S04.E17: Let Me Go, Bro

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The Huangs are pleasantly surprised to find that Eddie has been awarded a spot in the Honor Society, but Evan is particularly bothered by the news. Meanwhile, Jessica receives a note from her book editor to improve her cop dialogue and signs up for a ride-along to better her writing. On St. Patrick's Day, Matthew Chestnut doesn't have the luck of the Irish on his side when Louis receives orders from Kenny Rogers to fire him.

[biakbiak]

Evan really is Jessica's child and by that I mean he is a complete and total asshole.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love that Eddie still uses his grandmother for his entrance music.

[readster]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Evan really is Jessica's child and by that I mean he is a complete and total asshole.

Completely agree, in fact Evan and Jessica are almost indistiquishable now as characters. It's mini me and and when they don't like something, all hell breaks lose. In this case, seriously, Evan was in the wrong. Even when Eddie thanked him at the beginning. 

[vibeology]

If you had told me in season one that Eddie would be a delight and the best written and acted of the kids while Evan would be a terror, I would not have believed you. I love Eddie and I think his growth is totally believable and in character with everything we've seen. The show has done a great job taking a weaker character and making him a huge strength. I didn't even hate this Evan plot because Eddie was there and came out on top. But yeah, Evan is awful. I get that he has acknowledged issue and those issues are being worked on by the counselor at school but it's nuts that he threw that tantrum and neither Jessica or Louis said anything.

I did love the line when Eddie pointed out he was taller than both his parents.

[tennisgurl]

Eddie has come such a long way, its so great to see. He really has gotten it together, being a better, more responsible kid, while still being Eddie. Evan...needs more meetings with his counselor. I did actually like seeing Evan acknowledged that Eddie isn't a screw up, and that he needs to chill out. And I loved seeing Tig again, and how much she and Eddie get along. 

Pemberton-Smyth (is that right?) is an awesome name, no wonder Jessica decided to add it. 

"I got it from Marvin who got it from the laundry mat". Also, "Courage". 

[Snow Apple]

The cop has become one of my favorite side characters.

I agree Evan is still acting like mini-Jessica, but I wasn't as annoyed this episode for some reason.

[theatremouse]

It's possible my personal experience is just too small a sample size, but I am giving the plot of this episode a giant side-eye. I am very used to lots of kids in, say, elementary school, who do really well and then suddenly hit middle school and do poorly, and then a second wave who were fine in middle school too, and then tank in high school. And that usually happens because those kids were a bit ahead of the curve when younger, and so they didn't actually have to put any effort in, but as they got older they evened out to their peers and once they had to put in actual effort, their schoolwork suffered. I'm led to believe this is very common. The flip? Not so much. It took me out of the episode that they were going with the idea that both Eddie and Nicole had suddenly become less distracted and found themselves surprised to be doing better in school. Kids who had-some-sort-of-awakening and made a concerted effort to buckle down and improve? Sure. But who just sort of accidentally started doing better? For not just one but both of them? This seems too improbable to not take me out of it.

[SmithW6079]

20 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Evan really is Jessica's child and by that I mean he is a complete and total asshole.

I don't understand the reasoning for making Evan's only personality trait that he's a dick to everyone.

9 hours ago, vibeology said:

If you had told me in season one that Eddie would be a delight and the best written and acted of the kids while Evan would be a terror, I would not have believed you. I love Eddie and I think his growth is totally believable and in character with everything we've seen. The show has done a great job taking a weaker character and making him a huge strength. I didn't even hate this Evan plot because Eddie was there and came out on top. But yeah, Evan is awful. I get that he has acknowledged issue and those issues are being worked on by the counselor at school but it's nuts that he threw that tantrum and neither Jessica or Louis said anything.

I did love the line when Eddie pointed out he was taller than both his parents.

Agreed. I hated Eddie in the beginning, but the character and actor have really matured.

[readster]

31 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

I don't understand the reasoning for making Evan's only personality trait that he's a dick to everyone.

Agreed. I hated Eddie in the beginning, but the character and actor have really matured.

I agree on both, Evan has gone to the point where he has 1 upped Jessica in attitudes and view of things. While Eddie has really gotten his shit together, but still is Eddie. Yeah, I agree I mean why did Jessica and Louis just look on after the way Evan acted. I mean even Jessica should have said: "That was even too far for me."

[Mellowyellow]

I didn't hate Evan in this one.

He is young and used to playing a certain role in his family. He's used to Eddie playing a certain role in the family so Eddie's newfound success and independence is rocking his world. He's a high achiever but deep down he's lonely and insecure. Whilst his behaviour was dreadful I think it was in character for him. He was going to need to adjust to any change in status quo. This was his way of adjusting. Sure it was a mess but he learned his lesson.

[Racj82]

19 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I didn't hate Evan in this one.

He is young and used to playing a certain role in his family. He's used to Eddie playing a certain role in the family so Eddie's newfound success and independence is rocking his world. He's a high achiever but deep down he's lonely and insecure. Whilst his behaviour was dreadful I think it was in character for him. He was going to need to adjust to any change in status quo. This was his way of adjusting. Sure it was a mess but he learned his lesson.

It is very much in character for him to be this way. He also still sucks. I'm of the mind that it can be too things. I don't care what his rational may be. I don't find it funny. 

[SmithW6079]

On 3/1/2018 at 5:20 AM, Mellowyellow said:

I didn't hate Evan in this one.

He is young and used to playing a certain role in his family. He's used to Eddie playing a certain role in the family so Eddie's newfound success and independence is rocking his world. He's a high achiever but deep down he's lonely and insecure. Whilst his behaviour was dreadful I think it was in character for him. He was going to need to adjust to any change in status quo. This was his way of adjusting. Sure it was a mess but he learned his lesson.

 

21 hours ago, Racj82 said:

It is very much in character for him to be this way. He also still sucks. I'm of the mind that it can be too things. I don't care what his rational may be. I don't find it funny. 

Evan's been an officious little prick since season one, but it's really kicked into overdrive this season. I don't think he learned anything, and next episode we'll see him being a dick to someone else. 

And I continue to detest the ongoing Jessica book story line, because she's a terrible writer. 

[CurlyATX]

I always got the impression that Eddie was always a very good student, he just wasn't the "A++" that his younger brothers were.   I really feel sorry for Evan.  I'm Asian and the biggest "coup" one could make was skipping a grade, especially in public school.  I was a huge grade grubber and would have given anything to skip.  However, as a parent now, I can imagine that it would cause a lot of social issues, especially if you weren't extremely skilled in that area.  I sorta think that Evan would have been better off at that private school. 

Evan didn't seem to have many friends (except for the one that he bossed around and a kid on the bus).  He really thought his Beenie Babies were friends of his.  I'm sure this kid is lonely.  It even seems that he and Emery are drifting apart.  

I thought the note about Nicole being a better student was a nice aside.  I can totally see how coming out would help her.  She could have been one of those girls who was hiding her intelligence.  I bet every teacher she had said something like "Nicole is really intelligent, but doesn't apply herself".  

I really wished Jessica's book failed.  She is so prideful, and I was always rooting for Jessica in the beginning.  She doesn't seem to celebrate her success as much as lord it over everyone else.  I can see her thinking that she's a successful author and this isn't even her first language.  She once made a comment like that when winning at scrabble.  

This show is dying and I worry that Honey's new baby was brought in to save it.  

[Camera One]

The cop and the restaurant subplots weren't funny.  The Eddy/Evan plot was alright but not great either.

What did Evan say to Emery when the latter asked him for pancakes?  I didn't hear the response clearly but it didn't sound nice at all.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 3/7/2018 at 9:29 AM, CurlyATX said:

I'm Asian and the biggest "coup" one could make was skipping a grade, especially in public school.  I was a huge grade grubber and would have given anything to skip.  However, as a parent now, I can imagine that it would cause a lot of social issues, especially if you weren't extremely skilled in that area.  I sorta think that Evan would have been better off at that private school. 

There are a lot of things to take into consideration if your kid may skip a grade. It may seem like a great idea if the kid is younger, but as they get older they may feel the age difference even more. My parents started me in school a year early (and my birthday is closer to the end of the school year). While I was in elementary school, my teachers talked to my parents about having me skip a grade. My parents decided against it because I was already a year younger than everyone else (I was attending a private school at the time).

My age wasn't really an issue in elementary school but it becomes more of something to deal with in middle school and high school. I would imagine it's even more difficult for boys since they tend to have their growth spurts later than girls do. Can you imagine being a high school boy and still looking being as short and skinny as a sixth grader?

When I was in high school and college, I was the last one who could drive, go to 18+ clubs, drink in bars, etc. which doesn't sound like a big deal unless you're the only one in your peer group who can't go out to anywhere but a coffee house or restaurant. Luckily I had nice friends who weren't total binge drinkers and my campus had a lot of house parties so it wasn't the absolute worst, but I think parents should put aside the excitement of "yay, our kid is so smart that the school wants to skip him/her up a grade!" and think about whether it's a good idea to take a kid out of a grade level where they already have friends and put them into a brand new peer group, knowing that they will have to make new friends and be younger than everyone else until they finish college. And to achieve what? If you graduate a year earlier, that doesn't really accomplish a lot. So you're 21 when you finish college instead of 22. Big whoop.

Thankfully, my parents didn't even tell me about this until I was an adult. I'm glad that they didn't have me skip a grade! Not only were all of my friends older than I was but so were the boys I dated. The boys in my grade were 1-2 years older than I was and when I started dating boys who were a grade or two above me, they were 2-4 years older than I was, and that can make a difference when you're a teenager.

Despite Evan's love of things like the HOA and taking care of Eddie, he is still emotionally immature (which is fine because he's a kid). I think he would have been better off either at the private school or just staying in the grade he was already in.

[CurlyATX]

On 3/12/2018 at 4:40 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

There are a lot of things to take into consideration if your kid may skip a grade. It may seem like a great idea if the kid is younger, but as they get older they may feel the age difference even more. My parents started me in school a year early (and my birthday is closer to the end of the school year). While I was in elementary school, my teachers talked to my parents about having me skip a grade. My parents decided against it because I was already a year younger than everyone else (I was attending a private school at the time).

My age wasn't really an issue in elementary school but it becomes more of something to deal with in middle school and high school. I would imagine it's even more difficult for boys since they tend to have their growth spurts later than girls do. Can you imagine being a high school boy and still looking being as short and skinny as a sixth grader?

When I was in high school and college, I was the last one who could drive, go to 18+ clubs, drink in bars, etc. which doesn't sound like a big deal unless you're the only one in your peer group who can't go out to anywhere but a coffee house or restaurant. Luckily I had nice friends who weren't total binge drinkers and my campus had a lot of house parties so it wasn't the absolute worst, but I think parents should put aside the excitement of "yay, our kid is so smart that the school wants to skip him/her up a grade!" and think about whether it's a good idea to take a kid out of a grade level where they already have friends and put them into a brand new peer group, knowing that they will have to make new friends and be younger than everyone else until they finish college. And to achieve what? If you graduate a year earlier, that doesn't really accomplish a lot. So you're 21 when you finish college instead of 22. Big whoop.

Thankfully, my parents didn't even tell me about this until I was an adult. I'm glad that they didn't have me skip a grade! Not only were all of my friends older than I was but so were the boys I dated. The boys in my grade were 1-2 years older than I was and when I started dating boys who were a grade or two above me, they were 2-4 years older than I was, and that can make a difference when you're a teenager.

Despite Evan's love of things like the HOA and taking care of Eddie, he is still emotionally immature (which is fine because he's a kid). I think he would have been better off either at the private school or just staying in the grade he was already in.

So true! In CA when I was a kid, the cut off for kindergarten was 4 years/9 months by December of that year.  My husband hated being the youngest/smallest boy as an October kid.  One of my besties was born in December and it was the countdown to when she could turn 21 (mostly so we could dance at the clubs).  I know school funding is tough, but I wish there were more avenues for truly gifted kids so they could be with their peer group and get the education they need.  I'm not sure if Evan is gifted or just bright. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, CurlyATX said:

So true! In CA when I was a kid, the cut off for kindergarten was 4 years/9 months by December of that year.  My husband hated being the youngest/smallest boy as an October kid.  One of my besties was born in December and it was the countdown to when she could turn 21 (mostly so we could dance at the clubs).  I know school funding is tough, but I wish there were more avenues for truly gifted kids so they could be with their peer group and get the education they need.  I'm not sure if Evan is gifted or just bright. 

The cut off date in my nephew's school district is October and his birthday is a few days after the cut off. When his parents mentioned it, I told them not to worry about it because being a year older is easier than being a year younger. There was one kid in my grade who was a year older (he moved here from Europe and it had something to do with that, if I recall correctly). Everyone thought it was awesome that he was a year older because he got to drive before everyone else!

An acquaintance of mine has a son who is really gifted at math so instead of skipping him a grade, they hired a grad student to work with him on math stuff after school. The dad basically told the grad student to just let the kid ask questions and explore whatever he wants. I think that Evan is smart and that his schoolwork isn't very challenging for him, so it would probably be a good idea to give him a way to channel his intelligence into something that interests him, whether it's a tutor like my friend's kid or finding an extracurricular activity (one that doesn't involve the HOA).

[CurlyATX]

My older son goes to a magnet school which is pretty high performing and also has a lot of gifted kids.  The school has been really pushing for this growth mindset- one where the kids feel it's ok to make mistakes (in order to learn) and aren't total grade grubbers.  This causes a LOT of issues with both kids and parents.  Jessica is that typical Tiger Mom who sees any extra curricular activities as a waste (unless it helps them get into college).  Your friend who lets his child explore math concepts "for fun" is amazing.  This isn't on any transcripts, it's not the boring Kumon, it's just letting the kid have fun learning.  

[LisaM]

What happened to the guy who used to play the greeter at the restaurant? It appears that he and Nancy were jettisoned when Matthew Chestnut entered onto the scene.