“The moment I saw you, I knew you were my boy. You aren’t a choice, Randall, you are a fact. You were never a replacement son, do you understand?”
- Jack
Get ready for yet another emotional ride with the Pearson clan. Randall is still furious with Rebecca for what she did (he’s second maddest at William and then Beth). He’s going to make a list of every reason he is angry with his mother and then read it to her. Well, okay then. Before he can do that, though, Kevin reveals to Kate that Rebecca is selling the family cabin. They decide that going out there and spending the day just as The Big Three would be a great idea. After all, they all kind of have things to work through. Kevin is not having any of Kate’s surgery decision and she thinks he’s being kind of a dick in general now that he’s hanging with different people in New York.
In the past, we see Randall starting to question where he came from, going up to black people in the grocery store, asking if they can roll their tongue (it’s apparently an inherited trait). Rebecca is not happy about this but Jack tries to reassure her. And as they hang with their one black friend (from the pool), she suggests they find some male role models for Randall who are black. Jack takes Randall to a dojo run by a black man but Jack feels like maybe they should try and actually find Randall’s bio parents (and of course Rebecca is resisting). Rebecca is terrified not only that his biological parents could be dangerous (even though she knows he’s not really that bad) but also because she worries that they’ll be great and want him back. The next day, Rebecca goes to see William, not sure if he’s still in the same place. I suspect this is where she gives him the photo of Randall and the letter. Well, it isn’t the letter (yet) but she does fill William in on what Randall’s been up to and she shares that Randall has been asking about him and William gets all excited to meet Randall, scaring Rebecca away. We also get an absolutely moving scene when Randall is initiated into the dojo where Jack and then all the other fathers do push-ups with Randall on their backs to show him that they will be his community and his support. The devotion that Jack shows to his children is astounding. He may not be perfect but my God does he try so hard!
The Big Three get to the cabin and things start to fall apart quickly. Randall just wants to pack his stuff and leave but then Kevin had to go and invite Olivia (who brought the playwright and some hipster guy). Not cool, Kev. Not cool at all. Especially when they end up playing a board game and we learn that hipster guy dated Olivia. Kate kind of rips into her (and then Kevin) for bringing him there. I think this is the first time we’ve really seen the twins fight. And while they are bickering, Randall is having one hell of a trip thanks to drinking some of hipster guy’s mushroom smoothie. He wanders outside to find Jack fixing the roof. Oh boy! He starts ranting to Jack about what Rebecca has done and his imaginary father tells him that if Rebecca had kept that secret, it would have destroyed her (which I’m pretty sure is true). But imaginary Jack also tells Randall that he was wanted and loved. Randall decides in his altered state that he wants Rebecca to hurt as much as he does. That doesn’t sound good at all! But as he tries to yell at the memory of Rebecca, Jack reminds him to look through it and see what’s underneath. We find a very trapped and lonely Rebecca.
Kate thinks she’s got Olivia sorted out (at least the type of person that she is) but then Olivia accuses Kate of being jealous of Kevin and the fact that he’s changing and she’s not and that maybe even if she loses the weight, it won’t be enough. Kate is clearly shaken by this and lashes out at Kevin and then when she calls Toby to vent about everything, he basically tells her that if they are still broken up, he can’t be her support person. Harsh, Toby! Back in the cabin, we get a little outside insight into Olivia from the playwright (Olivia wrangled her into driving to the cabin instead of letting the playwright go to New York to be there for the birth of her niece). This ends up setting Kevin off a bit when they are watching old home movies and the hipster is clearly making fun of Kate. Kevin ends up giving them a piece of his mind (rightly so, defend your sister from the assholes) and they end up leaving.
Kevin finds Kate out in the woods and apologizes to her. And she admits that maybe she can’t do this all alone and she’s scared of the surgery (and more about not trying it). It looks like Kevin (still being a little selfish) convinces her to stay in New York to focus on herself. Sure it means less Toby but hey, we have the Big Three together again at least! The next day, Kate finds Kevin in bed with the playwright (better her than Olivia I suppose) and they find Randall fixing the house. Not for Rebecca, but for Jack. And as the episode comes to a close, he goes to see Rebecca and while he acknowledges that keeping the secret for so long must have been lonely, he’s not ready to forgive her yet. But he will see her at Christmas (which is the next episode). This was a very deep and painful episode for everyone but I think it needed to happen and it’s very good that it did. Just like in life, things take time to heal and I believe we are seeing that process unfold not only for Randall and Rebecca but Kate and Kevin, too.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
Lucifer 2.10: “Quid Pro Ho”
“You need to see that you’re not meant to be together. You belong with your family.”
- Charlotte
We pick up right where we left off with Charlotte attempting to blow up Chloe’s car with her in it. Amenediel comes to the rescue and gets a taste of Mama’s powers. When he pleads with his mother to find another way to get Lucifer to go home with them, she decides to be more subtle about the way she goes about splitting the Devil and the Detective apart. After a short session with Linda in which she informs him that he’s lying to himself (and chickening out of the date with Chloe), he heads over to see Chloe and explain what happened. But there’s no time because she and her mother have to head off for the trial of her father’s actual killer. As they all sit in the courtroom, ready to take on the horror of reliving the murder again, Dan gets a package at the precinct, containing the severed head of the prosecution’s star witness (the Russian mobster). Without him, the case will likely fall apart. And as if that weren’t enough, Charlotte is going to be defending the killer!
At first Lucifer is hopeful that his mother will be terrible in court but she’s actually pretty adept, even managing to convince the judge not to grant a continuance to the prosecution (she weaseled her way into getting the other side to claim they have a rock solid case even without their witness). Lucifer is even more miffed to learn that Charlotte is trying to show Lucifer that Chloe is beneath him and not deserving of his adoration or affection. He gets really pissed when she casually mentions she almost blew up the detective. While Chloe is panicking about the forensics (but hey Ella comes through and narrows down the site of the decapitation), Lucifer is putting his own plan into play. He’s going to testify in the trial (likely to what Boris told him … it’s hearsay but I mean they may have depositions from Boris so it may be admissible). I can’t wait to see Charlotte and Lucifer’s courtroom verbal sparring.
Lucifer gives this great dramatic recitation of his interaction with Boris (while Ella and Dan get some information on the guy who lobbed off Boris’ head). Unfortunately (at least to me) Charlotte declines to question him. I really wanted to see her rip into him and his pronouncement that Chloe is so good, he hasn’t even slept with her. Meanwhile, Amenediel is trying to protect Chloe by removing the bomb but Maze finds him and he tries to cover up what he’s doing by telling her he misses her and make out with her. But she knows what’s doing and she detonates the bomb before telling him to keep Charlotte away from Chloe.
It turns out that Charlotte was waiting until it was her turn to present her case to question Lucifer (after she has no questions for Dan) and boy does she fluster her baby boy. She points out (quite expertly) that while he says that Chloe was first on scene for the man who took the fall for Papa Decker’s murder, the official report says Dan was first. Lucifer insists he wasn’t lying in his testimony but clearly Chloe doesn’t believe him. Obviously she got the information from Dan by sleeping with him and stealing his phone. While Maze needles Dan (because she clearly can see what happened) as they head to check out a front for the Chinese mob, Amenediel has a session with Linda. It turns out Maze blew up his car (and he’s just sitting sadly gripping his steering wheel) as she explains that he did to Maze what he did to her. So he needs to apologize. And just as Dan and Lucifer are about to approach the mob, Dan admits he leaked the information and slept with Charlotte. Cue Lucifer losing his damn mind!
Thanks to Maze being a badass demon, the guys get the location of the Chinese mobster who offed Boris (he went behind his organization’s back) but he’s dead, too. And after Chloe testifies and gets super emotional about Lucifer, the jury returns a not guilty verdict. But it doesn’t last long. Dan takes matters into his own hands and with an assist from Maze the prick gets nabbed by the Russians. Damn, Dan, you are one crazy man. Elsewhere, Amenediel goes to try and apologize to Maze and ends up chatting with Chloe’s mom. When he finally gets a good look at her and she identifies herself as Chloe’s mom, he kind of freaks out and then dishes to Charlotte the news he’s just uncovered. While we see Lucifer and Chloe sharing a really sweet dinner and leaning in for their first kiss, Amenediel reveals that 35 years ago, God send him down to Earth to bless a couple who couldn’t have a child. It was the only time God asked this of him and today, he met the mother again….Chloe’s mom. Chloe is an actual freaking miracle set on this planet by God, possibly to be put in Lucifer’s path. Charlotte thinks that Chloe is now the key to getting all of them home.
We now have to wait until January to see what happens next and that kind of annoys me. I mean the writers did a great job leaving us with an enticing cliffhanger that will make you want to come back and find out more. I am glad that they wrapped up the storyline with Chloe’s dad and that they have finally started to share with us what makes Chloe special. I can’t wait to see how Lucifer reacts to this revelation. Will he continue to pursue Chloe or will he try to keep his distance? Will this change his relationship with God in any way? And what was God’s plan in all of this anyhow? So many questions and now we have to wait a good 2 months to find out!
- Charlotte
We pick up right where we left off with Charlotte attempting to blow up Chloe’s car with her in it. Amenediel comes to the rescue and gets a taste of Mama’s powers. When he pleads with his mother to find another way to get Lucifer to go home with them, she decides to be more subtle about the way she goes about splitting the Devil and the Detective apart. After a short session with Linda in which she informs him that he’s lying to himself (and chickening out of the date with Chloe), he heads over to see Chloe and explain what happened. But there’s no time because she and her mother have to head off for the trial of her father’s actual killer. As they all sit in the courtroom, ready to take on the horror of reliving the murder again, Dan gets a package at the precinct, containing the severed head of the prosecution’s star witness (the Russian mobster). Without him, the case will likely fall apart. And as if that weren’t enough, Charlotte is going to be defending the killer!
At first Lucifer is hopeful that his mother will be terrible in court but she’s actually pretty adept, even managing to convince the judge not to grant a continuance to the prosecution (she weaseled her way into getting the other side to claim they have a rock solid case even without their witness). Lucifer is even more miffed to learn that Charlotte is trying to show Lucifer that Chloe is beneath him and not deserving of his adoration or affection. He gets really pissed when she casually mentions she almost blew up the detective. While Chloe is panicking about the forensics (but hey Ella comes through and narrows down the site of the decapitation), Lucifer is putting his own plan into play. He’s going to testify in the trial (likely to what Boris told him … it’s hearsay but I mean they may have depositions from Boris so it may be admissible). I can’t wait to see Charlotte and Lucifer’s courtroom verbal sparring.
Lucifer gives this great dramatic recitation of his interaction with Boris (while Ella and Dan get some information on the guy who lobbed off Boris’ head). Unfortunately (at least to me) Charlotte declines to question him. I really wanted to see her rip into him and his pronouncement that Chloe is so good, he hasn’t even slept with her. Meanwhile, Amenediel is trying to protect Chloe by removing the bomb but Maze finds him and he tries to cover up what he’s doing by telling her he misses her and make out with her. But she knows what’s doing and she detonates the bomb before telling him to keep Charlotte away from Chloe.
It turns out that Charlotte was waiting until it was her turn to present her case to question Lucifer (after she has no questions for Dan) and boy does she fluster her baby boy. She points out (quite expertly) that while he says that Chloe was first on scene for the man who took the fall for Papa Decker’s murder, the official report says Dan was first. Lucifer insists he wasn’t lying in his testimony but clearly Chloe doesn’t believe him. Obviously she got the information from Dan by sleeping with him and stealing his phone. While Maze needles Dan (because she clearly can see what happened) as they head to check out a front for the Chinese mob, Amenediel has a session with Linda. It turns out Maze blew up his car (and he’s just sitting sadly gripping his steering wheel) as she explains that he did to Maze what he did to her. So he needs to apologize. And just as Dan and Lucifer are about to approach the mob, Dan admits he leaked the information and slept with Charlotte. Cue Lucifer losing his damn mind!
Thanks to Maze being a badass demon, the guys get the location of the Chinese mobster who offed Boris (he went behind his organization’s back) but he’s dead, too. And after Chloe testifies and gets super emotional about Lucifer, the jury returns a not guilty verdict. But it doesn’t last long. Dan takes matters into his own hands and with an assist from Maze the prick gets nabbed by the Russians. Damn, Dan, you are one crazy man. Elsewhere, Amenediel goes to try and apologize to Maze and ends up chatting with Chloe’s mom. When he finally gets a good look at her and she identifies herself as Chloe’s mom, he kind of freaks out and then dishes to Charlotte the news he’s just uncovered. While we see Lucifer and Chloe sharing a really sweet dinner and leaning in for their first kiss, Amenediel reveals that 35 years ago, God send him down to Earth to bless a couple who couldn’t have a child. It was the only time God asked this of him and today, he met the mother again….Chloe’s mom. Chloe is an actual freaking miracle set on this planet by God, possibly to be put in Lucifer’s path. Charlotte thinks that Chloe is now the key to getting all of them home.
We now have to wait until January to see what happens next and that kind of annoys me. I mean the writers did a great job leaving us with an enticing cliffhanger that will make you want to come back and find out more. I am glad that they wrapped up the storyline with Chloe’s dad and that they have finally started to share with us what makes Chloe special. I can’t wait to see how Lucifer reacts to this revelation. Will he continue to pursue Chloe or will he try to keep his distance? Will this change his relationship with God in any way? And what was God’s plan in all of this anyhow? So many questions and now we have to wait a good 2 months to find out!
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Once Upon a Time 6.09: “The Changelings”
“A name is a special thing! You don’t waste it on something you don’t intend on becoming attached to.”
- Rumpelstiltskin
This week’s episode is all about the next generations. We find, that Rumple is putting his latest plan into motion. It involves testing out a potion on a fairy to give the good guys a heads up that he intends to speed up Belle’s pregnancy so he can cut their son’s fate when he is born. Belle assumes Rumple is filling them in to try and scare her back into being with him (good assumption) but she says she won’t do it. Instead, she goes to research anything she can to find a way to get out of this insanity and is pulled into the dream world where her son warns her about what Rumple will be doing and that there is a way to stop it before it happens.
In the Enchanted Forest of the past, Rumple returns back with a baby in toe, which he tasks Belle with keeping it entertained until he returned. Belle, after managing to calm the baby down by reading him her favorite book, decides to sneak him out of the castle before Rumple gets back. It turns out Rumple set her up because he doesn’t speak fairy and the incantation he needs is in that language. But of course, Belle can read it and she deciphers it and find it’s a summoning spell for the Black Fairy (yeah that doesn’t sound bad at all). Eventually, the Blue Fairy shows up and frees Belle so that she can rescue the child. Apparently the Black Fairy steals children for some unknown reasons and magic can’t be used to save the baby now. So Belle is his only hope. And in a twist I have to admit I didn’t see coming, the Black Fairy is Rumple’s mother. Honestly, is that why he’s so obsessed with magic and feels like it’s a big part of him, because his mother is a fairy? That certainly explains why he hates them so much. But as Belle shows up and saves the baby, he blathers on about how no one understands his pain. Um, way to be super overdramatic dude.
While the Charming clan is trying to figure out a way to stop Rumple (thanks to Hook spotting squid ink which will paralyze him), the Evil Queen is off to attempt to kill Zelena so she can be with Rumple. But Regina shows up and makes good on a threat to crush her doppelganger’s heart to stop her. Regina also gets to lay down some truth bombs on her evil alter ego. Rumple is just using her, like he does everyone else around him and the hole in the Evil Queen’s heart is blinding her to his real priorities. He ends up kicking the Evil Queen out (after his little meeting with Belle) and Regina admits she only showed up at Zelena’s place to look for magic to reverse the spell on the fairy. She says she’ll never forgive Zelena for what happened with Robin. That’s too bad because Zelena is trying to be a better person. Also, Aladdin and Jasmine try to use the lamp he snagged from the pawn shop a few episodes back to find their home but the genie inside is gone. So Aladdin thinks it’s a grand idea to become a genie so Jasmine can get her wish (or something … to be honest I didn’t really care about that little subplot this week).
At Gold’s shop, Emma and Hook dose Rumple with the ink but Emma has another flash of a future vision and it distracts the pair long enough for the effects to wear off and for Rumple to just casually stroll out the front door. He finds Belle in the library and threatens to use the potion on her to speed up her pregnancy. We get a rather emotional scene between the pair of them about their relationship that kind of makes his atrocious treatment of her a little less horrible. He thinks that his past statement that he was a difficult man to love was wrong. He thinks no one can love him but he hopes starting over with this new baby might work out. Belle says that the price for him getting the baby will be him losing her forever and for a moment that is enough to make him back off. But I don’t expect that to last long. And I was right, although I suspect perhaps it was the Evil Queen’s doing. But as Emma and Hook chat about her new vision (and the additional detail of a glowing red jewel in the sword hilt), Belle’s belly gets enormous! It’s baby time!
Emma takes Belle to the convent to be protected by the fairies as she gives birth and as she’s in the throes of labor, she goes to the dream world once again where her son implores her that they are out of time and there is one thing she can do. Honestly, I’m still confused about what it is. I mean, she’s not going to kill the baby or herself (I don’t think). I do have a guess though about what she names him, though. Thanks to some tears and quick thinking, she names him Gideon (after her favorite story character … totally called it) and has Blue be his fairy godmother and take him far away. She may not see him for a while but she’s confident one day they’ll be reunited. Rumple is rather upset seeing as he didn’t actually use the spell on her and then he throws a wicked temper tantrum when the Evil Queen rubs it in his face. But he promises he’s going to get her back. And after he goes off to bed (or whatever he does when he’s not in the shop), Emma and Hook sneak in and she finds the sword. Now that they’ve got it, she hopes they can figure out who the figure under the hood and maybe stop the vision from coming true after all.
- Rumpelstiltskin
This week’s episode is all about the next generations. We find, that Rumple is putting his latest plan into motion. It involves testing out a potion on a fairy to give the good guys a heads up that he intends to speed up Belle’s pregnancy so he can cut their son’s fate when he is born. Belle assumes Rumple is filling them in to try and scare her back into being with him (good assumption) but she says she won’t do it. Instead, she goes to research anything she can to find a way to get out of this insanity and is pulled into the dream world where her son warns her about what Rumple will be doing and that there is a way to stop it before it happens.
In the Enchanted Forest of the past, Rumple returns back with a baby in toe, which he tasks Belle with keeping it entertained until he returned. Belle, after managing to calm the baby down by reading him her favorite book, decides to sneak him out of the castle before Rumple gets back. It turns out Rumple set her up because he doesn’t speak fairy and the incantation he needs is in that language. But of course, Belle can read it and she deciphers it and find it’s a summoning spell for the Black Fairy (yeah that doesn’t sound bad at all). Eventually, the Blue Fairy shows up and frees Belle so that she can rescue the child. Apparently the Black Fairy steals children for some unknown reasons and magic can’t be used to save the baby now. So Belle is his only hope. And in a twist I have to admit I didn’t see coming, the Black Fairy is Rumple’s mother. Honestly, is that why he’s so obsessed with magic and feels like it’s a big part of him, because his mother is a fairy? That certainly explains why he hates them so much. But as Belle shows up and saves the baby, he blathers on about how no one understands his pain. Um, way to be super overdramatic dude.
While the Charming clan is trying to figure out a way to stop Rumple (thanks to Hook spotting squid ink which will paralyze him), the Evil Queen is off to attempt to kill Zelena so she can be with Rumple. But Regina shows up and makes good on a threat to crush her doppelganger’s heart to stop her. Regina also gets to lay down some truth bombs on her evil alter ego. Rumple is just using her, like he does everyone else around him and the hole in the Evil Queen’s heart is blinding her to his real priorities. He ends up kicking the Evil Queen out (after his little meeting with Belle) and Regina admits she only showed up at Zelena’s place to look for magic to reverse the spell on the fairy. She says she’ll never forgive Zelena for what happened with Robin. That’s too bad because Zelena is trying to be a better person. Also, Aladdin and Jasmine try to use the lamp he snagged from the pawn shop a few episodes back to find their home but the genie inside is gone. So Aladdin thinks it’s a grand idea to become a genie so Jasmine can get her wish (or something … to be honest I didn’t really care about that little subplot this week).
At Gold’s shop, Emma and Hook dose Rumple with the ink but Emma has another flash of a future vision and it distracts the pair long enough for the effects to wear off and for Rumple to just casually stroll out the front door. He finds Belle in the library and threatens to use the potion on her to speed up her pregnancy. We get a rather emotional scene between the pair of them about their relationship that kind of makes his atrocious treatment of her a little less horrible. He thinks that his past statement that he was a difficult man to love was wrong. He thinks no one can love him but he hopes starting over with this new baby might work out. Belle says that the price for him getting the baby will be him losing her forever and for a moment that is enough to make him back off. But I don’t expect that to last long. And I was right, although I suspect perhaps it was the Evil Queen’s doing. But as Emma and Hook chat about her new vision (and the additional detail of a glowing red jewel in the sword hilt), Belle’s belly gets enormous! It’s baby time!
Emma takes Belle to the convent to be protected by the fairies as she gives birth and as she’s in the throes of labor, she goes to the dream world once again where her son implores her that they are out of time and there is one thing she can do. Honestly, I’m still confused about what it is. I mean, she’s not going to kill the baby or herself (I don’t think). I do have a guess though about what she names him, though. Thanks to some tears and quick thinking, she names him Gideon (after her favorite story character … totally called it) and has Blue be his fairy godmother and take him far away. She may not see him for a while but she’s confident one day they’ll be reunited. Rumple is rather upset seeing as he didn’t actually use the spell on her and then he throws a wicked temper tantrum when the Evil Queen rubs it in his face. But he promises he’s going to get her back. And after he goes off to bed (or whatever he does when he’s not in the shop), Emma and Hook sneak in and she finds the sword. Now that they’ve got it, she hopes they can figure out who the figure under the hood and maybe stop the vision from coming true after all.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Thanksgiving “Classic” Recap: Speechless: “T-H-A-Thanksgiving”
“What did I tell you? So they bug you, deal with it.”
- Ray
We may not have spent much time with the DiMeo family yet but we get to spend Thanksgiving with them. Now, before we get into the meat of the episode, I feel I should point out that for the most part, Minnie Driver’s character still annoys me. Most of the time I stick around for the sweet moments between Jimmy and the kids (especially Ray). So it’s Thanksgiving at the DiMeo residence and they are not looking forward to spending the holiday with Jimmy’s brother and his family. According to them, Billy (Jimmy’s brother) is super rich and loves to rub it in Jimmy’s face. Each of the other members of Billy’s family are equally annoying and weird. As the family is out trying to find things to wear, Jimmy spots an amazing Black Friday deal for a TV (they need a new one because he broke the old one after he kicked the old one over during his brother’s latest dentist commercial). So they are going to beg off of Thanksgiving by claiming JJ is sick. Kenneth is also going to share the holiday with them (because he claims he didn’t feel like traveling).
Unfortunately, Jimmy’s attempt to get the family out of dinner backfires when Billy says they will come to May and Jimmy instead. As everyone kind of freaks out, Maya comes up with a game. For each thing that the other family members do that’s annoying, our gang will get a point. At first it looks like they are going to have to dig deep to get their points but then things just start rolling. Ray is the only one not “playing”. He doesn’t handle drama well and in fact it gives him an ulcer (or at least the start of one). So Kenneth manages to convince Maya to let him and Ray do the cooking. In hindsight, that is a terrible idea because Kenneth has no clue what he’s doing and the totally ruin the turkey. Ray also learns that Kenneth has his own family drama that he’s trying to avoid this year. His sister and parents tend to gang up on him and give him crap for being a disappointment. I don’t know but maybe they’d feel differently this year seeing as he’s got a pretty sweet job as an aide for JJ. But Ray kind of panics when Kenneth starts losing his mind about his own family drama. Ray just wants to avoid everything because he’s just kind of a wuss I guess.
As Billy continues to humble brag like nobody’s business, Jimmy gets really fed up. So he they end up almost doing a street race. It’s also interesting that Billy’s family treats them all like they are pathetic and need to be pitied. They also just yell at JJ (like he’s deaf). Speaking form experience, that shit just pisses me off. But as the guys get ready to race, we learn that Billy and his family are completely broke (thank you Ray for outing the rest of the family and their “game”). He gambled all the money away and then he tried to make it back by charging unnecessary procedures. You know, this reminded me a lot of one of the first “Fresh off the Boat” holiday episodes where we first met Jessica’s sister. I guess it’s kind of a theme for family comedies to too. Billy’s side of the family also gets to have their digs at Maya and Jimmy (although by comparison they are very minor things … I mean really Maya does a “fake” British accent?). But given that everyone in the DiMeo clan is now poor, they end up bonding a bit over Black Friday sales. They aren’t afraid to use JJ as a way to cut the line to get into the store and get everything they want. They also kind of find that they have more commonalities between them than they originally realized. Then, as Jimmy and Billy come out of the store with the last 60 inch flat screen, Jimmy decides to auction it off and he gives Billy the money (something Billy has done in the past for Jimmy). So in the end, they all learn that maybe they should be nicer to each other (and hey JJ even gets to be in Billy’s new commercial). So I guess the DiMeo clan has learned some valuable lessons, hopefully one of which is don’t trust Kenneth in the kitchen. I did like that in the end, Ray was able to get him to try and talk to his family about what’s bothering him and why he feels the way he does.
Overall, I thought this episode was decent. I’m not super in love with the show but as I said at the start of this post, there are parts of it, usually that involve Jimmy that are sweet and touching and the characters learn something. I have to admit I found Jimmy’s side of the family more annoying than our regular characters for a lot of it. Their characteristics just seemed really over the top (and I get that was the point). And maybe Maya was a little less grating than usual. When she wasn’t really focusing on being JJ’s advocate I think she’s more tolerable. Yes, she had a bit where she reminded her sister-in-law that JJ had perfect hearing but he just couldn’t speak, but that was really it. I understand that she wants to be a zealous advocate for JJ, especially because it is difficult for him to advocate for himself but most of the time she’s just obnoxious. Maybe I was spoiled with watching my own parents advocate for me and deal with having a special needs kid that I’m biased. I do still wish they’d give Dillon more to do or some other purpose. To me, she is still the weakest link on the show. It really wasn’t necessary to have two normal kids to the one disabled one. I mean, at least with Ray he’s kind of interesting and he’s got real problems. Dillon is just kind of a generic tom boy who isn’t very interesting.
- Ray
We may not have spent much time with the DiMeo family yet but we get to spend Thanksgiving with them. Now, before we get into the meat of the episode, I feel I should point out that for the most part, Minnie Driver’s character still annoys me. Most of the time I stick around for the sweet moments between Jimmy and the kids (especially Ray). So it’s Thanksgiving at the DiMeo residence and they are not looking forward to spending the holiday with Jimmy’s brother and his family. According to them, Billy (Jimmy’s brother) is super rich and loves to rub it in Jimmy’s face. Each of the other members of Billy’s family are equally annoying and weird. As the family is out trying to find things to wear, Jimmy spots an amazing Black Friday deal for a TV (they need a new one because he broke the old one after he kicked the old one over during his brother’s latest dentist commercial). So they are going to beg off of Thanksgiving by claiming JJ is sick. Kenneth is also going to share the holiday with them (because he claims he didn’t feel like traveling).
Unfortunately, Jimmy’s attempt to get the family out of dinner backfires when Billy says they will come to May and Jimmy instead. As everyone kind of freaks out, Maya comes up with a game. For each thing that the other family members do that’s annoying, our gang will get a point. At first it looks like they are going to have to dig deep to get their points but then things just start rolling. Ray is the only one not “playing”. He doesn’t handle drama well and in fact it gives him an ulcer (or at least the start of one). So Kenneth manages to convince Maya to let him and Ray do the cooking. In hindsight, that is a terrible idea because Kenneth has no clue what he’s doing and the totally ruin the turkey. Ray also learns that Kenneth has his own family drama that he’s trying to avoid this year. His sister and parents tend to gang up on him and give him crap for being a disappointment. I don’t know but maybe they’d feel differently this year seeing as he’s got a pretty sweet job as an aide for JJ. But Ray kind of panics when Kenneth starts losing his mind about his own family drama. Ray just wants to avoid everything because he’s just kind of a wuss I guess.
As Billy continues to humble brag like nobody’s business, Jimmy gets really fed up. So he they end up almost doing a street race. It’s also interesting that Billy’s family treats them all like they are pathetic and need to be pitied. They also just yell at JJ (like he’s deaf). Speaking form experience, that shit just pisses me off. But as the guys get ready to race, we learn that Billy and his family are completely broke (thank you Ray for outing the rest of the family and their “game”). He gambled all the money away and then he tried to make it back by charging unnecessary procedures. You know, this reminded me a lot of one of the first “Fresh off the Boat” holiday episodes where we first met Jessica’s sister. I guess it’s kind of a theme for family comedies to too. Billy’s side of the family also gets to have their digs at Maya and Jimmy (although by comparison they are very minor things … I mean really Maya does a “fake” British accent?). But given that everyone in the DiMeo clan is now poor, they end up bonding a bit over Black Friday sales. They aren’t afraid to use JJ as a way to cut the line to get into the store and get everything they want. They also kind of find that they have more commonalities between them than they originally realized. Then, as Jimmy and Billy come out of the store with the last 60 inch flat screen, Jimmy decides to auction it off and he gives Billy the money (something Billy has done in the past for Jimmy). So in the end, they all learn that maybe they should be nicer to each other (and hey JJ even gets to be in Billy’s new commercial). So I guess the DiMeo clan has learned some valuable lessons, hopefully one of which is don’t trust Kenneth in the kitchen. I did like that in the end, Ray was able to get him to try and talk to his family about what’s bothering him and why he feels the way he does.
Overall, I thought this episode was decent. I’m not super in love with the show but as I said at the start of this post, there are parts of it, usually that involve Jimmy that are sweet and touching and the characters learn something. I have to admit I found Jimmy’s side of the family more annoying than our regular characters for a lot of it. Their characteristics just seemed really over the top (and I get that was the point). And maybe Maya was a little less grating than usual. When she wasn’t really focusing on being JJ’s advocate I think she’s more tolerable. Yes, she had a bit where she reminded her sister-in-law that JJ had perfect hearing but he just couldn’t speak, but that was really it. I understand that she wants to be a zealous advocate for JJ, especially because it is difficult for him to advocate for himself but most of the time she’s just obnoxious. Maybe I was spoiled with watching my own parents advocate for me and deal with having a special needs kid that I’m biased. I do still wish they’d give Dillon more to do or some other purpose. To me, she is still the weakest link on the show. It really wasn’t necessary to have two normal kids to the one disabled one. I mean, at least with Ray he’s kind of interesting and he’s got real problems. Dillon is just kind of a generic tom boy who isn’t very interesting.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
This Is Us 1.08: “Pilgrim Rick”
“I’m thankful for my family. I’m thankful that we’re safe and there’s no one in the whole world I’d rather be too hot or too cold with.”
- Jack
Welcome to our first Thanksgiving with the Pearsons! In the mid-1980s (when the Big Three are around 8) we see that Rebecca is making cranberry sauce. She’s obsessing over making it perfect to compete with her sister. It seems their family tradition is currently to go to her parents’ house. None of the kids really like it. Kate hates the handmade (and super itchy) sweater that her grandma made and Randall hates it when they always ask for pictures of “just the twins”. And just as they are ready to leave, the boys come crashing into the kitchen and make Rebecca drop the sauce! They get a late start on the road because they had to spend 2 hours finding the right cranberry sauce substitute and then they get a flat tire, leading them to go on a hike (we are beginning to see the new tradition develop). As they walk along, Jack and Rebecca come up with a game to keep the kids occupied. They want them to say what they’ll do for Thanksgiving as adults. At first Kevin wants to be a football player and eat a big turkey but when Randall says he hates Thanksgiving, the twins chime in that they hate it, too. And not just because of going to their grandparents’ house. Rebecca gets kind of mean. And then Rebecca does what she believes is the unthinkable—as Jack tries to get a tow truck and some food, she calls her parents and tells them they aren’t going to come anymore. They end up at a funny lodge run by a guy named Pilgrim Rick (in a big hat) with only Kraft singles and saltines to eat and a Police Academy movie on the TV. And then Jack borrows Pilgrim Rick’s hat and sets a really sweet tradition into motion involving hotdogs wrapped in cheese and crushed crackers. The way he is always working to make his kids happy is just so heartening. This makes me so sad that Jack is dead in the present. His kids still need him!
In the present in LA, Kate is preparing to go to New York to spend Thanksgiving with the rest of the family (hey we get everyone but Jack in the present, how cool is that?) but she has some personal and painful things to do first. She’s out to dinner with Toby and she tells him they need to take a break because she needs to get a handle on her whole situation and she can’t do that with the way Toby is acting at the moment. It was really painful to watch and the emotion coming off Kate’s face was just gut wrenching. We also see that Kate is having a hell of a time getting to be with the rest of the family. The plane hits some serious turbulence and she ends up kind of bonding with her seat mate.
Back on the East Coast, Kevin convinces Olivia to go to Thanksgiving with him. And we also see that Randall takes Thanksgiving super seriously. He gets up really early and gets into the kitchen to start cooking. He also wakes everyone up (even if they don’t want to get up). As Kevin heads out to get Olivia, Rebecca and Miguel show up. I have to say it is very interesting to see that both Randall and Kevin call him “Miguel” rather than “Dad”. Neither of them seem to like him all that much. Especially when Miguel asks Kevin about the play and if he’s having fun in rehearsals. As we saw in the past, the family has to hike to get to their destination and now part of the family tradition is to go on a hike. We also learn about what William used to do (hang with his sober friends) and about Olivia’s family (the essence being her father was cheating on her mom and they didn’t get to the desserts). I like how we are learning about the other people’s traditions.
Randall heads off to William’s apartment to get the recordings of William and his friends playing during previous Thanksgivings and he declines Rebecca’s offer to join him (Beth has tasked her with telling Randall the truth about her and William by the end of the night) and we also see more of how much Kevin (at least) doesn’t like Miguel. There’s some part of the family tradition with a hat involved and Miguel wants to wear it. Kevin quite rudely says that it won’t happen because Jack wore it and now Kevin and Randall take turns. And then his day gets even worse when Olivia walks out (all dramatic and very much romantic comedy-esque). William talks some sense into Olivia (he can be wise and the way he described what it feels like to die was beautifully poetic and I have to wonder if she’s getting a similar lesson out of this that Kevin did at the funeral) and she goes back into the house.
In New Jersey, Randall finds the tapes that William listened to but he also finds a letter that seems to really upset him. While Kevin allows Miguel to take over as Pilgrim Rick, Randall gets back and you can tell he is upset but he isn’t saying anything. He’s simmering and I can just tell once everyone is together, it’s going to explode! Before dinner, we see the final Person family tradition, pulling on yarn (originally from Kate’s awful sweater) and saying what they are thankful for. But when Randall gets the yarn, he tosses it on the ground and about loses his damn mind (with good reason). You can tell a part of him wants his mother to explain but the bigger part is so hurt, he just can’t handle looking at his mother or being in the room with her. So he leaves, just as Kate arrives and announces she’s going to have gastric bypass surgery.
I knew coming into this episode that it would be emotional (then again what episode of this show isn’t?) and man it delivered. I’m so glad we get to spend more time with this family as they come through their struggles.
- Jack
Welcome to our first Thanksgiving with the Pearsons! In the mid-1980s (when the Big Three are around 8) we see that Rebecca is making cranberry sauce. She’s obsessing over making it perfect to compete with her sister. It seems their family tradition is currently to go to her parents’ house. None of the kids really like it. Kate hates the handmade (and super itchy) sweater that her grandma made and Randall hates it when they always ask for pictures of “just the twins”. And just as they are ready to leave, the boys come crashing into the kitchen and make Rebecca drop the sauce! They get a late start on the road because they had to spend 2 hours finding the right cranberry sauce substitute and then they get a flat tire, leading them to go on a hike (we are beginning to see the new tradition develop). As they walk along, Jack and Rebecca come up with a game to keep the kids occupied. They want them to say what they’ll do for Thanksgiving as adults. At first Kevin wants to be a football player and eat a big turkey but when Randall says he hates Thanksgiving, the twins chime in that they hate it, too. And not just because of going to their grandparents’ house. Rebecca gets kind of mean. And then Rebecca does what she believes is the unthinkable—as Jack tries to get a tow truck and some food, she calls her parents and tells them they aren’t going to come anymore. They end up at a funny lodge run by a guy named Pilgrim Rick (in a big hat) with only Kraft singles and saltines to eat and a Police Academy movie on the TV. And then Jack borrows Pilgrim Rick’s hat and sets a really sweet tradition into motion involving hotdogs wrapped in cheese and crushed crackers. The way he is always working to make his kids happy is just so heartening. This makes me so sad that Jack is dead in the present. His kids still need him!
In the present in LA, Kate is preparing to go to New York to spend Thanksgiving with the rest of the family (hey we get everyone but Jack in the present, how cool is that?) but she has some personal and painful things to do first. She’s out to dinner with Toby and she tells him they need to take a break because she needs to get a handle on her whole situation and she can’t do that with the way Toby is acting at the moment. It was really painful to watch and the emotion coming off Kate’s face was just gut wrenching. We also see that Kate is having a hell of a time getting to be with the rest of the family. The plane hits some serious turbulence and she ends up kind of bonding with her seat mate.
Back on the East Coast, Kevin convinces Olivia to go to Thanksgiving with him. And we also see that Randall takes Thanksgiving super seriously. He gets up really early and gets into the kitchen to start cooking. He also wakes everyone up (even if they don’t want to get up). As Kevin heads out to get Olivia, Rebecca and Miguel show up. I have to say it is very interesting to see that both Randall and Kevin call him “Miguel” rather than “Dad”. Neither of them seem to like him all that much. Especially when Miguel asks Kevin about the play and if he’s having fun in rehearsals. As we saw in the past, the family has to hike to get to their destination and now part of the family tradition is to go on a hike. We also learn about what William used to do (hang with his sober friends) and about Olivia’s family (the essence being her father was cheating on her mom and they didn’t get to the desserts). I like how we are learning about the other people’s traditions.
Randall heads off to William’s apartment to get the recordings of William and his friends playing during previous Thanksgivings and he declines Rebecca’s offer to join him (Beth has tasked her with telling Randall the truth about her and William by the end of the night) and we also see more of how much Kevin (at least) doesn’t like Miguel. There’s some part of the family tradition with a hat involved and Miguel wants to wear it. Kevin quite rudely says that it won’t happen because Jack wore it and now Kevin and Randall take turns. And then his day gets even worse when Olivia walks out (all dramatic and very much romantic comedy-esque). William talks some sense into Olivia (he can be wise and the way he described what it feels like to die was beautifully poetic and I have to wonder if she’s getting a similar lesson out of this that Kevin did at the funeral) and she goes back into the house.
In New Jersey, Randall finds the tapes that William listened to but he also finds a letter that seems to really upset him. While Kevin allows Miguel to take over as Pilgrim Rick, Randall gets back and you can tell he is upset but he isn’t saying anything. He’s simmering and I can just tell once everyone is together, it’s going to explode! Before dinner, we see the final Person family tradition, pulling on yarn (originally from Kate’s awful sweater) and saying what they are thankful for. But when Randall gets the yarn, he tosses it on the ground and about loses his damn mind (with good reason). You can tell a part of him wants his mother to explain but the bigger part is so hurt, he just can’t handle looking at his mother or being in the room with her. So he leaves, just as Kate arrives and announces she’s going to have gastric bypass surgery.
I knew coming into this episode that it would be emotional (then again what episode of this show isn’t?) and man it delivered. I’m so glad we get to spend more time with this family as they come through their struggles.
Lucifer 2.09: “Homewrecker”
“I find people make Los Angeles their home for one of two reasons. They’re either running from something or they are looking for something.”
- Linda
This was a very interesting episode of “Lucifer”. When last we left our Devil, he’d made it very clear to Mum that Earth was his home. The episode opens with a rather awkward and amusing bus tour with Lucifer and Amenediel. Lucifer thinks his brother needs to learn about the city so they can enjoy staying, seeing as this is where Lucifer wants to put down roots. But when it turns out that the man who owned the strip where Lux is located is found murdered in his home, things don’t look good. And they get even direr when Maze summons Lucifer back to the club. The dead man’s son is going to evict Lucifer from the building. So while Chloe is trying to solve the case this week. Lucifer is trying to save his home. He even has a discussion with Linda during one of his sessions about home and why he feels that Earth is his home. At first, he can’t put it into word and she explains that often people coming to LA do it for one of two reasons: running away from something or looking for something.
As the episode progresses, we learn that Lucifer was definitely looking for something. We’re also not alone in thinking that Charlotte may have been involved in the man’s death. After all, it does seem like something she could be capable of. So Maze goes to confront Amenediel about it and Charlotte of course shows up. She denies any involvement but you can see the wheels turning in her head of how to use this to her advantage. She still thinks she can convince Lucifer to go back to Heaven with the rest of the family.
Chloe and Lucifer’s first suspect is the victim’s son (thanks to Ella reconstructing the wine glass that was the murder weapon and finding prints). But when they get there to talk to the guy, he launches himself off a balcony onto a car. He survives (miraculously I suppose) and we learn that he was selling off his father’s properties because his father ran the business into the ground but it wasn’t enough to pay off everything. We also learn that his father had been holding off a real estate deal for years that has now gone through. So we get to meet the icy lady who now owns Lux. She’s intent on bulldozing the whole thing and building a mall. This just distresses Lucifer to no end.
So while Chloe continues to work to case, he goes back to Lux and throws a party. Meanwhile, Charlotte gets her hooks into a bomb maker because she figures if Lux is no longer standing, he’ll go home. But when she gets there, she finds a party in full swing and she realizes she can’t blow it up (plus her bomb guy is a wuss). But then she meets Linda and starts to get some other ideas. Sure, Linda doesn’t share anything about their sessions but when Chloe shows up and she and Lucifer start dancing, Charlotte realizes it perhaps isn’t a building keeping her son tied to this place. The next morning, Chloe discovers some off book payments and a professional “tempter” who might be connected to them. Lucifer doesn’t want to leave Lux and he points out all these little quirks and historical meaning behind things in the club. But Chloe assures him the club will be safe for a little while longer.
They track down the tempter and realize he was tempting the victim’s daughter-in-law (to be) to see if she was a gold digger. But when the guy realized she was really in love with her fiancé, the victim paid him a lot of money to doctor photos so it looked like she was cheating. As our dynamic duo wrap up the case, we see Charlotte slowly putting her new plan into place. She’s called Dan for a “date” (which Amenediel and Maze follow her to). She decides that after Dan tells her all about Chloe and Lucifer, she’ll sleep with him anyway. Maze wants to follow them back to Dan’s place but just the look on Amenediel’s face cracks me up. He’s so uncomfortable with all of it. Though for a split second I thought perhaps he and Maze would have a rekindling of their fling from last season.
When Chloe and Lucifer confront the fiancée, she and the victim’s son both confess to the crime. Sure it means they’ll both go to prison for a while but they’re doing it together and they won’t let this stop their love. Lucifer thinks they’re nuts which let’s be honest, they kind of are. Back at Lux, Lucifer has come to terms with losing the club. He can always rebuild. It’s LA, not the building that is home. But then Chloe shares good news. She’s gotten Lux declared an historical heritage site. So no bulldozing and he can probably buy it back from the ice lady who owns it now. Lucifer is baffled by her act of kindness without strings attached. He offers to take her dinner but after he has a session with Linda in which she suggests that Lucifer did come looking for something and that something is Chloe, he kind of can’t deal with things. She suggests that he doesn’t show her his true face because he cares so deeply about what she thinks of him and he doesn’t want to deal with the fallout of a negative reaction. I got a little teary eyed watching him sit at Lux, drinking while Chloe was waiting for him at the restaurant. He was just heartbroken and it’s because Linda’s words were so true. He doesn’t want to lose her. But he better act fast because Charlotte has put a bomb under Chloe’s car and we end the episode with the Goddess of Creation about to blow that thing up with Chloe in it!
- Linda
This was a very interesting episode of “Lucifer”. When last we left our Devil, he’d made it very clear to Mum that Earth was his home. The episode opens with a rather awkward and amusing bus tour with Lucifer and Amenediel. Lucifer thinks his brother needs to learn about the city so they can enjoy staying, seeing as this is where Lucifer wants to put down roots. But when it turns out that the man who owned the strip where Lux is located is found murdered in his home, things don’t look good. And they get even direr when Maze summons Lucifer back to the club. The dead man’s son is going to evict Lucifer from the building. So while Chloe is trying to solve the case this week. Lucifer is trying to save his home. He even has a discussion with Linda during one of his sessions about home and why he feels that Earth is his home. At first, he can’t put it into word and she explains that often people coming to LA do it for one of two reasons: running away from something or looking for something.
As the episode progresses, we learn that Lucifer was definitely looking for something. We’re also not alone in thinking that Charlotte may have been involved in the man’s death. After all, it does seem like something she could be capable of. So Maze goes to confront Amenediel about it and Charlotte of course shows up. She denies any involvement but you can see the wheels turning in her head of how to use this to her advantage. She still thinks she can convince Lucifer to go back to Heaven with the rest of the family.
Chloe and Lucifer’s first suspect is the victim’s son (thanks to Ella reconstructing the wine glass that was the murder weapon and finding prints). But when they get there to talk to the guy, he launches himself off a balcony onto a car. He survives (miraculously I suppose) and we learn that he was selling off his father’s properties because his father ran the business into the ground but it wasn’t enough to pay off everything. We also learn that his father had been holding off a real estate deal for years that has now gone through. So we get to meet the icy lady who now owns Lux. She’s intent on bulldozing the whole thing and building a mall. This just distresses Lucifer to no end.
So while Chloe continues to work to case, he goes back to Lux and throws a party. Meanwhile, Charlotte gets her hooks into a bomb maker because she figures if Lux is no longer standing, he’ll go home. But when she gets there, she finds a party in full swing and she realizes she can’t blow it up (plus her bomb guy is a wuss). But then she meets Linda and starts to get some other ideas. Sure, Linda doesn’t share anything about their sessions but when Chloe shows up and she and Lucifer start dancing, Charlotte realizes it perhaps isn’t a building keeping her son tied to this place. The next morning, Chloe discovers some off book payments and a professional “tempter” who might be connected to them. Lucifer doesn’t want to leave Lux and he points out all these little quirks and historical meaning behind things in the club. But Chloe assures him the club will be safe for a little while longer.
They track down the tempter and realize he was tempting the victim’s daughter-in-law (to be) to see if she was a gold digger. But when the guy realized she was really in love with her fiancé, the victim paid him a lot of money to doctor photos so it looked like she was cheating. As our dynamic duo wrap up the case, we see Charlotte slowly putting her new plan into place. She’s called Dan for a “date” (which Amenediel and Maze follow her to). She decides that after Dan tells her all about Chloe and Lucifer, she’ll sleep with him anyway. Maze wants to follow them back to Dan’s place but just the look on Amenediel’s face cracks me up. He’s so uncomfortable with all of it. Though for a split second I thought perhaps he and Maze would have a rekindling of their fling from last season.
When Chloe and Lucifer confront the fiancée, she and the victim’s son both confess to the crime. Sure it means they’ll both go to prison for a while but they’re doing it together and they won’t let this stop their love. Lucifer thinks they’re nuts which let’s be honest, they kind of are. Back at Lux, Lucifer has come to terms with losing the club. He can always rebuild. It’s LA, not the building that is home. But then Chloe shares good news. She’s gotten Lux declared an historical heritage site. So no bulldozing and he can probably buy it back from the ice lady who owns it now. Lucifer is baffled by her act of kindness without strings attached. He offers to take her dinner but after he has a session with Linda in which she suggests that Lucifer did come looking for something and that something is Chloe, he kind of can’t deal with things. She suggests that he doesn’t show her his true face because he cares so deeply about what she thinks of him and he doesn’t want to deal with the fallout of a negative reaction. I got a little teary eyed watching him sit at Lux, drinking while Chloe was waiting for him at the restaurant. He was just heartbroken and it’s because Linda’s words were so true. He doesn’t want to lose her. But he better act fast because Charlotte has put a bomb under Chloe’s car and we end the episode with the Goddess of Creation about to blow that thing up with Chloe in it!
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Fresh off the Boat 3.03: "Louisween"
“Louis! You’re lucky I wasn’t clutching my sleep knife!”
-Jessica
“Fresh off the Boat” always does interesting holiday episodes, although I don’t know if this one was really a favorite. I found the conflicts between the Huang family members to be a bit forced. It was kind of cool to see all their perspectives on Halloween, though. It’s Louis’ favorite holiday, which is a point on which we agree. There are great things about Thanksgiving and Christmas, too, but Halloween is my favorite. I love Halloween decorations, the black/orange/green/purple color combo, and the chance to dress up and play pretend for a night. It’s like being a kid again is sanctioned for one holiday. I guess it probably also wouldn’t surprise you to learn (especially since there’s a picture of it on the MTVP Facebook page) that I’ve also cosplayed at Comic Con International in San Diego. Jessica, however, hates Halloween and finds it to be a waste of time. Eddie likes candy, but he likes the prospect of being invited to a high school party by Nicole even more. Emery and Evan look forward to creating their usual double costume, but they’re both growing up and times are changing. This episode didn’t have as much of a “the Huangs do this holiday differently because they’re originally from Taiwan” vibe as many “Fresh off the Boat” holiday episodes, but I was okay with that. Underneath it all, we’re all American.
The episode opens with the clocks in the Huang household turning to midnight. It is officially Halloween, and Louis is ready. He wakes up each of the kids with Halloween pranks like using a big monster arm or pretending to be a zombie. Jessica, however, is more difficult to prank, which is good foreshadowing for later in the episode. When Louis wakes her up dressed as Jason, she clocks him right in the head. That morning, a very happy Louis is dressed as “Pete Vampras” (a vampire Pete Sampras) and ready to coordinate the kids’ Halloween activities. Emery and Evan haven’t nailed down what they are going to be yet, but Louis reminds them to be ready by 5:00. The boys are worried that they won’t be able to top last year’s Silence of the Lambs themed double costume. Jessica could care less about any of the Halloween prep. She thinks Halloween is a waste of money. Why should she pay for a costume when she likes herself just as she is? Instead, she’s going to work on her Stephen King-inspired horror novel. She heard King writes ten pages a day, so she’s going to write twenty. Because she’s nonstop (sorry…had to throw in a “Hamilton” reference!).
Eddie and his buddies stand over a big map of the neighborhood as they plan out their Halloween candy haul. They heard that one house is going to be giving away king sized peanut butter cups, so that’s definitely on their list. One of the boys talks about how he got to watch some of Porky’s because Cinemax accidentally unscrambled, and he really wants to get girls on Halloween. Eddie says they have the rest of their lives to do that – they only have a few more years of free candy left. He changes his tune when Nicole stops by, though. Her mom is going to be out of town, so she’s going to throw a Halloween party. Eddie immediately starts advocating for the Halloween party. After all, this will probably be their only chance to go to a high school party as middle schoolers. He convinces the rest of his crew to join him. Jessica doesn’t want to let Eddie go, but Louis overrules her, says since she doesn’t celebrate Halloween, she doesn’t get a say.
Emery and Evan are still struggling to figure out their costumes. They both find themselves dressed as Indiana Jones, which clearly won’t do. Evan was supposed to be Short Round, but he’s tired of being the sidekick. He wants to be the main character in this year’s costume. Emery, being a good brother, says Evan can pick their costumes this year. Evan decides he wants to be Lance Ito, the judge from the OJ Simpson case, and he wants Emery to be Kato Kalin. Emery thinks that’s stupid, but Evan really wants to be Lance Ito. Emery decides he’s just going to be Indiana Jones after all. Meanwhile, Eddie and his pals are in their costumes and rolling up to Nicole’s party. When they get inside, though, it’s just Nicole and a few other girls in Spice Girls costumes sitting on the couch looking bored. Everybody else at school went to a party being thrown by a sophomore with a pool. Nicole realizes she shouldn’t have tried to throw a party as a freshman, but now it’s too late. Everybody but Eddie ends up bailing. Eddie, however, says he has seen enough music videos to know how to throw a party, and he cranks up some Snoop Dogg to top volume. It doesn’t take long for there to be a knock on the door.
Jessica has said that Stephen King is really scary while Halloween is just silly, so Louis decides to put that theory to the test. He tries over and over to scare Jessica. He hides a scary head in the oven, and he even has Eddie’s classmate Reba pretend to be a ghost. None of it rattles Jessica. Louis even tries to convince Jessica that he accidentally hit a kid with a car. Jessica’s response is to describe, in great detail, exactly how she’s going to help him cover the crime up, down to chopping down a tree in a hurricane so that there’s no flesh transfer to be found. At that point, Louis finally gives up. The phone rings, and it’s Eddie, who is at the police station and needs to be picked up. At first, Jessica thinks it’s another of Louis’ pranks, but then she sees Louis standing there and realizes that Eddie is actually in trouble.
Eddie isn’t in quite as much trouble as everyone thought, though. The police officer just brought Eddie and Nicole to the station because they were unsupervised minors. Even the “beer” Nicole thought she had procured for the party was actually just a drink mixer and completely nonalcoholic. When Jessica shows up, though, she’s still not happy. She blames Halloween for having to stop her writing to go and pick Eddie up. Later, Louis tries to explain how hurtful her attitude has been to him. He reminds her of a time when he wasn’t able to help her celebrate Christmas, which is her favorite holiday. Jessica eventually gets it – it would be very nice if Louis could spend his favorite holiday with the whole family. When it’s midnight again, Jessica wakes up all the kids, but with the smell of bacon and textbooks. She tells them to all get in their costumes because they’re going to go Trick or Treating.
The day late Huang Halloween is a success. Emery and Evan end up dressing as Barney the Dinosaur (I had a golden retriever as a kid who was older than the purple dinosaur, but I still got teased mercilessly for it circa 1993) and Short Round respectively. They both decide they care more about Trick or Treating with each other more than the specifics of their costume. The family hits up Honey’s house, where Honey is quite confused. Jessica reasons that if people keep their Christmas lights up for a month after the holiday, the Huangs should be able to celebrate Halloween one day late. Honey agrees and invites everyone in for a bath of her famous goo-latas. Nicole is there, and she thanks Eddie for making her party off the hook. Rumors about the cops breaking up the party have gone out of control, and now she’s super popular. It’s a Halloween miracle!
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