S02.E16: ONE A-N--ANGRY M--MAYA / S02.E17: A-C--ACTION

[GRChereck]

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Maya has jury duty, which is like a vacation for her until she learns Taylor's mom, Melanie (guest star Sarah Chalke returns), is also there. Meanwhile, JJ lies about his disabilities on an online dating site after a few bad dates; and Ray is upset Jimmy and Dylan spend too much together.

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JJ's thrilled when he is chosen by his classmates to film his horror movie project, but soon the pressure of directing gets to him. Meanwhile, Dylan's class project reveals a family secret; and Jimmy's suggestions for the neighbor's house construction project backfires for the DiMeos.

Starts at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. Central! :)

***

EDIT: Promo! :D

Unfortunately, I may not be able to watch these when they air (barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll be in Omaha attending a They Might Be Giants concert -- my 6th since 2004), but I will be sure to set my DVR. :D

Edited March 9, 2018 by GRChereck
update

[Bronzedog]

Having just had jury duty on Monday, I loved the jury duty episode.  There are definitely two groups of people- the ones, like me, who absolutely hate it and those who are happy to be there or somehow find it interesting.

[balmz]

was mixed on the episodes, 

 

i hate the whole ray is not good enough for taylor thing and wanting to win her back, it's offensive and condescending, if it were reversed then people would be up in arms and screaming sexism, it's be nice if ray decided to just move on on his own and we moved on from that

 

kenneth and the one lady not being together anymore was really random

 

why do all shows insist on having everyone date? there's nothing wrong with being single, jj and ray and kenneth should learn this

 

the court thing was annoying, irl maya and the other mom would be off the jury because they know each other, if not that because of their antics also toying with the man's life was wrong

 

the jimmy plot was ok but seriously, who decides to kick out the neightbours who helped you? also them losing their home is not comedy to me, having been in that situation several times, i don't find losing your home to be funny

[bros402]

I liked these episodes.

 

4 hours ago, balmz said:

why do all shows insist on having everyone date? there's nothing wrong with being single, jj and ray and kenneth should learn this

Dating with a disability is a real issue. I'm glad the show is going into it.  I'm surprised JJ got messages so quickly (Or that none of them were from bots!), but that had to happen for expediency's sake.

Ray wants to date because he is 15. He is a bundle of hormones.

[Chit Chat]

Did anyone else notice how tall Ray has gotten (or was that my imagination?)  He sprouted overnight!  

[Bobbin]

On Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 12:01 AM, bros402 said:

Ray wants to date because he is 15. He is a bundle of hormones.

So is J.J. at 18. And less able to do anything about it.

On Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 4:29 AM, ChitChat said:

Did anyone else notice how tall Ray has gotten (or was that my imagination?)  He sprouted overnight!  

They do that! Always a gamble and a challenge when casting young male actors in series that run more than one season, usually less so with young women, who never seem to age. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Bobbin
Expanded on an observation.

[jmonique]

I like this show EXCEPT for the complete disrespect Ray's entire family has for him. 

[GRChereck]

15 hours ago, jmonique said:

I like this show EXCEPT for the complete disrespect Ray's entire family has for him.

The thing I liked most about "One A-N--Angry M--Maya" was how the pairings of both Maya/Melanie and Jimmy/Dylan ended up doing nice things for Ray; as much as the show clearly delights in plumbing the depths of Ray's weirdness for laughs (for some reason, I was especially tickled by his "schvitz" scene with Jimmy, and Maya's throwaway reference to a "man bun" xD ), I like how his family sometimes acknowledge that he's a good kid and show their love for him. :)

Other thoughts and observations:

-- Nice wrap-up to the Maya-Melanie rivalry: I found their bonding over prolonging jury duty -- another obligation, sure, but also an opportunity for some much-needed "me time" without feeling purely selfish -- and their realization that they can never fully get away from their family problems both hilarious and rather sweet. Also, I thought the musical-fantasy cold-open was a cute and fun way to get inside Maya's head and express her sheer secret joy, but the implication that Melanie had had the same fantasy was the icing on the cake. :D (On the downside, I was hoping when Maya mentioned her beefs -- the school-application incident from 10 years ago, and Taylor's recent breakup with Ray -- some info about JJ's feud with Logan would also come out, but I wonder whether they're saving that for the season finale or it'll just be best left to the imagination like "the Noodle Incident" from 'Calvin & Hobbes'...)

-- The car from the Oscar Party episode shows up again; little does Jimmy know that Ray already had a joyride in it once...

-- As disappointing as a return to the status quo could've been in light of Jimmy's "give me back my kid, man!" outburst last week (he admits he wants more time with JJ, only to lavish attention on Dylan instead?), I thought having JJ (now technically an adult) and the perpetually single Kenneth navigating the online-dating world together was inspired and generally well-handled -- I especially liked how they each had a lesson to learn about the importance of honesty (JJ about his disabilities, Kenneth about his age / appearance and marital history).

-- I liked how 1) in addition to having bit of their own fun (ping-pong), Jimmy and Dylan's bonding in this ep was largely in the service of getting the garage / man-cave ready for JJ and preparing the car to give to Ray, and 2) this season's lack of Jimmy/Ray bonding -- they couldn't fit in even one "robe talk"? -- at least was finally addressed in-universe (Ray's preoccupation with Taylor, also cited by JJ in the "Star Wars" ep).

Edited March 16, 2018 by GRChereck
clarity; additional thought

[GRChereck]

Some thoughts and observations on "A-C--Action":

-- Guess we know now how the family have been able to get around violating their lease despite their "service dog" not being fully trained / certified / licensed: They've simply been hiding Pepper from the landlord.

-- Good to finally know what's up with Maya's dad (who was not mentioned at all by either Maya or her mom in the Thanksgiving episode). And while such a reveal could've been some heavy stuff -- she had a falling-out with him when he got remarried -- it instead made for a fun, funny Maya/Dylan pairing with psychological cat-and-mouse games and a terrific payoff. 

-- JJ's filmmaking continues to be one of my favorite storylines of s.2; this episode's plot struck me as a near-perfect illustration of what Dylan said last week about how, even if JJ had all the accommodations in the world, he can still be his own biggest obstacle. I also found Kenneth and Ray's effort to boost his confidence -- by directly challenging him and expressing doubt about his abilities, so he can feel like he has something to prove -- an inspired touch. (Also, Mr. Powers continues to be a hoot. xD )

-- I've found past plots with Jimmy making new friends (opening up about insecurities with the other dads at the fundraiser in "The H-U-S--Hustle," discovering the joys of special treatment with Dane in "M-A-Y--May-Jay," and to a lesser extent, finally bonding with the other special-needs dads at the Oscar Party) delightful to varying degrees, but getting a glimpse of Architect Jimmy was really something special. :) He may have downplayed how much he missed his former career when he told Ray about it in "C-H--Cheater;" but Maya would know how much architecture had truly meant to him, so it's understandable that her only objection to his jumping at this opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge and skills (once she found out what he was doing with neighbor Eddie) was that he hadn't thought to request payment for his work.

Overall, I thought this was the more interesting of the two episodes last night; however, the prospect of the family losing their home (due to both Eddie's expanding project and the landlord's discovery of Pepper) seems a seriously dark direction for the show to take. :(

Edited March 15, 2018 by GRChereck

[bros402]

Also, was the lease for 12 or 18 months? Since if it was 12 months, that means that only a year has passed since the pilot - or maybe they waited until 1-2 months after they moved there to sign a non-month-to-month lease - since Jimmy did tell Ray in one of the early episodes that they had the old house for a bit

[Skyfall]

Is it just me or have we not had Marin Hinkle as much this season? Not complaining though since we got Sarah Chalke for a few episodes. Also feels like we’ve had more episodes outside or not as prominent in school.

[GRChereck]

10 hours ago, bros402 said:

Also, was the lease for 12 or 18 months? Since if it was 12 months, that means that only a year has passed since the pilot - or maybe they waited until 1-2 months after they moved there to sign a non-month-to-month lease - since Jimmy did tell Ray in one of the early episodes that they had the old house for a bit

Good question. I'm thinking maybe 18 months for the initial lease -- if they officially moved in sometime in September 2016, and (according to the schedule in Maya's daydream in 2x16) it's early-to-mid March 2018 now...

 

4 hours ago, Skyfall said:

Is it just me or have we not had Marin Hinkle as much this season? Not complaining though since we got Sarah Chalke for a few episodes. Also feels like we’ve had more episodes outside or not as prominent in school.

According to IMDB, she appeared about the same amount of times in each season -- 8 (out of 23) episodes in s.1, 7 (out of 18) eps in s.2:

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- D-I-- DIMEO A-C-- ACADEMY (2018, 2x13) 

- THE H-U-S-- HUSTLE (2018, 2x12) 

- S-T--Star W--Wars W--Wars (2017, 2x9) 

- S-H-- SHIPPING (2017, 2x6) 

- N-I-- NIGHTMARES ON D-I-- DIMEO S-STREET (2017, 2x5) 

- T-R-- TRAINING D-A-- DAY (2017, 2x4) 

- F-I-- FIRST S-E-- SECOND F-- FIRST DAY (2017, 2x2)

***

- M-A-- MAY-JAY (2017, 1x22)

- V-A-L-- VALENTINE'S D-A-- DAY (2017, 1x14) 

- H-E-R-- HERO (2017, 1x12) 

- R-O--ROAD T-R--TRIP (2017, 1x11) 

- D-A-T-E-- DATE? (2016, 1x6) 

- B-O-N--BONFIRE (2016, 1x3) 

- N-E-NEW A-I-AIDE (2016, 1x2) 

- Pilot (2016, 1x1)

:)

Edited March 16, 2018 by GRChereck

[tennisgurl]

"I bet you $5 they're special needs moms". I really enjoyed both episode, I think the jury duty one was my favorite. Its like they asked "what if the juror from 12 Angry Men who stalled the trail was just stalling to take a break from his family? And the trail was over some minor act of vandalism?" and stuck Maya and Sarah Chalk into it. It was super funny, and I loved the Golden Ticket number. 

The second episode was good too, and it was nice to see Jimmy doing architecture again, even if that adorable rent violation had to screw things up. I hope he can pursue that again, especially now that the kids are getting older. he always seemed kind of sad that those dreams didn't work out. Not filled with regrets or anything, but a bit sad. I also liked them tackling the issue of JJ wanting to date, and the hurdles that go along with that. And Kenneth's obviously much younger profile pic, and Dylan laughing at him, was hilarious. "Did you put single because divorced twice wasn't an option?" 

I was also happy to see JJs movie buff friend back, and his whole film shoot was pretty great. I thought JJs movie looked pretty good, for a student film made by an 18 year old who had never directed before and his classmates and one teacher who REALLY needed that cameo I feel like. Although, I think my highlight of both episodes was Mayas totally insane murder eyes when Dylan was dancing around in the bathroom trying to talk to Jimmy. 

[GRChereck]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Its like they asked "what if the juror from 12 Angry Men who stalled the trail was just stalling to take a break from his family? And the trail was over some minor act of vandalism?" and stuck Maya and Sarah Chalk into it.

When looking at the transcript for that particular episode earlier this evening, I caught that Maya was #8 and Melanie was #3 -- and as I seem to recall in '12 Angry Men,' those were the numbers of the two jurors most at odds with one another (#8 was originally the only one who didn't think the kid was guilty, and #3 was the last holdout to change his vote to "not guilty"). I'm guessing that was intentional. :D 

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The second episode was good too, and it was nice to see Jimmy doing architecture again, even if that adorable rent violation had to screw things up. I hope he can pursue that again, especially now that the kids are getting older. he always seemed kind of sad that those dreams didn't work out. Not filled with regrets or anything, but a bit sad.

After "C-H--Cheater," I had wondered whether the show was just filling in Jimmy's backstory there or this aspect of his past would be revisited in some way; took 'em almost a year to get back to it, but I think it was worth the wait, and a good way to show this side of him without either starting a full-on back-to-school storyline or doing a flashback episode. :)

Edited March 17, 2018 by GRChereck

[bros402]

I hope they have Jimmy do architect stuff on the side - since, well, they still need health insurance - but maybe Jimmy will qualify for some kind of early retirement - since he has worked there for 18 years (Since he got the job before or shortly after JJ was born. Hopefully before. Kids with disabilities are pricey.) and I would not be surprised if they went "Oh look Jimmy you can retire and you get to keep your health insurance, now go be an architect!"

Since, well, until JJ gets a job, even if he gets over 26, a lot of insurance companies have a way to continue coverage of an overage disabled dependent. It's just a matter of asking the right people and filling out the pile of paperwork.

[kathyk24]

I loved the opening to One Angry Maya it was great. I'm so tired of the Ray and Taylor storyline. His obsession with her isn't funny it's creepy. I hated that Ray only wanted to spend time with his family only when he isn't with her. I haven't forgiven Ray for pretending that Logan and Taylor  were his siblings. I felt sympathy for JJ in both episodes. Disabled people aren't always seen as potential love interests so I can understand why he would to keep his disability a secret. I didn't like the Maya storyline about her father. They never explained why she was so angry. Did her father cheat on her mother? Did he marry someone young enough to be his daughter? The writers needed to give more details.

[Driad]

Wouldn't Jimmy at least need to pass a licensing exam before he could get paid for doing architecture?  (I mean if he weren't a sitcom character.)

[GRChereck]

14 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

I didn't like the Maya storyline about her father. They never explained why she was so angry. Did her father cheat on her mother? Did he marry someone young enough to be his daughter? The writers needed to give more details.

I think that was a big part of her shame about the videotape -- it showed her wildly overreacting to something she now probably realizes she shouldn't have been that angry about. (She even said she tried to apologize to her dad and stepmom sometime afterwards, but they wouldn't accept it.)

I mean, yeah, the writers could've made it clearer whether her dad left her mom for this other woman, or their marriage had ended years before and it wasn't until later that he found someone else to settle down with whom Maya (for whatever reason) simply didn't approve of.* Still, I think it's understandable for Maya to have been upset either way -- I imagine she and her dad may have had a pretty intense, close-yet-combative relationship at one time, having primarily each other to bond and clash with as they were both neglected by Andrea in favor of her cancer-research work (Andrea herself admitted in the s.2 Thanksgiving ep that she couldn't do the "family" thing) -- and yet also be aware that she should've tried to handle things more maturely to begin with.

I guess to me, it was interesting to see just how Maya was always full of "fight" -- having a special-needs child definitely helped give her anger some much-needed focus. (We've seen similar development in Dylan; she started out basically as a ball of unfocused rage, but in 1x17 she revealed how she idolizes her mother and wants to be like her, and by 2x15 we saw her being very Maya-like as she lectured a movie-theater usher about all the accessibility issues JJ would face and then demanded them to be fixed; plus, I imagine both she and Maya have benefited from the influence of gentle Jimmy.**) And I think Maya's family background, as revealed in both "A-C--Action" and "B-R-I--British I-N-V--Invasion," goes a long way toward explaining why she's the way she is, especially regarding her devotion to Jimmy and the kids.

 

* - And another thing: I guess I could see why her strained relationships with both parents might give her reason to want to get away from them; but we still don't know for sure what made her want to go all the way to the States in the first place, or what (if anything) she was doing here in terms of education and/or career. :\

**- Speaking of which, I'm a bit disappointed that for all we've been told of Jimmy's parents -- his dad would get a turkey from his boss for Christmas every year (2x10), and his mom had a deal with him wherein if he ever was drunk somewhere and needed a ride home, he could call her and she would drop everything to go pick him up, "no questions asked" (2x11), plus it's possible that the "Grandma" and "Grandpa" alluded to a couple times each in s.1 were his parents, as I imagine the kids would be closer to them than to Maya's parents anyway (Ray mentioned having gone to visit Grandma for a summer in 1x4, Dylan said something about a trip with Grandpa in 1x18, and both Ray and JJ joked about it being easier for them to picture Grandma and Grandpa having "heat" than their own parents in 1x14) -- we still don't know where they are, what sort of relationship he has had with them, or how Maya feels about her in-laws (beyond having "Mentioning your mother" on the "Dead to Maya" list). 

Edited March 17, 2018 by GRChereck
clarity; additional thought

[bros402]

15 hours ago, Driad said:

Wouldn't Jimmy at least need to pass a licensing exam before he could get paid for doing architecture?  (I mean if he weren't a sitcom character.)

according to google, you need a degree in architecture (which I am pretty sure Jimmy has), one year of work experience under a licensed architect (from the episode where Jimmy showed Ray his windows, it seems like Jimmy might have quit before the year was up), and pass a few exams. However, JJ is 18, so he was born in 2000. The requirements could have been very different back then, so maybe he has a license. I doubt the license would expire.

[SnarkySheep]

On 3/14/2018 at 10:25 PM, balmz said:

i hate the whole ray is not good enough for taylor thing and wanting to win her back, it's offensive and condescending,

Agreed! Plus, when they were in the court showing pictures of the kids to the other jurors, it totally looked like Taylor was way older than Ray, which of course isn't true...it's just that girls do mature faster physically than boys in a lot of cases. So it wasn't really a fair comparison when Ray hasn't fully "developed" yet.

Regarding the videotape...if it was such a big secret and Maya felt so angry and awful about what happened, why would she have kept the tape in the first place? (So that Dylan could find it and we could have this storyline, obv...)

I did like the fact that the family still has a VCR at the ready...it totally goes with the whole old school/no money setup we've had all along.

[GRChereck]

28 minutes ago, SnarkySheep said:

Regarding the videotape...if it was such a big secret and Maya felt so angry and awful about what happened, why would she have kept the tape in the first place? (So that Dylan could find it and we could have this storyline, obv...)

Possibly as a reminder to herself why the kids don't have any sort of relationship with their maternal grandfather (similar to how Jimmy carried around his guilt over "the Vegas thing" for years without being able to talk about it)? :\ Also, while I could imagine Maya not wanting Dylan to share her secret shame in a class project, I'd like to think she had intended to show the kids eventually in case they ever expressed curiosity about why her dad is their only grandparent they've never met. 

[bros402]

4 hours ago, GRChereck said:

Possibly as a reminder to herself why the kids don't have any sort of relationship with their maternal grandfather (similar to how Jimmy carried around his guilt over "the Vegas thing" for years without being able to talk about it)? :\ Also, while I could imagine Maya not wanting Dylan to share her secret shame in a class project, I'd like to think she had intended to show the kids eventually in case they ever expressed curiosity about why her dad is their only grandparent they've never met. 

That's what I was thinking - it's a kind of reminder to her so she can see a moment where she did something horrible that she cannot blame on anyone but herself.

[neuromom]

I’m trying to play catch up. And I’m laughing a bit at the jury episode. Because, seriously, I’ve gotten out of duty Permanently..BECAUSE I’m a special needs mom! Specifically, I am a full time caregiver for my son. I have a permanent exclusion.  Though, honestly, I’d likely not be chosen because of my background in law enforcement. 

Part of my current job is the possibility that I may need to testify. And every time I get a subpoena, I get stressed beyond belief. Because arranging care  for my kid is near impossible. Maya and Melanie are fortunate that they can actually “get away”.