgia of what I find. I don't have an old karaoke machine but if I did, I bet I would end up sitting on the floor in the middle of the night singing along with old songs from my youth!

Even though I did not like Rebecca threatening to kill herself, I did like that (1) she got someone besides Paula to help with her shenanigans and (2) that George very obviously did not want to help her at any point.

Poor Darryl! I think it's just a matter of time before Rebecca donates her eggs so he can have a baby. Darryl will be so excited that Rebecca will be part of his family!

[Bruinsfan]

Perhaps I'm an outlier, but I thought the sperm song was awful. Then again, I think I've hated every song featuring Darryl. (Love Pete Gardner, but I think his singing is Pierce Brosnan-esque and the composers seem to write cringeworthy songs to match.)

[marketdoctor]

Quote

Perhaps I'm an outlier, but I thought the sperm song was awful.

I didn't enjoy it (though I thought the backup dancer bit was clever.)  I thought it was too long for what it was trying to do.  I'm glad some people enjoyed it, though.

I did love the "get out of my house", including the random stock footage.  Josh seems like the kind of guy who would have had a machine, and then forgotten about it when online karaoke became easier.

[DianeDobbler]

Lourdes acted like Josh has lived with her for years, but he lived w/Valencia for awhile, and in the first season even thought it was lame that Hector lived with his mom. He resisted going back home and stayed the night at work once. So he has had his ass out of her house, and this is actually a transitional point for him. Not that I disagree w/Lourdes. Josh does need to grow up and living at home is not the way, because he'll just be lazy there and never deal.

If Rebecca no longer works at Whitefeather, how is she paying for private and group therapy? And rent? And everything else. Yes, she made lawyer money, but West Covina lawyer money, and it's been shown she spends her money as fast as it comes in.

This episode felt pretty forced to me. But, I did appreciate that Paula was up in Darryl's business instead of Rebecca's. I also enjoyed George and Rebecca. The actor who plays George was in a whole bunch of Rachel Bloom's youtube videos, and IMO the most talented of her youtube regulars. His line readings are great.

Both Mrs. Hernandez and Paula looked great in this episode.

The writing for Lourdes is brilliant. "Sorry. Those are not real problems." I LOL, and just when I was thinking, "Oh, that's really good acting from Vincent Rodriguez III!"

Edited January 6, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[Rinaldo]

47 minutes ago, DianeDobbler said:

Lourdes acted like Josh has lived with her for years, but he lived w/Valencia for awhile, and in the first season even thought it was lame that Hector lived with his mom. He resisted going back home and stayed the night at work once. So he has had his ass out of her house

He never moved all his "stuff" out though; the room was always there ready for him to return to. (As to his season-one attitude about Hector: there are none so disdainful of a living situation as those who've just moved out of it themselves; ever talk to someone who just bought their first house last month?)

[Dizzychickstar]

I liked the function of this episode. Again, showing the unhealthy and ruthless behaviors of Paula and Rebecca. Only this time, the impact and results of those behaviors are more immediate. 

I think Rebecca is showing some growth. And she doesn’t appear to be pretending with Nathaniel, but...as her therapist says, she’s still repeating old patterns. At least she is questioning and reflecting on her past  with both men. 

Love the scenes for Josh—that purgatory of what comes next is valid and I appreciate this take. While Lourdes’ song is funny, there’s a lot of truth there, and I’m glad that Josh appears to be readying himself for those next steps, as challenging as that may be. 

[dubbel zout]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The thing is that Josh isn't lazy. He isn't afraid to work or learn new things (as we saw with the flair bartending and when he stayed up all night to assemble a table for Valencia as a housewarming present  ). He has the willingness to put in the effort once he has something specific to do, but he doesn't really have the ambition to seek out a new job (partly because he doesn't know what he wants to do). I hope that Lourdes kicking him out of the house will finally motivate him to find a new job because right now it seems like he's just floundering.

Yeah, I think Josh always needs an outside push to take action. He's pretty complaisant. And as others have noted, there's no financial/health reason for him to be living at home.

3 hours ago, marketdoctor said:

Quote

Perhaps I'm an outlier, but I thought the sperm song was awful.

I didn't enjoy it (though I thought the backup dancer bit was clever.)  I thought it was too long for what it was trying to do.  I'm glad some people enjoyed it, though.

I didn't think the song was awful, but I also didn't think it was one of the stronger ones. I loved the backup dancers, both the office workers (Mrs. Hernandez: "Oh, Greg [or whatever], you too?" Hee) and the sperm.

I really like the therapy scenes and how they're showing Rebecca starting to recognize her patterns. 

[tennisgurl]

I saw instantly how Rebecca was repeating her mistakes with Josh with Nathaniel, and I am thrilled that Rebecca realized it. I especially loved Rebecca's expression when she realized what she was doing in her therapists office. As much as I surprisingly like the relationship between Rebecca and Nathaniel, she needs to not be in a relationship now. I also loved George as her sidekick and how, unlike Paula, he was totally aware of how messed up this was, and kept telling her. "This isn't going to go the way I think you think its going to go..."

The "Get Your Ass Out of My House" song was harsh, but hilarious. Lourdes and her karaoke bar for fed up parents was great, and if more people watched this show, it would go viral ASAP. The songs wasn't super great, but they were super funny, so it more or less evens out. 

I dont know why, but I laughed so hard when Rebecca saying something like "I know what your thinking, if shes depressed, why didn't she lose weight." 

Paula also had to learn a lesson about getting overly involved in peoples lives. Poor Darryl looked so heartbroken when his sperm didn't take, even if it was for the best. Really, it was a good episode for lots of characters figuring out how to fix their lives. Rebecca's cant obsess about her romances, Paula shouldn't spend her time meddling in her friends lives, and Josh needs to be more mature. Granted, I think they all have other problems to deal with as well, but its a good start. 

[txhorns79]

Quote

Paula also had to learn a lesson about getting overly involved in peoples lives. Poor Darryl looked so heartbroken when his sperm didn't take, even if it was for the best. Really, it was a good episode for lots of characters figuring out how to fix their lives. Rebecca's cant obsess about her romances, Paula shouldn't spend her time meddling in her friends lives, and Josh needs to be more mature. Granted, I think they all have other problems to deal with as well, but its a good start. 

I really don't care for Darryl's storyline.  I fully sympathize with someone who wants a child or a second child, but has difficulty having one, but I feel as though they are acting like Daryl has no children (even though they acknowledge his daughter), and they have not done a great job establishing why Darryl desperately wants a second child.  I feel like this more a storyline so they can justify having the actor around full time, than something that is natural to the ongoing story.   

[DianeDobbler]

Really good point about Josh not actually being lazy. On top of that, he has actual aptitude for a number of things - he's tech savvy, but also creative (social media savvy). He's got social savvy - remember in the first season when he knew exactly how to get Rebecca's party started. Then there's the athletic side that could translate into coaching - mixed martial arts and hip hop. I could see him working in media for a brand - or working in media for a school, college, or organization he was passionate about - promoting the sports events, cultural events, etc. He's definitely not corporate and obviously not suited for the lab his dad owns. 

I don't know if I especially buy Nathaniel wanting to be someone who cries and shows emotions. I do believe that a reserved,WASP type guy would be attracted to a dynamic, dramatic woman. I know a WASP dude who did the same thing - he was reserved himself but after feeling emotionally starved in one relationship he 180'd and married someone who was all drama. They had other things in common, but the drama part of their dynamic is probably the biggest stressor on the relationship, even though I'd describe it as successful (my brother has said he couldn't handle having his name called and said that many times a day).

I think they keep boxing Darryl in. The actor is good, but the choices they make to supposedly open up his storyline just box him in. His "Bi" song was great, but then they immediately put him in a committed relationship w/white Josh. I think there would have been more story in watching him date either as a straight man, or a bi man, and work out other things in his life - such as how he clings to his 1/66th Cherokee identity or whatever the percentage is, and maybe how he acquires some self-esteem. You want people's stories to be kind of fluid. Like Paula's. Paula's can go anywhere. They smartly broke "George" (a good actor) out of the one-note, tiresome thing of being the guy nobody remembered, to the guy who goes along to make things easier at work, and ends up as a hilarious sidekick, where he is a perfect fit and where his role can also go anywhere.  Even Josh's story is kind of fluid, since he's been established as talented but immature, and with a broad, generalized skill set. Nathaniel is in danger of being boxed in as the repressed guy who just wants to learn to feel his feelings, so every story seems like it's going to be pinned on that premise (and I thought the cliffhanger was lame).

Edited January 6, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[Rinaldo]

10 minutes ago, DianeDobbler said:

They had other things in common, but the drama part of their dynamic is probably the biggest stressor on the relationship, even though I'd describe it as successful (my brother has said he couldn't handle having his name called and said that many times a day).

That's the classic outcome of those "opposites attract" couples, isn't it? (Definitively filmed in The Way We Were -- again, uptight WASPy man, emotionally open Jewish woman.) They get together because each supplies something the other lacks, and that's the very thing that makes day-to-day living together hard for them to take much of the time.

[tennisgurl]

I feel bad, but I really don’t care for the Darryl wants a baby plot. It seems like to exist firstly to add drama to Darryl and White Joshes relationship, and then to give Darryl something new to do. Decent idea, but I don’t really buy it as something so important to him all of the sudden. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

I was kind of waiting for Nathaniel and his father's employee's daughter to consider the possibility that it did seem strange for the father to be so involved in her life if he wasn't actually her father and maybe they were siblings after all. The argument that he kept it secret so that no one else would expect to have their children's tuition paid for wasn't 100% convincing to me on its own.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The other reason I think it was good for Lourdes to kick Josh out is that aside from finding a job, he needs to mature a little more emotionally and living at home is not going to facilitate that. Have you ever noticed that when you go back home to visit your parents, you slip back into a younger version of yourself? Josh whining "Fluuuuuuuuuuux" was the perfect illustration of that.

I really liked that despite the fact that he and Rebecca were not in a good place with their relationship, he went to her place to thank her for always believing in him. It would be one thing if they were friends at that point, but if I remember correctly, the last time they really spoke to each other was when he told her to leave him and his family alone. I know he tried to come see her in the hospital and after she came home but he was stopped both times, so I think this is the first time they've really talked since all the post-wedding drama.

The fact that Rebecca was so nice (but in an appropriate way) and then told him there was something she had to do (rather than freaking out about the fact that JOSH CHAN was in her house thanking her or beginning to obsess about him again) was a big step forward. And I liked that this showed they can be good for each other - she believed in him which helped him realize that he could do more instead of being complacent in his life expectations, and their brief discussion made Rebecca realize that she had to do the right thing, even if that meant doing something hard that she didn't want to do.

[possibilities]

4 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I was kind of waiting for Nathaniel and his father's employee's daughter to consider the possibility that it did seem strange for the father to be so involved in her life if he wasn't actually her father and maybe they were siblings after all. The argument that he kept it secret so that no one else would expect to have their children's tuition paid for wasn't 100% convincing to me on its own.

Also, why would they meet and have him furtively get in her car? He could have taken a cab if he was so paranoid that he didn't want his own car to be seen, but seriously-- he doesn't have to tell 150 employees where he's going every minute anyway. It doesn't make sense.

[LisaM]

My Tivo cut off as Rebecca showed up at Nathaniel's door. Did she break up with him? 

[DianeDobbler]

LisaM, the episode ended there. It's a cliffhanger, although the previews for next week spoil the answer. 

I liked Rebecca repeating her Josh patterns with Nathaniel, but the mechanism - the boss, secretary, fake golf thing - was strained, as others note. I don't like when plot point is just jammed through. 

[mrsbagnet]

59 minutes ago, LisaM said:

My Tivo cut off as Rebecca showed up at Nathaniel's door. Did she break up with him? 

Not quite. She says, "I have to do something I've never done before," and the episode ended before she could continue. The preview does make it clear what happens, though.

Edited January 7, 2018 by mrsbagnet

[Iseut]

George and Rebecca are funny together, but it seemed weird that she would have him be her sidekick for this "project" rather than Paula.  I guess I could fanwank that she knew Paula might scold her for slipping into a familiar pattern with Nathaniel,  but obviously Paula wants her to be happy and still has that drive/compulsion for scheming and meddling.

It also seemed weird to me that Paula left Rebecca alone with her dad so much in the last episode. I get that she was distracted by Jeff,  but when a friend flies across country with you, you wouldn't just leave them on their own for hours at a time.

I don't know.  Rachel Bloom said that their budget gets really tight in the second half of the season, so maybe it was just too expensive to schedule the two actresses together in these episodes or something. 

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, Iseut said:

Rachel Bloom said that their budget gets really tight in the second half of the season, so maybe it was just too expensive to schedule the two actresses together in these episodes or something

If you’re a regular (which DLC is), you get paid the same rate per episode no matter how much or how little you’re in it. I think Paula being elsewhere was to parallel her involvement patterns with Rebecca’s.

[theatremouse]

Yeah, what this episode established (or perhaps reconfirmed) is that Paula getting into shenanigans was not inspired by Rebecca, nor only driven by Rebecca. Paula just does this shit. And chastised herself here, not for doing it, but for being off her game when she did it this time.

[DianeDobbler]

As I said before, I continue to be distracted by Rebecca's financial situation. She once told Paula that if she'd stayed in NYC, she'd have made something like 550k as a junior partner. This means she made less as a senior associate. It's a lot of money, but she can't have been raking in the mid-six figures for THAT long - she was only late 20s and a bit delayed on her career track due to her nervous breakdown, so maybe four years she was earning it? Spending a boatload on rent - that place she rented in NYC was about 3k a month at least - had to be. There's also our near-punitive city and state taxes. And no college or law school loans? How the hell does Naomi pay for all of it, how does Naomi support her own lifestyle, which includes a lot of expensive, elective cosmetic treatments?

At West Covina, highest earner in the firm or not, Rebecca is probably not making what she did as a senior associate in NYC, or even close, and she went broke. So anyway, I'm just curious about where her health care $$ is coming from since she's not working. Just as I've long been curious about her status as a "Jewish American Princess from Scarsdale" complete with neo Tudor childhood home, since there's no dad in the corporate or financial sector C-suite and mom doesn't work. Her dad has been shown as basically a grifter who had to fly economy back from Rebecca's non-wedding. How then, was that Scarsdale lifestyle sustained, Harvard and Yale paid for, a sanitarium with sweeping lawns and uniformed nurses paid for, and her mother's (whom Audra Levine implied was sixty - pre-social security age) stay at home status paid for? I think a couple of throw away lines explaining it would go a long way. The one thing you'd think a mother/daughter deserted early by a n'er do well dad would worry about is money, but they never do.  Just show us that there are grandparents somewhere, that Naomi was left a boatload by her parents, and it would all be good.

Edited January 8, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[Spartan Girl]

23 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The other reason I think it was good for Lourdes to kick Josh out is that aside from finding a job, he needs to mature a little more emotionally and living at home is not going to facilitate that. Have you ever noticed that when you go back home to visit your parents, you slip back into a younger version of yourself? Josh whining "Fluuuuuuuuuuux" was the perfect illustration of that.

I really liked that despite the fact that he and Rebecca were not in a good place with their relationship, he went to her place to thank her for always believing in him. It would be one thing if they were friends at that point, but if I remember correctly, the last time they really spoke to each other was when he told her to leave him and his family alone. I know he tried to come see her in the hospital and after she came home but he was stopped both times, so I think this is the first time they've really talked since all the post-wedding drama.

The fact that Rebecca was so nice (but in an appropriate way) and then told him there was something she had to do (rather than freaking out about the fact that JOSH CHAN was in her house thanking her or beginning to obsess about him again) was a big step forward. And I liked that this showed they can be good for each other - she believed in him which helped him realize that he could do more instead of being complacent in his life expectations, and their brief discussion made Rebecca realize that she had to do the right thing, even if that meant doing something hard that she didn't want to do.

Was pleasantly surprised by that too. Before they made it look like he was blaming her for "ruining" him and was moping over how she supposedly never cared about him in the first place. I just rolled my eyes and was all, "Dude, you didn't love her either, that's why you left her at the altar!" I was all set to bash him for it until he showed up at Rebecca's to thank her.

[possibilities]

Social Security wouldn't make even a tiny dent in paying for that house Naomi lives in, nevermind her lifestyle. But I agree with everything else you said there, DianeDobbler!

[dubbel zout]

Is Rebecca on leave from the law firm or did she outright quit?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved all of Darryl's off the wall baby names and Paula shooting them down.

[Bruinsfan]

On 1/6/2018 at 7:19 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

I was kind of waiting for Nathaniel and his father's employee's daughter to consider the possibility that it did seem strange for the father to be so involved in her life if he wasn't actually her father and maybe they were siblings after all. The argument that he kept it secret so that no one else would expect to have their children's tuition paid for wasn't 100% convincing to me on its own.

It would not surprise me at all if Rebecca's suspicions about that situation turn out to be true later on. I can see a Daddy Warbucks type valuing his lifelong secretary enough to fund her kid's education, but the cloak and dagger stuff doesn't fit the character's whole I-do-whatever-I-want-and-answer-to-no-one vibe. Plus, he appears to be more involved in said girl's life than that of his own son.

[DianeDobbler]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

Social Security wouldn't make even a tiny dent in paying for that house Naomi lives in, nevermind her lifestyle. But I agree with everything else you said there, DianeDobbler!

Yes. I only mentioned social security because in the universe of the show, Naomi isn't even old enough for that, so what is she living on? CEG shouldn't be trying to have it both ways - locate Rebecca as the product of the very specific world of the privileged Westchester "JAP" (a lifestyle that included a high priced camp every summer) but also make her the daughter of a feckless father who deserted the family when Rebecca was a child and has clearly made no contribution, financial or emotional, since. It makes no sense that Naomi was able to raise Rebecca in that environment with no means of support.

11 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Is Rebecca on leave from the law firm or did she outright quit?

She resigned.

Edited January 8, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[sweetcookieface]

On 1/7/2018 at 8:21 PM, DianeDobbler said:

As I said before, I continue to be distracted by Rebecca's financial situation. She once told Paula that if she'd stayed in NYC, she'd have made something like 550k as a junior partner. This means she made less as a senior associate. It's a lot of money, but she can't have been raking in the mid-six figures for THAT long - she was only late 20s and a bit delayed on her career track due to her nervous breakdown, so maybe four years she was earning it? Spending a boatload on rent - that place she rented in NYC was about 3k a month at least - had to be. There's also our near-punitive city and state taxes. And no college or law school loans? How the hell does Naomi pay for all of it, how does Naomi support her own lifestyle, which includes a lot of expensive, elective cosmetic treatments?

At West Covina, highest earner in the firm or not, Rebecca is probably not making what she did as a senior associate in NYC, or even close, and she went broke. So anyway, I'm just curious about where her health care $$ is coming from since she's not working. Just as I've long been curious about her status as a "Jewish American Princess from Scarsdale" complete with neo Tudor childhood home, since there's no dad in the corporate or financial sector C-suite and mom doesn't work. Her dad has been shown as basically a grifter who had to fly economy back from Rebecca's non-wedding. How then, was that Scarsdale lifestyle sustained, Harvard and Yale paid for, a sanitarium with sweeping lawns and uniformed nurses paid for, and her mother's (whom Audra Levine implied was sixty - pre-social security age) stay at home status paid for? I think a couple of throw away lines explaining it would go a long way. The one thing you'd think a mother/daughter deserted early by a n'er do well dad would worry about is money, but they never do.  Just show us that there are grandparents somewhere, that Naomi was left a boatload by her parents, and it would all be good.

I've given up on trying to make sense of any of the law-related plots on this show. I'm a lawyer with a similar background as Rebecca (went to a top law school and went on to work in Big Law in NY). If I remember correctly, she was 26 or 27 when the show started, so assuming she went straight through to law school after college, she would have been at most a third or fourth year associate at the start of the series (and possibly just a second year). It's incredibly rare to be promoted to Partner that early in one's career (I'd say seventh to tenth year is more common). But even if I buy that she was some wunderkind who made Partner years ahead of schedule, she wouldn't have been making mid six figures leading up to that. Starting salaries at the top NY law firms were only recently raised to 180K, so at most Rebecca would have been making in the 200s a couple of years in. But I accept that the show isn't striving for realism in how it depicts the legal profession. For what it's worth, I could definitely relate to the misery/anxiety Rebecca felt at her old law firm, so that's one thing they got right!

[dubbel zout]

Thanks, @DianeDobbler.

[DianeDobbler]

:) @dubbelzout.

sweetcookieface, and we're not even calculating her presumed educational and career break spent in a sanitarium medicated up to the gills. That would slow down her timeline.

Another thing you might relate to - one of the things the partners told her when they gave her the promotion was she was the hardest working associate they'd ever seen. That's not the metric used for partnership!

Anyway, the law stuff I guess we just have to roll with, but her JAP credentials coupled with a n'er do well dad and a non-working mom do not scan at all. You can't do the Scarsdale life without boatloads of alimony, a big settlement, and child support rolling in. They didn't bother making those two things match. 

Edited January 9, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[dubbel zout]

I don't really care about the financial discrepancies. I get why it annoys people, though, since the show has prominently mentioned Rebecca's money problems more than once. It would be nice if the show made some gesture toward mental-health treatments being expensive and undersupported by insurance and as any sort of general health priority. 

[AllyB]

2 hours ago, DianeDobbler said:

Anyway, the law stuff I guess we just have to roll with, but her JAP credentials coupled with a n'er do well dad and a non-working mom do not scan at all. You can't do the Scarsdale life without boatloads of alimony, a big settlement, and child support rolling in. They didn't bother making those two things match. 

I've always assumed that Naomi had a great trust fund as a young woman and that she has since inherited more (as we haven't seen her parents afair, so I assume they're dead). And perhaps her ex husband was something of a gold-digger but Naomi's parents controlled her fortune in a way that protected her. 

Edited January 9, 2018 by AllyB

[aradia22]

I don't know why I thought they recast Nathaniel's dad. For some reason I thought it was Corbin Bernsen or at least someone who looked like him.

At some point I think the show needs to address Rebecca's financial and employment situation. 

The shirt reveal and Dr. Shin's reaction gave me all the giggles.

Paula's combined skill at catalog shopping and judging people was hilarious. "Crooked nose, snaggletooth, from Nevada, weird mole, dumb scarf, likes cats, dimple on one side, clearly drunk, no chin, sloping chin, three chins, vegetarian" 

I was going to comment on how weirdless hairless Nathaniel is but then I noticed the lightest dusting of hair on his chest. So I'm guess he just shaves or waxes.

Nathaniel's an only child? Why did I think that he had an older brother?

"Shut up. Just meet me in the bathroom now." "Ladies? Mens? What's happening?" Best reaction.

Oh, Rebecca threatening George was so wrong. But so funny.

I can't wait to learn more about Lana, Clarisse, Bert, and Rick. Is Rick going to be the new George?

Solid songwriting in Daryl's song. I could have done without Mrs. Hernandez. Making her a sourpuss was not a good choice. I just hate her. Even with only tiny bursts of screentime. She's awful.

So... are any of the people who sing in fantasy sequences able to sing in real life? By which I mean in the show? So far we've seen that Rebecca and Josh can't actually sing.

Wasn't Josh living with Valencia and then with Rebecca? He hasn't been staying with his parents that long has he? I lose sense of time with this show.

I didn't need the complication of the evil egg donor.

I liked that Nathaniel didn't immediately freak out and break up with Rebecca. Like, my little shipper heart got way too excited. But I also think they might have a level of dysfunction that works vs. every time Rebecca had to try to hide her crazy from other people. Kind of like with Greg who had a full grasp of her good and bad qualities... except Greg needed a healthier relationship and he bailed. Their talk at the end also made me realize that Rebecca also has a gift for drawing people out and making them feel good about themselves. 

I really don't have faith in Rebecca not doing something like that again. I think it's too much a part of her character, at least this early into group therapy, and also the show has too much fun with it.

I loved Rebecca's basically one-sided conversation with Dr. Shin and his nonverbal reactions.

Daryl's baby name choices are so bad. SO bad.

Oh, no. She's totally going to break up with him. I was having so much fun...

[aradia22]

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Really good point about Josh not actually being lazy. On top of that, he has actual aptitude for a number of things - he's tech savvy, but also creative (social media savvy). He's got social savvy - remember in the first season when he knew exactly how to get Rebecca's party started. Then there's the athletic side that could translate into coaching - mixed martial arts and hip hop. I could see him working in media for a brand - or working in media for a school, college, or organization he was passionate about - promoting the sports events, cultural events, etc. He's definitely not corporate and obviously not suited for the lab his dad owns. 

When he met Rebecca in NY, wasn't he giving up on trying to be an actor? I think a good fit for him would be to actually go out to Hollywood and be some kind of social media manager (i.e. the person who runs a celebrity's or brand's twitter or instagram account). He also seems like he would be good with youth groups whether that's with dance or sports or whatever. He basically needs to be a camp counselor without having to be much of a teacher. I can see him working well in some kind of a non-profit or charity that worked on afterschool programs and that sort of thing. I do think they've been dumbing him down a bit too much lately. 

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I was kind of waiting for Nathaniel and his father's employee's daughter to consider the possibility that it did seem strange for the father to be so involved in her life if he wasn't actually her father and maybe they were siblings after all. The argument that he kept it secret so that no one else would expect to have their children's tuition paid for wasn't 100% convincing to me on its own.

I did think they looked similar enough for me to buy that but I don't think the show wanted to waste time on that. It was just an excuse for Rebecca to exhibit some crazy behavior. Then again, I have been reading a bunch of cheesy romance novels lately that are all about leading set ups for dumb misunderstandings. Like, oh, no, this guy is being so irrational and jealous. Except this book has been all about putting the female protagonist in suspicious situations that would make him jealous and having a romantic rival flat out lie to him to make him super jealous. 

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Just show us that there are grandparents somewhere, that Naomi was left a boatload by her parents, and it would all be good.

I agree with everything you said. I think all we know about Rebecca background beyond her parents is the Garfinkel ring, right? As far as I remember, there's nothing else one way or the other that explains the family background or financial situation. I think we may have gotten hints of Naomi struggling but that might have been relatively speaking and they certainly weren't struggling enough for her to move out of that house or neighborhood. Taxes are insane in Scarsdale. Rebecca has mentioned higher education but I don't recall anything hinting at a lot of wealth beyond that. If they were obscenely wealthy you'd think there might be a more valuable family heirloom. 

My sense is that Robert and her stay in the sanitarium weren't planned too far in advance and so that slowing down her education/career track makes sense but probably wasn't intended when the creators started the story. But I do think we learned about Rebecca's dad and her Scarsdale background fairly early so it's weird that those two things seem incompatible. It's not like they had to suddenly swerve into incorporating some new aspect of the character and that's why the two pieces of information are hard to reconcile. 

[DianeDobbler]

On 1/11/2018 at 0:53 AM, aradia22 said:

When he met Rebecca in NY, wasn't he giving up on trying to be an actor? I think a good fit for him would be to actually go out to Hollywood and be some kind of social media manager (i.e. the person who runs a celebrity's or brand's twitter or instagram account). He also seems like he would be good with youth groups whether that's with dance or sports or whatever. He basically needs to be a camp counselor without having to be much of a teacher. I can see him working well in some kind of a non-profit or charity that worked on afterschool programs and that sort of thing. I do think they've been dumbing him down a bit too much lately. 

Agree with all points except I don't believe Josh said why he was in New York, just that he'd been there x months and it wasn't for him. 

 

On 1/11/2018 at 0:53 AM, aradia22 said:

But I do think we learned about Rebecca's dad and her Scarsdale background fairly early so it's weird that those two things seem incompatible. It's not like they had to suddenly swerve into incorporating some new aspect of the character and that's why the two pieces of information are hard to reconcile. 

Yep. Also in the "Jap Battle Rap" opposite Audra, they were both JAPs, which was described to the "goys" as "Daughters of Privilege" among other things. 

[HunterHunted]

On 1/8/2018 at 1:40 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I loved all of Darryl's off the wall baby names and Paula shooting them down.

They were mom blogger bad, like Mommy's Little Sunshine bad:

Taylee

McKarty

Nayvie 

Maylee

Kamree

Nykee

Taislee

Taigley

Tenley

McKamey

McKartnee

Tayvie

http://mommyslittlesunshine.blogspot.com/2012/01/we-picked-name.html

[aradia22]

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Nayvie Kamree Nykee

I think you mean Na'vi, Camry, and Nike. But Darryl's names were a truly special level of awful.

[theatremouse]

On 1/10/2018 at 9:53 PM, aradia22 said:

When he met Rebecca in NY, wasn't he giving up on trying to be an actor?

On 1/12/2018 at 10:31 AM, DianeDobbler said:

Agree with all points except I don't believe Josh said why he was in New York, just that he'd been there x months and it wasn't for him. 

It was ambiguous. He said he'd been there 8 months "trying to make it work" and that he wanted to go home, yada yada, something about the rat race. He never said what the "it" was that he was trying to make work, but given that before she ran into him on the street, our only introduction to him was the two of them at theatre camp, it's reasonable that some might guess he was trying to be an actor in New York (possibly in musical theatre) but the show didn't really say one way or the other what he was trying to do in NY. It could've just as easily been an intentionally vague thing he'd say instead of an overshare about being unemployed since he moved, regardless of what profession he was trying to get into. It jives with the whole Josh can't seem to get/keep a job on his own theme that reappeared in this episode.

[Eeksquire]

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He said he'd been there 8 months "trying to make it work"

Another instance of financial handwaving by the writers - 8 months in NYC (even in the outer boroughs) while unemployed or underemployed is not a cheap endeavor.