S02.E11: New Beginnings

[Raja]

22 hours ago, Jillybean said:

I expected Chimney to be attacked by Mr. Hewitt, but wasn't expecting a stabbing. Yeesh! On a shallow note, JLH's new 'do doesn't do much for her.

So the stabbing was in a promo, I was remembering it as how we ended the last half season before the break and was watching the funeral on the later promos thinking that it was a probable fake out. I was surprised to see Chimmey back on duty and wondering how much of a time jump they made.

[Gemini Gipsy]

On 3/18/2019 at 8:44 PM, tennisgurl said:

So, is a shark falling out of the truck as close as we get to a Sharknado? 

I love having this show back, in all its ridiculous glory. Its like they somehow find the most wackadoo stuff for them to find (shark attack on the free way! Woman missing her face!) as well as really serious stuff, like what happened to poor little Stevie and the other kid. As many logistical questions as I had, Athena holding her gun on that piece of crap and running to hug the kids was still such an awesome freaking moment. Handel that asshole Athena!

Speaking of, Athena's mom really is something else, no wonder her ex was practially about to run out of the house with cartoon dust in the background when he realized she was coming for a visit. How dare she come into Athenas house and yell at her fiance for daring to be a good future step dad, right in front of everyone! Its disrespectful to both of them, especially her own daughter. 

Things with Maddie have taken a seriously dark turn. Poor Chimney, he better be alright! And I have warmed a lot to Maddie (her and her brother boxing and giggling about dating was really cute) and I hope she is alright and we can leave this whole story with the ex behind. I get why they want him to come back for the sake of drama, but i would honestly rather just watch her piece her life back together after leaving an abusive marriage. 

This.

Said basically the same thing. But hey. You have to love their over the top rescues and scenarios. And playing "Touch of Gray" during the release? Oh my lawdy, just cheesy goodness. I am in love with this show.

[Gemini Gipsy]

Michael Graziadei plays an excellent bad guy and but these one offs on primetime shows are not enough for me. I wish he would land somewhere permanently!

Here is the thing, I am ready and willing to suspend a certain amount of disbelief when it comes to the 911 call portion of the show, but I am struggling with this kidnapping SL.

Why would a middle aged man decide to kidnap a boy every 6 years? Did they give us some kind of explanation and I missed it? I would like some kind of motivating factor. It just seemed so random. I also struggled with where I've seen the older boy before, but I gave up on that one, if anyone knows feel free to share, though! :)

Edited March 20, 2019 by Gemini Gipsy
wrong word

[Machiabelly]

58 minutes ago, Gemini Gipsy said:

Michael Graziadei plays an excellent bad guy and but these one offs on primetime shows are not enough for me. I wish he would land somewhere permanently!

Here is the thing, I am ready and willing to suspend a certain amount of disbelief when it comes to the 911 call portion of the show, but I am struggling with this kidnapping SL.

Why would a middle aged man decide to kidnap a boy every 6 years? Did they give us some kind of explanation and I missed it? I would like some kind of motivating factor. It just seemed so random. I also struggled with where I've seen the older boy before, but I gave up on that one, if anyone knows feel free to share, though! 🙂

While it was not explicitly stated, cases like that are usually the adult sexually assaulting the child and when the child gets older he becomes less attractive and a younger child is taken

[jhlipton]

On 3/18/2019 at 4:51 PM, jcbrown said:

The promos that make it look like they are going to kill off Chimney better be mis-direction. He's my favorite character!

I personally think it's a hugge fake-out and that Chimney's going to be fine.  Unless the actor wanted to leave, he's got THICK Plot Armor.

On 3/18/2019 at 7:00 PM, SimoneS said:

Go Athena with your bad self! I practically cheered when they showed her on the train pointing her gun at that predator asshole.

It was the flying tackle by the other two officers that made my day.  WHAP!!!

On 3/18/2019 at 8:09 PM, rhys said:

Oh my gosh that first scene with the face & neck skin flopping! Yeeow disturbing. I sure hope she & blade dude are ok.

The newscast playing in the kidnappers house said that both were 'stable".

On 3/19/2019 at 6:13 AM, DearEvette said:

"She named her daughter after a Greek goddess"
.... and crafting but we won't get into that."

Heh.

Just ask Arachne!

On 3/19/2019 at 6:26 AM, DearEvette said:

Also the show pointedly showing Athena putting her gun in a gun safe!

That was very cool.

[Clanstarling]

59 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

On 3/18/2019 at 7:00 PM, SimoneS said:

Go Athena with your bad self! I practically cheered when they showed her on the train pointing her gun at that predator asshole.

It was the flying tackle by the other two officers that made my day.  WHAP!!!

The thing that always amuses me about these scenarios are that the bad guy chooses to flee on a transport that goes from one fixed location to another. It's not like he's going to get away. There'll be cops waiting at the next station. Having Athena be the one going from a fixed location to get him was a nice twist on it.

As for Chimney, I didn't see the previews, but it is often the case that there's a retrospective when a character is in surgery fighting for his/her life. So I'm guessing we won't have to wait two episodes to find out if he'll survive.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Clanstarling

[xtwheeler]

6 hours ago, Gemini Gipsy said:

Why would a middle aged man decide to kidnap a boy every 6 years? Did they give us some kind of explanation and I missed it? I would like some kind of motivating factor. It just seemed so random. I also struggled with where I've seen the older boy before, but I gave up on that one, if anyone knows feel free to share, though! :)

Preferential sexual offenders have very narrow age/gender/looks preferences. I suspect the older child aged out of his preferential group, so he was taking another child that fit in that group for him to abuse sexually. The older child was lucky to be kept rather than killed once he aged up.

Grandma was waaaay out of line, in my opinion. She had no idea what the established dynamics were between Athina, Bobby, and the kids. Bobby's step-parental relationship is solely a matter between him and Athina, and them and the children. Grandma gets no say over that, and she was waaaaay out of line correcting him about how to interact with "[her] grandchildren" when she doesn't know the rules of the house. At MOST she should have asked Athina later, "hey, are you ok with him doing this?" but NEVER in front of the children and never asserting her relationship with the children is the most important. Narcissistic grandparents really grind my gears.

By the way, I had NO idea that Steven Staynor (kidnapped by Parnell) was the brother of Cary Staynor, the Yosemite killer. Reading a bit about Steven's return to home after the kidnapping, when his father decreed that he didn't need counseling, and he never discussed the abuse, was so sad. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. The reason he finally took action to escape was when Parnell kidnapped another 6 year old, who Steven helped escape. Steven had a very rough reentry to family and social life, and his family sounds messed up (Cary Staynor pled not guilty by reason of insanity due to his abusive childhood).  What awful, tragic endings for so many. For every Elizabeth Smart there are a thousand Steven Staynors.  Parnell died in prison, btw, and Staynor is currently a guest of the California Department of Corrections at San Quentin on Death Row.

[methodwriter85]

On 3/18/2019 at 10:00 PM, SimoneS said:

I barely recognized bald Michael Graziadei, Daniel from the Young and the Restless, as the predator. Damn, he used to have the most amazing head of hair. I wonder he was wearing a bald cap or has lost his hair.

It looks like it might be a choice because there seems to be an even amount of stubble, but it does look like it's his actually look now. He's got the bald head with his IMDB profile now. Maybe it is thinning and he just decided to let it go? He did seem to have a full head of hair in 2016 on APB but that could be toupee stuff. Maybe he just wanted a different look because his career was stagnating or his hair was turning grey and he didn't want to dye it. Who knows? Anyway, I remember him from an old episode of Criminal Minds he did where he played a self-hating gay serial killer. Kind of a shame he didn't seem to become a star.

This storyline was obviously based on the Steven Stayner/Timothy White kidnapping story from 1980, where the older kidnap victim helped the "new" brother escape. (There was a similar case more recently with Shawn Hornbeck.)

As for the Maddie stuff, I'm assuming she will draw from experiences as the Final Girl in her two horror movies. LOL.

[Mystery]

On 3/19/2019 at 7:11 PM, Irlandesa said:

I agree and that's why her mother was out of line.  He, Michael and Athena have created a dynamic where they seem to get along and are supportive of one another and each other's place in the new family. That's pretty rare.  Athena felt it was time for the kids to get used to Bobby as a stepfather.  I didn't even think he was harsh.  He was firm but he wasn't sarcastic, yelling or violent.

No, he asked very gently and added "please." Athena's mother needs to shut her yap.

I know the show has to take dramatic license but California, like many other states, allows abuse victims to obtain a private address that isn't disclosed, or to file court documents with the Secretary of State as the authorized recipient for service of process, and I believe to file court documents using their attorney's office address. If they wanted to pretend that that wasn't the case for the sake of the show, they should have added it along with the helpline information at the end. 

Edited March 22, 2019 by Mystery

[Clanstarling]

9 hours ago, Mystery said:

No, he asked very gently and added "please." Athena's mother needs to shut her yap.

I know the show has to take dramatic license but California, like many other states, allows abuse victims to obtain a private address that isn't disclosed, or to file court documents with the Secretary of State as the authorized recipient for service of process, and I believe to file court documents using their attorney's office address. If they wanted to pretend that that wasn't the case for the sake of the show, they should have added it along with the helpline information at the end. 

I thought the husband found her by following Chimney, but I could be mistaken. It could be that he started following Chimney after finding the address.

[Mystery]

11 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I thought the husband found her by following Chimney, but I could be mistaken. It could be that he started following Chimney after finding the address.

That could be what happened (I wondered, too, although if that's the case, the husband could have been following Chimney all along). But the show made a point to say that after Maddie filed for divorce, her husband would know her address. That's not necessarily true, and it's not helpful to make survivors believe it. That's why I would have liked to see at least a disclaimer at the end.

[Lady Calypso]

12 hours ago, Mystery said:

That could be what happened (I wondered, too, although if that's the case, the husband could have been following Chimney all along). But the show made a point to say that after Maddie filed for divorce, her husband would know her address. That's not necessarily true, and it's not helpful to make survivors believe it. That's why I would have liked to see at least a disclaimer at the end.

Well, the husband knew that Chimney cancelled on him for a date with Maddie and he knew the date and time, so I assume he simply followed Chimney to her house. He befriended Chimney for a reason, so her ex already knew some stuff about her new life, so it's possible he already knew her address and was just biding his time until he realized Maddie was actually moving on from him (hence, she was starting to not fear him anymore). 

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Well, the husband knew that Chimney cancelled on him for a date with Maddie and he knew the date and time, so I assume he simply followed Chimney to her house. He befriended Chimney for a reason, so her ex already knew some stuff about her new life, so it's possible he already knew her address and was just biding his time until he realized Maddie was actually moving on from him (hence, she was starting to not fear him anymore). 

I suppose he could have known where Buck worked. I think they might have actually laid the groundwork for all this, but I forget and I'm too lazy to go back and look.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I was glad they had the pre-show warning ... do they always do that? ... because face lift lady was just flat out gross. 

So this episode made me laugh, get teary-eyed (parent reunions with the kids), and cheer out loud (bad ass Athena when the train doors opened), and want to puke  ... the whole gamut of emotions!

Not sure if they're going to continue the storyline about Athena's mom, but did anyone else get vibe they might be in town because her dad is ill? The close-up shot of him had him looking tired and gaunt with stubble  ... though maybe just life with mom did that. 

I love this show so much  

[tvgoddess]

On 3/20/2019 at 4:57 PM, jhlipton said:

The newscast playing in the kidnappers house said that both were 'stable".

I missed that, so thanks. Usually I do a rewatch, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Chimney seems to be a favorite of everyone's, and I think he's okay. But if he died, it wouldn't kill me. It could make for some good drama. They go after Bobby, Athena or Hen though, and there will be hell to pay.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

2 minutes ago, tvgoddess said:

They go after Bobby, Athena or Hen though, and there will be hell to pay.

Amen. Love all three but especially Hen. In fact, she may be one of my favorite characters on prime time TV, period. 

[Chaos Theory]

I don’t think Grandma’s resentment about Bobby was even about Bobby.  It was about Athena.  Grandma commented how Athena never told her about “her granddaughter’s” OD. Like not being told about it or having final say on his things went was unthinkable to her.  She also hated Athena’s first husband whose name I can’t remember AND her choice of careers.   This all seemed to me to be Grandma’s taking indirect shots at Athena.  It had nothing to do with Bobby.

[preeya]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I don’t think Grandma’s resentment about Bobby was even about Bobby.  It was about Athena.  Grandma commented how Athena never told her about “her granddaughter’s” OD. Like not being told about it or having final say on his things went was unthinkable to her.  She also hated Athena’s first husband whose name I can’t remember AND her choice of careers.   This all seemed to me to be Grandma’s taking indirect shots at Athena.  It had nothing to do with Bobby.

1

My take: she didn't/doesn't like the fact that he's caucasian.

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, preeya said:

My take: she didn't/doesn't like the fact that he's caucasian.

In her list of things that offended her, she pointed to Athena's "gay husband" and "white boyfriend".

[thewhiteowl]

That lady was spoiling for a fight. Doesn't even matter what Bobby is or is not, she was there to find fault and place blame on Athena. The issue is with Athena. Bobby being white was just an easy, obvious target. She said Athena was making  big mistake but she wasn't specific on what exactly that was, his past? His race? His job? All of that or none, doesn't matter as long as she has a proverbial stick with which to figuratively beat Athena. If Bobby were perfect she would have said Athena wasn't worthy of his perfection or some such shit like that. I have experienced that kind of "mother".