S1.03: Made You Look

[IndyMischa]

A day behind, but a few thoughts on this episode:

* Nate's girlfriend having his phone code feels extremely unrealistic to me. I can't believe a guy whose facade is that carefully constructed and tightly managed, would let that happen. At a bare minimum (rimshot), he would have a secondary locked down profile for Grindr and related pics.

* I'm guessing McKay has not escaped being the publicly naked failure pledge forever...

* Kat is a stronger woman than I am. I would not have been able to keep that Skype window, $100 or no $100.

* Rue's addiction is the least interesting story line for me, by a lot. 

[revbfc]

Can we please give it up for the drug dealer’s moral compass?  It’s weird that he’s the guy who I’m liking the most.

Having said that, this episode is a vast improvement over the first two.

[Dee]

Rue's breakdown at the end of episode was a fantastic bit of work by Zendaya.

This really is a revelatory role for her.

[SHD]

I like how we’re getting back stories on the characters so that we know a little more about why they are the way they are.

This episode was a prime example of a recent pet peeve. So much info is seen as subtitles with hard to read print or as texts on phones. Not everyone has a giant TV (or good eyesight). So many times I have to pause the show to make sure I’m reading everything correctly.

[Dejana]

I have to go back and rewatch, as it took a good 10 minutes to get over the shock that Zendaya-narrated, animated Larry Stylinson porn had just appeared on my television. I knew of the whole conspiracy (it is bananas) and that there's NC-17 boyband smut online but was quite happy avoiding that on Wattpad and the like. As I immediately suspected, there was zero chance Louis approved:

*

I waivered between thinking Rue is too young to be so world-weary about dick pics and "Is she wrong, though?" Not a fan of the phenomenon. 

*

I think whatshername with Nate just surreptitiously watched him put in his phone password a few times to figure it out. Dad is probably too busy with his own online sexting to be too worried about checking his son's phone, so Nate got a bit careless.

Edited July 2, 2019 by Dejana

[tennisgurl]

I liked this episode quite a bit more the last two, probably because it had some more (dark) comedy (like Rues dick pic lesson) and Kats story actually does seem like something more unique to this generation, unlike a lot of the story-lines so far which has been pretty "oh goodness wont someone think of the children!?" in ways that they would in any generation. Kat being fandom/tumblr famous but feeling invisible in her "real" life was a good unique backstory for her, that led to her becoming a cam girl. Thats certainly...a lot. 

How is it that the most well adjusted person on the show seems to the local drug dealer?!? 

Zendaya really is becoming one of my favorite young performers out there right now, her whole monologue during her NA meeting was so freaking riveting, and followed by her almost wordless reaction to the guy at the meeting laying on a massive guilt trip to her for ODing in front of her sister and lying about her sobriety. 

[scrb]

6 hours ago, Dee said:

Rue's breakdown at the end of episode was a fantastic bit of work by Zendaya.

This really is a revelatory role for her.

Never seen her in anything before though her face seems familiar.

Disney actor in her first serious adult role?

Yeah these kids are so street smart and so good at exploiting adults, especially using sexuality.

72 non alcoholic drinks at a Caribbean resort — aren’t these adult-only resorts? — caused an 11-year old girl to gain 20 pounds?

And the heartbreak of being dumped made the girl write gay porn fanfic?  Which became the rage online?

Those 72 drinks at the resort probably cost several times the $200 that Kat took from that schlub.

Meanwhile Nate’s gf finds all these dic pics on his phone because she noticed all these alerts on his phone while they were having sex.

Rue has fallen for Jules, who has fallen for her online crush.  When Jules doesn’t immediately show her affection, Rue goes for a fix and when she can’t score, he calls the rehab guy?

All these kids are starved for affection and attention.  OK but let’s see if the show has any other tricks than graphic sexuality as the vehicle for depicting lives of desperation.

[BooBear]

10 hours ago, revbfc said:

Can we please give it up for the drug dealer’s moral compass?  It’s weird that he’s the guy who I’m liking the most.

Ok I though it was just me but last night I saw a shippy video on you tube for Fezz and Rue. I think he is in love with her.  There wouldn't be many drug dealers out there if they cut off people that couldn't handle their product. 

Quote

As I immediately suspected, there was zero chance Louis approved:

I suppose the good news is that when that came on I had zero idea who any of those people were. 

[forevertwentynine]

7 hours ago, scrb said:

Never seen her in anything before though her face seems familiar.

Disney actor in her first serious adult role?

Yeah these kids are so street smart and so good at exploiting adults, especially using sexuality.

72 non alcoholic drinks at a Caribbean resort — aren’t these adult-only resorts? — caused an 11-year old girl to gain 20 pounds?

And the heartbreak of being dumped made the girl write gay porn fanfic?  Which became the rage online?

Those 72 drinks at the resort probably cost several times the $200 that Kat took from that schlub.

Meanwhile Nate’s gf finds all these dic pics on his phone because she noticed all these alerts on his phone while they were having sex.

Rue has fallen for Jules, who has fallen for her online crush.  When Jules doesn’t immediately show her affection, Rue goes for a fix and when she can’t score, he calls the rehab guy?

All these kids are starved for affection and attention.  OK but let’s see if the show has any other tricks than graphic sexuality as the vehicle for depicting lives of desperation.

If you like Musicals, watch The Greatest Showman, she's in that.  She's good.  

The being 5'2" and her only weighing 127... now that is more shocking.  But I'm glad they didn't show the real weight.  I was that size... and I don't think I was ever 127.  I do believe that the humiliation and heartbreak could bring out her creativity in a different way.  It is her way of coping, and I completely believe it.  This is what the internet does, ymmv.

So is Rue gay or bi? Not that she has to identify with anything.  Heartbreaking scene but glad her drug dealer didn't give in.  

I can't wait for the Jules and Nate thing to just explode.  

I don't believe this show depicts reality in the normal lives of high schoolers, but it doesn't not depict certain ones.  Things happen that you can't even fathom.  I'm glad I had a good kid.  

[methodwriter85]

17 hours ago, Dejana said:

I waivered between thinking Rue is too young to be so world-weary about dick pics and "Is she wrong, though?" Not a fan of the phenomenon. 

Rue is pretty, 17, and doesn't seem to open about being an exclusive lesbian, if she actually is instead of bi or pan. I'd be shocked if she DIDN'T have several years of experience of getting dick pics. I mean, kids in middle school send nudes to each other, apparently.

If Rue isn't a lesbian, I really want her with Fez. I'm not feeling her with Jules, who really doesn't seem that interested in her.

[SnarkEnthusiast]

Zendaya as Rue still feels very "Disney star trying to break away from typecasting by picking the most gratuitously explicit role possible" but the breakdown was very good. My favorite part of the episode was the dick pic classroom lesson. The cutaways to Jules were so funny.

Pay pigs are very much a real, and confusing (imo), subset of kink. Surely you can just jerk off the the fantasy of someone degrading you without draining your bank account? While Kat's in risky territory and her camming will inevitably go south, it's nice to see her gaining some confidence. Her fantasy about fucking the store employee was funny. Hopefully soon she'll hook up with that guy from bio who likes her. Her financial situation must be dire if she can't afford a $3.50 grapefruit.

4 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

If Rue isn't a lesbian, I really want her with Fez. I'm not feeling her with Jules, who really doesn't seem that interested in her.

 I agree. Jules is very one-dimensional manic pixie dream girl right now. But at the same time, she seemed caught off guard by Rue's romantic interest in her, so the lack of early romantic chemistry could just be attributed to her being so boy crazy and Grindr obsessed that she has never considered girls as an option before.

Rue and Fez have great chemistry (not to mention he seems much more mature than Jules), but the writers are also probably very aware of their Gen Z audience. Tumblr has been losing its shit over Rue/Jules as a pairing for weeks, so even if Rue is bi, there's no way the writers would risk viewer outrage by passing up the progressive optics of Rue's potential gay relationship with a trans girl in favor of pairing her with a white guy.

[methodwriter85]

You're right but man it's annoying. I figure it's already written in the stars and this show is already in the can but I always tend to rebel against the obvious endgame.

[BooBear]

9 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Rue and Fez have great chemistry (not to mention he seems much more mature than Jules), but the writers are also probably very aware of their Gen Z audience. Tumblr has been losing its shit over Rue/Jules as a pairing for weeks, so even if Rue is bi, there's no way the writers would risk viewer outrage by passing up the progressive optics of Rue's potential gay relationship with a trans girl in favor of pairing her with a white guy.

Isn't the whole thing in the can and long ago filmed? But I don't think they will put him with her just because no one wants to see drug dealer romance.   Though I wondered if Fez is supposed to be like one of them, ie, a very small time dealer who just maybe was a couple of years older than them in school. But I don't get Rue's obsession with Jules. She doesn't seem that great. I was wondering if Rue's NA sponsor will help her see how she gets obsessed with things, including Jules. 

10 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

My favorite part of the episode was the dick pic classroom lesson. The cutaways to Jules were so funny.

It was funny but kind of seemed like it belonged to another show. Took me out of the show for a minute. Rue hasn't been portrayed as someone who has Ally McBeal interludes in the past. 

[ExMathMajor]

Of this entire cast, I only recognize Zendaya, and only barely: I think I may have seen one of her music videos once but that's literally IT. Also I don't have kids and FB is the only social media I spend any serious time on.

This show is absolutely mesmerizing. It's also scary as shit. If I thought my teenage niece was into any of what these kids are into, I seriously don't know what I'd do.

Hi, my name is ExMathMajor, and I'm an old fart. 😁

[walnutqueen]

I want to feel this show, I truly do.  But I'm afraid I must bow out gracefully, since it has not captured my attention or imagination.  Frankly, I'm kinda bored, which I realize is a huge slam, but I choose not to tell a lie.

[MKL122788]

I've enjoyed the first three episodes. More focus on the darker side of the teenage experience, but the way the other half survives being a teenager would be less entertaining.

As someone who formerly worked in a small town high school with seniors, I can tell you the obsession with porn, plethora of nude selfies, and locker room shenanigans are all things that have happened. The things I've seen on phones while trying to walk around and help people with their math work are, more or less, burned into my memory. They generally preferred weed, beer, and sex more than they should have. My first year teaching, I had 6 girls pregnant by the end of the year...out of about 55 total girls I taught that year.

The way I try to explain being a teenager today is this:

Imagine every impulse and/or bad decision you thought about as a teenager being something you could act on immediately without any real time to reconsider. Once you did act on it, there was no real way to take it back. As a result, you face reactions to the things you did. And you have access to all of these things others do. Ultimately, I think this has bred a generation whose teenage insecurities are exposed, magnified, and largely exploited by various parties. I would not want to be a teenager right now. This show only reinforces that.

[methodwriter85]

17 hours ago, MKL122788 said:

Ultimately, I think this has bred a generation whose teenage insecurities are exposed, magnified, and largely exploited by various parties. I would not want to be a teenager right now. This show only reinforces that.

Netflix's American Vandal did a really good job of exploring that theme.

The porn thing is really funny because it's true. Teens are always talking about their Tinder/Grindr profiles or nudes/selfies and using porn as their guide towards sex, at least the ones I'm around. I do think this is something that the show is getting right.

I also thought Kat's thick make-up is pretty spot-on- current teenaged girls really slather it on these days as YouTube beauty gurus teach them to do. Kat's looks especially before the makeover looked very much like a YouTube beauty guru look.

I'm definitely glad my teenaged years were the early/mid-2000's because the internet was still fun to use and it hadn't really turned on us yet. LOL.

[rue721]

On 7/2/2019 at 7:06 PM, BooBear said:

Though I wondered if Fez is supposed to be like one of them, ie, a very small time dealer who just maybe was a couple of years older than them in school. But I don't get Rue's obsession with Jules. She doesn't seem that great. I was wondering if Rue's NA sponsor will help her see how she gets obsessed with things, including Jules.

I think that Rue's obsession with Jules is just that she's trying to use infatuation as a replacement for drugs. She uses Jules to get the rush that she would otherwise get from getting high. That's why whenever Jules isn't around or acts distant, Rue freaks out and goes looking for drugs immediately.

Honestly, though Jules is cool and all, I think that she could be basically anyone -- Rue is after that rush of infatuation and obsession, it's not about Jules as a person.

I think that Rue has that thing that all drunks and addicts have, where when they're at their worst, they're also so drunk/high that they're not that conscious of what they're doing and don't remember it clearly afterward. So they're able to brush it off like it was nothing, because it's some hazy experience that wasn't intense for them at all, when meanwhile everyone around them was fucked the hell up by it. At least Ali talked to her about thinking about how her behavior was affecting her sister. Obviously her mother, sister, and old friends like Lexi are the ones who she's affecting the most.

But I think that Fezco's issues with her are coming from basically the same thing. He said in the pilot that he was really scared and upset when Rue OD'ed, he keeps refusing to sell her drugs and told her he wouldn't help her kill herself, he told his supplier he won't sell Fentanyl to anyone because it causes too many ODs, when his supplier made Rue take Fentanyl, he immediately made his brother (?) flush the patches and get the Narcom in case she OD'ed again, he flat out wouldn't let her in the house again once he was the one answering the door instead of the kid, etc. Rue had some legitimate points when she was yelling at him that he doesn't have the moral high ground while he's dealing to teenagers and helping them get addicted. But I think he's in a tough spot because while it seems like he really is taking that to heart, I really doubt that he started dealing drugs because he had SO many options and just picked his favorite one. I mean, I don't really know that there's a path out of dealing for him, you know?

Honestly, I think Kat getting validation and a "piggy bank" is kind of best case scenario for her, and I'm happy that she's landed on her feet. She's bound to get a big head and screw things up somehow, but in the meantime...

Oh, I did find it funny that the drug dealing kid was like, "we don't fuck with human trafficking," and then immediately took a cut for himself from Kat's underage porn earnings. LOL I mean, that's not human trafficking per se, he's not her pimp or anything, but taking a cut from her like that was...close enough that it made me laugh, anyway.

That said, for all of how "edgy" this show is supposed to be, there is a lot of stuff that I think is just not as brutal or exploitative as in real life, mostly because the adults in the show are just a bunch of jokes or are absent altogether and the kids sort of exist in their own little Lord of the Flies bubble. I mean, no, most of the time when you pass out at some guy's house while a bunch of freaks are there, nobody is going to pay $600 to keep you safe. Etc. Who knows what the future will bring, though.

[Liamsmom617]

On 7/1/2019 at 8:19 PM, SHD said:

I like how we’re getting back stories on the characters so that we know a little more about why they are the way they are.

This episode was a prime example of a recent pet peeve. So much info is seen as subtitles with hard to read print or as texts on phones. Not everyone has a giant TV (or good eyesight). So many times I have to pause the show to make sure I’m reading everything correctly.

Thank you ! I thought that was just me and my 50-year-old eyes having trouble reading texts on all these shows lately!

[ExMathMajor]

On 7/6/2019 at 2:44 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I'm definitely glad my teenaged years were the early/mid-2000's because the internet was still fun to use and it hadn't really turned on us yet. LOL.

Shit...my teenaged years were in the late 70s/early 80s and knowing the kind of kid I was back then, I don't know if I would have survived adolescence had the Internet been around. I mean that literally: It was bad enough being bullied by people in real life...

[heatherchandler]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 9:56 AM, walnutqueen said:

I want to feel this show, I truly do.  But I'm afraid I must bow out gracefully, since it has not captured my attention or imagination.  Frankly, I'm kinda bored, which I realize is a huge slam, but I choose not to tell a lie.

Yeah it is boring.  They are trying really hard, with all of the supposedly "shocking" things teenagers do.. but it is not working, IMO. 

Also, Zendaya is so flat and monotone - it is not helping.

[woodstock]

On 7/6/2019 at 10:47 PM, rue721 said:

Honestly, I think Kat getting validation and a "piggy bank" is kind of best case scenario for her, and I'm happy that she's landed on her feet. She's bound to get a big head and screw things up somehow, but in the meantime...

I laughed way too hard at Kat's Skype session with her 'piggy bank'. Yeah, I'm probably going to hell but the exchange between Kat and that dude was so out of left field. But hey, whatever turns you on right?

I don't really eat grapefruit but does one grapefruit cost $3.50??!!!

Rue and Gia watching My So-Called Life and swooning over Jordan Catalano brought back memories.

I had no idea what to expect from this show but it's growing on me.

[kokapetl]

On 7/7/2019 at 2:44 AM, methodwriter85 said:

I'm definitely glad my teenaged years were the early/mid-2000's because the internet was still fun to use and it hadn't really turned on us yet. LOL.

I loved the old internet, but the speed sucked. I remember a friend circa 1997 downloaded a whole cd-rom. It was split up into hundreds of chunks, and it took him a week to download them all. 700 MB takes like a minute these days. I also remember when still & video camera functions came to mobile phones. I thought, “no one will buy these for children, there’s too much potential for bad things like nude selfies and videos”. Of course, I was wrong. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I admit I laughed at Kat's 1D fanfic! I guess if she's going to have online fans, she might as well make some money? I just hope she doesn't become too dependent upon them for her self esteem. Maybe she'll grow up to be a dominatrix.

I can't figure out Fezco. Did he cut Rue off because he felt so guilty about what happened with the fentanyl guy in the previous episode? He was already fond of her in the first episode when he was talking about how he's known a lot of people who have died but no one like her. Maybe her explanation about why she started doing drugs contributed to his decision?

I was terrified that the fraternity was going to force McKay to "share" Cassie with his fraternity brothers. I'm still afraid that there was a camera in the bathroom recording them having sex.

I found it interesting that Rue, who has been shown to do risky things like take drugs, was the one warning Jules not to do something potentially dangerous like meeting her online boyfriend in the woods at night. Is Nate going to kill Cassie and then try to frame Tyler?

Awwww, I loved that Gia was watching My So-Called Life. But I really loved that Rue made her promise not to date someone like Jordan Catalano!

The dick pic presentation by Rue and Jules gets an A+.

 

[kieyra]

On 7/2/2019 at 2:18 AM, scrb said:

72 non alcoholic drinks at a Caribbean resort — aren’t these adult-only resorts? — caused an 11-year old girl to gain 20 pounds?

And the heartbreak of being dumped made the girl write gay porn fanfic?  Which became the rage online?

Those 72 drinks at the resort probably cost several times the $200 that Kat took from that schlub.

 

Replying to an old post but.

I think the show said it was a Sandals resort, which are all-inclusive. And they do have family resorts.

Pina Coladas are pretty much pure sugar and coconut cream (if it’s not something worse out of a premix at the resorts). So she basically drank 70 milkshakes in a week, plus the buffets and whatnot. 20 is a lot but there is also the general vacation bloat. In my mind she probably lost about half of it soon after, but stayed on a heavyset trajectory.

[LaMatadita]

On 12/18/2020 at 5:12 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I can't figure out Fezco. Did he cut Rue off because he felt so guilty about what happened with the fentanyl guy in the previous episode? He was already fond of her in the first episode when he was talking about how he's known a lot of people who have died but no one like her. Maybe her explanation about why she started doing drugs contributed to his decision?

I think the Fentanyl was part of it, but he was already leaning that way. My take is that, judging from the way she scammed Ashtray in the Pilot and said it was okay with Fez, and the way she was demanding drugs from him in ep 2 and then later admitted she only had $2, he was more giving her drugs pre-OD and letting her say it was on credit than he was selling them to her, probably because he knew if he just cut her off, she'd go to someone even shadier and end up paying for the drugs with sex. He felt responsible for her OD and was really hoping rehab would work for her, he was clearly really sad that it didn't, and then seeing what happened with the Fentanyl was like the straw that broke the camel's back and made him realize he couldn't keep enabling her no matter what the reason because sooner or later she was going to end up dead.

[Scarlett45]

Kat being famous as a fan fic writer on Tumblr doesn’t surprise me at all. It seems quite true to her personality, and I believe she’s amazing at it. The longing for acknowledgment and validation, but not having it IRL is a mind trip. The young man that paid for her grapefruit clearly liked her a lot. 
 

The dick pic presentation cracked me up! With an old school projector no doubt! I died it was too funny funny.

Jules is probably really lonely and in search of a friend, but like all addicts, Rue doesn’t care about anything as much as her next fix. 

 

On 7/6/2019 at 9:47 PM, rue721 said:

Oh, I did find it funny that the drug dealing kid was like, "we don't fuck with human trafficking," and then immediately took a cut for himself from Kat's underage porn earnings. LOL I mean, that's not human trafficking per se, he's not her pimp or anything, but taking a cut from her like that was...close enough that it made me laugh, anyway.

I consider it an ongoing administrative fee.