GRChereck January 3, 2019 Share January 3, 2019 Quote Maya lends a helping hand to frenemy Melanie (Sarah Chalke) and finds her life taking a surprising turn. Dylan joins the Lafayette basketball team, where her lousy sportsmanship gets results. Jimmy makes up for lost father-son time with Ray. Link to comment
GRChereck January 5, 2019 Author Share January 5, 2019 (edited) Stray observations: -- I guess they've done away with the "annual DiMeo road trip" altogether (or else it happened and we just didn't see it or hear about it, or the parents could be putting it off for another time as a way to truly surprise the kids)... Though I suppose Jimmy and Ray hopping a flight to Wyoming (using travel vouchers from Jimmy's workplace) so Ray can have his first legal-if-accompanied-by-a-parent beer (well, his first taste, anyway... :p ) could count as their spontaneous and relatively cheap post-New Year's mini-vacation... -- Since Dylan first bonded with Kenneth upon learning of his star-athlete past in "Runaway" (1x20), I've been somewhat disappointed that the show never really revisited this development -- until now: She got him back in touch with his b-ball background, which would eventually come in handy for his new coaching job; and while they once also bonded over trash-talk, here Dylan's obsession with winning causes her to take things a little too far (dragging the rest of the team and their coach down with her), and (per JJ's advice) he must teach her better teamwork and sportsmanship. -- Speaking of 1x20, this may be the first good one-on-one Jimmy/Ray plot since then; the pair shared some of my favorite s.1 moments (including the "bulletproof" speech in 1x3 "Bonfire," and the reveals of both Jimmy's architecture background and Ray's concern for JJ's future in 1x19 "Cheater"), but then hardly anything in s.2 (unless you count the "birds and bees" talk in the cold open of 2x4 "Training Day" -- in both 2x6 "Shipping" and 2x14 "Eighteen," they shared their plots with Maya and Taylor, while 2x16 "One Angry Maya" found Ray vying with Dylan for their dad's attention). We also get a little more insight into Jimmy's upbringing, as he briefly talks about how his dad would call him dumb; I guess that would explain a lot of why he seems so down on himself. -- Ray's video for his dad almost made me cry. Just as I was beginning to wonder why this episode was making Jimmy look like such a lousy father when we know he can do and has done better, I was so glad to see it (and Ray) acknowledge that while he may be barely competent in the sort of practical "little things" he hadn't gotten around to teaching his son over the years, his heart-to-heart talks have indeed managed to teach Ray "what matters." :) -- Good to see Maya's special-needs-mom support group again; I think this is their first appearance since 1x16 "Oscar Party." And nice to see that Melanie Hertzal has been invited to join them! -- So that explains the title: Maya gets the idea to start an adaptive-clothing line from watching a stripper named Hot Hot Javier rip his pants off... which reminds me a bit of JJ discovering his knack for filmmaking while working on the set of a raunchy campus romp (2x8, "Bikini University"). :D Edited January 6, 2019 by GRChereck additional thoughts 3 Link to comment
kathyk24 January 5, 2019 Share January 5, 2019 I loved this episode. Dylan's plot was hilarious. Maya and Melanie are more alike then they realized. My only nitpick was the lack of jj in this episode. 7 Link to comment
GRChereck January 5, 2019 Author Share January 5, 2019 (edited) On 1/4/2019 at 10:35 PM, kathyk24 said: My only nitpick was the lack of jj in this episode. Yup... though I did love how he was able to communicate his disapproval of Dylan's behavior -- and help both her and Kenneth realize what they had done wrong -- with just his stare. Being a good big brother in his own way. :) (Speaking of JJ plots with his siblings, I read where he's supposed to have one with Ray* in the Jan. 18 episode "H-- Hey, You," which I'm super-excited about...) EDIT: Which apparently continues in "O-- Our M-A-G-- Mageddon" (Jan. 25). Edited January 9, 2019 by GRChereck update; typo 3 Link to comment
bros402 January 5, 2019 Share January 5, 2019 This episode was good. Maybe the lack of JJ was because Micah Fowler had other obligations? 1 Link to comment
Mystery January 5, 2019 Share January 5, 2019 (edited) I really liked this episode. I was kind of dreading the JJ-applies-for-college storyline because so many TV shows get it all wrong, but this was good. USC is one of the few California schools that pledges to meet 100% of financial need (though a state school like UCLA would also be a good choice). I was a little confused about why that lady said that JJ would be going to college "next year," but maybe this episode was meant to be aired at the end of 2018 instead of the beginning of 2019. I did think that after the ladies decided to start a business that they might decide to sell those expensive bottles of wine instead of destroying them, but it was still fun to watch. Edited January 5, 2019 by Mystery 2 Link to comment
bros402 January 6, 2019 Share January 6, 2019 10 hours ago, Mystery said: I really liked this episode. I was kind of dreading the JJ-applies-for-college storyline because so many TV shows get it all wrong, but this was good. USC is one of the few California schools that pledges to meet 100% of financial need (though a state school like UCLA would also be a good choice). I was a little confused about why that lady said that JJ would be going to college "next year," but maybe this episode was meant to be aired at the end of 2018 instead of the beginning of 2019. I did think that after the ladies decided to start a business that they might decide to sell those expensive bottles of wine instead of destroying them, but it was still fun to watch. Yeah I imagine this was supposed to air in 2018 (Since you think they would've aired an ep the friday after black friday. Or maybe they were expecting it to premiere in September instead of October). Or they were talking about the next academic year. 1 Link to comment
GRChereck January 6, 2019 Author Share January 6, 2019 7 hours ago, bros402 said: Or they were talking about the next academic year. That was what I figured. :) 2 Link to comment
SoMuchTV January 6, 2019 Share January 6, 2019 20 hours ago, Mystery said: I was a little confused about why that lady said that JJ would be going to college "next year," but maybe this episode was meant to be aired at the end of 2018 instead of the beginning of 2019. 9 hours ago, bros402 said: Or they were talking about the next academic year. 2 hours ago, GRChereck said: That was what I figured. :) 100% agree about the academic year. If I were to ask a high school senior (today) what they're planning to do next year, and they answered "Next year? 2020? Well, I guess I'll be starting my 2nd semester at State U.", I'd be tempted to smack them :) 2 Link to comment
MaryMitch January 6, 2019 Share January 6, 2019 I'm glad to see Sarah Chalke again; I hope we see her more often. 7 Link to comment
Mystery January 6, 2019 Share January 6, 2019 But it was one of the mothers who pointedly inserted "next year" into the "JJ is going to college" discussion, which is why it made no sense to me. It wasn't someone innocently asking what he'd be doing next year. Link to comment
71dude January 6, 2019 Share January 6, 2019 Fun episode - nice to see Jimmy and Ray in the car again - I miss those scenes. 5 Link to comment
tennisgurl January 6, 2019 Share January 6, 2019 Loved this episode, with highlights being JJs amazingly specific facial expressions, that amazing purple suite that Kenneth was rocking, and Jimmy walking into the side of the bathroom and falling right on the floor. I admit that I got a little teary when Ray made the video telling Jimmy what a great dad he was, and when Jimmy took Ray to get his first beer with him. I also hope that one day, we can see more of Rays impressions. They look like everything I've ever wanted. 6 Link to comment
bros402 January 7, 2019 Share January 7, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Mystery said: But it was one of the mothers who pointedly inserted "next year" into the "JJ is going to college" discussion, which is why it made no sense to me. It wasn't someone innocently asking what he'd be doing next year. Might be that mom is annoyed about Maya worrying about something down the road instead of having an immediate concern. Also I have no idea why they don't have Maya become an advocate, that is the perfect job for her. No degree required to be an advocate. Maybe they want Maya to have to take some basic business courses after messing something up with the adaptive clothing business, then she ends up taking some classes at JJ's college? Edited January 7, 2019 by bros402 2 Link to comment
GRChereck January 7, 2019 Author Share January 7, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, bros402 said: Also I have no idea why they don't have Maya become an advocate, that is the perfect job for her. No degree required to be an advocate. She may still do stuff like that on the side -- in this week's episode coming up, she supposedly takes a special-needs dad with a young boy under her wing -- but I noticed when she got to talking with Melanie about the clothing line, she said something about "making a buck." I agree that advocacy would be more directly in her wheelhouse (having been such a large part of her raising JJ), while starting a product line would mean having to rely on others with more business expertise; but I wouldn't surprise me if she found the latter more attractive because she stands a better chance of making some good money at it. :\ Edited January 7, 2019 by GRChereck 3 Link to comment
bros402 January 8, 2019 Share January 8, 2019 15 hours ago, GRChereck said: She may still do stuff like that on the side -- in this week's episode coming up, she supposedly takes a special-needs dad with a young boy under her wing -- but I noticed when she got to talking with Melanie about the clothing line, she said something about "making a buck." I agree that advocacy would be more directly in her wheelhouse (having been such a large part of her raising JJ), while starting a product line would mean having to rely on others with more business expertise; but I wouldn't surprise me if she found the latter more attractive because she stands a better chance of making some good money at it. :\ She doesn't seem motivated by money, though - she is more of a character motivated by... justice, getting what is right for the disabled students, feelings be damned. 2 Link to comment
GRChereck January 8, 2019 Author Share January 8, 2019 8 hours ago, bros402 said: She doesn't seem motivated by money, though - she is more of a character motivated by... justice, getting what is right for the disabled students, feelings be damned. Good point. :) Now that I think about it, though, I wonder if Maya would've been willing to go through with the idea if Melanie hadn't said something about both being in the same boat (Logan will soon be graduating, with Taylor "not far behind") and having studied business -- as it was, they saw an opportunity to help each other out (as both special-needs moms and soon-to-be empty-nesters). 1 Link to comment
BookThief January 9, 2019 Share January 9, 2019 I always enjoy when Sarah Chalke speaks Deutsch. Goes back to her Scrubs days too (as I believe she is fluent). It will be interesting to watch her and Maya work together. I don't think Maya's first thought is the money but rather keeping busy with something she believes in AND if it happens to be successful, well, great. I can see this family panicking to actually have some extra cash and not knowing what to do with themselves to have enough cash for X or Y. 2 Link to comment
possibilities January 9, 2019 Share January 9, 2019 Also, the clothing was actually a solution to a problem she and JJ had, which was that it was hard to get his clothes on and off efficiently, as they discussed earlier in the episode. Creating the clothing line is practical for her and kind of is a form of problem-solving for disabled people. 2 Link to comment
bros402 January 9, 2019 Share January 9, 2019 7 hours ago, BookThief said: I always enjoy when Sarah Chalke speaks Deutsch. Goes back to her Scrubs days too (as I believe she is fluent). It will be interesting to watch her and Maya work together. I don't think Maya's first thought is the money but rather keeping busy with something she believes in AND if it happens to be successful, well, great. I can see this family panicking to actually have some extra cash and not knowing what to do with themselves to have enough cash for X or Y. I believe she is fluent in German - which is why they had her do it on Scrubs, they originally wanted her to speak another language, when she was like "I know German!" 4 Link to comment
msrachelj January 14, 2019 Share January 14, 2019 On 1/5/2019 at 3:40 PM, Mystery said: I really liked this episode. I was kind of dreading the JJ-applies-for-college storyline because so many TV shows get it all wrong, but this was good. USC is one of the few California schools that pledges to meet 100% of financial need (though a state school like UCLA would also be a good choice). I was a little confused about why that lady said that JJ would be going to college "next year," but maybe this episode was meant to be aired at the end of 2018 instead of the beginning of 2019. I did think that after the ladies decided to start a business that they might decide to sell those expensive bottles of wine instead of destroying them, but it was still fun to watch. the wine bottle smashing was killing me. keep them! they obviously enjoy wine. just wasteful... 1 Link to comment
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