S03.E08: J-I-- JINGLE T-H-- THON

[GRChereck]

Quote

A Christmas tree fire leads Maya to tell a small lie with big consequences. Meanwhile, Ray struggles to live in Pepper's shadow as Dylan twists the knife, and JJ encourages Kenneth to stand up to his sisters (guest stars Niecy Nash and Lisa Leslie).

[GRChereck]

So for Kenneth and JJ, we get an immediate follow-up to JJ's coaching idea -- JJ told Principal Miller, and then had her tell Kenneth about the new opening for girls' basketball coach at Lafayette. :) For all the mean jokes from Kendall (the sister referenced in 1x7) and Kiki, this was a rather sweet plot -- from JJ wanting Kenneth to make peace with his sisters so he can move on with his life and take the job, to JJ encouraging him and admitting he worries about him, to the girls' b-ball team (who come in to practice when Kenneth and Kendall's game is still going on) being inspired by Kenneth's persistence in the face of failure and even defending him when Kiki makes one more nasty comment about her brother's playing. 

As for the rest of it, when I first saw the press-release synopsis I was a little concerned that it would be a straight rip-off of the classic 'Simpsons' episode "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace"; but besides the fact that at least one of the main writers / producers on this show (Danny Chun) actually worked on 'The Simpsons' for several years (not to mention that last season's Halloween ep was intended as a stylistic homage to the "Treehouse of Horror" specials, according to a tweet from one of the other writers), I think there was enough variation here that it stands up as its own story. Unlike Bart, who lied to his family about the tree and all the presents being stolen (when they were actually burned and then buried in the snow because he'd gotten up early to open his gifts and ended up causing a fire), Maya lies to the kids about what presents they were getting -- I'm guessing she just wanted to see them happy because she (like Jimmy) sometimes feels bad about not being able to give them everything they want due to money being tight, but she hadn't counted on Dylan spilling the beans about the (bogus) burned-up gifts on the TV news. It's nice to see Jimya show some healthy conscience when they decide to "work off" the replacement gifts that the local chapter of Santa's Purpose gave them by volunteering at the charity's "Jingle-Thon" fundraiser, and I found it a funny little twist that the pair's confession of fraud ended up being the best thing for the charity -- that disgust turned out to be a more powerful motivator than love when it came to people's giving.

Also, I thought the side-plot with Ray and Dylan was hilarious -- especially the news people misnaming Ray "Dolph" and editing his interview to make it sound like he was giving full credit to Pepper for saving the family (the dog's barking had woken him up, but Ray was the one who got the rest of the family's attention by claiming a show called "When Clowns Fall Down" was on after yelling "fire" didn't work), and Dylan gleefully rubbing his face in it (even faking him out at one point by making him think she was going to reveal him as the hero at school, only to bring out Pepper) -- but turned out kinda sweet when, inspired by JJ reassuring their mother that the presents didn't matter nearly so much as the fact they've all still got each other, Dylan sincerely acknowledged Ray's hero status and Ray admitted he doesn't care so much what people think anymore. 

As Christmas episodes for this series go, "S-I-- Silent N-I-- Night" (2x10) is still my favorite (and one of my all-time fave eps), but I found this one much funnier and sweeter than "C-H-O-- Choir" (1x10).

Edited December 15, 2018 by GRChereck
clarity

[bros402]

I liked this episode. I wonder if the DiMeo's will get to keep the gifts after agreeing to ham it up and act like mustache twirling villains? 

[tennisgurl]

That was a really fun and sweet episode! It was a clear team up of Ray and Pepper who saved the day! I mean, its hard to beat Pepper in a Santa hat, that is some serious doggie cuteness. 

Loved how un phased everyone was by finding out what was going on in each others sub plots. "Kenneth needs endorphins" "I have no questions." 

[bros402]

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

That was a really fun and sweet episode! It was a clear team up of Ray and Pepper who saved the day! I mean, its hard to beat Pepper in a Santa hat, that is some serious doggie cuteness. 

Loved how un phased everyone was by finding out what was going on in each others sub plots. "Kenneth needs endorphins" "I have no questions." 

Kenneth needed electrolytes, not endorphins.

[driver18]

This actually is the episode that made me decide to stop watching the show. I'm just tired of Ray getting crapped on. While watching it, I told myself that if there is not some kind of reveal that Ray was the one who literally saved his entire family from burning down, I was done. I get that Ray can be annoying, but it's just too much. He saved their lives and it *does* matter that he not be made a laughing stock, that he not be treated like a joke. I get it's a sitcom, but I'm tired of it. It's not funny when it's the same well they go to over and over again. 

[possibilities]

Dylan did acknowledge Ray at the end. But I agree it's not funny the way they crap on him in general.

[kathyk24]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

Dylan did acknowledge Ray at the end. But I agree it's not funny the way they crap on him in general.

I think Ray is responsible for some of the flack he gets from his family. I hated the fake charity plot and I thought he was ugly toward JJ in Star wars. He's not Meg from Family Guy who is treated like dirt by her family.

[driver18]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

Dylan did acknowledge Ray at the end. But I agree it's not funny the way they crap on him in general.

Dylan acknowledging him didn't really mean anything because she knew that he did it already, she was just crapping on him by denying it. I meant, outside of that. The fact that the rest of them had no problem with everyone treating Ray that poorly (especially his parents) just went too far for me. Again.

[71dude]

Another silly and cartoonish episode - better luck next year.

Edited December 23, 2018 by 71dude