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!