[7.4/10] I gotta tell you folks. I’m pretty sick of Tammy. I was never a huge fan of the character, but she just gets worse and worse. Her cutting up the picture Tina needs to pass her photography class, so she can avoid getting suspended for repeatedly ditching class, is the crappiest thing she’s done yet. Sure, she gets some comeuppance in the form of a booger photo, and it all works out for Tina, but I’m tired of this character who has no redeeming qualities and doesn’t generate any real laughs.
The setup isn’t bad though. I like the basic idea of Tina thinking she’s missing out by being a good kid and not skipping class to go to a “half house” and have smoothies with the other kids, only to discover (once again) that: (1.) those kids suck, except for Zeke (2.) their activities are boring, and (3.) that she had a lot more fun hanging out and taking photos with Susmita. The fact that Tammy cutting up the negatives of Tina’s one good photo turns out to be the key for Tina completing the assignment of “creating a photo that shows perspective” when she tapes it back together is a nice bit of poetry as well.
I also like that Louise gets the idea from watching Mr. Branca put the pieces of the “Wagstaff Whaler” miniature ship. Them solving the mystery of why Mr. Branca keeps trying to mop the same spot in front of the trophy case is extraordinarily slight as C-stories go. But the fact that there’s a tie-in to the main story, and that Gene and Louise help create a distraction for Branca to make the switch helps boost it just enough.
The B-story is both sweet and funny. Linda going overboard in letting an increasingly large number of members of the family who used to live in their apartment come back to visit is an amusing premise to begin with. There’s good gags about Linda cleaning, the way the living room used to be arranged, Teddy needing to be babysat in the restaurant, and Bob being low-key annoyed that Linda’s spending more time on this then the restaurant. But it lands someplace wholesome with Linda hoping that whoever ends up in this place next will be as kind to them, which motivates her to be so kind to the last family. There’s good laughs and a nice resolution.
Overall, Tammy’s presence brings this one down a bit, but it’s a solid episode with some sharp writing and good laughs.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-10T02:12:07Z
[7.4/10] I gotta tell you folks. I’m pretty sick of Tammy. I was never a huge fan of the character, but she just gets worse and worse. Her cutting up the picture Tina needs to pass her photography class, so she can avoid getting suspended for repeatedly ditching class, is the crappiest thing she’s done yet. Sure, she gets some comeuppance in the form of a booger photo, and it all works out for Tina, but I’m tired of this character who has no redeeming qualities and doesn’t generate any real laughs.
The setup isn’t bad though. I like the basic idea of Tina thinking she’s missing out by being a good kid and not skipping class to go to a “half house” and have smoothies with the other kids, only to discover (once again) that: (1.) those kids suck, except for Zeke (2.) their activities are boring, and (3.) that she had a lot more fun hanging out and taking photos with Susmita. The fact that Tammy cutting up the negatives of Tina’s one good photo turns out to be the key for Tina completing the assignment of “creating a photo that shows perspective” when she tapes it back together is a nice bit of poetry as well.
I also like that Louise gets the idea from watching Mr. Branca put the pieces of the “Wagstaff Whaler” miniature ship. Them solving the mystery of why Mr. Branca keeps trying to mop the same spot in front of the trophy case is extraordinarily slight as C-stories go. But the fact that there’s a tie-in to the main story, and that Gene and Louise help create a distraction for Branca to make the switch helps boost it just enough.
The B-story is both sweet and funny. Linda going overboard in letting an increasingly large number of members of the family who used to live in their apartment come back to visit is an amusing premise to begin with. There’s good gags about Linda cleaning, the way the living room used to be arranged, Teddy needing to be babysat in the restaurant, and Bob being low-key annoyed that Linda’s spending more time on this then the restaurant. But it lands someplace wholesome with Linda hoping that whoever ends up in this place next will be as kind to them, which motivates her to be so kind to the last family. There’s good laughs and a nice resolution.
Overall, Tammy’s presence brings this one down a bit, but it’s a solid episode with some sharp writing and good laughs.