S05.E10: Family Separation pt. 1

[thewhiteowl]

Elizabeth goes head-to-head with a U.S. governor regarding their policy of separating families of unauthorized immigrants. Also, Elizabeth and Henry plan to renew their vows.

[TigerLynx]

I liked the senator from Arizona.

I would have enjoyed seeing this issue addressed if they hadn't been so preachy, self-righteous and hypocritical about it.

Shut up Henry.  I hope the Ox tramples you, and the ant and his friends eat you.

Would it have killed them to get a few facts right?

Not all judges have personal agendas.  Some do follow the law even if they disagree with it.

This has been an ongoing problem for decades.  It didn't sprout up overnight.

People who see Washington D.C. as corrupt and a swamp aren't all evil.

Really did not like Beth's contempt when she said, "Your privileged kid."

I did laugh at the President's horror when Mexico broke off diplomatic ties with the USA.  Because the USA couldn't cut off the billions of foreign aid it gives to other countries, or demolish the entire planet with nuclear weapons.  {face palm}

Edited December 24, 2018 by TigerLynx

[shapeshifter]

I wonder if Jason will spout any comments about the difference between his mom/the SOS getting herself arrested as part of an act of civil disobedience and solidarity, and someone of less privilege (for example, early 60s MLK) doing it, or will young grasshopper/Jason just be cheering for Ma Bess from off camera (off the fictional cameras)?

Edited December 24, 2018 by shapeshifter

[CheshireCat]

21 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if Jason will spout any comments about the difference between his mom/the SOS getting herself arrested as part of an act of civil disobedience and solidarity, and someone of less privilege (for example, early 60s MLK) doing it, or will young grasshopper/Jason just be cheering for Ma Bess from off camera (off the fictional cameras)?

Since he wrote a paper on a journalist who got herself thrown in jail for not revealing her source and considered her a positive influence on society, I sure hope that he's cheering her on.

(So much for the feel-good Christmas episode I was hoping for.)

[Dowel Jones]

Dalton could make an easy statement on the problem just by shifting the ICE Border Patrol agents to somewhere else, and tell the AZ governor "You want your own immigration law?  You enforce it by yourself."  Next up:  "The Department of Defense will be conducting a study on the feasibility of the continuing operation of various military bases in Arizona."

Chekov's party basket is bound to play a big role in part two.  I have to believe there is some undercurrent for the introduction of this subplot. 

Part Two will be the feel-good episode.  Everything will be solved, Hallmark style, and the vow renewal ceremony will 'just so', allaying everyone's fears.

[bros402]

40 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Dalton could make an easy statement on the problem just by shifting the ICE Border Patrol agents to somewhere else, and tell the AZ governor "You want your own immigration law?  You enforce it by yourself."  Next up:  "The Department of Defense will be conducting a study on the feasibility of the continuing operation of various military bases in Arizona."

Chekov's party basket is bound to play a big role in part two.  I have to believe there is some undercurrent for the introduction of this subplot. 

Part Two will be the feel-good episode.  Everything will be solved, Hallmark style, and the vow renewal ceremony will 'just so', allaying everyone's fears.

Yeah, but if he had done that, that would've set a precedent, and definitely led to a second civil war. The DoD thing, yeah, he could've done that.

I liked the Senator in this episode.

Can we keep Henry's appearances to things like drinking with the President and Bess? Since that is organic and makes sense - they were friends before she was SoS and he was President

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

(So much for the feel-good Christmas episode I was hoping for.)

 

2 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Part Two will be the feel-good episode.  Everything will be solved, Hallmark style,

Maybe these 2 episodes were originally scheduled to run a week earlier?

 

Wishing to allay poor Russell's fears, I Googled convicted felon POTUS, and it could happen (according some Reddit poster), I suppose. That is, for example, Eugene Debs ran from prison—but would his win have been challenged?—and the Constitution does not mention/forbid it.

 

Both Russell and Bess gave some heroic, badass, in-your-face stares — which were not quite as effective as when I quizzically side-eyed a pair of Kung fu fighting college students this week in my role as a librarian until they stopped and sheepishly smiled — but then Bess and Russell are up against politicians who have a lot to lose if they back down — which usually Bess takes into account. Maybe Senator Morejan will get shamed into acting by his kids or his mom.

Edited December 24, 2018 by shapeshifter

[CheshireCat]

47 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

 

Maybe these 2 episodes were originally scheduled to run a week earlier?

Originally, there was supposed to be an episode every Sunday up until last Sunday. If my math is correct (never a given ;-)) that would have meant that 11 would have aired last Sunday.

 

Quote

Wishing to allay poor Russell's fears, I Googled convicted felon POTUS, and it could happen (according some Reddit poster), I suppose. That is, for example, Eugene Debs ran from prison—but would his win have been challenged?—and the Constitution does not mention/forbid it.

 

I'm kind of annoyed by some of the things they do to Bess this season with regards to her POTUS run. I don't think they're doing it on purpose but Bess was someone who "only" had her CIA past and a thing or two since she's become Sec of State. But this season, they're coming up with a bunch of stories which are a treasure trove of attack ads for the other candidates, whether it's primary candidates or at a later point. As I said, I don't think they're doing it on purpose (I don't think they're aware of what they're doing with Henry and Bess potentially being at odds when advising Conrad, for example, and I'm not sure they're viewing this as a complication given that everyone who watches regularly probably has a pretty good idea of how it'll end) and often times, these things boost Bess' popularity, but it still annoys me because it's all happening now. Or maybe, I'm just more aware of it because Bess announced she's running for President? I'll have to pay attention to that the next time I'm watching old episodes.

[TigerLynx]

How many years has Dalton been in office?  He could have done something before now if he really wanted to.  Also, Beth and Dalton's kids would fall under the privilege that Beth is now so contemptuous of.

The Federal Government is in charge of border security, but when the Federal Government abdicates it's responsibilities, it falls on the State Governments to protect their citizens and enforce the law.

[Guest]

I thought it was trying way too hard to be ripped from the headlines and too on the nose. They’ve been doing it more and more this season but this was way over the top. And I’m no exactly concerned Bess will be spending significant time in jail so it makes it more obvious.

[Notwisconsin]

So what happened? I forgot to add an extra half hour and it cut out right after the judge made his glorious speech to the CoS.

[CheshireCat]

5 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

How many years has Dalton been in office? 

He should be in year six now.

[missbonnie]

6 hours ago, deaja said:

I thought it was trying way too hard to be ripped from the headlines and too on the nose. They’ve been doing it more and more this season but this was way over the top. 

Yepper, they've been painting the edges of real life more and more this year and with this episode I'm officially out. It's too bad because I have stuck with it since the beginning but I watch this show to be entertained not be force fed someone's political agenda. If I want to watch that I will turn on the major news channels. 

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, missbonnie said:

Yepper, they've been painting the edges of real life more and more this year and with this episode I'm officially out.

I guess if I stuck with the show through the Dmitri crap, I'm likely in it until the bitter end—but I have bailed on other shows this late in the game, so I could quit MSec too.

 

13 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

 

18 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

How many years has Dalton been in office? 

He should be in year six now.

Seriously? How did I overlook this? Now I'm starting to feel more like a cult follower than a fan. But, but, but—Bess and her family are the best since—since Ozzie and Harriet? 

But we'll always have Russell.

And, objectively (?) looking at this episode's opening scene, it was well done:

• the guest actors/casting were spot on
• the writing went up to the line of gratuitous emotional manipulation, but did not cross it (YMMV) with physical violence
• there was even a little levity between mother and son at first, and comic relief always buys points with me

I guess next week's part 2 will decide it for me.

[Notwisconsin]

11 hours ago, missbonnie said:

but I watch this show to be entertained not be force fed someone's political agenda.

Speaking of which....the "I'm a stealth hispanic" line was downright offensive.

[bros402]

20 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I guess if I stuck with the show through the Dmitri crap, I'm likely in it until the bitter end—but I have bailed on other shows this late in the game, so I could quit MSec too.

 

Seriously? How did I overlook this? Now I'm starting to feel more like a cult follower than a fan. But, but, but—Bess and her family are the best since—since Ozzie and Harriet? 

But we'll always have Russell.

And, objectively (?) looking at this episode's opening scene, it was well done:

• the guest actors/casting were spot on
• the writing went up to the line of gratuitous emotional manipulation, but did not cross it (YMMV) with physical violence
• there was even a little levity between mother and son at first, and comic relief always buys points with me

I guess next week's part 2 will decide it for me.

Russell is the best

17 hours ago, Notwisconsin said:

Speaking of which....the "I'm a stealth hispanic" line was downright offensive.

Yuuup. I'm hispanic (my grandfather was Spanish) and that line just had me going WTF WTF

[ThisIsMe]

On 12/24/2018 at 10:50 AM, deaja said:

I thought it was trying way too hard to be ripped from the headlines and too on the nose. They’ve been doing it more and more this season but this was way over the top.

Totally agree.  They are killing this show with the gratuitous headline plots ... actually non-plots because instead of telling stories through the characters, the writers have morphed into Matt, the speech-writer.  I'm still going to ride the show out but it's really a shame what it's come to -- used to be so good.

[buckboard]

I'm enjoying the "gratuitous" ripped from the headline plots.  Actually, a number of the headlines I see in the paper, I first saw on Madam Secretary, like the fighting over islands in the South China Seas and dangerous matter under the permafrost.  (Don't have the exact recall on the latter episode.)

But now that the current White House resident is not the one I prefer, the show reminds me an awful lot of the latter seasons of The West Wing.  Both shows give me an alternate universe White House, with a presidential administration running the government that I'd like to see there.  

[ThisIsMe]

On 12/26/2018 at 6:28 PM, buckboard said:

But now that the current White House resident is not the one I prefer, the show reminds me an awful lot of the latter seasons of The West Wing.  Both shows give me an alternate universe White House, with a presidential administration running the government that I'd like to see there.  

I understand your point.  I used to watch the West Wing for this very reason, i.e., the "alternate universe White House."  I guess I think that West Wing pulled it off better.

[Mellowyellow]

I am very much going against the grain but damn that was a wonderful episode.

The scene with the mother and son was a punch in the gut. I have a 6yo myself. He's my little darling and I fuss when I forget to give him his mixed nuts snack for the day so to see little children locked in cages was a punch in the gut.

Bess's speech was awesome and her face as she got into the police car was top notch Bess! As was Russell's "NO!!!" when Bess got arrested. Bess is gonna send Russell to his grave one day! 

Episode also had surprisingly good bits of humour in it. Henry and Bess are such terrible dags. I adored them cracking up at their (most likely unfunny) joke and then dance teacher sporting a "WTF" look on her face. 

Loved the kids planning their parents party and calling Bess and Henry cheesy! Truer words have never been spoken! 

LOVED LOVED LOVED this ep and this show! 

[luvly]

On 12/24/2018 at 10:39 AM, TigerLynx said:

How many years has Dalton been in office?  He could have done something before now if he really wanted to. 

This was addressed in the phone conversation with Jay:

Quote

B: How can they even do that without blatantly encroaching on federal immigration law?
J: They probably can't, but Arizona recently passed a law authorizing state police to temporarily detain anyone who fails to provide documentation of lawful presence in the country. Until now, that's meant a few hours before turning them over to the Feds.
B: And now?
J: The governor's office is claiming weeks, months, in some cases.

It looks like they're doing a mashup of Arizona's controversial 2010 "Papers Please" law and our current immigration situation.

 

On 12/25/2018 at 8:39 AM, Notwisconsin said:

Speaking of which....the "I'm a stealth hispanic" line was downright offensive.

If you don't mind my asking, why? Jay has been shown to be fluent in Spanish and Sebastian Arcelus' father is actually from Uruguay. What he said was pretty consistent with what a lot of other white-passing Latinx experience.

[TigerLynx]

2 hours ago, luvly said:

It looks like they're doing a mashup of Arizona's controversial 2010 "Papers Please" law and our current immigration situation.

But the Arizona law was passed in part due to the Federal Government not enforcing its own laws.  If Dalton does not like the present immigration laws, he could try to change them through legislation instead of ignoring them.

One thing I thought the writers did get right was the woman and her son not understanding how the process really works.

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, TigerLynx said:

One thing I thought the writers did get right was the woman and her son not understanding how the process really works.

Yes. Everything about their scenes seemed to be carefully thought out: Writing, directing, casting, etc.

[Sandiscot]

4 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

 

One thing I thought the writers did get right was the woman and her son not understanding how the process really works.

The woman had it right. The officer told her, incorrectly, that she had to apply for asylum from outside the US. That is not what the law says.  Any immigrant can apply for asylum, regardless of their immigration status upon arrival in the US. In fact, they have a year to do it.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Sandiscot

[TigerLynx]

17 hours ago, Sandiscot said:

The woman had it right. The officer told her, incorrectly, that she had to apply for asylum from outside the US. That is not what the law says.  Any immigrant can apply for asylum, regardless of their immigration status upon arrival in the US. In fact, they have a year to do it.

But that does not guarantee that they will receive asylum.

[Sandiscot]

On 1/2/2019 at 4:05 PM, TigerLynx said:

But that does not guarantee that they will receive asylum.

Very true. Most do not.

[CheshireCat]

On ‎23‎.‎12‎.‎2018 at 10:11 PM, TigerLynx said:

Would it have killed them to get a few facts right?

Could you give a few examples? I'm just curious because it seemed to me that they addressed/explained all that could have been questionable in the episode.

 

Quote

Not all judges have personal agendas.  Some do follow the law even if they disagree with it.

I don't think they implied that all judges are like that. But that judge clearly had made up his mind long before he read the arguments and to dismiss six arguments as irrelevant from the get-go does not sound like proper conduct 

 

 

Quote

I did laugh at the President's horror when Mexico broke off diplomatic ties with the USA.  Because the USA couldn't cut off the billions of foreign aid it gives to other countries, or demolish the entire planet with nuclear weapons.  {face Palm}

And what would they gain from that other than chaos? Maybe they could do it but it would probably be the most stupid move they'd ever make. Especially since Russia could nuke right back as we saw in the S4 finale.

 

On ‎24‎.‎12‎.‎2018 at 2:04 AM, Dowel Jones said:

Dalton could make an easy statement on the problem just by shifting the ICE Border Patrol agents to somewhere else, and tell the AZ governor "You want your own immigration law?  You enforce it by yourself." 

That's what I thought when Morejon brought it up. AZ wants to patrol its borders? Fine, let's see how they'll do when the federal government not only withdraws ICE but also CBP. I'm not sure Morejon would have kept his seat as a Senator and the Governor is position as Governor if the borders would suddenly have been unpatrolled. But it might have been fun to watch for Conrad and Co. At least for a day or so, just to see Morejon and the AZ Governor beg to get CBP back.

 

Quote

Next up:  "The Department of Defense will be conducting a study on the feasibility of the continuing operation of various military bases in Arizona."

That could have been interesting. And assuming that it exists in the show's universe as well then there would be a German military testing base in AZ as well and as Sec of State Bess could have worked with the Geramans to find a different state to put that base in. I'm sure they could have found one.

 

 

On ‎01‎.‎01‎.‎2019 at 9:26 PM, TigerLynx said:

But the Arizona law was passed in part due to the Federal Government not enforcing its own laws. 

Did they say that? If so, I missed it. The Governor said that it's called enforcing the law and that Conrad should try it some time. But that doesn't mean that the federal government is actually not enforcing the laws. It's his interpretation of it and from the exchange that followed, I understood him to be referring to enforcing the laws that he made in Arizona.

 

Quote

If Dalton does not like the present immigration laws, he could try to change them through legislation instead of ignoring them.

There's a reference to an immigration law Congress passed during the summer, so, since the AZ Governor calls it "immigration debacle" I'm assuming he simply doesn't like it ;-)

 

On ‎02‎.‎01‎.‎2019 at 7:05 PM, TigerLynx said:

But that does not guarantee that they will receive asylum.

But that didn't really come up. The officer just told her that she had to apply for asylum before entering and that was a lie.

 

The episode felt weird. It felt slow going in some parts but not in others but I think it's due to the helplessness and powerlessness Conrad and Bess felt. Overall, I enjoyed it more than I expected. I thought it was an interesting angle to tell the story from that made it sufficiently different from the real world for me and see it as fiction rather than a news cast of sorts, even if it was ripped from the headlines.

The heels that Bess was wearing in the dance studio made me cringe. I don't know if that was a real studio they used or if it was a set but as a dancer, non-appropriate footwear in a dance studio is a big no-go for me! The dance teacher looked like she could have worn proper dance shoes but Bess' heels definitely weren't. I hope they were at least not previously used. And if the dancer teacher had to be all over Henry, praising his dance skills, it would have been nice if Henry had actually been able to dance and not looked like he swallowed a ruler ;-)

I let out a bitter laugh when Bess told Jay to enjoy the evening. He just learned that AZ was separating kids from their parents and that the border deal might fall apart. I'm not sure that that's the best basis for a nice evening. I actually thought that they'd show him making mistakes on the court due to that and stop playing.

Was Win offering him marijuana for the ankle? Couldn't Jay get in all kinds of trouble if he was caught using medical marijuana without a permit? Okay, I guess, Win was shown to not care about that previously, but still. That's not the best way to sell your product, I think.

That said, I loved the call-back to the lockdown. And that they managed to fill in new/occasional viewers on Matt and Daisy without making it seem forced. That was a nice scene and added some much-needed and appreciated comic relief.

I thought it was interesting to see Win fumble a bit with Daisy. Usually, we see him as a confident character but he truly seemed a bit self-conscious.

I'm glad they found an actor for AG that seems to be available when they need him.

Come to think of it though, I'm surprised that Conrad and Co had not heard about what the Arizona law would entail. Usually, the media seems to get a hold of controversial details of a law (state or otherwise) before/when it's due to pass either chamber of Congress, so you'd think that they would at least have known what the law could potentially do and also, that they would have been prepared to fight it. To me, it sounded like they had no idea this was a possibility.

Oh, the irony of the judge talking about an abuse of power when he was clearly making a decision because he was sulking. Maybe he should have taken a good hard look at himself because a character trait like that doesn't come up overnight, so it might not have been the administration's ideology that made them not appoint him to any higher courts. It might have been his ideology and huge potential for bias and, apparently, revenge rulings. Talk about abuse of power ;-)

I'm surprised that Bess didn't challenge Morejon if he had actually visit a detention center when he said he heard the detention centers are like summer camps. If he's defending the actions of the Governor, he should at least have firsthand knowledge of what he's talking about. And isn't it a bit presumptiuous of him to be all like "my relatives came here legally" when they were from Cuba and (again, assuming that the law existed in this universe but since Jay mentioned the policy, I think it's likely that the law did as well) Cubans had it much, much easier than basically everyone else up until a couple of years ago? I truly wish Jay would have pointed out that it's easy to be a legal immigrant when all you have to do is set foot on US territory and that it's not that easy for basically everyone else. It seems like it should have been in there and like something Jay would have said because it would have been a good argument against Morejon's.

I appreciated the brief kids discussion about the vow renewal and that they were something from not too enthusiastic to indifferent about it. Another nice moment of comic relief.

Either AZ and Texas are using the architect to build their prisons or they filmed at the same location that they filmed at in S1 when the Governor of Texas kidnapped the Mexican cartel boss. My money is on the latter ;-) I wonder if they did that on purpose or if it's a coincidence since the S1 episode was the one in which Bess and Henry celebrated their 25th anniversary.

If there's that law/statute whatever that gives Bess and the Mexican ambassador the right to enter, were they really trespassing? Or did she make this up? Wouldn't it have been risky to make that up though? And somehow, the lead up didn't sound like they were making it up. But Bess bringing in the President did sound like they might have. But didn't they have to consider that they might encounter someone who would read the paper?

I did love when Bess said "let's not get our bosses involved" though. It was fun to think about the implicaton and see the officer's reaction.

The Governor of AZ really wants to make me punch him into the face. He's a smug idiot and very easy to dislike. Is that really the kind of person Morejon wants to support? Being from AZ or not, he seems to be a lot better than that. And he's not stupid. I'm sure he could have found a way to spin opposition to his favor. It should have been fairly easy considering that cruelty against kids is involved.

And to finish it off: poor Russell! Not really. I kind of like that Bess is putting him through the wringer. It's fun to watch especially since he still likes her ;-)

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, CheshireCat said:

On January 2, 2019 at 6:05 PM, TigerLynx said:

But that does not guarantee that they will receive asylum.

But that didn't really come up. The officer just told her that she had to apply for asylum before entering and that was a lie.

In the real world it is a lie ("that she had to apply for asylum before entering") but is it in the show's world? I wonder if the writers left that vague on purpose so extended families who were watching the show would have to settle their arguments with Wikipedia, LOL. 

Similarly, as someone with no knowledge of ballroom dancing, I took the instructor's compliment to Henry at face value:

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

dance teacher looked like she could have worn proper dance shoes but Bess' heels definitely weren't. I hope they were at least not previously used. And if the dancer teacher had to be all over Henry, praising his dance skills, it would have been nice if Henry had actually been able to dance and not looked like he swallowed a ruler ;-)

Although he didn't really look like Fred Astaire, even to me. Now I want to know if Tim Daly really is a good dancer but was doing it awkwardly on purpose to make it look like the instructor was just saying that. Maybe there was supposed to be a parallel between the A plot of immigration and the B plot of dancing (shows often have parallel A and B plots). Kind of like The Emperor Has No Clothes, only it's no dance moves and no leg to stand on with regards to immigration law/policy/whatever.

Anyway, @CheshireCat, was the problem with Elizabeth's shoes that they would damage the floor, or that she would break an ankle, and why would it matter if nobody else had worn them? (I'm guessing Téa wore them to be tall enough to dance with Tim Daly and/or for the optics of the scene.)

[TigerLynx]

13 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Quote

 

I did laugh at the President's horror when Mexico broke off diplomatic ties with the USA.  Because the USA couldn't cut off the billions of foreign aid it gives to other countries, or demolish the entire planet with nuclear weapons.  {face Palm}

 

And what would they gain from that other than chaos? Maybe they could do it but it would probably be the most stupid move they'd ever make. Especially since Russia could nuke right back as we saw in the S4 finale.

Because the way Dalton said it, or maybe the way the actor played it with such horror, it was like Russia had launched a nuke at the USA.  Whereas, Mexico being mad at the USA, not the end of the world, not even close.

[CheshireCat]

1 hour ago, TigerLynx said:

Because the way Dalton said it, or maybe the way the actor played it with such horror, it was like Russia had launched a nuke at the USA.  Whereas, Mexico being mad at the USA, not the end of the world, not even close.

Maybe it's not the same as Russia launching nukes but is Mexico is an important partner and ally when it comes to trade and the fight against corruption/the cartels. They had an episode last season (the one in which the journalist was killed) that was about some anti-corruption deal the US and Mexico entered that included rooting out corruption in the government so that Mexico had a chance in their fight against the cartels.

 

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

In the real world it is a lie ("that she had to apply for asylum before entering") but is it in the show's world?

Since most everything else seemed to be the same, I assumed this was, too.

 

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Although he didn't really look like Fred Astaire, even to me. Now I want to know if Tim Daly really is a good dancer but was doing it awkwardly on purpose to make it look like the instructor was just saying that. Maybe there was supposed to be a parallel between the A plot of immigration and the B plot of dancing (shows often have parallel A and B plots). Kind of like The Emperor Has No Clothes, only it's no dance moves and no leg to stand on with regards to immigration law/policy/whatever.

I don't know, there wasn't any dancing other than at the beginning. Come to think of it, I didn't really see any parallels between the A-story and any of the other stories.

 

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Anyway, @CheshireCat, was the problem with Elizabeth's shoes that they would damage the floor,

Yes. Dance shoes have special soles so that they don't leave any marks (and also slide better over the floor). And by previously used I meant that I hope she didn't wear them outside. It's common practice not to use shoes that you wear outside in dance studio, so that you don't drag any dirt inside especially if it's not an exclusive ballroom dance studio which this didn't seem to be. There was a ballet barre, so I'm assuming they're holding ballet classes in there, too, and ballet slippers are often made out of fabric. And if they teach kids, then they'd even sit on the floor. (That said, it's not going to be something I'm going to be hung up on, just something I notice :-))

And, I guess, Bess' heels were a bit high for a non-professional (dare I say beginner?) but I think you're right and they did it so that she's taller.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

don't know, there wasn't any dancing other than at the beginning. Come to think of it, I didn't really see any parallels between the A-story and any of the other stories.

I'm sure you're right about no parallel stories this week; I'm just one of those people with an overactive imagination who readily sees unintended connections—drives my adult kids nuts now, but they used to go along with the idea of Mt. Shasta wearing various wedding gowns.

The dancing was probably just a vehicle for the further schmoopy Téa ' n' Tim. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And I guess a little romantic relief fit better with the drama than comic relief.

 

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

by previously used I meant that I hope she didn't wear them outside. It's common practice not to use shoes that you wear outside in dance studio, so that you don't drag any dirt inside

Oh! Right! That makes sense.

[CheshireCat]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm sure you're right about no parallel stories this week; I'm just one of those people with an overactive imagination who readily sees unintended connections—drives my adult kids nuts now, but they used to go along with the idea of Mt. Shasta wearing various wedding gowns.

It's possible there was a parallel in (one of) the stories and I didn't see it. Win did make a comment that legalizing marijuana would help fight the drug cartels (which would get the number of refugees down eventually). But did the story really parallel the A-story? I don't think that his persistence can be compared to Bess and Conrad's simply because I think that they are two totally different situations that can't be compared. But maybe that was their intention? I don't know. Just thinking out loud :-)

[thewhiteowl]

The show has a different political relationship with Mexico than the real world. Please keep your comments to the show and not the real world. This also applies to your opinion. Thanks.