S02.E02: Asking for a Friend

[tessaray]

Air date: Oct 23, 2018

Quote

Afraid that the answer could ruin his chances with Lena, Martin finds every way he can to avoid asking Lisa Apple if she is pregnant, while the potential pregnancy makes Lena more and more distant. At the same time, Lena worries Mason is changing himself to please his new girlfriend and finds parallels to her own relationship with Martin. Elsewhere, Maya tells Frank a pretend story about her “friend” who is dating someone new and pregnant to gauge what his honest reaction will be.

[alexa]

I didn't really understand this episode.  Is Lisa really not pregnant, and why did Martin get so easily upset / so quickly by what Lena said at the end?  Was it to make the point he didn't really care in the first place?  I think the writers are going back and forth too much, and I am losing clarity about what they are trying to do or what the focus of the show is.  

[TaraS1]

The Lena/Martin coupledom stuff is my least favorite part of the show, which I guess is a problem since it's the entire concept of the show.  But I love the whole cast, especially the friends ("I feel like a member of the Nights Watch" - "You look like Count Chocula") and the kids.

[readster]

10 hours ago, alexa said:

I didn't really understand this episode.  Is Lisa really not pregnant, and why did Martin get so easily upset / so quickly by what Lena said at the end?  Was it to make the point he didn't really care in the first place?  I think the writers are going back and forth too much, and I am losing clarity about what they are trying to do or what the focus of the show is.  

The pregnancy with Lisa was a last minute idea in case the show was picked up for season 2. It was filmed as an alternate to the season 1 finale. It's pretty much a safe bet they had no idea how to resolve it or what to do with it. The cast is great, but sadly, the show is so poorly written and the story lines just come down to: "these are people that don't know how to talk with each other." 

[tominboston]

I really want to like this show and loved the characters last season, but I too think it's starting to drift without focus. Last night's episode just felt off somehow, although I did like the way Martin made an effort to see Lena's side of things when he took on the real estate agent. C'mon writers, you can do better

[srpturtle80]

I HATE the storyline with the sister and her new boyfriend. Like if she keeps dating him long enough he’s not going to eventually find out she’s pregnant anyway? It’s not a secret that can be kept permanently. I get that she wants more time with him, but maybe rip the band aid off so if he does break up with you you don’t get anymore attached. 

[bluebox]

It's weird how the kids were just back from summer camp without any kind of mention? Did they sense that Lena and Martin were back together? 

[geauxaway]

On 10/25/2018 at 11:14 AM, srpturtle80 said:

I HATE the storyline with the sister and her new boyfriend. Like if she keeps dating him long enough he’s not going to eventually find out she’s pregnant anyway? It’s not a secret that can be kept permanently. I get that she wants more time with him, but maybe rip the band aid off so if he does break up with you you don’t get anymore attached. 

Between that and the Lisa Apple is she or isn’t she storyline, I became super frustrated.  These are supposed to be adults in their mid to upper 30’s (if not 40’s, with the exception of Lisa).  I wasn’t convinced of Lisa’s response “negative” to Martin, either.  Which like you said above, this isn’t a secret that can be kept forever (I mean outside of her terminating the pregnancy).   I don’t know why but I found both stories very immature and annoying. Adults that I know don’t act that way.  What’s to hide or be ashamed of?  You’re not a teenager that got knocked up.

I loved the makeover that the Lindsay Price character gave to the kid.  I was laughing out loud. Sorry can’t remember either of their names, and I just literally finished watching the episode.  Also love Lindsay Price’s husband.  He is funny.

[juno]

Sadly, even though there is a great cast, I predict this will be the last season. The entire premise of the show is now, will they or won't they, and that in the end they will find eachother. The show will continue with each episode them moving towards and away from each other. The audience will just wait it out until they get together. Good writing would have them not get together and see what would become of the relationships.

[readster]

2 hours ago, juno said:

Sadly, even though there is a great cast, I predict this will be the last season. The entire premise of the show is now, will they or won't they, and that in the end they will find eachother. The show will continue with each episode them moving towards and away from each other. The audience will just wait it out until they get together. Good writing would have them not get together and see what would become of the relationships.

Good writing also wouldn't have thrown an "unexpected pregnancy" in the show either.

[JasmineFlower]

I like the show unlike apparently almost everyone else who posts on here. I do, however, find Lena exhausting. I'm not confused about why Martin got upset with Lena's wishy washy turn at the end, it's a 180 from where they were like two days ago on their "honeymoon".  It was really presumptuous of her to think she'd take time away and he'd just wait for her. And they are already divorced, it was a very strange leap. Hey Martin, while I date some more guys and decide what I want, you sit there and wait while I decide what I want, which after my journey of self discovery, may not be you. It was a strange thing for her to assume. And she's not the prize she continues to view herself as. She better go find that cute young artsy guy who may still be looking for a project.

The current timetable on the show is definitely off. The kids suddenly there in the middle of summer when they were supposed to be at camp. And seemingly back at camp next week. Not making a ton of sense, but hopefully more understandable next week. There was either no mention or almost no mention of the kids last week, so I'm not sure they didn't just bring them back to remind the audience, hey, they have 3 kids by the way. 

I preferred the approach to the sister more last season, I hope they ditch this guy even though it's nice to see Travis again. She was a real plus last season and isn't so far to me. But I'm not mad that there's less focus on the daughter, who was really hard to like last season, especially the first half. But that could just be the camp problem and she'll be back to having a lot more screen time once "summer" is over. Guess we'll see.

I'd love for them to figure out a way to make that waiter a regular. A friend? A coworker? I don't care. He was the best part of this episode for me. "Work on your backstory!"

[msrachelj]

On 10/24/2018 at 7:46 AM, alexa said:

I didn't really understand this episode.  Is Lisa really not pregnant, and why did Martin get so easily upset / so quickly by what Lena said at the end?  Was it to make the point he didn't really care in the first place?  I think the writers are going back and forth too much, and I am losing clarity about what they are trying to do or what the focus of the show is.  

i admit i ff'd a lot last season and probably skipped a few but decided to try again this season. my biggest question is: why does everyone call her "lisa apple" it's grating on my nerves.