State of the #SHEA Part 23: Welcome to the Next Upgrade ("Not The Same")

 

Something that really stood out to me with this week’s “Not the Same” episode (TGD 4.4): the more #Shea scenes we are treated to, the more impressive their range of emotions become.

 

Off the top of my head I’m counting upward of a dozen Shaun and Lea interactions that have so far transpired in season 4, which (off the top of my head again) is more than twice as many as we got in the entire first half of S3. But when I’m not busy thanking God, TGD Powers That Be, and fellow #Shea shippers for that fact, I’m caught up in marveling over…

a)    The ability of Freddie Highmore to maintain the ASD demeanor that commands 75% or so of Shaun’s facial expressions…

b)   …And the ability of Paige Spara to convey a wealth of nuances in Lea’s facial expressions, especially when she’s playing against Shaun’s lack thereof.

 

“Not the Same” is perhaps the best example of this yet in S4, and with good reason: Shaun made the biggest “ask” of Lea since he first told her he wanted to be her boyfriend last season. The fact that he didn’t understand how big of an “ask’ it was ended up driving three of their four scenes together, and it’s from those three scenes that I present to you…

 

LEA OF A THOUSAND (ok, half-dozen) FACES

 

The Do you know what you’re asking?? Face

The God he’s adorable but I’m at a loss Face, a.k.a. “Copernicus1543… that’s my banking password” 

 

 

The Are you getting it yet, Shaunie? Face while doing yoga in the residents’ lounge to make her point (my personal favorite)

(which, arguably, they made an exception in the editing room just to capture, but I’ll get back to that…)

The Nope, and he’s not going to get it anytime soon Face

 

The I’m about to be hellacourageous Face (and pardon Shaun's blurry profile in the foreground, but the look was at its best when she entered the room for this scene)

 The Hey! I did it! Way to go, Lea!  Face

(Which is not to be confused with Claire’s personal victory “celebration” after her 1^st lead surgery, but is similar in context)

And I know I’m only scratching the surface regarding this third scene in particular, which has much more to unpack. I’ll get back to this as well.

BUT for as many ways as this moving-in episode represented an official start to #Shea 2.0, there were a wealth of parallels to key moments in #Shea 1.0 history. Here are the ones I noted:

 

+ THEN: Shaun got the apartment and wanted them to be roommates, Lea had reservations… but Shaun convinced her he was okay with a platonic living arrangement despite their early flirtations with romance… (to which Lea ultimately said “If you say you’re okay with it… I trust you.”)

+ NOW: Shaun asks Lea to return to the apartment (now as part of their relationship). Lea has reservations; the matter of trust factors once again into her decision to say yes, although this time she admits she’s not sure she has enough of it yet in this relationship.

 

+ THEN: Shaun says “living with you will be good for
me… it makes me happy.”

+ NOW: Shaun says no matter what the context, “I still feel the same way when I’m with you… happy.” This time (and possibly back THEN as well) is when Lea starts to realize the differences in their ways of approaching the question.

 

+ THEN: When Lea was leaving for Hershey in S1, she gave Shaun her prized baseball to remember her by and asked “Can I put my arms around you?” before kissing Shaun goodbye.

+ NOW: As Lea moves back in, she places the prized baseball back up in a place of prominence in the apartment just before putting her arms around Shaun (no permission needed now, of course) and kissing him in a way that looked very much like Hello again, and welcome to the next upgrade.

 

+ THEN: Lea sees Shaun dressed up w/flowers in hand (S2 Finale) and is puzzled by her feelings when it becomes clear the effort was not made for HER, but someone else.

+ NOW: Lea mentions she needs more commitment/trust before living with him; Shaun solemnly steps toward her and drops to one knee. She is puzzled by her feelings when all he does next is share his banking password (as a sign of trust/commitment)*.   

 

*Obviously she was puzzled, but is it possible Lea also thought (at least momentarily) that Shaun was about to pop a much bigger question her way? Personally I don’t think she read that much into his kneeling… after all, he was standing and she was sitting on the floor at the time, and if there was even this much discussion/debate about living together (realizing there wasn’t much discussion/debate per se)… it would seem that neither of them have said anything out loud about getting married yet. But the moment is one of a few that feels like the entire “living together” question is an informal dress rehearsal for the time and place when a much more serious proposition may be on the table.

+ Did you notice... a couple of rare continuity (editing) errors in “Not the Same”? One came in the 2^nd #Shea scene (Lea’s work/yoga break) and you might not even notice it, were you not aware that Lea went from

downward dog pose to warrior II pose in under three seconds. Which you can't/shouldn't really do; at least, not when you’re hitting the full poses as Lea was.  I don’t think this was an error so much as a little “cheat” in order to keep the scene moving while still including both the down dog shot (establishing that Lea was doing the same activity she was doing earlier at the apartment) AND that super saucy look Lea sent his way while in the warrior II pose.

The other errors came in the final scene, during the kissing part… there are times when Lea’s arms are all the way around Shaun’s neck, and other times when her hands are resting down around his collarbone, and if you watch the last 30 seconds closely you’ll see them jump back and forth a few times as they go from Shaun’s over-shoulder shot to the 2-shot of their profiles. Go ahead and watch. And re-watch. Are you sure you caught it that 12^th time? I don’t know… you might need to look at it yet again.🤷

(Thanks to Shea.Endgame for mentioning this one!)

 

+ Did you also notice... that this was one girlfriend challenge that didn’t leave Shaun feeling a need to seek advice elsewhere?  Granted, that fact is another indicator that he’s not able to anticipate roadblocks… he doesn’t seek advice because it’s not a close call for him. He loves Lea, he knows he can share a living space with her already; therefore, she should move back in. Case closed.

 

+ What about Lea’s need to seek advice on this one? It sure looked like she could benefit from bending
someone’s ear a little as she sorted out her feelings on the matter… but alas, she doesn’t really have a confidante on the show other than Shaun. Not yet, anyway. So it occurred to me that the first part of Lea’s speech in that third Shea scene was TGD’s way of showing us what was going in Lea’s head without the benefit of having a conversation with someone besides Shaun:

 

*   She bursts in talking about how strange it is for her to be debating the significance of moving in rather than whether or not she actually wants to move in with a boyfriend… which isn’t particularly useful to Shaun, so no wonder he simply lets her talk.

*   She then gets to the part that involves Shaun more, so she sits down next to him while saying “But one of the reasons I’m in this relationship is because of that. You are different. And when I think about us, say, a year from now, I can’t imagine us not living together.” At first I thought she meant “different” in terms of Shaun’s autism (and how it might be hindering his understanding of the issue at hand), but now I’m taking her line ahead of that into account—and determining that she’s talking about her relationship with Shaun being more serious (“different”) than other relationships of which she’s been a part.

*   In any case, I’m not sure she fully anticipated this or not… but the very thing that she feared “sounded terrible” (about moving in being an inevitablility) turned out to be something Shaun couldn’t have cared less about. Yes, he asked about it, but that appeared to be more for confirmation/clarification purposes than anything else. Once that was out of the way, the only thing he cared about in her entire speech was one magic sentence: “Shaun, I am moving in with you.”

 

+ While of COURSE that scene was written and executed beautifully,

it underscored that ongoing need for Lea to a) develop relationships with other TGD characters, and b) reveal more of her backstory. It’s not that there’s any inconsistency with the character itself—those who appreciate Lea (like all of us) are generally in agreement about her pros and cons and the motivation behind her words and actions. But even under a TGD Tweet I read earlier this week soliciting opinions on the #Shea move-in, I was pleased (and a little surprised) to find that most who took the time to respond said something along the lines of “I love it, but PLEASE can we hear more of Lea’s story?” 

 

We’ve got to believe that’s coming… whether in road trip form (which they might not be able to pull off this season with COVID restrictions), or in more piecemeal fashion, as Spara intimated in a recent interview.

And that could be yet another reason why Shaun and Lea moved in together now, only four episodes into the season, when we’ve barely gotten used to seeing them as a couple. Just as they clarified in the season opener that #Shea were sexually active, the cohabitation thing is a basic part of this partnership that Shore and company want to establish now, so they can get on with the ups and downs of the remaining 14-16 episodes this season.

We know one such “down” is coming, at least for Shaun, with the “Fault” episode. (It was previously known as “My Own Damn Fault,” but that’s only because whoever proposed that title wasn’t aware of TGD’s 3-word limit on episode titles.) With so many elements of #Shea 1.0 on the table for reinvention, maybe it’s the “Hubert”-like possibilities that we’re looking forward to the most.

 

What did “Not the Same” tell you about Shaun and Lea’s place in the world? Share you thoughts in the Comments!

Some Final "Newbies" Takeaways, and About That Moving-In Question...

 

So what did YOU think of the “Newbies” presented in S4.3?

Since the chosen four had been announced well before airtime as recurring characters this season, the odd ones out—Will Hooper (sp?) the annoying, obnoxious rower, and John Lindberg, the Guy from Iowa who’s even taller than Shaun and puts the NO in nonsense—were challenging to root for. To TGD’s credit, they kept us guessing nonetheless with Lim’s ploy to “test” the residents’ honesty hidden until the final minute of the episode.

In between all that, they got to test-run some new character dynamics… and not just for the newbies! All #Shea developments aside (which I already yammered about a few days ago), here were my top takeaways from “Newbies”:

 

+ WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE?

The thing about TV series that last longer than a few seasons is that they evolve. They have to. Otherwise things run the risk of getting stale, even if you have great characters made greater by the actors, writers, directors, etc. So let’s embrace “the newbies” and all they’re likely to bring to TGD… including, in some cases, followings all their own. (Looking at you, Noah Galvin…)

So who do you favor most?

Dr. Jordan “paid off half my student loans when I licensed my invention” Allen… self-assured, innovative, outspoken in a way that might get her in trouble

…or Dr. Enrique “Boardshorts” Guerin… laid-back, perhaps to a fault, yet “sensitive like a woman” according to Shaun

…or Dr. Olivia “dual Harvard degrees” Jackson… ambitious, quietly driven, but appears to lack confidence

… or Dr. Asher “don’t believe in God but have a God complex” Wolke… eager, go-getter, fiercely independent?

 

While I don’t specialize in ragtime piano like she does—I do well to play simple pop songs by ear!—I’m keeping my eyes on Dr. Jackson for now. I like seeing characters such as her come into their own, if they’re able.

Who do YOU like?

+ Meanwhile, as Morgan adjusts to a non-surgical career (currently as an internist, though she doesn’t seem to care for it), it’s interesting to watch each of her relationships at St. B get redefined…  

+ Dr. Glassman: from an informal advisor to a formal one (She reports to him)

 

+ Claire: from colleagues/rivals to colleagues/contentious advisors. “Newbies” underscored the fact that Claire—still able to do what she came there to do—is favored in an inadvertent power shift between the two women.

 

+ Lim: from a supervisor who tolerated her to a colleague that no longer has to (“Leave the OR gallery, Morgan. Now.”)

 

+ Andrews: TBD… although given that it was he who had to deliver the devastating news to Morgan about her hands, and her surgical career… one might expect that he will be something of a sympathetic counterpart to her relationship with Glassman.

 

+ Shaun: Big TBD, given that the last time they interacted was sometime before the San Jose Earthquake hit! (Promotional photos indicate that will change with the “Not the Same” episode, however.)

 

+ Park: Well… considering they’ll be “bonding over failed relationships” in next week’s episode… and David Shore has indicated they’re going to “have some fun” with regards to these two… it sounds like Park and Morgan’s relationship as colleagues is about to take on a few new dimensions.

 

 

+ With Morgan and Claire still uniting (well, for the most part) to head off Will Hooper’s mansplaining and talking over women… followed later in the episode with Glassman assuring Shaun that men are “worse, and also really stupid” when it came to dealing with insecurities, I had to wonder: were the men who wrote “Newbies” actively addressing their feminine sides, or simply keeping it real? I decided it might be more about them simply writing with an open mind to the obnoxious and yes, occasionally “really stupid” possibilities out there.

 

+ To all the introverts out there: how many felt a little thrill when, during the getting-to-know-you office party, Shaun tolerated only two small-talk questions before turning to Asher and asking “Why do you hate God?” YESSSS, Shaun, represent (in your own way) for the rest of us who can’t bear small talk, much less parties, and would vastly prefer jumping into deeper conversation with someone. I know that TGD played it for laughs—at least a few—but still, it was a dream introvert move and I applauded it.

 

+ Dr. John Lundberg was the one who called out Shaun’s

inappropriate line of questioning in that scene. He went on to assert his strictly business style in bypassing Shaun’s advice roundup to point out what Shaun and Park should’ve been looking at during their teenage patient’s scan. And if anyone was on the fence about Lundberg truly fitting in by that point, consider this: one never leads with medical info in a scan scene on TGD… that’s where half the character development happens! So let’s wish Lundberg well in his future residency on a procedural TV medical show… I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere…

 

+ While Park and the other senior residents were trying to evaluate the newbies “with a few drinks in them” in the break room, Andrews and Lim were kicking back in Lim’s office laying down the odds (at least, mentally) for each senior resident in a supervisory role. Shaun’s part in that conversation is what made it into the S4 trailer earlier in the season, but they spoke of Park when we joined the conversation (not by name, but they mentioned his ex-cop status) and covered their Claire concerns just after discussing Shaun. It would seem Andrews favors Park to do the best job, Lim favors Claire, and both are leaving Shaun out there as the wild card (no real surprise there). What might prove the most interesting about these predictions is the Lim/Claire connection… not only watching Claire prove that she really is tougher than she looks (as Lim told Andrews), but witnessing the ebbs and flows of the friendship as she gets to that point.

 

+ Finally, speaking of connections—when they still thought Lim wanted Will Hooper to be chosen, and Shaun said something about Lim probably thinking his arrogance helps him be a good surgeon (I’m paraphrasing)… did that take anyone else back to the pilot episode, when Shaun asked Melendez if he thought his arrogance made him a better surgeon? I couldn’t help but wonder if Shaun mused on that possibility because of Lim’s own past relationship with Melendez. A moot point, I know, given that Hooper is now out of the picture… but just an interesting parallel.

🍏🏎🍏🏎🍏

“Not the Same" (4.4) promises to be the episode where Shaun asks Lea to move back in with him-- or, more accurately, he tells her "she shouldn't come over anymore because she should live there" (as seen in the sneak preview). We've known this was coming since David Shore started talking up their "mature, committed relationship," so the only question for the time being is whether Shaun will convince Lea in one episode, or two. 

It all reminds me of when I posed the "to move back in or not move back in?" question over the summer... and how my answer at the time was a big HELL TO THE NO because 1) I feared it was too much too soon, and 2) I personally wanted them married before they took that step.

BUT... I've changed my mind!

One reason for this is obvious: we know it’s going to happen—kiss those put-a-ring-on-it-first wishes goodbye for now—so I might as well get used to this particular relationship “accelerant”. Another (maybe less obvious) reason is that we didn’t know this summer that the pandemic was going to dominate the first several months of their relationship… sending my “too soon” theory out the window.

What changed for me, though, is a way of thinking that accompanies the way of thinking that TGD is putting out there. IF #Shea is truly striving towards that mature/committed badge of achievement, they need to see how they fare as lovers under the same roof. Yes, as a fellow NT woman I’m thinking mostly about Lea’s needs in this situation, but we all know Shaun may have just as many (if not more) difficulties making the adjustment… especially since he’s not as able to anticipate them.

The big catch that often comes with living together before marriage—assuming the goal is the same for both parties involved, which remains to be seen with #Shea I suppose—is that chance that one or both people in the relationship are on their “best behavior” during that time. The difference with Shaun and Lea—which I didn’t really consider the first time around with this question—is that there is no “best behavior” cushion in an ASD/NT relationship; at least, there won’t be one for long.

Shaun “is who he is,” as Lea famously told him at the end of the “Fixation” episode last season. If she’s going to survive and thrive long-term with him, she needs the full immersion experience before signing on the dotted line. As does he.

And while I’d still appreciate if they took at least a couple of episodes to reach this conclusion, I’m also the one who pointed out TGD’s need to “catapult” the #Shea storyline from time to time… so I guess we’re in wait-and-see mode as to what form that will take this time!

 

Got a thought about the “Newbies” or “Not the Same” episodes you’d like to share? Or maybe you just want to say hello to fellow #Shea Shippers? I’ll see you in the comments!

State of the #SHEA Part 22: It's Such a Lonely Word ("Newbies" episode)

#SHEA SEEDS…

 

You never know when an intriguing headline is going to be part of the next TGD script. Apparently either Tommy Moran or David Renaud (co-writers of “Newbies”) came across this NBC News headline about a social network group of people pretending to be ants back in May, and BOOM, it became a hobby that Lea mentions to Shaun in their first minute together on an episode that airs six months later! (Thanks, Andreas, for the link!)

 

🍏🏎🍏🏎🍏

The first non COVID-centered episode of TGD Season 4 was called “Newbies,” and since many episode titles have double-meanings that extend to Shaun’s personal life, I initially wondered if “Newbies” was a reference to not just the new residents, but Shaun and Lea as first-time lovers.

Since they made it clear at the start of the season that the “first-time” ship has already sailed, I assumed this third episode title of the season was solely about the residents. And perhaps it was. But if you think about it in terms of where Shaun and Lea are in their new relationship—and that, for all intents and purposes, this was their first bump in the road that didn’t have to do with the pandemic—maybe Newbies describes them after all.

If you’re already raising your hand to say Hold up… how was this a “new” problem when they’ve known each other for three years and Shaun has communication issues all the time?... you’re not alone. I saw numerous reactions from #Shea fans, especially right after the show aired Monday night, that wondered why this kind of thing was still an issue for them. The very short version of a response is because everything with them is through a new lens now. Shaun finally has the relationship he’s wanted for so long, and we all know what it took for Lea to finally set her fears aside and take a leap of faith with him. Emotions are more invested now; sensitivity is much higher. “Don’t screw this up” is the phrase lurking in the back of both their minds, ready to spring forward without much notice.

Which is not to say they’re walking on eggshells around each other 24/7. The longer they stay healthy together relationship-wise, the more likely that dreaded phrase will fade out of mind’s-earshot. But right now… as we saw Monday… they’ve got a ways to go.

Since we were treated to not only three #Shea scenes this week (as Tony Payne predicted in the comments of an earlier post) but also a few other #Shea-related scenes as Shaun sought out multiple resources for advice—I dove into all of them on a search for subtext, and the results I came up with were pretty interesting. Read on, and see if you agree! All so-called subtext, plus any additional comments I might be throwing in, will be under the original lines in italics.

1) Lunch w/Shaun, Lea, and newbies Jordan, John, and Enrique

 (picking it up midway through the breast surgery discussion) 

LEA: Well I don’t know what a tuberous breast is, but I think implants are way overrated.

SHAUN: (SOFTLY) That’s because your breasts are excellent.

LEA: Thank you! (TO OTHERS) That’s exactly my point… my breasts aren’t huge, but every guy who’s seen them up close and personal has been thrilled.

(NOTE: Might just be her personality, but it occurred to me that Lea’s oversharing here much like her ASD boyfriend… at least for a minute.)

SHAUN: I definitely was. I am thrilled by every part of your body!

(I love that Shaun doesn’t pay any heed to the “every guy’s seen them” comment… and also how he gestures to her like he’s presenting a masterpiece.)

LEA: (TO OTHERS) Sorry, my bad. Total TMI.

SHAUN: I’m not even bothered by your adenoidal voice, except when you talk to your mom on the phone, so I just put on headphones.

(Lea knew when to rein it in… Shaun didn’t.)

LEA: (STUNG, BUT TRYING TO SAVE FACE AS SHE LOOKS AROUND AT THE STUNNED NEWBIES) A-at least you know he’ll be a totally honest boss.

(When they showed this out of context in the promo, I was wondering what Shaun had said right before this line because it seemed she was covering for something. How interesting that we now know she was covering for her own hurt feelings.)

2) "Work party" conversation between Shaun and newbies Jordan, John and Asher

When Shaun is called out by John for being inappropriate in asking Asher about his love life, Shaun stresses the value of knowing this information by tying it to how his girlfriend is very important to him: “it affects my life in every way.” (Awwww...)

JORDAN: Probably should have thought of that before you told her how much her voice annoyed you. 

SHAUN: (RETHINKING THE PREVIOUS CONVERSATION AS HE SPEAKS) I said it… didn’t bother me. It was a compliment.

JORDAN: What I heard was you criticizing her voice. And you bringing her mother into it…. You’re in trouble. (LOOKS AROUND, A LITTLE NERVOUSLY, BEFORE WALKING AWAY FROM THE TRUTH BOMB SHE JUST SET OFF)

3) Lea's office (YAY! She has an office now!), presumably not long after the previous scene

SHAUN: (TENTATIVELY ENTERING) Are you mad at me?

LEA: (GLARES AT HIM, NO RESPONSE)

SHAUN: I said your voice doesn’t bother me. It was a compliment.

(He's repeating what he told Jordan earlier)

LEA: Actually, what you said is that you love my breasts so much that with the help of noise-canceling headphones, you’re willing to put up with my annoying voice.

(Even if Shaun was neurotypical (NT), he could have said what he said and she’d interpret it this way. This isn’t his fault as much as it is her insecurities in overdrive: "So you want my body, but maybe you don’t want the rest of me…")

(I think she’s read too much into his words at this point, but perception is reality, so it doesn't matter.)

SHAUN: (RELIEVED, NODS) Yes.

(But then again, he thinks he’s been heard properly. An NT guy might have said at this point “that’s not what I meant,” but for Shaun, what he says and what he means are synonymous. Lea knows this.)

LEA: Not a compliment!

(Being clear. Also not patronizing him, which remains part of what makes her awesome.)

SHAUN (NO LONGER RELIEVED) Oh… so you are mad at me?

(Fair question. She never answered him the first time he asked.)

LEA (TALKING MUCH FASTER NOW): I’m not mad, Shaun, I’m just busy, trying to keep, like, a billion bots and hackers out of our network.(RECONSIDERS) Actually no, not doing that… I’m gonna go home.

(She denies anger, but the way she’s talking indicates something’s still wrong. Nonetheless, Shaun only seems to hear “I’m not mad.”)

SHAUN: You want to have some tequila, stat? We also have some pizza left.

(He thinks he’s found a way to resolve this.)

(NOTE: Let’s see if Tommy Moran finds a way to work “Tequila, stat!” into every TGD script on which he writes. Last time he got it in before this was “Friends & Family.”)

LEA: No, I don’t want tequila. Or pizza.

(He realizes has NOT found a way to resolve this after all.)

SHAUN: That must mean you’re mad.

LEA: (PREPARING TO PASS SHAUN ON HER WAY OUT) I’m just… upset. And… confused. And I really don’t think there IS anything you can do about it, so you just need to stop trying, and… leave me alone. 

(As she indicates, her emotions are more complex than simply being mad. She’s upset and confused BECAUSE she “really doesn’t think there IS anything he can do about it”… this is the very kind of thing that made her question being in a relationship with Shaun. This kind of thing may happen again and again. And this is a relatively minor problem! How will she handle the bigger stuff? She wonders)

4) Scan room where all partial discussions of TGD personal problems begin (!!), next day. Shaun and Park are doing the scanning, but we join them after Shaun has apparently recounted the previous scene's dialogue to Jordan, Enrique, and John (even though John couldn't care less, as he made clear). 

SHAUN: She’s not mad at me.

JORDAN: She’s definitely mad at you.

SHAUN: She doesn’t usually hide what she thinks.

ENRIQUE: She’s not mad at him… she knows how he is, and how he talks…

(This gets Shaun’s attention; it makes more sense to him. He turns around in his chair to look at Enrique.)

ENRIQUE: She’s mad at herself, and scared… we all have stuff we’re insecure about. That’s why it’s so risky falling in love. We hope that when we let our guard down, it’s for the one person that doesn’t see our flaws.

(Shaun’s writing in his mental Book-of-Love again.)

SHAUN: So what do I do?

ENRIQUE: You were being honest! Can’t apologize that away. You’ve gotta figure out what she needs to feel secure in the relationship again.

(This must be what Shaun interprets later as “can’t say negative things to a girlfriend." Also, this is probably confusing advice to Shaun in that it implies he “can’t apologize his honesty away.” So should he be sorry or not?)

5) Shaun and Glassman do a walk-and-talk down a hospital corridor.

SHAUN: I thought telling her how much I love her in front of other people would make her feel good… but Dr. Guerin said I made her feel insecure… and scared.

(Interesting! Shaun equated that whole cafeteria conversation as a proclamation of his love for her.) 

GLASSMAN: Women are sensitive when commenting on their flaws… total honesty is a high-risk procedure.

SHAUN: That sounds sexist. Aren’t men also insecure about their flaws?

GLASSMAN: Men are much, much worse. And also we’re really stupid.

(At home, I LOL at this line, especially knowing two men wrote it.)

SHAUN: Okay, what can I do now? I’ve already said my stupid stuff… I don’t want her to be upset with me.

GLASSMAN: (TAKES A MOMENT)… I have a thought. (WALKS OFF CAMERA. SHAUN FOLLOWS, LOOKING HOPEFUL)

6) Shaun and Lea in another corridor later that day; she appears to be on her way home.

SHAUN: I… think I’m sorry.

(I’m assuming that—total honesty intact—he still doesn’t do well with regret. Remember how long it took him to tell Lim he was sorry last year in “45 Degree Angle”…? But he knows he needs to apologize, even if he didn’t think he did anything wrong.)

(Nonetheless, this got a skeptical look from Lea.)

SHAUN: Dr. Guerin said I should never say anything that might sound negative to a girlfriend, and Dr. Glassman said total honesty is a high risk procedure with a girlfriend... it’s better to show my love than try to explain it. But, I want to be totally honest with you.

 (Ahem. Dr. “Boardshorts” Guerin actually said You’ve gotta figure out what she needs to feel secure in the relationship again, so it’s interesting that Shaun interprets it this way. On the other hand, he quoted Glassman's words verbatim… but we weren’t privy to the actual advice Glassman gave this time. Again, I feel like a scene was deleted here but I hate defaulting to that every time I feel we're missing information. In any case it doesn’t matter… Shaun’s about to do what he does best, but do it much better than before. If, um, you can follow that.)

(Also, Lea looks more hopeful now.)

SHAUN: I don’t like your body because it’s excellent, I like it because it’s yours.

(Lea's eyes say "Keep talking…")

SHAUN: And I love hearing you talk. When I hear your voice, especially when I’ve had a difficult day, I find it comforting.

(Notice he said he LIKES her body but he LOVES hearing her talk. Also, he manages to differentiate between hearing her talk and the sound of her voice.)

(Lea's eyes now say "Wow. I'm sold.")

SHAUN: Now I want to hug you. Can I?

LEA: (AS THE TENSION DROPS OUT OF HER INSTANTANEOUSLY) 

I’d like that.

SHAUN (AS HE HOLDS HER): I love you.

LEA: Thank you… for your total honesty.

 

(The key to understanding the beauty of this scene, to me, is twofold. Part one comes in appreciating how Shaun has assimilated the advice given to him in a way that makes the most sense to him: he’s staying with words of honesty, but he’s put much more thought into it this time. And part two comes in Lea’s ability to trust that if she listens closely to what Shaun says—especially in NON off-the-cuff moments like this—she’ll remember why she’s here, in love, in this relationship with him.)

(The result of both efforts, of course, is brutal honesty turned beautiful… and rewarded appropriately.)

🍏🏎🍏🏎🍏

BUT… why didn’t Lea say “I love you” back (some have asked)? Is that some kind of tip-off that the relationship is in trouble despite the happy ending of “Newbies”?

All I know is that the only time these two have said the “L” word at the same time, thus far, was the very first time the words were said at all (in “Autopsy” last season). No one questioned Shaun’s love for Lea at the end of the “I Love You” episode; likewise, no one needs to question Lea’s love now. Personally, I think the writers thought it was more important in that moment to show Lea’s appreciation for Shaun’s “total honesty” than tack on a standard ILY response.

BUT… that scene should have ended with a tender kiss! Was it another hug like last week because of COVID restrictions? Are we EVER going to see them kiss this season??

Aw, guys, I don’t know. I want to see them as affectionate as possible too, but I presume that decision is entirely up to Freddie Highmore, Paige Spara, and perhaps the Powers-That-Be with TGD. Maybe they’ll save all their kissing for one particular scene in one particular episode, here and there, when it feels most essential. Maybe creativity will reign supreme somehow.

Hard to believe we’re at a point where #Shea hugs feel a little like a letdown, isn’t it? 

(But only a little.)

What did YOU think of #Shea in "Newbies"? Hit up the comments with your thoughts!

“Welcome to COVID, everything sucks!”: Rounding Up the Character Progressions of the Pandemic Episodes

 

 

If you caught my roundup ofCOVID-isms from Part 1 of TGD’s “Frontline,” you know that episode was a veritable what’s what of things uniquely pandemic. Part 2 wasn’t nearly as prolific in that regard, but I did take note of another handful:

 

          + Watching Nurse Deena Petringa arrive at St. B with a 104 degree fever and a need to be hospitalized… alongside Dr. Reznick, already over her battle with the virus and back to work… is a great Tale of Two COVID Cases  because we know that both women were exposed at the same time and place (via unsuspecting Walter on the non-COVID floor of St. B). The fact that Petringa has a serious case and Reznick did not was a general reflection of the way the virus works—the woman in late 50s/early 60s struggling; the woman half her age, not so much.

 

+Martin (patient #2) continues to ping-pong from one incredibly stressful complication to another (as evidenced by Shaun’s frequent check-ins with Lily); Ambar (#3) is, on the other hand, “chilled” to the point that Park describes as “suspended animation” as part of her treatment, giving him a very specific focus while he tends to Ambar’s newborn, deals with Kellan’s frustrations, and rolls the To Arizona or not to Arizona? question around in his head.

 

+From a lockdown standpoint, Glassman awake at 3AM with nothing better to do than play video games against 15 year-olds (and take their “relationship advice”!) was very of-the-times.

 

+Speaking “of-the-times”: The part where Lim and Petringa made reference to the “protest going on downtown”, presumably about a mask-wearing mandate, was an especially noteworthy marker in a week where several states are bringing back restrictions similar to last spring. (Some may call it an ironic conversation given that “they should have been wearing masks on the non-COVID floors in the first place,” as I’ve seen some viewers complain; I presume TGD’s research indicated this wasn’t always the case in the early days.)

 

+ The flatline sequence, showing Dr. Lim present at one ventilator shutdown after another while the patient’s family wept goodbyes through a smartphone screen, was to me the most painful and powerful part of the entire 2-part series of episodes. The reprisal of this—for Petringa, near the end of the episode—was a close second.

 

+ Shaun’s concerns about Lea getting COVID point to the frequent inaccuracies of the test results, especially in the earlier months of the pandemic.

 

+ As Park “chatted with” unconscious Ambar, he gave an interesting update on where they were at pandemic-wise: fewer patients are coming in, and when they do, we’re getting better at…(keeping them alive?)- the exact end of that sentence is unknown, as Kellan’s call cut it off.

 

Park seeing Kellan in his graduation cap and gown via smartphone was very 2020…

 

As was Lea coming to Shaun’s door with three back-to-back “negative” COVID test results in hand.

 

I went on and on about Shaun and Lea’s contribution to “Frontline, Pt. 2” in an earlier post, but what about the progression and/or development of other TGD characters’ stories during the pandemic storyline? Here’s a rough ranking I’ve come up with (starting with the least development)…

 

Dr. Andrews didn’t have much going on aside from trying to keep Shaun in check, which is why he was a good one to show coming home to lonely garage “temp quarters”… both during the thick of it (in Pt. 1) and at the point where the temp quarters were no longer needed (in Pt. 2). One little bugaboo for me was the question of how the decision came THAT DAY for Andrews to be allowed back into the house… if there was a certain positivity rate or case-per-day number that San Jose was using to ease restrictions, we never heard it. Did he simply decide that day was THE day?

 

For Dr. Lim, Part 2 took her away from the administrative mucky-muck of securing enough testing and PPE, and back to the often soul-crushing work of being a doctor as she watched patient after patient (and finally, the nurse who apparently had her back from the beginning) die in front of her. As she sat there stock-still in her bedroom at home with the sun rising, as if she might not be able to pull herself out of bed to “do it all again” one more day… I wondered if she would rather be back on the phone with the county health department ad nauseum. (And while I’m not forgetting that she and Claire had their scene on the Melendez Memorial Park Bench near the episode’s end, it was more for Claire than for her… I presume her own mourning and healing regarding Melendez will show at other times this season.)

 

I’m including Nurse Petringa on this list because this was one of those times where the more I saw her in Pt. 2, the more I wish we’d seen more of her over the past three years. That’s hard to do on a show that features doctors almost exclusively, but I suppose the fact that I feel that way is just a testament to both Karin Konoval’s performance, and the script written by David Shore and Liz Friedman.

 

Dr. Reznick got some sound words of advice from Petringa in this episode, but we also got a mention of her new post-surgical specialty (she’s an internist, for those of you keeping score at home). But with most of her role in the episode centering on her own connection to the nurse—other than assisting with Petringa, we didn’t see Morgan “doctoring” at all in Pt. 2-- it was more of a nudge forward of her story than a full-on push. FUN FACT: the only time the season-ending earthquake was referenced by anyone in the two-parter was when Petringa’s son mentioned it in conversation w/Morgan when he came to retrieve his mother’s belongings.

 

Park was the only one other than Claire to have real movement with his story; that’s because his role at St. B (and the show) hung in the balance… at least in theory (we all knew he was staying, right?). While I thought the show was smart to focus on one specific problem in his returning—the love for his and Mia’s son far outweighing any remaining love for each other—I almost forgot that his Phoenix plans were initially presented as a way for him to be there in a more literal way for Kellan, not Mia!

And in the end, Park concluded what—that Kellan didn’t need him there full-time to know he loved him more than anything? I guess… but he also concluded that he and Mia don’t have a romantic future together.

So they started Park’s epiphany one way last season, and finished it a different way here… basically clearing the deck for Park to possibly find new love there in San Jose. (Don’t you think?) Sneaky…

 

While I do think Claire got the biggest push forward, it’s a damn shame it will go unappreciated by at least the most vocal Melendaire fans. What I thought TGD did quite well here was the concept: start with Audrey and Claire sharing a simple ritual for their grief, end with Claire announcing she’s ready to try and move on from said ritual, have Ghost Melendez help her sort out her feelings in between. What I didn’t care for, as I mentioned last time, was the implausible amount of time Claire spent in the COVID items storage unit doing research and making phone calls (apparently over a timespan of while the pandemic raged on, just a few floors away). And according to the timeline given on Pt. 2, she did this for seven weeks!

Like I said before—TGD went out of their way here to give Claire and viewers alike some closure with this storyline, which is more than many shows would do. I just wish everyone was as willing to try and move forward as Claire is.

Which leaves what I felt to be the most progressive arc of “Frontline”… Aaron and Debbie Glassman!

 

It’s probably not fair to compare their story to that of those on the show actually in the hospital, because the fact that they were on lockdown at the Glassman Castle gave them time to tell a story. Nonetheless, I thought it was time very well spent:

         

          + It made sense (considering Glassman’s age and cancer-survivor status)

          + The frustrations that led to Debbie’s temporary sleeping quarters were believable, knowing what we do of the characters’ personalities and the methods of coping that each would choose

          + The resolution to their differences, complete with Aaron’s half-baked “first apology,” was refreshing and honest, and fit nicely into the context of this two part episode. (We didn’t see the Glassmans again after “Week 9,” you’ll recall.)

 

What I liked most of all is that it did all this AND allowed for the progression of something we didn’t see much in S3—Aaron’s “leap of faith” marriage to Debbie the (former) Barista. It’s not easy to work it into the show on regular basis, apparently, but they took the time to give real-life couple Richard Schiff and Sheila Kelley some room to shine together and I appreciated every minute.

 

Considering the real-life struggle with COVID that they are currently experiencing, it’s all the more poignant. Here’s an update from Schiff that I just grabbed off Twitter late Monday morning:

 

Covid update. Thank you all for so much love and support. You’re making it so much easier for

@thesheilakelley

and me. I am in the hospital on Remdesivir, O2 and steroids showing some improvement every day. Sheila is home and doing better but still fairly ill. Love you all.

--

 

Of course with the much-anticipated “Newbies” (4.3) episode airing this week, the spotlight has turned to Shaun’s anticipated supervisory challenges. But from a #Shea perspective, it’s still these lines from the synopsis of the episode that snags all the attention:

 

As their mentees shadow them for the day, Shaun and Park meet with Andrews to discuss a difficult surgery scheduled for a minor. Later, Shaun inadvertently insults Lea while discussing the pros and cons of the controversial surgery.

 

What’s the difficult surgery? Why is it controversial? And most importantly, what is it about the conversation surrounding this surgery that causes Shaun to (inadvertently) insult Lea?

 

“Inadvertently insult” is extremely important here, and will surely play into why this conflict will likely resolve itself before the hour is over. At first I presumed Shaun’s error will be borne of his autism; saying something insulting when it’s not intended to be sounds like ASD/NT Relationships 101 to me. But what if the “insult” drums up something about Lea that neither Shaun nor the viewers know yet…? Some part of her backstory that remains to be filled in?

 

Maybe it’s a combination of both? ASD misstep and a Lea revelation?

 

OK, I’d better stop before I get over-invested… and disappointed when we don’t get enough time with them during the episode.

 

A whole lot depends on what the “difficult surgery” is… the only thing that sprang to mind for me was a teenage pregnancy that was going wrong in some fashion. But maybe that’s too cliched.

 

Whether “Newbies” has aired or not by the time you read this, your speculation and/or thoughts are welcome in the comments!