S01.E05: Interlude

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

In 1989, young Jesse, Judy, and Baby Billy learn that Aimee-Leigh is pregnant and deal with the news in their own unique way; Eli looks to grow his family's prospects.

Airing Sunday, September 15, 2019

[SFoster21]

This show is so very good.  The writing is terrific.  Walton Goggins is fabulous.   There is no way to anticipate the plot.  And it is pretty funny, too.

[thuganomics85]

Man, gold star to whoever casted the young actors for Jesse and Judy in the flashbacks.  They might have not sounded exactly like how Danny McBride or Edi Patterson sound here, but they just nailed everything else down perfectly that it was easy to see how both characters end up becoming who they are now as adults.

Walton Goggins really does excel at playing the charismatic, but manipulating bastard, huh?  The way Baby Billy played up the "poor me" antics with Aimee-Leigh was just so sleazy (although part of me think he is actually being sincere, which is even worse.)  And how he was able to make himself look like the "cool uncle" with Jesse and Judy, and made sure Eli was always the bad guy in their eyes.  And it certainly sounds like he might be looking to the settle the score in the present.  This could get ugly!

John Goodman and Jennifer Nettles (Aimee-Leigh) were excellent here.

And I'm now going to totally have "Misbehavin'" stuck in my head!

[Aileen]

I thought this episode was such a waste of time, despite the younger casting being fantastic. Young Jessie really had the cadence of Adult Jessie. I had hoped that this episode would advance the storyline much more than it did.

[Phishbulb]

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

And I'm now going to totally have "Misbehavin'" stuck in my head!

This was such a cute song. I wonder if McBride wrote it. I could see this being a real novelty song that was popular in the '70s or '80s. 

I agree that the casting on the kids was great. 

[nilyank]

2 hours ago, Aileen said:

I thought this episode was such a waste of time, despite the younger casting being fantastic. Young Jessie really had the cadence of Adult Jessie. I had hoped that this episode would advance the storyline much more than it did.

I thought it provided great background and explanation on Eli, Baby Billy, the kids and their mom. A lot of the present conflicts are rooted on what happened back then.

Baby Billy only hurt himself . Eli didn’t have to do anything and did not make his wife to do what he wanted. Baby Billy’s lies and greed was just too much for his sister.

[luna1122]

Walton goggins is fucking brilliant. I think there's nothing he cannot do. (tho I worry, seeing the previews for his new CBS show, which I wouldn't watch if it were anyone but him, that maybe the one thing he can't do is play a normal, average nice guy, but he probably can).

The kid playing Jesse had Danny Macbride's inflections DOWN. amazing.

Edited September 16, 2019 by luna1122

[tennisgurl]

Whoever cast the kids playing you Judy and Jessie really nailed it, they had the mannerisms of the older cast totally down, and you can really see how they would grow up to become the people we know they become. Judy and her pile of gifts she was discarding was so perfectly bratty. 

You can certainly see how much what happened in the past is still affecting the present, especially the dislike between Eli and Baby Billy. Baby Billy really is a manipulative piece of crap, especially playing the kids against Eli to make himself look like the cool uncle and Eli look like the jerk. He might be a selfish asshole, but I did feel like at the end, listening to his old tape of him and Aimee-Leigh as kids, that he did love his sister in his own selfish way, and he still does miss her like the rest of the family does. 

 "Misbehavin" is going to be stuck in my head all day, its pretty catchy! I can totally see that being a hit novelty/Christian/country song in the 70s. 

[qtpye]

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Man, gold star to whoever casted the young actors for Jesse and Judy in the flashbacks.  They might have not sounded exactly like how Danny McBride or Edi Patterson sound here, but they just nailed everything else down perfectly that it was easy to see how both characters end up becoming who they are now as adults.

Walton Goggins really does excel at playing the charismatic, but manipulating bastard, huh?  The way Baby Billy played up the "poor me" antics with Aimee-Leigh was just so sleazy (although part of me think he is actually being sincere, which is even worse.)  And how he was able to make himself look like the "cool uncle" with Jesse and Judy, and made sure Eli was always the bad guy in their eyes.  And it certainly sounds like he might be looking to the settle the score in the present.  This could get ugly!

John Goodman and Jennifer Nettles (Aimee-Leigh) were excellent here.

And I'm now going to totally have "Misbehavin'" stuck in my head!

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Whoever cast the kids playing you Judy and Jessie really nailed it, they had the mannerisms of the older cast totally down, and you can really see how they would grow up to become the people we know they become. Judy and her pile of gifts she was discarding was so perfectly bratty. 

You can certainly see how much what happened in the past is still affecting the present, especially the dislike between Eli and Baby Billy. Baby Billy really is a manipulative piece of crap, especially playing the kids against Eli to make himself look like the cool uncle and Eli look like the jerk. He might be a selfish asshole, but I did feel like at the end, listening to his old tape of him and Aimee-Leigh as kids, that he did love his sister in his own selfish way, and he still does miss her like the rest of the family does. 

 "Misbehavin" is going to be stuck in my head all day, its pretty catchy! I can totally see that being a hit novelty/Christian/country song in the 70s. 

Great casting and Mama Gemstone’s eighties wig was epic. I really was surprised that he he Gemstones seemed like nice decent people. It seems like their biggest sin was spoiling their kids.

[scrb]

Not much laughs in this episode.

More dramatic though, the resentments between Eli and Baby Billy.

Wonder what became of Mason.

[Eyes High]

Goggins is amazing as Baby Billy. Throw Emmys at that man. And Jennifer Nettles was no slouch as Aimee-Leigh, either. 

"Misbehavin'" was infernally catchy.

[Kenz]

This episode was hilarious and every cast member was excellent. This show is a joy to watch.

[Armchair Critic]

On 9/16/2019 at 3:03 AM, thuganomics85 said:

John Goodman and Jennifer Nettles (Aimee-Leigh) were excellent here

I did not know that was Jennifer Nettles!

That song stuck in my head too, I saw this article about it:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90404022/how-misbehaving-catchy-righteous-gemstones-earworm-came-together

[Victor the Crab]

An interesting episode, to be sure. But it helps us to see where the characters all came from. And I liked that we got to see Aimee-Leigh's character.

ITA with those that said the kids nailed their parts down. The boy who played Jesse must have been the spitting image of Danny McBride when he was a kid. And I can't help think that adult Judy would be wondering if her spoiled brat behavior as Eli's little girl may have had some part in keeping her away from being part of the decision making process in the Gemstone empire. Or it wouldn't all matter to begin with.

[bijoux]

Did the Gemstones already have enough money 30 years ago to have that mansion built before Aimee-Leigh even started showing or was the show too cheap or uncaring to throw on a fake belly on her? Seriously, when they showed the party taking place in front of the mansion, I thought we'd see baby Kelvin there.

1 hour ago, Victor the Crab said:

And I can't help think that adult Judy would be wondering if her spoiled brat behavior as Eli's little girl may have had some part in keeping her away from being part of the decision making process in the Gemstone empire. Or it wouldn't all matter to begin with.

Jesse was organizing paid kids' fights on school grounds, getting drunk and barfing on the grill (potentially the grossest thing on this show so far) and wishing for his future sibling to turn out to be diarrhea and he was made second in charge. Judy was a horror as well, but she never stood a chance. Maybe if Aimee-Leigh had lived.

[Uncle JUICE]

THis show's doing a great job walking some very tight lines. It'd be very, very easy, especially nowadays, to "ape" the southern Christian evangelist part of this show, and through the first five episodes, it's avoided doing so. It's not using that part of the premise for its laughs. Aimee Lee, Baby Billy, Eli, even parishioners, they're not charicatures, they're just characters. I'm not sure what I expected to find out about Aimee Lee, but she was just a decent woman with what was apparently sincere belief and passion. Sure, Eli has grown into what appears to be a lite-Tony-Soprano-esque patriarch with a dollop of Ned Flanders in there, but he's not shown thus far throwing piles of money in the air and denigrating the flock of people below. For example, he does have prayer tables for those prayer requests. It seems like nothing at the time they show it, in episode four, but by showing it, they demonstrate that Eli does in fact care about his church, and isn't simply taking the money. 

I don't know, it's tough to explain, sorry, I'm not doing a great job. But the three McBride shows on HBO have really traced the maturity of McBride and Jody Hill as writers, through three really good shows. 

[Maysie]

I thought it was a great episode! It provided some helpful context for the current state of affairs in the family and for me, a bit of a break from the current hijinx going on. Agree with everyone about the actors, particularly the children.

Quote

Did the Gemstones already have enough money 30 years ago to have that mansion built before Aimee-Leigh even started showing or was the show too cheap or uncaring to throw on a fake belly on her? Seriously, when they showed the party taking place in front of the mansion, I thought we'd see baby Kelvin there.

I thought the party took place in the old mcmansion they were living in before they built the real palace. They had an awful lot of stuff packed in on that lawn - the ponies, the jumpy house, the throne, the modest Weber grill - and I think it helped underscore Eli's need for more, particularly when he was talking to his dad. I really liked that conversation; it gave me some insight into Eli, beyond what we got from the relationship with Aimee.

The Gemstones genuinely love their kids, but they seem to be the type to love them in the way that they can't say no to them, which isn't helpful, as it's turning out.

[bijoux]

6 hours ago, Maysie said:

I thought the party took place in the old mcmansion they were living in before they built the real palace.

You're right. I guess I jumped to the conclusion it was their new place since the party came right after they went to the land which would eventually house the compound. 

I found Eli's dad intriguing. Also a preacher, only a much more modest one, or just a man of faith?

[Uncle JUICE]

16 hours ago, bijoux said:

You're right. I guess I jumped to the conclusion it was their new place since the party came right after they went to the land which would eventually house the compound. 

I found Eli's dad intriguing. Also a preacher, only a much more modest one, or just a man of faith?

I'm 99% sure he was indeed a preacher. He seemed more than a little perturbed by what Eli'd turned his preaching into. 

[Aileen]

 I take back what I said. I re-watched yesterday without the expectation of advancing the storyline and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[littlecatsfeet]

On 9/16/2019 at 7:00 PM, scrb said:

Not much laughs in this episode.

More dramatic though, the resentments between Eli and Baby Billy.

Wonder what became of Mason.

Did you maybe mean Harmon, Baby Billy's son? I was wondering the same thing.

"Young Jesse" blew me away. The cadence of his speech and his mannerisms were downright uncanny. Great job, kid. 

[revbfc]

What I loved the most about this episode is how they made me understand how loved, and missed Aimee-Leigh is.  She really was the light of that family.

[Uncle JUICE]

22 hours ago, revbfc said:

What I loved the most about this episode is how they made me understand how loved, and missed Aimee-Leigh is.  She really was the light of that family.

Agreed. This is one of those "fine lines" walked expertly thus far. Less sophisticated or sensitive writing would have made her basically Maude Flanders. It's so easy to fuck up writing stuff from the late 70's or early 80's because everything is by default sort of overblown: hair, clothes, colors. etc. But you have to remember that even though your main character is wearing a ridiculously accurate 14 year old kid ensemble of zooba pants, print tee shirt and acid washed denim jacket, that he's still just a person. Aimee Leigh's hair, her Sally JEsse Raphael frames, even her (only apparent) southern feminine deference, all that is very easy to score points with. Instead, they made her a person who was worth the devotion and the love and admiration of her husband and children. Yeah, having a memorial with a statue and an eternal flame in it seems, especially when it's shown early in the series, over the top, but the demonstration of love between the Gemstones earns JUST enough of it to make that seem appropriate, even "cute," when it could have gone a totally different and less interesting way.

THis show is rapidly climbing the list of stories I wish I had the talent to write. 

[Angeltoes]

On 9/16/2019 at 10:47 PM, Eyes High said:

Misbehavin'" was infernally catchy.

Mr. Angeltoes and I want to learn it and perform it for the grandkids just to see the looks of horror on their faces.

[Maire]

Best line from Misbehaving: Running through the house with a pickle in my mouth (?!)

[Midnight Cheese]

“Misbehavin’” could not have been better written and performed, and watching the congregants, the band, and Eli react to Baby Billy and Aimee-Leigh wound up setting off real emotions for me. You could feel the devotion in Eli, the sibling bond. It was incredibly powerful for a show that also has the amazing Walton Goggins talking lovingly to his somewhat ignored child about ninja stars and boogers. 

I’m not religious, and/but was taken to a Billy Graham revival as a child, have older relations who were Pentecostal, and visited this side of my family every childhood summer (70s and 80s) in a depressed, no-industry town in the rural south.  I really feel like the time period, the place, has been put into the characterizations in a surprising and subtle way. Freaking amazing.

[pfk505]

This show tries every ounce of my patience and despite that I do recognize that it's very, very well done. The cast is phenomenal. But this episode was played almost 100% straight and I'm not on board for that show. The last episode was terrific and had me in stitches, this one gave me an earworm I'm not likely to shake for several days.

+1 for the kid versions of Jessie and Judy being note perfect.