S05.E03: Too Good to Be True

[DXD526]

That said, I thought the scenes with Maura and Korsak were terrific, as was Korsak's scene with Suzy, and if that had been the whole of the episode, I would have thought it was splendid.

 

This is something this show should figure out: does it want to be a 'cop show' or not? This week's case of the week was so convoluted I had to watch a second time with closed captioning to really make sense of what happened. The character-driven stuff was great, though, and that's what they should focus on, IMO. More, and longer, scenes like Korsak and Suzy shooting the breeze, and of course the banter between Maura and Jane. I'm still not sold on the pregnancy storyline, but I'm finding myself confused and bored, more often than not, by the CotW. I watch for the character stuff. Korsak is great this season, and fleshing out Suzy has potential. However, I agree with those who want to see less of Jane's family (with the exception of Frankie).

 

More recap: http://youwatchtoomuchtv.wordpress.com/

[andromeda331]

Maura, I know your trying to help but taking food out of the hand of a pregnant woman can be fatal. 

 

I loved Jane telling Korsak it was very well done and very sweet. Angela pissed me off telling everyone after promising to not to say a word, I would have loved to seen her told off for that. It was Jane's news to tell and now thanks to her mother she has no one to tell. 

It wasn't cute or funny, it was a crappy thing to do. 

[St. Claire]

There should be more of Suzie because she works in the lab with Maura to solve crimes.

 

There should be more Suzie because Suzie is awesome. I loved her scene with Korsack, especially when she got so giddy about liking the etched skyline (and I also loved that she just does art for the sake of art, not because she felt like making a statement).

[akadusk]

Ughhhhhh the pregnancy; WHYYYYYYY NOWWWWWWW? We go from "love of my life kc" to "no baby daddy needed"....Huh? Janes indifferance just threw me off and unfortunately the pregnancy is gonna play out and it seems totally out of place right now.

[hilaryvm]

At the end of last season, I was really worried about the show and how they would handle the pregnancy.  I thought it was completely unnecessary to the show and something I was not looking forward to (not a baby fan).  However, I thought they had handled Jane's reaction to the whole thing rather well and realistically.

 

Then, we got this episode.  Angela's actions were so completely out of line.  She had specifically asked her mother not to tell anyone, and it's not Angela's news to tell.  If that had been my mom, there would have been more than just me complaining, there would have been a huge fight ending with me basically never telling my mother anything ever, again.  I don't know if the writers thought this was supposed to be endearing, but i tmade me greatly dislike a character I already wasn't a huge fan of.  She may be a well regarded actress, but I see no purpose for Angela on the show and would prefer we see way less of the character.

[LadyMustang65]

On 8/6/2014 at 2:16 AM, hilaryvm said:

Then, we got this episode.  Angela's actions were so completely out of line.  She had specifically asked her mother not to tell anyone, and it's not Angela's news to tell.  If that had been my mom, there would have been more than just me complaining, there would have been a huge fight ending with me basically never telling my mother anything ever, again.  

Angela's actions are frequently way out of line.  And what aggravates me the most is that when someone points out to her (usually Jane) that she's out of line, Angela just gets all hurt and pissy and passive-aggressive towards her kids as if *they* were the ones who did something wrong and not her.  When Jane complains about her barging in and wanting to re-paint Jane's apartment without permission, Angela gets all huffy and leaves, and Jane has to apologize to get her mother to "forgive" her.  It happens multiple times over the course of the series, and it was probably the one thing I hated most.  While I know we are supposed to view Angela as a loving mother who watches out for her kids, often she comes across as a manipulative, passive-aggressive bitch towards her kids.  

[andromeda331]

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 10:17 AM, LadyMustang65 said:

Angela's actions are frequently way out of line.  And what aggravates me the most is that when someone points out to her (usually Jane) that she's out of line, Angela just gets all hurt and pissy and passive-aggressive towards her kids as if *they* were the ones who did something wrong and not her.  When Jane complains about her barging in and wanting to re-paint Jane's apartment without permission, Angela gets all huffy and leaves, and Jane has to apologize to get her mother to "forgive" her.  It happens multiple times over the course of the series, and it was probably the one thing I hated most.  While I know we are supposed to view Angela as a loving mother who watches out for her kids, often she comes across as a manipulative, passive-aggressive bitch towards her kids.  

Yeah, that's how they want us to see Angela but that's not how she's coming across or what their showing us. Their showing is a grown woman constantly doing things that are out of like and we're suppose to think oh that Angela. Ah, no that was never what I thought. I usually sided with Jane and hated that she always ended up having to apologize. God forbid Angela grow up and stop pulling that crap. There was nothing cute, funny or 'oh Angela', about her telling everyone that Jane was pregnant. Nope that was all about Angela. Or any of the other crap she pulled. I really wanted Jane to put her foot down and tell her mother if she ever did anything like that again she'd cut her mother out of her life.  

[LadyMustang65]

2 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Yeah, that's how they want us to see Angela but that's not how she's coming across or what their showing us. Their showing is a grown woman constantly doing things that are out of like and we're suppose to think oh that Angela. Ah, no that was never what I thought. I usually sided with Jane and hated that she always ended up having to apologize. God forbid Angela grow up and stop pulling that crap. There was nothing cute, funny or 'oh Angela', about her telling everyone that Jane was pregnant. Nope that was all about Angela. Or any of the other crap she pulled. I really wanted Jane to put her foot down and tell her mother if she ever did anything like that again she'd cut her mother out of her life.  

Yup.  Or when she went to Jane's doctor's appointment and Jane got mad and then had to apologize to Angela for being mad that Angela went to her appointment instead of rescheduling.  I thought "really Angela?  Jane doesn't have any right to get mad about something like that?"  The thing maybe I hated most was that the only time I really remember Angela saying she was proud of Jane was when Jane was leaving the police department to go teach at the FBI.  And even then when Jane first told her she was leaving, Angela got all upset about that as well.  I was like "what the hell is wrong with you - nothing satisfies you!"  It was only later on that she said she was proud of her.  She never really was proud of Jane when she was an exceptional detective.  It was just all 'poor me I have to worry about you all the time.'  

And while she generally treated Frankie better than Jane, there were a few times I wanted to slap her for the way she was talking about him as well.

Edited May 21, 2018 by LadyMustang65

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Yup.  Or when she went to Jane's doctor's appointment and Jane got mad and then had to apologize to Angela for being mad that Angela went to her appointment instead of rescheduling.  I thought "really Angela?  Jane doesn't have any right to get mad about something like that?"  The thing maybe I hated most was that the only time I really remember Angela saying she was proud of Jane was when Jane was leaving the police department to go teach at the FBI.  And even then when Jane first told her she was leaving, Angela got all upset about that as well.  I was like "what the hell is wrong with you - nothing satisfies you!"  It was only later on that she said she was proud of her.  She never really was proud of Jane when she was an exceptional detective.  It was just all 'poor me I have to worry about you all the time.'  

And while she generally treated Frankie better than Jane, there were a few times I wanted to slap her for the way she was talking about him as well.

No, she never was proud of Jane for being a detective. It didn't matter that Jane clearly loved her job and was never happier when she was working. I hated Jane apologizing to Angela for being mad at the appointment. Again Jane you have a right to be upset. You don't want her to be there. You don't have to have her be there. Especially when she's being her usual pushy self. I can't decided which was the worse with Angela because there have been so many. Being upset when Jane told her she was leaving, telling Sean about Maura knowing that move when Maura was being set up for murder then claiming she had no choice. Ah, yes you did. You had a choice to say nothing when you knew Maura was innocent. Getting pissed at Jane when she went under cover in the prison to get information. Being pissed at Frankie and Jane for not wanting to go to the party she was throwing for Tommy getting out of jail in the same episode Frankie and Jane both end up getting shot. She was awful all the time. Sticking her nose into everyone's business. Sticking her nose to Korsak and Kiki's relationship because she clearly was the expert when it came to relationships. Not paying her taxes and acting like that was all her husband's fault because he didn't do her taxes because they weren't together anymore. Seriously, why are we suppose to feel sorry for her or think she's just being Angela?

[LadyMustang65]

14 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I can't decided which was the worse with Angela because there have been so many. Being upset when Jane told her she was leaving, telling Sean about Maura knowing that move when Maura was being set up for murder then claiming she had no choice. Ah, yes you did. You had a choice to say nothing when you knew Maura was innocent. Getting pissed at Jane when she went under cover in the prison to get information. Being pissed at Frankie and Jane for not wanting to go to the party she was throwing for Tommy getting out of jail in the same episode Frankie and Jane both end up getting shot. She was awful all the time. Sticking her nose into everyone's business. Sticking her nose to Korsak and Kiki's relationship because she clearly was the expert when it came to relationships. Not paying her taxes and acting like that was all her husband's fault because he didn't do her taxes because they weren't together anymore. Seriously, why are we suppose to feel sorry for her or think she's just being Angela?

Not to defend Angela, because the character drove me crazy, but the tax thing I was okay with because my understanding (and maybe I got it wrong??) was that Frank Sr. always prepared and paid their taxes, and then Angela found out that he hadn't paid them for several years before they divorced.  A blue-collar couple like that doesn't end up with a $27,000 tax bill for missing one filing - I figured Frank Sr. hadn't paid them for at least 2-3 years, probably during the time they were living off a second mortgage because business was so bad.  And then Angela was on the hook for them because they were married filing jointly.  So I think she had a right to be upset about that one - at least as I understood that situation.

But other than that - ay yi yi yi!  "Favorite" Angela gaffes - Frankie's old girlfriend comes back to town, and is Angela concerned about what that girl did to Frankie and how she broke his heart multiple times?  Nope, she's worried he might get back with her because of how it upset her when Teresa would betray Frankie.  Way to make it about you, mom!  Barging in on Jane and Casey in bed together?  Deciding to re-paint Jane's apartment without asking Jane's permission?  Holding a yard sale at Jane's place without bothering to ask Jane if that's okay?  Badgering Maura to confirm that Jane is pregnant instead of letting Jane come to her when she's ready?  Badgering Nina to tell her how Jane and Frankie are getting along when they were sharing an apartment instead of letting them, two grown-ass adults, figure it out?  Breaking up with Ron unilaterally instead of talking to him about her concerns and letting him be part of that decision?  But perhaps the most unforgivable thing she ever did, imho, was when she withheld the letter letting Jane know she was cleared to return to work.  She knew Jane wanted to get back to work, but as usual, it's always all about Angela, and Angela wasn't ready for Jane to go back, so she just hid her mail.  OMG!!!  

To be fair to Angela, she did have her moments, like when she encouraged Frankie to go to the concert with Kent and they ended up having a great time or when she went back to get her GED so that kid would get his too, but they were few and far between compared to all the times she just whined and complained and just steam-rolled over people thinking she always knew best.  She could have been a great character.  She could have been the "oh, Angela" that I think the writers wanted.  But it would have required better writers, I think, because I can't see how any of the situations they put her in would have been less obnoxious with a different actress.  Lorraine Bracco is a terrific actress, so I'm blaming the writers.

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Not to defend Angela, because the character drove me crazy, but the tax thing I was okay with because my understanding (and maybe I got it wrong??) was that Frank Sr. always prepared and paid their taxes, and then Angela found out that he hadn't paid them for several years before they divorced.  A blue-collar couple like that doesn't end up with a $27,000 tax bill for missing one filing - I figured Frank Sr. hadn't paid them for at least 2-3 years, probably during the time they were living off a second mortgage because business was so bad.  And then Angela was on the hook for them because they were married filing jointly.  So I think she had a right to be upset about that one - at least as I understood that situation.

But other than that - ay yi yi yi!  "Favorite" Angela gaffes - Frankie's old girlfriend comes back to town, and is Angela concerned about what that girl did to Frankie and how she broke his heart multiple times?  Nope, she's worried he might get back with her because of how it upset her when Teresa would betray Frankie.  Way to make it about you, mom!  Barging in on Jane and Casey in bed together?  Deciding to re-paint Jane's apartment without asking Jane's permission?  Holding a yard sale at Jane's place without bothering to ask Jane if that's okay?  Badgering Maura to confirm that Jane is pregnant instead of letting Jane come to her when she's ready?  Badgering Nina to tell her how Jane and Frankie are getting along when they were sharing an apartment instead of letting them, two grown-ass adults, figure it out?  Breaking up with Ron unilaterally instead of talking to him about her concerns and letting him be part of that decision?  But perhaps the most unforgivable thing she ever did, imho, was when she withheld the letter letting Jane know she was cleared to return to work.  She knew Jane wanted to get back to work, but as usual, it's always all about Angela, and Angela wasn't ready for Jane to go back, so she just hid her mail.  OMG!!!  

To be fair to Angela, she did have her moments, like when she encouraged Frankie to go to the concert with Kent and they ended up having a great time or when she went back to get her GED so that kid would get his too, but they were few and far between compared to all the times she just whined and complained and just steam-rolled over people thinking she always knew best.  She could have been a great character.  She could have been the "oh, Angela" that I think the writers wanted.  But it would have required better writers, I think, because I can't see how any of the situations they put her in would have been less obnoxious with a different actress.  Lorraine Bracco is a terrific actress, so I'm blaming the writers.

I'll double check that episode I could have sworn the taxes were for after the divorce. I agree I blame the writers I don't think any actress could pull off making all that stuff look like 'oh Angela'. They could have had Julie Andrews or Angela Lansbury and it still wouldn't be cute or even typical meddling mother. Angela constantly went over the line and when called on it got to be all hurt and had to be apologized too instead of apologize and stop doing that stuff. I agree she could have been a good character. I was interested some what after her marriage ended. A woman her age newly divorce and trying to figure out what her life was going to be now. What she wanted without having to for once consider her husband or kids. I wish they had gone a different route with her. Instead I spent most of the time wondering why Jane doesn't cut her out of her life.  

[LadyMustang65]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I agree she could have been a good character. I was interested some what after her marriage ended. A woman her age newly divorce and trying to figure out what her life was going to be now. What she wanted without having to for once consider her husband or kids. 

Yes!  So much this!  I don't know how many times I yelled at her through my television set that her "children" are now grown adults (loved the scene where Angela was celebrating her "baby" moving out, and Frankie sighs, "Your 'baby' is 32."), who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.  They don't need her bringing them lunch to work or going to doctor's appointments for them or cleaning their apartments or just generally butting into their lives.  Things like her trying to find a job, trying to find an apartment, getting her GED, navigating the dating world, even her attempting to learn to skate were all things they could have done so much more with.  And it could have been fun to see her kids 'worrying' about her (I thought it was cute when Jane was complaining that she never knew it would be so hard raising your mother - or something like that).  That would have been legitimate because she had led a fairly sheltered life up til then, and Jane and Frankie and Tommy know what a horrible place the world can be.  It would have been an entirely different dynamic but far more enjoyable (assuming they didn't go overboard and have the kids get just as much buttinskys as Angela was).  Such a missed opportunity.