S2: E4 Tough Titmouse

[Guest]

Quote

Shaun recalls his own past to help an intellectually disabled teenager face separation from his mother; Claire is put between an injured teenage rock climber and her worried parents.

[milner]

I think the quote is wrong 

[Lady Calypso]

Oh man, what a damn good episode. Richard Schiff knocked it out of the park. Glassman's scenes with his dead daughter were on point, so much so that part of me wished that Maddie WASN'T dead, just so Glassman wouldn't have to be heartbroken anymore.

I totally get that Shaun needs to learn to be more empathetic and needs to learn about communication and having him be there for his friends in different ways, but this isn't the way to do it. I don't feel bad for Lea. Yes, Shaun could have asked her about why she was back and all that, but neither Lea nor Shaun seem to understand that they hurt each other. However, this is leading to a lesson for Shaun and Lea seems to be getting off the hook for her misdeeds, which doesn't make me like her much. It's really on the writing here, since I think Paige Spara is a decent actress. 

Some really neat flashbacks for Shaun and one of his foster parents. Brooke Smith did a great job. 

Claire's case with the female climber was well done as well. That case had a rough ending but I'm thrilled it didn't end all happily. 

[TomGirl]

1 hour ago, milner said:

 

I think the quote is wrong 

 

Thank god, I thought my Alzheimer’s had kicked in!

[rhys]

Poor Dr Glassman really wanted to continue with his delusion. I've had medical delusions & enjoyed them (but I knew they were delusions & just rolled with them).

[Annber03]

Hey, Brooke Smith! She also guest starred in episodes of "Bates Motel" and "Criminal Minds". Apparently she's just meant to be in my favorite shows at some point :D.

Really loved the way Park, Melendez, and Shaun all worked together on the case with the mother and son tonight, and the different aspects of it they connected with and related to. I especially liked the scene where they were all watching the mother and son argue, and Melendez and Park quietly walk away, while Shaun just stands and watches. It perfectly highlighted their respective feelings and stances regarding everything. And I liked how they used the flashbacks from Shaun's childhood to enhance his viewpoint. I also loved getting a glimpse of Melendez and his sister-I hope we can learn more about his family as well going forward. 

And everything with Glassman and Maddie was just...oh, man. Knowing more of the details regarding what happened between them up to and including the night she died, I feel that gives us a better understanding of a lot of why Glassman treated Shaun the way he did last season. The fact that Maddie seemed to be kinda jealous because of the attention Glassman gave Shaun was an interesting touch, too-I could totally understand that. If Shaun and Glassman talk about Maddie again at some point, I'd be curious to see what Shaun's memories of her are, and if he was fully aware of the tension between them, what he thought about it. 

I also really like the way Shaun looked out for Glassman here. It's a lovely development for his character. 

(Also, when Maddie was remembering her Usher-themed birthday party I had to remind myself that Usher first hit it big, like, 20 years ago and that made me feel old :p.) 

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I totally get that Shaun needs to learn to be more empathetic and needs to learn about communication and having him be there for his friends in different ways, but this isn't the way to do it. I don't feel bad for Lea. Yes, Shaun could have asked her about why she was back and all that, but neither Lea nor Shaun seem to understand that they hurt each other. However, this is leading to a lesson for Shaun and Lea seems to be getting off the hook for her misdeeds, which doesn't make me like her much. It's really on the writing here, since I think Paige Spara is a decent actress. 

Yeah, everything with Lea is really tough for me to sort out, too, for a lot of the reasons you note. He may not ask her what happened to make her come back, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't get that she's upset, or that he wouldn't show his concern and interest in other ways. Hell, even if he did wonder as to what brought her back, he could've chosen not to ask precisely because he knew she was upset about whatever happened there, and as such, didn't want to add to her sadness. So I hope Lea can keep that in mind, too. 

I dunno. It's a very weird situation in general. The bit with Shaun trying to make things better with their karaoke song was super adorable, though :). 

Edited October 16, 2018 by Annber03

[Zoe]

Did I miss exactly how Maddie died? Other than being thrown out of the house.

 

I'm iffy on Lea, but Shaun was so cute when he told her how he went big.

[Jazz]

I believe it was implied that when he threw her out of the house he thougt she would go to Elizabeth's? (Melendez's Ex) house. But she ended up fatally overdosing.

[Trini]

So the theme this week was  - Parents having to make tough, and potentially life-altering decisions about their children.

Wow, I thought they were done with Shaun's childhood flashbacks, but I'm glad they brought it back for a related situation.

Grating RUDE Blonde can shut up and go away any time now. I mean, they're trying to consult on a medical case and she decides to counter "Oh, this is about your mom" Ummm ... ?!

Okay, so I appreciate that they want to show Shaun growing in his interpersonal relationships, etc. But I officially hate this arc with Lea. It's like the writers want me to believe Lea and Shaun were in a long-term, committed relationship, but I know they were not.

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I totally get that Shaun needs to learn to be more empathetic and needs to learn about communication and having him be there for his friends in different ways, but this isn't the way to do it. I don't feel bad for Lea. Yes, Shaun could have asked her about why she was back and all that, but neither Lea nor Shaun seem to understand that they hurt each other. However, this is leading to a lesson for Shaun and Lea seems to be getting off the hook for her misdeeds, which doesn't make me like her much. It's really on the writing here, since I think Paige Spara is a decent actress.

Yeah, THIS.

Melendez has a sister!

So when the mother of the mountain climber said that their 'reward' would be her daughter getting married and having children, I'm thinking - um, what if she NEVER gets married or has never has children??  She was forcing her own aspirations onto her daughter that might not share them.

[bros402]

What was with Reznick's hair? That was certainly a hairstyle...

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, milner said:

I think the quote is wrong 

I'm pretty sure it's the episode description for an upcoming episode of "The Cool Kids"

Shaun didn't do much medical stuff this week. I like seeing him be a doctor.

I thought he'd been living with Glassman, somehow I didn't realize he was in a series of foster homes after his brother died.

What I want to say to Lea is: tough titmouse.

[Annber03]

46 minutes ago, Trini said:

I mean, they're trying to consult on a medical case and she decides to counter "Oh, this is about your mom" Ummm ... ?!

Right? Last week she's trying to give Shaun relationship advice and this week she's analyzing Claire. It'd be fun if somebody called her out next time she did that and reminded her that she's not a therapist/counselor/whatever.

Quote

So when the mother of the mountain climber said that their 'reward' would be her daughter getting married and having children, I'm thinking - um, what if she NEVER gets married or has never has children??  She was forcing her own aspirations onto her daughter that might not share them.

Yeah, that struck me odd, too. Especially given her parents' suspicions she had underlying suicidal tendencies-if they think that, and if there's some truth to that, then yeah, she may not be looking all that far ahead to things like that anyway.

It was interesting how they kinda walked the line with that part of things-I can understand her parents' concern about the deeper implications regarding the activities she likes to be involved in, given her past, but at the same time, there are people who are just plain ol' adrenaline/action junkies who don't have a desire to kill themselves, too. They're willing to accept the risks in order to do something exciting and fun and challenging. I get that, too. 

[doctor destiny]

A nice mix of different styles of episodes.  This complements the first three very well and is another solid episode in a solid series.  Being part of the autism community I know a lot of parents whose kids may not be able to live wholly independently when they are gone.  Parents who worry what will happen when they get old.  This was a beautiful episode that explores the love we have for our kids but also the lifelong commitment that is asked of us when we get the diagnosis.  My kids will be fine but I have to calibrate how much their NT sibling should be in the background to look after them when we are gone.  It's not fair but it is reality.  There are a lot of Kennys in the world (and hooray for his comeuppance) and I worry like hell for my socially clueless Aspies.  Melendez's equivocation is absolutely beautifully played.  His best acting yet.  Glassman's guilt is powerfully played out and you can see why he was driven to help Shaun.  

Shaun and Lea?  David Shore is playing with us but also trusts us not to need as much whizz-bang visual effects now we are more invested in the characters.  (Either that or they ran out of cash with the set upgrade?).  Are we the going for the odd couple?  Friendship?  Romance?  Nothing is black and white in this series.  Let's see where this goes.

[Guest]

First, sorry about the messed up episode description. It’s been fixed. It was Monday. What can I say!

On to the episode- I did NOT expect that with Glassman’s daughter. I assumed she had died in an accident or something. I was pretty surprised they went the drug route. 

Loved Melendez’ scene with his sister at the end.

[wonderwoman]

11 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

hat a damn good episode. Richard Schiff knocked it out of the park. Glassman's scenes with his dead daughter were on point, so much so that part of me wished that Maddie WASN'T dead, just so Glassman wouldn't have to be heartbroken anymore

and what a treat it was to see Holly Taylor, who was so good in "The Americans," as Maddie. 

[trapad]

Best episode of the series. Glassman and Maddie had me in tears. 

[theatremouse]

They seemed to me to be trying too hard going for the whole "there is no right choice here, depending on the person the right thing to do for one might cause a catastrophe with another" angle on the indecision with all of them: mother with the kid she couldn't handle, rock-climber's parents, Claire with her mom, Shaun in his past/with Lea/with Glassman. Like it felt like they were trying to draw some useful conclusion wrapped up very nicely: I had X experience/memory/whatever so now I know the right answer in this situation must be Y. Except depending on who the different person is today, what went wrong before might go right this time, or vice versa.

What they really showed was nobody knows anything. They can't Sliding Doors themselves. Which isn't narratively satisfying but is true to life, except the tone of the episode somehow to me implied they did wrap it up? Rather than renforcing that nobody can know if they're making the right choice until they've already done it. It landed weird.

It also really pisses me off that Lea got to bail on Shaun, and didn't seem to realize it really hurt him. He tells her that (ok yells blurts hissy fits), and then instead of her acknowledging that yeah, I can see how I might've crushed you a little; she immediately turns it around like "hey yeah I totally ditched you abruptly and with a smile on my face but did it ever occur to you I just came back because it all went horribly wrong?" and because he's like "no I didn't stop to consider that because I was busy being emotionally devastated" and she's like "well you're a jerk" and now he's like...oh I'm a jerk. OK I usually can't tell but I guess you making me feel bad is entirely forgiven and I'm not allowed to be perturbed at all because I've sufficiently hurt you back in the meantime? Like, she's the one with the emotional intelligence and also taking absolutely no responsibility that when you ditch someone maybe they might not be so enamoured with you anymore and that's fair?

It would've been so much more satisfying if instead of this ep ending with him renting that apartment if he'd been like "I will acknowledge I was inconsiderate when you came back if you acknowledge that you were inconsiderate when you left." And then he literally drops the mic. And they agree they're both assholes to each other. AND THEN PART WAYS.

[TimetoShine]

I think the show’s hairstylist hates Morgan. 

[Fable]

This was quite the emotionally packed episode.  I think I need a bit more time to process. 

 

The highlight for me was Glassman with his daughter, although as much as I wanted to get some backstory on her, that was heart wrenching to watch.  I rarely tear up at TV shows, but I sure did here.

The flashbacks were well done, but also emotional.   I also thought Shaun lived with Glassman, so that was a bit of surprise to me.  I wonder if Shaun and Maddie knew each well. 

I’m still not feeling very invested in Shaun and Lea, but I found the scene at the end, when Shaun said he didn’t really care about Hershey but cared that she cared, to be touching.  However, now I want to know – what in the hell happened in Hershey? 

[tennisgurl]

Oh man, Glassman and his daughter were just heartbreaking. Paige is just constantly cursed to be a troubled teen dealing with distant parents! Those scenes were really emotional, and I am glad that we got some answers for what happened to her, and his guilt over it. I always assumed she died in an accident or was sick, not that she was a drug addict. Certainly adds some dimension to his interactions with others, especially with Shaun. 

Shaun certainly made a mistake in lashing out at Lea, but I dont feel that bad for her. She didnt communicate with him super well either, and seemed to want to come right back and pick up where they left off, without thinking of his feelings. Have I mentioned that I miss Jerrod? 

Why was Reznick rocking the same hairstyle that my pioneer American Girl doll used to have? And her constant psychoanalyzing everyone is getting super annoying. I did kind of laugh at her just going "this is because of your mom" in the middle of that meeting, and everyone just sat there looking awkward before everyone left. 

Speaking of, while I understand the parents and Claire's point of view, I was on the side of the rock climber daughter. To me, being a thrill seeker who is into extreme sports and such is a very different thing than being a drug addict, and it seemed very clear that the daughter had no desire to kill, or even hurt herself. She just loved climbing, and was willing to risk being hurt or killed for it. Which, yeah, not something overprotective parents (or maybe any) parents want to hear, but it was her choice, and taking that from her seemed very selfish. And the mother seemed to be projecting on her daughter. What if she never wanted kids or to get married, and just wanted to have adventures? 

Good episode, and I enjoyed the various dilemmas, and the return of the Shaun flashbacks! It will be interesting if we see more of him in foster care. 

[Virtual]

Last season, we saw Glassman tell Shaun a bit about Maddie, so I got the impression that when Shaun realized Glassman was hallucinating her, he remembered who she was from that. But Maddie mentioned Shaun to Glassman in his hallucination. It makes me question if Shaun ever met her while she was alive (we know Shaun came home with Glassman the night his brother died; was Maddie alive then?), or if it is a hallucination thing where she knows about Shaun because of her being a figment of his mind. In any case, the scenes with Glassman and Maddie were very emotional. TV shows get that rarely these days, it seems.

Also, it was very ironic seeing a Freddie Highmore character be on the OTHER side of someone experiencing a hallucination, having been a big Bates Motel fan.

As for the Shaun and Lea scenes, the only thing I didn't like was how Shaun sprung it on her that he rented the apartment for them to share. You don't do that without discussing it with the person first. Between that, waking up Armen (his landlord) at midnight, reacting badly to the robber and getting that girl shot, and letting Kenny take him for granted (so glad to hear he got what was coming to him!), it appears Glassman was right that Shaun needs someone who can help him handle things like that better. I am curious on what happened to Lea in Hershey. My suspicion is, her job prospect that she moved there for didn't work out so she came back.

[Annber03]

Just now, Virtual said:

Also, it was very ironic seeing a Freddie Highmore character be on the OTHER side of someone experiencing a hallucination, having been a big Bates Motel fan.

Ha :D!

Quote

 I am curious on what happened to Lea in Hershey. My suspicion is, her job prospect that she moved there for didn't work out so she came back.

Given just how upset she seemed to sound when talking about Hershey, I'm wondering if there's more to it than just a failed job opportunity. 

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, Virtual said:

As for the Shaun and Lea scenes, the only thing I didn't like was how Shaun sprung it on her that he rented the apartment for them to share. You don't do that without discussing it with the person first. 

Did I totally miss something? When did he say he rented something for them to share?

Regarding Shaun and Maddie ever meeting, I had assumed from last season that Glassman met Shaun after Maddie died. Didn't Shaun live in the midwest or something when they met? I thought Glassman had left town because he couldn't handle his daughter's death. And Maddie is the same age as Jessica who is several years older than Shaun. So, if Maddie died at 17-ish, that would be around the time Shaun was 10 and his brother died.

[greeneyedscorpio]

3 hours ago, theatremouse said:

It also really pisses me off that Lea got to bail on Shaun, and didn't seem to realize it really hurt him. He tells her that (ok yells blurts hissy fits), and then instead of her acknowledging that yeah, I can see how I might've crushed you a little; she immediately turns it around like "hey yeah I totally ditched you abruptly and with a smile on my face but did it ever occur to you I just came back because it all went horribly wrong?" and because he's like "no I didn't stop to consider that because I was busy being emotionally devastated" and she's like "well you're a jerk" and now he's like...oh I'm a jerk. OK I usually can't tell but I guess you making me feel bad is entirely forgiven and I'm not allowed to be perturbed at all because I've sufficiently hurt you back in the meantime? Like, she's the one with the emotional intelligence and also taking absolutely no responsibility that when you ditch someone maybe they might not be so enamoured with you anymore and that's fair?

 

One hundred times this!!

[Zoe]

26 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Did I totally miss something? When did he say he rented something for them to share?

When they were singing at the end. Captions help!

[theatremouse]

33 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Did I totally miss something? When did he say he rented something for them to share?

It was literally the last 12 seconds of the episode. I missed it at first and had to go back because I didn't understand the look on her face.

[Annber03]

32 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Regarding Shaun and Maddie ever meeting, I had assumed from last season that Glassman met Shaun after Maddie died. Didn't Shaun live in the midwest or something when they met? I thought Glassman had left town because he couldn't handle his daughter's death. And Maddie is the same age as Jessica who is several years older than Shaun. So, if Maddie died at 17-ish, that would be around the time Shaun was 10 and his brother died.

Yeah, I hope they can sort out the timeline on that stuff, 'cause I'm a little uncertain on some of those details, too. Shaun was originally from Casper, Wyoming, and went straight from there to San Jose in the pilot. So if Glassman left town over his daughter's death, I'm guessing he lived somewhere before Casper, then, and met Shaun when he came to Casper. If that's the case, then Shaun and Maddie wouldn't have lived together. 

[Texasmom1970]

Amazing acting in this episode. I wish Lea would go back to Hershey and leave Shaun the hell alone. Also blonde doctor go to an Octoberfest celebration and STFU!

[Trini]

Oh, also; I was glad for the little update on Kenny: he got arrested, yay! I hope Shaun got his stuff back.

[Blue Plastic]

19 hours ago, Trini said:

So when the mother of the mountain climber said that their 'reward' would be her daughter getting married and having children, I'm thinking - um, what if she NEVER gets married or has never has children??  She was forcing her own aspirations onto her daughter that might not share them.

Yeah, she might not aspire to the same things her parents did/do.  I think she was obsessive about the mountain climbing, but I don't think her being suicidal 4 years before necessarily means she is suicidal now and therefore should be left with limited neck movement, even if it is only a little limited.  I thought that was horrible.

19 hours ago, possibilities said:

What I want to say to Lea is: tough titmouse.

Me too.  She's supposed to be the one with the better understanding of emotional nuances yet she totally glosses over how Sean might have felt when she suddenly left and then came back seemingly expecting him to give her a place to "crash" and attend to her emotional needs yet not say anything about how disappointed he was when she took off.

6 hours ago, TimetoShine said:

I think the show’s hairstylist hates Morgan. 

That was the ugliest hairstyle.  There are no words.  It was hard to take her seriously.

I didn't really care for the Maddie hallucinations.  It was all in his head so it wasn't really a resolution that Glassman would feel was satisfying.  His daughter is still actually dead and he didn't really get to talk to her one more time.

Are Melendez's parents still supposed to be alive?  They apparently don't visit their daughter in the home so I wondered if it's because they won't or can't.

[Dusty]

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Regarding Shaun and Maddie ever meeting, I had assumed from last season that Glassman met Shaun after Maddie died. Didn't Shaun live in the midwest or something when they met? I thought Glassman had left town because he couldn't handle his daughter's death. And Maddie is the same age as Jessica who is several years older than Shaun. So, if Maddie died at 17-ish, that would be around the time Shaun was 10 and his brother died.

Yeah that's what I thought as well and during the episode I was like "wait, did I miss something?"

 

I don't like what Claire did this episode. It bothers me in a big way. I think she stepped way over the line when she went to the parents to give them the idea to take away their daughter's decision making rights. She didn't even know about the suicide attempt 4 years ago at the time she did it.

[DearEvette]

20 hours ago, bros402 said:

What was with Reznick's hair? That was certainly a hairstyle...

Heh.  I think I let out a "What in the Swiss Miss hell is going on with that hair?" when I saw it. 

[tennisgurl]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

Oh, also; I was glad for the little update on Kenny: he got arrested, yay! I hope Shaun got his stuff back.

Oh I forgot that, that made me happy! Screw you Kenny!

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, Blue Plastic said:

Are Melendez's parents still supposed to be alive?  They apparently don't visit their daughter in the home so I wondered if it's because they won't or can't.

The vibe I got from the way he played it was that they're probably dead, and he's probably explained it to her before but she didn't understand so he's stopped trying to explain it. It seemed a little intentionally ambiguous. But he took this half-breath right before he answered that read to me like "they dead".

It's also possible though that he isn't from the area? And he pays for his sister's care and thus she's near him, and maybe they're alive but very far away and/or not well enough to travel, but the version of what he said is the version she can understand.

[bros402]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Heh.  I think I let out a "What in the Swiss Miss hell is going on with that hair?" when I saw it. 

I just kept staring at it whenever she was on screen and I was like "what did they do?"

[Beezella]

11 hours ago, DearEvette said:

On 10/16/2018 at 2:48 AM, bros402 said:

What was with Reznick's hair? That was certainly a hairstyle...

Heh.  I think I let out a "What in the Swiss Miss hell is going on with that hair?" when I saw it. 

Ha Ha Ha! I am inordinately in love with braids of all kinds, and this is the only braided hairstyle I have ever hated.

[Evagirl]

15 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Oh I forgot that, that made me happy! Screw you Kenny!

I think the writers got wind that we (the fans) didn't like the Kenny character or the way he was taking advantage of Shaun, so they just wrote him out.  I also think the writers finally get it that we (the fans) want Shaun to have a friend, close to his own age, who totally accepts him the way he is.  Lea was that person.  I never understood why they wrote her out in the first place.  It felt good to watch Shaun skipping into to work after being MIA for 2 days or so and saying, "I was with my girlfriend," and everybody's mouth drop to the floor.

We LIKE Shaun.  Yeah, he's friends with Claire, but that's only at work.  He needs a friend (besides Glassman, who's more of a father figure than a friend) to help guide him through the social arenas of life.  Lea treats Shaun like a man, not a man with issues, but just a man.  I think it's sinking with her that Shaun has feelings just like everybody else, but because he's wired differently, those feelings are channeled differently, so they come out differently.  She hounded him and hounded him about "talking it out", and when he finally tries to do that in his own way, she rebuffs him.  The comment he made about "I don't care what happened in Hershey, but I do care that you care," was brilliant!  That's when she "got it".  I hope :-).

Man, I love this show!!!

[Evagirl]

38 minutes ago, Evagirl said:

I think the writers got wind that we (the fans) didn't like the Kenny character or the way he was taking advantage of Shaun, so they just wrote him out.  I also think the writers finally get it that we (the fans) want Shaun to have a friend, close to his own age, who totally accepts him the way he is.  Lea was that person.  I never understood why they wrote her out in the first place.  It felt good to watch Shaun skipping into to work after being MIA for 2 days or so and saying, "I was with my girlfriend," and everybody's mouth drop to the floor.

We LIKE Shaun.  Yeah, he's friends with Claire, but that's only at work.  He needs a friend (besides Glassman, who's more of a father figure than a friend) to help guide him through the social arenas of life.  Lea treats Shaun like a man, not a man with issues, but just a man.  I think it's sinking in with her that Shaun has feelings just like everybody else, but because he's wired differently, those feelings are channeled differently, so they come out differently.  She hounded him and hounded him about "talking it out", and when he finally tries to do that in his own way, she rebuffs him.  The comment he made about "I don't care what happened in Hershey, but I do care that you care," was brilliant!  That's when she "got it".  I hope :-).

Man, I love this show!!!

[Miles]

Wow, on this show it's easy to get somebody pronounced mentally incompetent. You just have to say it and then a social worker shows up and says "hurdur, I really can't tell, so I'm gonna err on the side of caution and condemn this young woman to a life of limited motion, with which she can't work in her chosen profession."

Yeah no, somebody has to be a clear and present danger to themselves or others. Just doing extreme sports doesn't cover that, or any rock climber would be in a padded cell.

This show really grinds my gears with it's blatant disregard for any realism.

 

On 16.10.2018 at 5:23 AM, Lady Calypso said:

I totally get that Shaun needs to learn to be more empathetic and needs to learn about communication and having him be there for his friends in different ways, but this isn't the way to do it. I don't feel bad for Lea. Yes, Shaun could have asked her about why she was back and all that, but neither Lea nor Shaun seem to understand that they hurt each other. However, this is leading to a lesson for Shaun and Lea seems to be getting off the hook for her misdeeds, which doesn't make me like her much. It's really on the writing here, since I think Paige Spara is a decent actress. 

I wouldn't even go that far. Maybe I see some things too black and white, but I think Lea doesn't get to be hurt. Well I guess you can't control your feelings, but she certainly doesn't get to be "righteously" hurt, like the show is portraying it. She left without any warning, decieving Shaun for quite a while, certainly during their last day together. Then she just shows back up again, again without any warning and wants Shaun to be her emotional support blanket. Yeah, no. That's not how that works. First you have to apologise for being such a shitty friend, then that apology has to be accepted and maybe then your friend will ask why you are back and support you.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Miles

[JenMcSnark]

On 10/16/2018 at 4:19 PM, KaveDweller said:

Did I totally miss something? When did he say he rented something for them to share?

Regarding Shaun and Maddie ever meeting, I had assumed from last season that Glassman met Shaun after Maddie died. Didn't Shaun live in the midwest or something when they met? I thought Glassman had left town because he couldn't handle his daughter's death. And Maddie is the same age as Jessica who is several years older than Shaun. So, if Maddie died at 17-ish, that would be around the time Shaun was 10 and his brother died.

I felt this was part of Glassman's guilt over possibly mishandling his daughter's drug addiction and it also fits S1.  He feels guilty that he didn't give Maddie the attention/care she needed and her hallucination is an expression of that guilt.  That's one reason he's always almost micro-managed Shaun's life/career until Shaun told him to stop it.  Because he feels like he didn't do ENOUGH for Maddie.  But it also parallels that he thought HE was enough to keep her drug use from getting worse so he's tried to be there for Shaun in any possible way.  But when Shaun told him to stop and he knew he was dying, he drew back too much because he suddenly realized that Shaun, like Maddie needed some outside sources of help the Glassman wasn't providing access to before because he wanted to be there for Shaun.

I think I confused myself now.  haha  Great episode though.  

[aemom]

On 2018-10-16 at 1:13 AM, Jazz said:

I believe it was implied that when he threw her out of the house he thougt she would go to Elizabeth's? (Melendez's Ex) house. But she ended up fatally overdosing.

Jessica :-)

On 2018-10-16 at 12:23 AM, Annber03 said:

Also, when Maddie was remembering her Usher-themed birthday party I had to remind myself that Usher first hit it big, like, 20 years ago and that made me feel old :p.

I read this and laughed, because when I was watching the show, I was trying to understand why you would have an usher themed party - I was thinking theatre ushers, not Usher the singer. Now, that makes sense. I must be really tired.

 

As for Glassman with Maddie. I did not see that coming. He locked her out of the house because of the drugs, and then she went and overdosed. That is some serious baggage to live with for the rest of your life. 

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, AEMom said:

I read this and laughed, because when I was watching the show, I was trying to understand why you would have an usher themed party - I was thinking theatre ushers, not Usher the singer. Now, that makes sense. I must be really tired.

Hahaha, I love that idea :D! That's cute. 

[bros402]

4 hours ago, Miles said:

Wow, on this show it's easy to get somebody pronounced mentally incompetent. You just have to say it and then a social worker shows up and says "hurdur, I really can't tell, so I'm gonna err on the side of caution and condemn this young woman to a life of limited motion, with which she can't work in her chosen profession."

Yeah no, somebody has to be a clear and present danger to themselves or others. Just doing extreme sports doesn't cover that, or any rock climber would be in a padded cell.

This show really grinds my gears with it's blatant disregard for any realism.

 

Yuuup.

They didn't even mention respite care to the mother of the guy with Fragile X.

[CarpeFelis]

If I were Dr. Lim, I’d have ripped Claire a new one for what she did. She may have meant well, but she WAY overstepped.

[thuganomics85]

This certainly seemed to be the episode where all of the cases had a rough and kind of sad ending, with the overall theme being that sometimes parents have to make sacrifices and do something that feels bad for what is best for their children.  But I felt like they ended up getting it about half right.  I thought the mother having to give up her son was well-done and I liked seeing Park step up and convince Melendez that it had to be done.  But the stuff with the rock-climbing girl was a bit more iffy to me.  I just don't buy that she would be considered mentally incompetent because it seemed clear that she didn't have a death wish, but just liked doing those extreme stuff, and it just made Claire and the parents seem underhanded.  At least Claire realized that she was being effected by her issues with her mom, but it ended up being too little, too late.

The stuff with Glassman was intense.  The show certainly did right by getting someone like Holly Taylor to play "Maddie", because they really needed someone who could match Richard Schiff, and she did so with ease.

I laughed out loud over the Kenny reveal.  Mainly because even those he was his normal polite self, you could still tell that deep down, Shaun was thinking "Screw that guy!" when said what happened.

Didn't predict that Melendez would end up having a sister that had to be put into a home.  It makes me wonder more about his initial reaction/early behavior towards Shaun in the early episodes.  Still can't believe that I find him so compelling now.

Still not liking the Lea stuff because while, again, I do think she has some points about how Shaun has been behaving, it still feels like she (and the show) are ignoring her part in all of this, and she isn't blameless with the way she handled her leaving.  Shaun might be acting selfish, but she is too by apparently assuming she would come back and Shaun would automatically just be happy to see her again.  The whole thing was just a mess, but it feels like it's being all piled onto Shaun.

[topanga]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

But the stuff with the rock-climbing girl was a bit more iffy to me.  I just don't buy that she would be considered mentally incompetent because it seemed clear that she didn't have a death wish, but just liked doing those extreme stuff, and it just made Claire and the parents seem underhanded.  At least Claire realized that she was being effected by her issues with her mom, but it ended up being too little, too late.

Good points. I doubt that an 18 year old boy who does extreme sports would be declared mentally incompetent. And are her parents now her medical powers of attorney for everything? Are thy financially responsible for her?

And to me, the difference with Claire’s mother is that her mother’s actions harmed other people, usually not her. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by topanga

[Pink-n-Green]

On 10/16/2018 at 10:20 PM, Trini said:

Oh, also; I was glad for the little update on Kenny: he got arrested, yay! I hope Shaun got his stuff back.

Wasn't that whole thing with Kenny just weird?  There really wasn't any reason for that character to exist.

[doctor destiny]

9 hours ago, Pink-n-Green said:

Wasn't that whole thing with Kenny just weird?  There really wasn't any reason for that character to exist.

No unfortunately that's not true.  There is a girl with Aspergers in my home country.  A group of girls at her high school pretended to be her friend.  They made her take off her top, took pictures and posted them online.  When the parents asked her what was the worst part, it was because she thought they were her friends.  It doesn't matter how smart an Aspie is, they can be gulled by ill-intentioned people.  It's a real thing that happens to a lot of autistic people.  So I have to think about putting any assets I might have in a trust for my kids who have very high IQs.  They nailed this one right on the head with that storyline.  Also, Shaun was very lonely at the time and vulnerable.  I hope to god my kids never find themselves in that position.

[Guest]

I'll spare you guys my next anti-Lea rant (or most of it), but I'm really not digging this "poor Lea" self-pity tour. The show thinks that we want to see Shaun have emotional growth, which is true in theory, but accomplishing it via having one of his only supposed true friends (who is also very aware of his romantic feelings for her) call him an asshole with zero justification beyond "how dare you have negative reactions to my shitty actions" and gaslight him into groveling for her forgiveness (...for what? having a spine and not letting your sexy neighbor use you as a drive-by AirBnB?).....is not the way to go about it.  Somehow this plot is going even more crappily than I imagined. When she said "I thought I had a friend who was sweet and nice and open-minded!" which is code for "I thought I could exploit your autism and social naïveté on a whim without consequence!" FUCK OFF! Just fuck off! I'm so sick of able people treating disabled people like toys and then being shocked when they have actual emotions and don't just forget about everything they did. We're not dogs.

I did get a little bit of satisfaction at Lea's shocked face when Shaun told her that he had rented an apartment for the two of them to share. That's what happens when you choose to manipulate and guilt trip someone who you know doesn't understand social cues for your own advantage and ego, you self absorbed jackass! I wish he would ditch her, but you know she'll flip the switch and become sugary sweet, especially if he offers pays the rent. I predict she'll keep making Shaun "earn her forgiveness" until he's totally subservient and then reward him with taking his virginity in the midseason finale.

[CarpeFelis]

8 hours ago, doctor destiny said:

No unfortunately that's not true.  There is a girl with Aspergers in my home country.  A group of girls at her high school pretended to be her friend.  They made her take off her top, took pictures and posted them online.  When the parents asked her what was the worst part, it was because she thought they were her friends.  It doesn't matter how smart an Aspie is, they can be gulled by ill-intentioned people.  It's a real thing that happens to a lot of autistic people.  So I have to think about putting any assets I might have in a trust for my kids who have very high IQs.  They nailed this one right on the head with that storyline.  Also, Shaun was very lonely at the time and vulnerable.  I hope to god my kids never find themselves in that position.

You have the characters confused. Kenny was Shaun’s neighbor (played by Chris D’Elia) after Lea moved out.