Shrill - General Discussion

[BingeyKohan]

I am still unclear if they even knew it would be the final season.

why did Ruthie disappear after that one girls night episode?

UO but I didn’t love Will!

also why even introduce the new workplace for Fran then barely do anything with it? Again, seemed like a choice you’d make with another season left to explore it more.

Edited May 9, 2021 by BingeyKohan
Addition

[Blue Plastic]

Well, it sucks that apparently this was their final season and it was left on a cliffhanger.  I trusted you, Hulu!

Why was boyfriend Will apparently cleaning something from the floor, like maybe a broken glass, when Annie came in and he was so mad about her checking out the bakery?  My initial impression was that maybe the estranged wife (forgot her name) came to Will’s house to complain and there was an argument and maybe a glass was thrown?  We haven’t seen any hint of Will being violent but maybe EW is?

I think maybe there is some kind of problem there besides just being estranged and that’s why Will was so upset. But he was not forthcoming about it and made Annie curious so part of it is his fault. Though I can see it from his POV also, that she didn’t take his feelings into account and just sort of stepped into a potentially difficult situation without just asking him more about it.

[DanaMB]

I thought Annie visiting the bakery was inappropriate and as soon as she found it, I dreaded what was coming next. I think she should have waited for Will to introduce them. Whether or not it is something to break up over, I don’t know. But I think he was justified in being upset. 

[NeenerNeener]

I'm kind of disappointed at how this ended. 

It looked like Will hadn't gotten over his ex. Plus...Annie scoping out the ex can't be that unusual or out of line. (I've been on the receiving end of those visits at least twice that I know about). She was just such a goof ball about it that the ex figured it out. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by NeenerNeener

[lasu]

I really disagree with people who think Annie going to the bakery was no big deal.  Maybe if she had just driven by, but actually going in and acting such a fool she got busted?  It's not a good look.  He had JUST told her it was important to be sensitive to his ex's feelings, and she does something that is going to be seen as provocative at best.  I understand the impulse, I'm not saying Annie's a bad person.  But from Will's point of view, she has given off many warning signs: she acted awfully on their first date (even if she did apologize and explain later - that doesn't mean he owed her another chance), but then much more importantly, you have the one-two punch of telling her parents they were moving in together and then stalking his ex.  These are really big red flags, honestly.

And then for the ex?  She has her estranged husband's new girlfriend (that happened fairly fast as far as I can tell) show up at her work.  I would feel VERY, VERY, VERY INCREDIBLY violated if that happened to me.  I wouldn't have anyway of knowing if this woman was going to be dangerous to me.  We the audience know Annie, but the ex doesn't.

I didn't see it as Will being still hung up on his ex.  It seemed clear to me he really liked Annie, but he was also being cautious.  This actually seems really smart to me, when you have just gotten out of the only relationship you've been in for your entire romantic life.  But when you combine that caution with Annie's ignoring his boundaries, in Will's shoes, I would end things.  I think story-wise, this would have been the way to go.  So far in the series, Annie's relationships (both times with Ryan and then whatever went on with Nick) ended because Annie was growing and realized she wanted/deserved better.  This time, she's the one who is screwing things up and needs to do better.

They didn't know this was going to be the final season, so if I had to guess, we saw both Fran and Annie sabotage their relationships at the end of season three, but would have patched them up in season four.  At least Fran and Em for sure.  Even though I liked Will and I liked him with Annie, I also would have liked the juxtaposition of her losing a good guy because of dumb mistakes after Ryan lost his relationship with Annie, even though he didn't do anything wrong per se and wasn't a bad person.  Annie's not a bad person, but she might have made enough mistakes to cost her the relationship.

Finally, Gabe in the TV show isn't really based on Andrew Savage.  The character in West's book is, but the character in the TV show is more John Cameron Mitchell's creation.  He said that he specifically didn't read the parts of the book that had the Andrew Savage character as he was developing Gabe.  He said Savage is a friend of his, and he wanted to do something different.  West has confirmed that Gabe "occupies the same space" that Savage did in her real life.  Also, after the book came out, West ran into Savage and was more than a little nervous, but that he simply congratulated her seemingly without ill will.

 

[Juneau Gal]

I'm only halfway through this season, but am really not enjoying it. Everything that I liked about Annie in the first two seasons seems to be gone. She's angry and mean-spirited, with a needlessly huge chip on her shoulders. I understand she is desperate to be loved and seen as something other than the "fat girl".

I would say I am a not a prude, but I guess I am because the first episode with the tiny ejaculator and BBQ finger, for me, was crude, senseless, and worst of all, not one bit funny.

Oh well, the third season curse strikes again.

[NeenerNeener]

On 5/12/2021 at 10:30 AM, lasu said:

It's not a good look. 

No one said it was a good look, just that it's not a crime punishable by break up. Where I think she blew it was telling her parents she was moving in with him when he hadn't asked her.

This kind of stuff happens in real life, though. I dated this guy for about a year when I was in college; 2 months after we broke up I was told one of the girls he had started dating at that time was in the same bar where I was partying with my friends, and had a meltdown when she saw me. I had never met her and had no idea how she knew who I was as the ex didn't have any pictures of me. On top of that, one of his other girlfriends had just left her husband and showed up on his doorstep unannounced with all her worldly possessions and told him she was moving in with him, just the weekend before. So this one guy I used to date covered both of those Annie situations.

The new girlfriend of another ex tracked my father down and introduced herself as ex's new girlfriend. That really confused Dad, as he didn't know the ex or that I'd been dating him.

I lead a remarkably boring life, so if this stuff happened to me it can't be that unusual.

Edited May 13, 2021 by NeenerNeener

[CaliforniaLove]

On 5/9/2021 at 7:40 AM, Blue Plastic said:

Well, it sucks that apparently this was their final season and it was left on a cliffhanger.  I trusted you, Hulu!

Why was boyfriend Will apparently cleaning something from the floor, like maybe a broken glass, when Annie came in and he was so mad about her checking out the bakery?  My initial impression was that maybe the estranged wife (forgot her name) came to Will’s house to complain and there was an argument and maybe a glass was thrown?  We haven’t seen any hint of Will being violent but maybe EW is?

I think maybe there is some kind of problem there besides just being estranged and that’s why Will was so upset. But he was not forthcoming about it and made Annie curious so part of it is his fault. Though I can see it from his POV also, that she didn’t take his feelings into account and just sort of stepped into a potentially difficult situation without just asking him more about it.

Interesting...having the ex be abusive makes his reactions make a lot more sense in a context other than him not being over her. I was distracted by the glass sweeping, but by the end of the scene I had forgotten about it & just thought he wasn't over the ex. It would make sense that he was actually afraid of her & upset that Annie put herself in a potentially dangerous situation. Also, how did she guess who Annie was? If she hadn't so much as called the guy in months, she was still keeping some sort of tabs on him.

Anyway, I thought they knew it was a last season, so reading here that they didn't makes me feel a little better about how they "wrapped it up". 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E1: Ribs

Quote

A newly single Annie jumps back into the dating world with mixed results, and has a traumatic encounter at the doctor. Fran and Emily take their relationship to the next level. The Thorn faces serious cutbacks.

Oh, Annie, I had such high hopes for Joe. That only lasted about ten seconds though. Pro tip for Joe: if you come before she does, get to work and make sure she gets some pleasure out of this encounter. She shouldn't have to counsel you while you lock yourself in the bathroom. But what else would you expect from someone who knows so little about female anatomy that he tried the barbecue butt hole move?

Gabe never fails to disappoint with his self-absorbed egomaniac ways. Yes, the day that you lay off a bunch of people and cut back the hours of everyone who's left is definitely the time to announce that you got a book deal and expect everyone to celebrate with you.

It's been a long time since S2 so I've forgotten a lot of the details. Was Nick somehow exceedingly charming at Gabe's party and I've somehow blocked it all out? Or is Annie just open to any male attention now that Ryan is out of the picture?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3.1 quotes

Joe: Shirts on, butts out.

Joe: It's so hot when you talk to me like a marriage counselor.

Annie: Whoa!
Joe: What'd I do?
Annie: I mean, you just went fully for my butthole and I just met you like five hours ago.
Joe: I was going for the vagina.
Annie: But from behind? Do you think my clit's in my ass?
Joe: They're close to each other, right?
Annie: Do you have barbecue sauce on your fingers still?
Joe: Just a little.
Annie: I don't want barbecue sauce in my asshole.

Angus: I guess this will give me more time to work on my novel. It's like Watership Down but with snakes.

Gabe: Many of you have been aware that I've been working on my tell all memoir - small town boy becomes underground glam rock demigod and eventually cultural policy maker, power broker, and sage.

Fran: Let's just not do this. I'm going to ask you to leave.
Sienna: Wait, what? Why?
Fran: I tried to explain but you weren't listening so let's just end this now.
Sienna: What is happening?
Em: Oh, it's nothing personal. It's just that we just hate you here.

Em: You have your main guy that you're kind of cooking on low right now. This is the guy you really like and you're not going to fuck him until the time is right. That's Nick. And meanwhile, you've got all these other little tasting pots.
Fran: Like butt finger guy. And little tasting pots - those ones you can fuck.
Em: And that's what I did with Fran. I low cooked Fran until the time was right.
Fran: I thought I was your butt finger guy.
Em: You're my butt finger everything.
Annie: This is too beautiful. I can't be here for this. It's too romantic.

Annie: I have to go to the gynecologist at 7:30 in the morning.
Em: Smart to schedule it first thing in the morning while the pussy's fresh.
Annie: I think so. Although what obligation do you think I have to tell the doctor I have barbecue sauce on my anus.
Em: She will know.
Fran: Well, she'll taste it.
Annie: Excuse me?
Fran: Oh, is that not how pap smears work in America?

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

  S3.E2: Will

Quote

Amadi sets Annie up on a disastrous blind date. Fran is sick of working from home and takes a job at a salon. Bill and Vera make a big announcement about their future.

OMG accidentally texting/emailing the wrong person is one of my worst nightmares.

Em is so great, from helping Fran kick out the client who wanted dreads in the previous episode to starting the "Yeah, it was!" chant after Fran's extremely underwhelming appearance as an eyewitness to a pennyfarthing enthusiast being hit by a city councilman's car. I did find it hilarious that Fran took that as a sign that she SHOULD work at the salon!

I wish Amadi had done more than tell the distribution guy to get off the table. It was really inappropriate for him to yell about Annie during a staff meeting and Amadi should have shut that behavior down immediately,

I loved that Gabe was totally on Annie's side when the doctor called, but of course he returned to his usual petulant self because he's still jealous/hurt that Annie had lunch with Sheila.

Edited May 14, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3.2 quotes

Fran: I worked at a salon in college and it's just a lot of towel folding and backstabbing between girls named Lauren.

Fran: That very helpful and supportive, which feels shady for some reason, and I should probably get therapy for that.

Beau: You guys are going to love my political cartoons. It's like Doonesbury but a porno.

Annie: It's not my responsibility to teach you how to treat fat people with dignity.

Gabe: Doctors are just drug dealers with their finger up your ass.

Ryan: So you get to tell me what to do but I don't even get to talk to you? Is that it?
Annie: Yes, that's it. That's a break up.

Shave guy: There's only two rules: (1) Don't be an asshole. (2) Be vegan. Are you vegan?

Annie: [Fran] looks like the meanest girl at a child's beauty pageant.

Reporter: Portland city councilman Charles Klein's vehicle collided with a bespoke cycling enthusiast. The cyclist, whose social media describes him as a pennyfarthing dandy and man about town, suffered minor injuries.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E3: Retreat

Quote

Annie demands more hard-hitting assignments at the Thorn's annual creative retreat. Fran has trouble making friends at her new job. Annie, Fran, Ruthie, and Maureen have a girls' night out to help Annie get her mind off Nick.

A camping sleepover retreat in the office? UGH.

My favorite part of girls' night out was the four of them doing the electric slide together. They weren't thinking about guys or work or anything. They were just dancing and having fun together, which is the whole point of girls' night. But I did love when they told the Dove ad guy to fuck right off.

I also enjoyed everyone (including the two guys they had just met) cheering Annie on to go see Nick and having her try to get herself together with some water and fried food first.

Man, this show is SO much better when Ryan isn't around.

Edited May 15, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3.3 quotes

Amadi: 25 issue contents. The weirder the better. Everybody here is very weird so just do that on purpose now for your jobs.

Cody: They called me Portland's king of banana bread!

Ruthie: Angus, I pitch that you write an autobiographical piece about your personal obsession with twincest.

Fran: Maybe I'll be hetero tonight. Yeah, maybe my name's Jen. I'm from Mary-land.
Annie: Okay, Maryland. And that's the fanciest Maryland's ever sounded.
Fran: I drive a Toyota. I think that's the vibe.

Ruthie: Um, there's nobody here.
Annie: No, that's not true. There's a couple of older gentlemen wearing hats from the wars that they fought in.
Maureen: Sorry, my step-grandpa recommended this place.

Annie: There's a little sign over there that says the soup of the day is hamburger.

Fran: When there are no good guys at the bar, as women we must dance.
Annie: Woo, it's the electric slide!
Ruthie: I sang this for my eighth grade recital.

Guy at bar: What is this? A Dove ad? You've got a fat girl, a blonde girl, and a Black girl and a...Chinese?
Annie: No, absolutely fucking not.
Fran: Fuck off.
Guy: I was just complimenting you.
Maureen: Say it again, motherfucker!

Ruthie: I don't want anything. Just make sure you order stuff that only I like so that I can eat all of it.

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E4: Ranchers

Quote

For her first big investigative piece, Annie visits a separatist community outside of Portland. But is she out of her depth? Fran and Emily make a sex tape. Annie tries to move things forward with Nick.

Aunt Zelda!

I was glad that Annie put herself out there and just told Nick that she liked him. It may have hurt to have him say no, but at least she didn't waste more time pining after him.

Fran and Em making a sex tape was hilarious. I thought it was going to end up with the dog in front of the camera the entire time. I loved that they were able to laugh about how unsexy it was.

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3.4 quotes

Annie: I'm 200 miles east of Portland and I just drove past a boulder with a dick spray painted on it.
Nick: Yeah, I know that spot.

Annie: The vibe is kind of intense. Do you have any tips for not getting murdered?

Clara: Just eat around the arsenic.

Annie: Nick is going to be here in 20 minutes.
Fran: Oh my, so this is a sexual pasta.

Annie: I'm still pumping all the adrenaline from earlier today so I think tonight is the night. I'm going to pull the trigger and second amendment my pussy.
Fran: Second amendment - that's the one where the army can't set up shop in your house?

Annie: Honey, read a book.
Fran: I refuse.

Fran: We're having a little viewing party upstairs.
Annie: What are you watching?
Fran: Films.
Annie: With a lot of Gatorade? I know that that's your horny fuel.

[SunnyBeBe]

I just discovered this series. I happened to see Aidy Bryant on a talk show. I’ve enjoyed for a while on SNL.   Man, this show reminds me of Girls, but not as annoying.  I’m jumping around with different seasons, which is rather weird.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S3.E5: No

Quote

Annie faces backlash over her separatist article and realizes she might deserve it. Fran introduces Emily to Nigerian food, and her mother.

 

[lasu]

On 5/13/2021 at 7:20 PM, NeenerNeener said:

No one said it was a good look, just that it's not a crime punishable by break up. Where I think she blew it was telling her parents she was moving in with him when he hadn't asked her.

Why would you say it's not a "crime" punishable by break up?  I agree it's not a crime, but it seems like going to your ex's workplace when she knows that would upset you is a break up offense if you want it to be.  You can chose to move past it if you want, but this strikes me as a very valid reason to break up with someone.  Especially, when as you pointed out, this is the first time Annie had problematic boundary  issues.

On 5/13/2021 at 7:20 PM, NeenerNeener said:

This kind of stuff happens in real life, though. I dated this guy for about a year when I was in college; 2 months after we broke up I was told one of the girls he had started dating at that time was in the same bar where I was partying with my friends, and had a meltdown when she saw me. I had never met her and had no idea how she knew who I was as the ex didn't have any pictures of me. On top of that, one of his other girlfriends had just left her husband and showed up on his doorstep unannounced with all her worldly possessions and told him she was moving in with him, just the weekend before. So this one guy I used to date covered both of those Annie situations.

This doesn't sound quite the same to me from how you're describing it - the new girlfriend just happened to be in the same place as you.  I'd suspect she knew it was you the same as you heard about her meltdown - someone told her.  But even still, even though this girl didn't do anything "wrong", I would be hesitant to date someone who was so emotionally fragile she freaked out just by being in the same place as my ex.  But that's a different story than tracking down and going into someone's workplace. 

On 5/13/2021 at 7:20 PM, NeenerNeener said:

The new girlfriend of another ex tracked my father down and introduced herself as ex's new girlfriend. That really confused Dad, as he didn't know the ex or that I'd been dating him.

That's completely psycho.  If someone had ever involved MY FATHER in this kind of bullshit, there would have been hell to pay.

On 5/13/2021 at 7:20 PM, NeenerNeener said:

I lead a remarkably boring life, so if this stuff happened to me it can't be that unusual.

Well, sure.  I didn't say these things are unusual, but I don't think frequency has anything to do with how egregious the behavior is.  Take cheating for example, that's incredibly common, but most of us would agree it's a valid reason to end a relationship (even if you choose not to).  But I don't even think you need a valid reason to stop dating someone.  You just...can stop.

Again, I'm not saying Annie is an awful person; she's not.  I've done worse things than these, TRUST me, lol.  I think the writers were purposely showing her fucking up in a relationship because she still has room to grow (plus, they didn't know this was the final season so they still need to have storyline, which almost always means fucking up the romantic relationships).  Keep in mind, the only relationship she had prior to this was with Ryan in which she was the one who was ahead of him, so it makes sense that both in the real world and for storylines, she would have some growing pains being in a relationship with someone her emotional equal.  Think about, for example, if she had just randomly announced she and Ryan were moving in together - he would have been thrilled and not concerned about being told not asked. Annie was in charge of that relationship.  So she has to learn to navigate someone she's not in charge of in the same way.

On a different topic, for those who were wondering about Will cleaning up before Annie got there (and some wondering if he was cleaning up a domestic abuse situation??), but it was established earlier that he finds cleaning to be very soothing when he's upset.  He was angry with Annie, so he was cleaning to self-soothe in the meantime.  I wish I cleaned instead of eating ice cream when I'm upset, lol.

[possibilities]

But he was cleaning up broken glass. I guess he could have dropped the glass by coincidence, but it seems unusual that they went out of their way to focus on broken glass. He could just have been sweeping up normal kinds of household dust.

[lasu]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

But he was cleaning up broken glass.

Ooop, you are right!  I still don't think it was a domestic abuse situation (I think it would be weird if he didn't tell her that and he said something about how he felt when he saw her calling, but didn't mention that she also came over and smashed up coffee cups which would be weird), but I do agree the fact there was a coffee cup makes it more ambiguous.  I just don't think there was any set up to abuse from his wife, but it could have been where the writers planned to take things.  Definitely a Choose Your Own Adventure at this point.

I just rewatched that scene to see for myself (I wasn't trying to be persnickety, obviously my memory can be faulty!), and I had to laugh that Will had three cans of Progresso soup pyramided on his counter.  So random!  (I know it's product placement.)

[NeenerNeener]

10 hours ago, lasu said:

That's completely psycho.  If someone had ever involved MY FATHER in this kind of bullshit, there would have been hell to pay.

You're not wrong about her being psycho, but this was one of the saner things she did (or so I heard). She was marking her territory and wanted me to know it. I didn't hear about it until months later, since I didn't live in the area anymore and Dad didn't remember to tell me about it until several holiday visits had passed. The ex married her anyway. 

The other ex eventually married the girl that moved in with him without an invitation. Crazy and/or inappropriate is in the eyes of the boyfriend. Obviously the writers gave Will a different idea of crazy/inappropriate than the guys I knew. It still makes me think Will wasn't really ready for another serious relationship. I'm not sure Annie was either; the timing screams "rebound" for both of them.

Edited May 18, 2021 by NeenerNeener

[gesundheit]

On 5/9/2021 at 10:22 AM, BingeyKohan said:

I am still unclear if they even knew it would be the final season.

also why even introduce the new workplace for Fran then barely do anything with it? Again, seemed like a choice you’d make with another season left to explore it more.

They knew before they finished, but didn't change much apparently.

I agree about Fran's workplace, I was getting ready for that to be fun and then... nothing.

On 5/17/2021 at 1:18 PM, lasu said:

Ooop, you are right!  I still don't think it was a domestic abuse situation (I think it would be weird if he didn't tell her that and he said something about how he felt when he saw her calling, but didn't mention that she also came over and smashed up coffee cups which would be weird), but I do agree the fact there was a coffee cup makes it more ambiguous.  I just don't think there was any set up to abuse from his wife, but it could have been where the writers planned to take things.  Definitely a Choose Your Own Adventure at this point.

I just rewatched that scene to see for myself (I wasn't trying to be persnickety, obviously my memory can be faulty!), and I had to laugh that Will had three cans of Progresso soup pyramided on his counter.  So random!  (I know it's product placement.)

I got the sense that maybe it had just been really upsetting for him and he dropped a mug or glass. Just that kind of day. I didn't blame him, he seemed really torn up about the divorce and trying to deal with it by going cold turkey without any interaction and was starting to feel comfortable in a new relationship. And then Annie turned up and acted super-weird (I mean really, a grownup might go out of curiosity, buy a coffee and leave, but instead she acted really, really bizarre and said a lot of crazy stuff) enough that the ex called him about it. I'd drop a glass! And then Annie's first instinct was to lie. Not great.

[Mr. R0b0t]

Why o why did this season feel so underbaked?  I still cannot put together what happened with Nick.  He was def into her until he just wasn't.  Am i supposed to think that he was turned off by her coming over drunk?  He didn't seem to mind given his note and texts.  Maybe it's just representative of those times where you think something is clicking and then it's just not what you perceived.  I still wish he's explained himself a bit better. 

I didn't know this was meant to be the final season and now I'm bummed.  I fell Aidy could carry a feature film of her own given the chance.  I'm sure she loves SNL, but it might be time for the next chapter.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 5/13/2021 at 11:30 PM, CaliforniaLove said:

Also, how did she guess who Annie was? If she hadn't so much as called the guy in months, she was still keeping some sort of tabs on him.

I wondered about this, too. At first I thought she was going to say that she recognized Annie from a headshot in The Thorn, possibly with a reference  to the "racist" article, but when Mikayla id'd Annie as Will's girlfriend, I wondered if she had stalked her through social media. Then when Wikl told Annie that he hadn't spoken to Mikayla for 4 months (and we know that Will and Annie have only been dating for 4 months), and he doesn't seem like the kind of person to post his relationship details anywhere,vthecwhile thing makes no sense. Would Mikayla have been concerned enough about Will to reach out to Amadi, who she's probably known for 15 years, to check on him? And if so, would Amadi share details about Annie?  Very unlikely.

I also don't think Amadi did Annie any favors setting her up with a guy who is still married to the only woman he's ever dated.

On 5/14/2021 at 9:43 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

OMG accidentally texting/emailing the wrong person is one of my worst nightmares.

Didn't she do that on purpose so she could pretend it was a mistake and not have to actually say that she wasn't interested in him? Extremely selfish move.

[lovett1979]

On 5/12/2021 at 10:30 AM, lasu said:

Finally, Gabe in the TV show isn't really based on Andrew Savage.  The character in West's book is, but the character in the TV show is more John Cameron Mitchell's creation.  He said that he specifically didn't read the parts of the book that had the Andrew Savage character as he was developing Gabe.  He said Savage is a friend of his, and he wanted to do something different.  West has confirmed that Gabe "occupies the same space" that Savage did in her real life.  Also, after the book came out, West ran into Savage and was more than a little nervous, but that he simply congratulated her seemingly without ill will.

 

You mean Dan Savage.

[lasu]

12 minutes ago, lovett1979 said:

You mean Dan Savage.

Yep.  No idea who this Andrew person is, totally pulled that from no where.

[bilgistic]

I'm of two minds about the whole Will situation. He definitely wasn't ready to date and that's not on Annie. He was newly separated from the only woman he'd ever been with since he was 15...so over half of his life. BUT...Annie going to his estranged wife's (not ex--only separated!) bakery was insane. It's one thing to stalk people on Instagram/Facebook; we've all done it. But showing up at their workplace? That's fucking bonkers. And Annie acting like it wasn't a big deal and initially lying about it to Will? NO.

I can say that I've dated every single type of guy that Shrill has highlighted. Every single one. It's painfully real what Annie goes through with these trash dudes. And how she keeps going back to Ryan despite how shitty he is. I actually yelled, "NO!" when they cut to him and Annie having sex again after she was crying over Nick.

I love cringing at this show because at least I feel like other women have had the same experiences I have. Another thing I love about Shrill is that it shows Annie as very fallible despite being the protagonist.

I hate how the show just...ended, though. I want Fran and Em to live happily ever after, and in my mind, they do, after Fran gets her head out of her ass. Annie needs to be alone for awhile. Focus on that promotion and if a guy comes along that's the right fit once she's grown a little, so be it.

[chocolatine]

On 5/20/2021 at 7:01 PM, gesundheit said:

I got the sense that maybe it had just been really upsetting for him and he dropped a mug or glass. Just that kind of day.

I thought so too, especially since he knocked over another diner's water glass when he stood up to greet Annie on their first date. He seems like the kind of person who gets clumsy when they're nervous or anxious. He was obviously not ready for anything serious with Annie (or anyone else). Getting over a 15-year marriage, which also happened to be his only romantic relationship, will take a long time. He definitely needed to communicate that to Annie, but I also thought Annie was being unreasonable when she talked about moving in together after only two months of dating. If they both had taken it slow from the beginning, the relationship could still have become serious after a while.

I absolutely hated that Annie was "canceled" for writing the story about the separatists, and even more that Fran tried to make her feel bad about it. Annie just did her job as a journalist; writing about a racist group doesn't mean that she herself is racist. It sounds like she tried to be objective even though Aunt Zelda belittled her lifestyle choices and ended the interview early. If all journalists only wrote about things that they liked, the world would be a sorry place.

Finally, I love the Oregon Coast, so it was great to see an episode that took place there. I wonder if the beach house where they stayed belongs to Em's wealthy parents and they let Em and her friends use it for free. Renting one of those houses for a weekend isn't cheap.

[ahpny]

On 5/15/2021 at 10:43 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

this show reminds me of Girls, but not as annoying

Same here, and I also got a dose of "Big Love" when Annie went to the separatist compound, especially with many of the other women looking at her like she was Jezebel incarnate. Curiously, the compound men seemed more accepting of her.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

On 6/12/2021 at 6:09 PM, chocolatine said:

I absolutely hated that Annie was "canceled" for writing the story about the separatists, and even more that Fran tried to make her feel bad about it. Annie just did her job as a journalist; writing about a racist group doesn't mean that she herself is racist. It sounds like she tried to be objective even though Aunt Zelda belittled her lifestyle choices and ended the interview early. If all journalists only wrote about things that they liked, the world would be a sorry place.

If she were an investigative journalist or reporter, sure. But she writes for an arts and culture magazine, and she was doing a profile, not an exposé. I’ve written profiles before, and it’s a means for giving the subject a platform and informing the public about something you feel is important. She also apparently made them seem folksy and charming, which is a tactic that real white supremacists use as a recruiting tactic. She’s basically doing the work for them. 

[qtpye]

On 5/15/2021 at 10:42 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

3.4 quotes

Annie: I'm 200 miles east of Portland and I just drove past a boulder with a dick spray painted on it.
Nick: Yeah, I know that spot.

Annie: The vibe is kind of intense. Do you have any tips for not getting murdered?

Clara: Just eat around the arsenic.

Annie: Nick is going to be here in 20 minutes.
Fran: Oh my, so this is a sexual pasta.

Annie: I'm still pumping all the adrenaline from earlier today so I think tonight is the night. I'm going to pull the trigger and second amendment my pussy.
Fran: Second amendment - that's the one where the army can't set up shop in your house?

Annie: Honey, read a book.
Fran: I refuse.

Fran: We're having a little viewing party upstairs.
Annie: What are you watching?
Fran: Films.
Annie: With a lot of Gatorade? I know that that's your horny fuel.

 

On 5/15/2021 at 10:43 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

I just discovered this series. I happened to see Aidy Bryant on a talk show. I’ve enjoyed for a while on SNL.   Man, this show reminds me of Girls, but not as annoying.  I’m jumping around with different seasons, which is rather weird.  

I have just completed 3.4 and am so glad I stuck with the series.

When I watched the first episode of the first season I did not love it. I thought it was another show about a woman chasing an asshole guy.

However, this episode really brought up a lot of interesting questions.

I hear guys talk about how many times women lead them only to be "friend-zoned" but I think women are much more likely to be friend-zoned than guys. Most guys bounce after they realize the woman they want to has no romantic interest in them. Most girls love the idea of being "friends" and then sometimes hang around waiting for more and don't move on.

I am glad that the Annie and Nick thing is over and we do not have a whole season of "will they, won't they" angst.

I must say that Nick had fooled me as well. I thought he really was interested in Annie. He even used her as a muse for one of his covers.

[qtpye]

On 5/22/2021 at 12:10 PM, Mr. R0b0t said:

Why o why did this season feel so underbaked?  I still cannot put together what happened with Nick.  He was def into her until he just wasn't.  Am i supposed to think that he was turned off by her coming over drunk?  He didn't seem to mind given his note and texts.  Maybe it's just representative of those times where you think something is clicking and then it's just not what you perceived.  I still wish he's explained himself a bit better. 

I didn't know this was meant to be the final season and now I'm bummed.  I fell Aidy could carry a feature film of her own given the chance.  I'm sure she loves SNL, but it might be time for the next chapter.

Just finished the third season and felt very disappointed.

It was not an ambiguous ending but more like the series got cut short for time.

I wonder if someone has an insanely close BFF, does that mean the romantic partner comes in second?

It's almost like Annie and Fran are Will and Grace but in a situation where Grace is not secretly in love with Will

 

[Scout Finch]

On 5/24/2019 at 2:09 PM, Pachengala said:

As a Portlander, I’ve got some issues. Most egregiously, Amadi says her troll is ‘over in Forest Grove,’ as if it’s the next neighborhood over. Forest Grove is AN HOUR AWAY from Portland. No one goes there. That coffee shop was in SE Portland! 

And another thing! All Portland’s (and environs’) addresses have directionals before the street name (SE, N, etc.). ‘ 431 Live Oak could not be a Portland address. 

Finally, as if I’m not being nitpicky enough, the establishing shots are from all over the city, places very far apart from each other. Anyway, I know these are pretty typical location issues but that Forest Grove thing really pushed me over the edge into pedantry. 

One thing they did get super right is Ryan, who is every single guy in Portland. 

I was thinking the same thing about Forest Grove. However, count me in as someone who used to deliberately go out there...back in the mid-1980s because the hot guy I was sleeping with lived there! Now I only very occasionally pass through it as a route to the beach. Also, about five generations or so ago it was where my mom's side of the family settled after coming to the U.S. and there was a large Dutch population (which is why there's still a proliferation of last names starting with "Van," including my mom). A lot of my relatives/ancestors are buried in the same cemetery. 

On 1/26/2020 at 6:10 PM, SoMuchTV said:

I’m going to have to say yes. I’m about the age of Annie’s parents, and I’ve only recently figured out that buying the warehouse store brand of tp by the pallet is much better than trying to figure out the best deal, or what do I have a coupon for, or did we like that quilted one or that bargain one...

But in my defense, it’s not unwrapped on a shelf, it’s in the packages in the garage. Wait, is that not better?

i guess life is good when you’re not living on the edge in the toilet paper department. 

I'm just now watching the show so am laughing at this discussion because less than two months later TP will become a hot commodity and you'll really be glad you had a stockpile!

Edited August 27, 2022 by Scout Finch

[Scout Finch]

On 5/13/2021 at 8:30 PM, CaliforniaLove said:

Interesting...having the ex be abusive makes his reactions make a lot more sense in a context other than him not being over her. I was distracted by the glass sweeping, but by the end of the scene I had forgotten about it & just thought he wasn't over the ex. It would make sense that he was actually afraid of her & upset that Annie put herself in a potentially dangerous situation. Also, how did she guess who Annie was? If she hadn't so much as called the guy in months, she was still keeping some sort of tabs on him.

That's what I was trying to figure out. He hadn't talked to his ex for four months yet had only been with Annie for two months. Wondering now if perhaps Amadi, who would have gotten to know her quite well during the 15-year marriage to his friend, ran into her someplace and 'the hey, how have you been doing?' included him casually sharing it with her that her ex had been going out with his co-worker, Annie, for a couple of months.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Scout Finch