"My dad's still an honorable man. He just had a kid before he married my mom and kept that kid a secret their entire relationship."
Watching this episode, and presumably future episodes, of The Carmichael Show will probably feel a bit bittersweet. If you haven't heard, after almost two years of brilliant content, TCS will be ending after this season. The reason behind the show ending is still a little fuzzy. From the best of my knowledge, Jerrod decided to walk away from the show, effectively leaving NBC with no choice but to cancel it. Arguably, the show could have gone on without him. It called the "Carmichael" show, not The "Jerrod" show, and he's hardly the only reason to watch, so the show could have gone on but it's best to just leave us in mourning. That being said, I can't wait to see what projects Carmichael and the rest of the cast set on. The younger stars have bright futures in the horizon and the parents will hardly have a hard time putting their talents to good use. You will be missed but thank goodness it's not over quite yet!
Tonight's episode started and ended at the Japanese restaurant the Carmichael's will never forgot. Maxine and Jerrod meet Bobby for lunch, where Bobby tells them that he was contacted by someone claiming to be their half brother on Facebook. Jerrod reveals that he's already known for about twenty years, much to the dismay of Maxine and Bobby. When they go to confront Joe, he doesn't deny having another kid, but his main goal is to not upset Cynthia (considering he's kept the secret from her for three decades now). Cynthia comes downstairs, cluelessly singing before shuffling in and out of the kitchen with pie and cake for everyone. Maxine, Bobby and Jerrod start feeling even worse, knowing she doesn't deserve this, as she continuously reminds them what a loving person she is. Joe finally tells her the truth and it's every bit as emotional as you'd think it was. She ends up forgiving him and they meet the rest of the family at the Japanese restaurant from the beginning of the episode. 
This episode had some very good moments. Devine and Grier absolutely nailed the emotional stakes they were given to work with. One of the problems most sitcoms have to deal with when tackling big issues is wrapping it up in twenty two minutes. I think Cynthia forgiving Joe was a very believable, very Cynthia move. What I didn't like was how they didn't address Joe sort of not being there for his other son, with Cynthia even saying that he's not a bad person but a "flawed" person. I also didn't like how ditzy they made her during the pie scene. Sure, he's met him and they've played basketball but whether or not he even knew it was his father wasn't addressed so at most he's still just his father's little secret. Maybe that's just a moral issue I have, but the whole episode just felt a bit rushed for the sake of having a happy ending. Everything up until after Joe tells Cynthia about Morris was near perfection. 
As always, the entire cast delivered awesome performances throughout the half hour. My favorites were probably Bobby's demand to Joe to tell Cynthia the truth then blinding staring at the kitchen and escaping when he found out she already knew and Maxine dreaming about getting shot by Cynthia. Speaking of Cynthia, an excellent example of the show's seamless transitions from dramatic to absolute hilariousness was Maxine asking what his name was, Joe telling her his name, then Cynthia coldly saying "That's a horrible name!" I know I did a lot of ripping on this episode but it really succeeded in creating a high stakes moment, without destroying any of the character (I'm SO glad Joe didn't have Morris during their marriage).
EPISODE GRADE: B
Stray notes:
-Ugh, I really sympathized with Maxine clapping out of obligation.
-Didn't anyone else just cackle when Jerrod was relieved to have a brother instead of having a pedophile dad?
-I loved the running gag of Maxine's fake Crohn's disease.
-It was smart to introduce Morris without actually introducing him.
-"It doesn't make your father a bad person. It makes him a flawed man who will probably have difficulty get into heaven but that's not my burden to carry." A problematic line that I still laughed at.
-"If I wanted to pretend to be impressed every time someone did something I would have a child."
-"Lies is a lot like HPV, dad..."
-"I offered to do the right thing but she said no. She wanted to keep it."
-"Love isn't what makes you treat someone nice, it's guilt."
-"Then she takes out a gun and shoots herself in the head and she falls on top of my father's cold dead corpse. But what about you, you slept okay?"
-"If anything, watching you lie to mom all these years did more to help raise me than any good parenting you tried to do....so....thanks dad!" Jerrod's delivery was superb.
-"If I wanted to pretend to be impressed every time someone did something I would have a child."
-"Lies is a lot like HPV, dad..."
-"I offered to do the right thing but she said no. She wanted to keep it."
-"Love isn't what makes you treat someone nice, it's guilt."
-"Then she takes out a gun and shoots herself in the head and she falls on top of my father's cold dead corpse. But what about you, you slept okay?"
-"If anything, watching you lie to mom all these years did more to help raise me than any good parenting you tried to do....so....thanks dad!" Jerrod's delivery was superb.
Bobby's Blame Corner:
Blaming his anxiety, and all of his other problems, on being the middle child (despite just learning about an hour ago)
No comments:
Post a Comment