S01.E16: Wendi's House

[AnnaRose]

Quote

The Kids Are Alright

Wendi's House (Season 1 | Episode 16)

8:30PM Tuesday EST | ABC

Mike and Peggy are sympathetic when Wendi's parents split up until Peggy realizes that Wendi's parents left her in the house alone, giving her and Eddie an unsupervised love nest. Elsewhere, Joey goes undercover to enter a cockroach he found in a race at a nearby bar. Meanwhile, Timmy is determined to watch the Jerry Lewis Telethon no matter what obstacles come his way.

Airdate: March 19, 2019

[Bteam]

Joey and Lawrence are now my favorite brother pairing!  Excellent development for both characters, and for the first time since the  first episode, I feel that we got a real sense of who Lawrence is.  Loved the look Lawrence gave Joey when Joey was holding the COCKROACH because he was injured. I’d say both characters grew in this episode.  Fav quotes ... 

Joey to Lawrence “... I’m trying to get you to grow a parables.”  

Fiona: “Murph!  I’m going home!”

and good for Lawrence for appreciating older women. 

[Snow Apple]

Pat continues to be a cutie pie.

LOL at Timmy trying to stay up watching the Jerry Lewis telethon. I remember not being really interested in most of the acts but keep flipping back in case there was something good. I always managed to catch the tail end of an act I would have liked to see.

[janie jones]

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

Pat continues to be a cutie pie.

OMG his line about how he's been having an adventure today all by himself was adorable.

[Rockstar99435]

Poor Eddie. Wendi's plan (because you know Wendi came up with the whole thing) would have totally worked if he hadn't tried to go extra with the coin purse for Mom.

Joey's take on religion always cracks me up. "Just tell them nonsense until they feel better." Pairing him with Lawrence was great. They bring out the best in each other.

I also cracked up at the Dad's comment about Wendi being 'bright and pretty.'

Edited March 20, 2019 by Rockstar99435

[dcalley]

Three weeks between episodes was long enough for me to forget three of the boys' names: Joey, Pat, and the baby (Andy?). 🤦‍♀️

16 hours ago, Bteam said:

and good for Lawrence for appreciating older women. 

I wasn't sure if she was supposed to be telling the truth about her age or not. The actress is only 28.

Is Wendi an only child?

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, Rockstar99435 said:

Joey's take on religion always cracks me up. "Just tell them nonsense until they feel better." Pairing him with Lawrence was great. They bring out the best in each other.

I just loved how everyone just believed Joey was a priest even though he is a kid just because of a collar. I liked his pairing with Lawrence too. 

15 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Pat continues to be a cutie pie.

LOL at Timmy trying to stay up watching the Jerry Lewis telethon. I remember not being really interested in most of the acts but keep flipping back in case there was something good. I always managed to catch the tail end of an act I would have liked to see.

Same here. I didn't really want to watch it but I was curious enough to want to know what was going on every so often. I loved that he missed John Lennon! 

[Bteam]

20 minutes ago, dcalley said:

17 hours ago, Bteam said:

I wasn't sure if she was supposed to be telling the truth about her age or not. The actress is only 28

Ah!  That makes sense!  She fibbed because of his fib. I thought she looked good for that age! The joke went right over my head- LOL. You can never tell with this show!  

I was worried that two weeks off would hurt the ratings, but they seem to have held steady. Whew! 

[janie jones]

9 hours ago, Rockstar99435 said:

Poor Eddie. Wendi's plan (because you know Wendi came up with the whole thing) would have totally worked if he hadn't tried to go extra with the coin purse for Mom.

I also think it would have worked if he hadn't told his dad not to tell Wendi where he was.

[biakbiak]

Mike not picking up Wendi’s mother because he wouldn’t bend his no picking up hitchhikers rule for anyone amused me. 

[Rockstar99435]

11 minutes ago, janie jones said:

I also think it would have worked if he hadn't told his dad not to tell Wendi where he was.

I'm pretty sure telling Eddie telling the Dad was part of the plan. 

As far as I can tell the plan was:

1) Have Eddie tell the Dad to lie to Wendi about him going to the leather working class.

2) Dad tells Mom that Eddie is lying to Wendi. Mom "figures out" that Eddie is lying to them about going to the leatherworking class.

3) Mom goes to Wendi's house to catch Eddie there. Wendi tells her she is lying to Eddie about her mom not living at the house because she's afraid that Eddie will pressure her into sex.

4) Mom tells Dad that Wendi is lying to Eddie. Dad gets mad that Wendi is lying to/manipulating poor dumb Eddie.

5) Mom and Dad make Eddie and Wendi communicate their feelings. At the end of the meeting, Eddie is allowed to go to Wendi's house w/o supervision with Mom and Dad's blessing because they think that Wendi is responsible and doesn't want to have sex with Eddie.

Eddie telling the Dad to lie started the scam because it manipulated the Mom to think they were doing something wrong, only to learn that Wendi is a good catholic girl who doesn't want to have sex. 

The kids got caught and Mom realized the manipulation when she found the coin purse with the recipt and learned that Eddie was never in a leather working class. He was going over to Wendi's house just like she thought at first. 

[festivus]

Eddie and Wendi just look too much alike. I can't help it, they freak me out. 

I love all the boys on this show but little Pat is my favorite. He is so adorable and weird. I can't understand Mom not just wanting to cuddle that precious child all the time.

Glad Lawrence got a bit of story in this one. We haven't gotten much of him lately.

[Bazinga]

What Timmy missed: John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, September 1972 (would have been Labor Day Weekend).

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Jerry Lewis Telethon

Background Story: When John and Yoko Helped Jerry Lewis

Background Story: John, Yoko and Jerry Lewis play reggae on the MDA Telethon

Edited March 21, 2019 by Bazinga

[biakbiak]

One minor thing that I wish networks/show runners cared about was episode placement. This episode the episode highlights how very rarely they left the boys home alone which makes sense on all levels but literally in the last episode we saw Mike and Peggy went off to Mexico for a completely different trip that left the boys alone. 

[xander874]

8 hours ago, biakbiak said:

but literally in the last episode we saw Mike and Peggy went off to Mexico for a completely different trip that left the boys alone

Agreed. When the episode opened, I assumed it was a continuation of the Mexico story and trip. I get the marriage counseling thing was needed for the plot, but it would've been easy to work it around the other trip.

I did love the Joey/Lawrence pairing (whoa!) and glad Father Larry got something to do as he has mostly been reactive in episode rather that having his own story.

And I just have to echo others every episode - Pat is so adorable. I want an episode dedicated to the adventures he had in this episode we didn't see. Trains?

[Cowgirl]

1 hour ago, xander874 said:

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

but literally in the last episode we saw Mike and Peggy went off to Mexico for a completely different trip that left the boys alone

Agreed. When the episode opened, I assumed it was a continuation of the Mexico story and trip. I get the marriage counseling thing was needed for the plot, but it would've been easy to work it around the other trip.

Also agree. like Xander, I thought it was a continuation of the Acapulco trip story.  Another nitpick (I love this show! But this little thing bugged me.) is that wasn't the drinking age 18 in the 1970's?  Or was California different?  When I was in college in the 80's it was 18.  Then, two months before my 21st birthday they raised it to 21. So, I've been old enough to drink, twice.  (Or, too young to drink, twice.)

Love how excited Mike was about the free pens. I'm surprised Peggy didn't have a big fit about the state of the house when they got home. 

I used to HATE the MD telethon.  We only got one channel on t.v. (I lived on a ranch) and, when the telethon would come on, it took up what -- a whole week?  I don't remember any of the acts being any good.  

Edited March 21, 2019 by Cowgirl

[ItCouldBeWorse]

59 minutes ago, Cowgirl said:

Also agree. like Xander, I thought it was a continuation of the Acapulco trip story.  Another nitpick (I love this show! But this little thing bugged me.) is that wasn't the drinking age 18 in the 1970's?  Or was California different?  When I was in college in the 80's it was 18.

I agree with both.

[xander874]

1 hour ago, Cowgirl said:

But this little thing bugged me.) is that wasn't the drinking age 18 in the 1970's?  Or was California different?

It looks like in California, the age has been 21 since Prohibition ended. It didn't change federally until the 80s.

1 hour ago, Cowgirl said:

it took up what -- a whole week?

It felt like it sometimes, but I think it was just  part of Labor Day weekend (Sunday and Monday), which is still a long time.

[Cowgirl]

Thanks Xander! Good to know, on both counts. 

[Steff]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:33 PM, Bteam said:

Joey to Lawrence “... I’m trying to get you to grow a parables.”  

I woke up not 1 but 2 cats with how loud I laughed at that line. 

[dcalley]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._history_of_alcohol_minimum_purchase_age_by_state has detailed info on every state, but yes, CA's been 21+ since 1933.

[Ilovepie]

I laughed the hardest at Mike: "Do you really want to see two redheads going at it in a waterbed?" Or something like that........

"The Thon" Ha!

Also:

"How long have you been watching that?"

"I just turned it on."

"The wax fruit is melting. That's enough."

I loved Joey and Lawrence......it's nice to see Lawrence is not so pious that he's above using his collar to go to a bar even though he's underage. I cannot believe they thought Joey was old enough to be drinking age, let alone a priest.........

I weirdly now want to see a cockroach race - that setup was adorable! I live in California and ever since the drought we have had those huge cockroaches roaming our garage after dark for the last 3 summers........they never come in the house and they disappear during the day, but they totally creep me out when I go out into the garage for something after dark in the summer........

[methodwriter85]

The floating timeline of the show seems to be set in 1972 but they keep mentioned the Eagle Rock Mall, which wasn't opened until 1973. Although I'm going to give them a pass for that so they do seem to emphasize that it's very new and being built.

One thing I really like is that they keep coming up with brother pairings that are different, like Joey and Lawrence in this episode.

17 hours ago, festivus said:

Eddie and Wendi just look too much alike. I can't help it, they freak me out. 

They acknowledged that in the last episode where we learned that when they first met Wendi, Pat thought she was Eddie's absorbed twin. And Peggy has already said that she sees Wendi as like her daughter that went full-term.

I do think that Eddie really does look like he could be Mike's son. That's probably the strongest family resemblance casting on the show.

Edited March 21, 2019 by methodwriter85

[mojito]

Was this the last show of the season since Labor Day is upon the Clearys?

Though there were a few chuckles, I think this show is cratering quickly. It's just limping out of its first season.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, mojito said:

Was this the last show of the season since Labor Day is upon the Clearys?

No there will be 22 episodes this season. 

[festivus]

4 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

They acknowledged that in the last episode where we learned that when they first met Wendi, Pat thought she was Eddie's absorbed twin. And Peggy has already said that she sees Wendi as like her daughter that went full-term.

Yeah I know, I said something about it in that thread.

[Phebemarie]

I like that we finally saw a glimmer of a heart in Joey.  He was distressed when his cockroach was injured, and it didn't seem like he was sad because he'd lost a potential source of income.  

[dcalley]

6 hours ago, biakbiak said:

No there will be 22 episodes this season. 

The network ordered one more, so it's now 23!

[ShelleySue]

On March 20, 2019 at 10:29 PM, festivus said:

Eddie and Wendi just look too much alike. I can't help it, they freak me out. 

Eddie first met her at the cemetery when Pat thought that Wendi was Eddie's twin sister whom Eddie had absorbed (forgot the correct terminology) in the womb.  So it would make sense that they look alike.

[festivus]

I know. I already mentioned that I said something about it in that episode thread.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 3/21/2019 at 11:19 AM, Steff said:

Quote

Joey to Lawrence “... I’m trying to get you to grow a parables.”  

I woke up not 1 but 2 cats with how loud I laughed at that line. 

Not me--it sounded too scripted, and was a rare downer for me when watching the show.

.

On 3/21/2019 at 2:39 PM, mojito said:

Though there were a few chuckles, I think this show is cratering quickly. It's just limping out of its first season.

I loved it.  They did such a great job of making Timmy look bleary-eyed, like he really had been sitting in front of the TV long enough for the wax fruit to melt.  And the shot at the beginning that panned through the house, with a quick glance at somebody riding a scooter down the hallway and Eddie and Wendy making out.  And after Frank drops the plate Joey appears instantly and says, "We're breaking stuff?" and throws down a plate.  And William looking for the roach and it was on his head, with Pat coming at him with a hammer.

It's the little stuff like that throughout that keeps me coming back.  I love these kids.

[AnnaRose]

47 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Not me--it sounded too scripted, and was a rare downer for me when watching the show.

.

I loved it.  They did such a great job of making Timmy look bleary-eyed, like he really had been sitting in front of the TV long enough for the wax fruit to melt.  And the shot at the beginning that panned through the house, with a quick glance at somebody riding a scooter down the hallway and Eddie and Wendy making out.  And after Frank drops the plate Joey appears instantly and says, "We're breaking stuff?" and throws down a plate.  And William looking for the roach and it was on his head, with Pat coming at him with a hammer.

It's the little stuff like that throughout that keeps me coming back.  I love these kids.

Me too!  And there's just so much funny stuff going on, I wouldn't even know where to start in listing all of it.  I enjoy these episodes even more on rewatch and catch so many funny things I missed.

I'm glad you mentioned Pat coming at William with the hammer (after breaking dishware and stomping his brother's foot because he was copying him).  He's so cute and hilarious!  I would love to know/see more about his adventure.  

The cockroach stuff game me PSTD flashbacks of my time living in the South and having issues with Palmetto bugs.  They are the stuff of nightmares!  {Shudders.}

I honestly love all of these characters so much.  Right now, I think Joey, Pat and William are my overall favorites, but it varies week to week.  There are so many possibilities with different pairings and groupings.  I'm very impressed with the writers who pack these episodes with so many hilarious bits, and the actors who inhabit their characters so naturally and present such distinct and well-formed personalities.  It's my favorite show by far, and I hope it stays on for a very long time. 

[librarianbeck]

If Eddie and Wendi weren't both redheads, I don't think anyone would be saying they looked alike. Because redheads are less common, people seem to think we're all related. 

I thought this was a pretty good episode and I laughed out loud a few times. I hate those jeans with no back pockets that Wendi frequently wears.

[Thumper]

Pat is my favorite -- he is so innocent and quirky!

[hoodooznoodooz]

Frank had pick of the pews!

I agree that the parables joke came across as too scripted, but then again, I dislike all of Joey’s line readings. 

I like how Frank used the same words as Peggy to describe the mess.

I love how charmed Pat was by the cockroach. 

[janie jones]

On 3/21/2019 at 1:06 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I do think that Eddie really does look like he could be Mike's son. That's probably the strongest family resemblance casting on the show.

I agree, and I also think William looks like the mom.

[Yeah No]

I'd heard that cockroaches were bigger in warmer climates, but youch, that was the stuff of nightmares!  I grew up in NY so of course I have a history with them, but it was like PTSD to see them so huge in this episode, and people actually touching them.  Ugh, I need a therapy session just on that alone. 

Otherwise, a cute episode!

[OnceAgain]

That roach on Williams head! Yikes! He and Joey are my favorites. We see lots of Joey, and NOT enough William. I want to know more about him. 

[Chaos Theory]

I don't know why I don't have this on my DVR.  I check it out on Hulu when I get around to it.   I thought it was hilarious when the boys were chasing the cockroach. It landed on william’s Head and Pat grabbed a hammer to smash it but right before he did Joey trapped it with a jar.  I don't know why but I found that to be hilarious.  

It is nice to know that Wendi's family is as screwed up as the this one is though.  Explains why she hangs out with them.   Even though Eddie is a little too much an idiot Eddie and Wendi are kinda cute together.  

Joey in Lawrence's priest outfit in a Catholic bar is a work of genious.  

But the best part was  when Mike and Peggy realize the free marriage encounter weekend wasn't "free".   

Lawrence still liking the 43 year old waitress was sweet.  

Edited March 23, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[2727]

53 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

But the best part was the realization when Mike and Peggy realize they free marriage encounter weekend wasn't "free"

Mike subconsciously implementing the techniques he'd absorbed was great.

Also laughed at Peggy's comment that she didn't want any grandkids until she was too old to take care of them.

[Cowgirl]

The waitress is the same actress who played Axl's girlfriend Cassidy on The Middle.  I see I'm not the only one here who wondered if she really was supposed to be 43, or if she was just telling an obvious lie to flirt with Laurence and put him at ease. 

[AnnaRose]

3 hours ago, Cowgirl said:

The waitress is the same actress who played Axl's girlfriend Cassidy on The Middle.  I see I'm not the only one here who wondered if she really was supposed to be 43, or if she was just telling an obvious lie to flirt with Laurence and put him at ease. 

Woah!  I wondered why she looked familiar.  I don't think I would have ever guessed that was Cassidy.

[Cowgirl]

Me either! I had to get on IMDB and look it up.