[8.2/10] Another superb episode. I feel like the thesis of this one is that problems at home lead people to lash out at the world in different ways that speak to their different ages and positions in the world. That comes in the contrast between Daniel and Neal, both of whom are dealing with troubles in their families that lead them to want to blow off steam and seek comfort in the arms of someone they love.
For Daniel, it’s the strongest real vulnerability we’ve seen from him (only half-counting his sob story about being told that he was track 3). The idea that his father is sick, his brother can’t be trusted with pain medication, and his mom is poor and trying to keep it together while not exactly being encouraging of Daniel’s school life really helps put Daniel into context.
It’s also neat to see him chasing after someone, trying to imitate them, rather than being the king of his own little fiefdom. His efforts to look punk rock to impress the girl who dropped out of school and now works at the convenient story are kind of adorable for him, even if he ends up looking more like Rick Sanchez than Johnny Rotten.
Still, it’s a nicely-observed scene, one where he’s anxious for a place to blow off steam and find an escape from what he has to face at home. Moshing doesn’t really work for him, and when chasing that girl doesn’t either, he gives it up as just another dead end and ends up back on Kim’s doorstep, who embraces him and seems to perceive it’s what he needs.
Mrs. Schweiber does the same to her son, but not before Neal finds his own ways of lashing out. True to form, his manifests as a wisecracking ventriloquist dummy who mouths off to teachers and basically does a roast of his father in front of all of his parents’ friends. It’s Sam’s way of dealing with the fact that he discovered his dad cheating, and it’s both sad and makes sense for the young man we’ve gotten to know up to this point.
At the same time, Neal’s aghast to learn who already knows or at least seems to. The way his brother knew and didn’t say anything offends him. And worse yet, Neal doesn’t understand how Mrs. Schweiber could know and put up with it. The show plays it ambiguous as to what and how much exactly she knows, and her scene with her son is great. There’s a sense of her trying very hard to let Neal know how much his parents love him no matter what’s going on with them, and you can see her visibly struggling to say the right thing and try to make sure that her and her husband’s martial issues don’t impact her son.
Then there’s Neal’s brother and Lindsay, who flirt and make out and spoil Neal’s night a little more. There’s not much of a story there, more just a hint and a promise to Lindsay that college is a chance to start over, where she can be free and not have to worry about arbitrary school or parental rules, shaking off her good girl bona fides, or friends who don’t challenge her. It’s more the planting of a seed than a story in and of itself, but it works, and the chemistry between her and Neal’s brother feels real.
Overall, another superb episode with some uncomfortable but honest depictions of the harder parts of teenage life and the desire to lash out just to channel that frustration somewhere at an age where you don’t really know how to deal with it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2018-02-06T02:20:21Z
[8.2/10] Another superb episode. I feel like the thesis of this one is that problems at home lead people to lash out at the world in different ways that speak to their different ages and positions in the world. That comes in the contrast between Daniel and Neal, both of whom are dealing with troubles in their families that lead them to want to blow off steam and seek comfort in the arms of someone they love.
For Daniel, it’s the strongest real vulnerability we’ve seen from him (only half-counting his sob story about being told that he was track 3). The idea that his father is sick, his brother can’t be trusted with pain medication, and his mom is poor and trying to keep it together while not exactly being encouraging of Daniel’s school life really helps put Daniel into context.
It’s also neat to see him chasing after someone, trying to imitate them, rather than being the king of his own little fiefdom. His efforts to look punk rock to impress the girl who dropped out of school and now works at the convenient story are kind of adorable for him, even if he ends up looking more like Rick Sanchez than Johnny Rotten.
Still, it’s a nicely-observed scene, one where he’s anxious for a place to blow off steam and find an escape from what he has to face at home. Moshing doesn’t really work for him, and when chasing that girl doesn’t either, he gives it up as just another dead end and ends up back on Kim’s doorstep, who embraces him and seems to perceive it’s what he needs.
Mrs. Schweiber does the same to her son, but not before Neal finds his own ways of lashing out. True to form, his manifests as a wisecracking ventriloquist dummy who mouths off to teachers and basically does a roast of his father in front of all of his parents’ friends. It’s Sam’s way of dealing with the fact that he discovered his dad cheating, and it’s both sad and makes sense for the young man we’ve gotten to know up to this point.
At the same time, Neal’s aghast to learn who already knows or at least seems to. The way his brother knew and didn’t say anything offends him. And worse yet, Neal doesn’t understand how Mrs. Schweiber could know and put up with it. The show plays it ambiguous as to what and how much exactly she knows, and her scene with her son is great. There’s a sense of her trying very hard to let Neal know how much his parents love him no matter what’s going on with them, and you can see her visibly struggling to say the right thing and try to make sure that her and her husband’s martial issues don’t impact her son.
Then there’s Neal’s brother and Lindsay, who flirt and make out and spoil Neal’s night a little more. There’s not much of a story there, more just a hint and a promise to Lindsay that college is a chance to start over, where she can be free and not have to worry about arbitrary school or parental rules, shaking off her good girl bona fides, or friends who don’t challenge her. It’s more the planting of a seed than a story in and of itself, but it works, and the chemistry between her and Neal’s brother feels real.
Overall, another superb episode with some uncomfortable but honest depictions of the harder parts of teenage life and the desire to lash out just to channel that frustration somewhere at an age where you don’t really know how to deal with it.