Speechless Season 3 Finale Review

"U-N-R-- UNREALISTIC"

On the day JJ and Izzy (Kayla Maisonet) are both supposed to hear back from NYU, Maya pretends to share everyone else's excitement about her baby boy possibly going to college so far away. As they await the news, this episode's other plots emerge:
-- At school, Kenneth learns JJ has been chosen by his class to give a speech at graduation; since he'll have to read for him, he wants it to be their last hurrah at Lafayette together (as he later puts it at the graduation ceremony, "Your words, my voice, for the last time") and it upsets him that his little buddy would rather just "wing it."
-- Ray tells Dylan about an upcoming Junior-class trip to Catalina Island, presumably to study the native marine biology there... though he'd rather study his female classmates.
-- After school, Dylan (whom Jimmy gave a "dad lesson" about work ethic that morning when he learned she'd manipulated him into doing a homework assignment for her) finds Jimmy preparing for a job interview with an architecture firm (scheduled a month in advance, which seems odd to me, but I suppose if they wanted him to bring in a scale model of a sample project, they knew he would likely need all that time to design and build one); Jimmy tells her that to further motivate himself, he's growing out a mustache that he won't shave until he lands "some sort of architecture gig," and she tells him she's proud of him.
When NYU posts its acceptances, JJ claims neither he nor Izzy got in. This threw me a bit, because at the end of s3e15 "G-A-- Game N-I-- Night" when he said "Izzy's going to college in New York," I thought that meant she'd already been accepted by a school there -- so I guess he must have just meant she had applied at NYU as her top choice (as opposed to a "safety school," which I assume was the case for the place that does accept her, Chapman University in Orange County).

A month later:
-- Ray learns his male classmates are being sent home from the class trip for pulling a prank on Coach Barry (Jay Chandrasekhar), but the girls still ignore him when he tries to hit on them; when he snaps and demands to know what they think is wrong with him, their responses are hilariously spot-on (he takes any sort of attention as interest, he's insecure yet weirdly over-confident, "you got too tall too fast," etc.). After he's accused of being "so busy trying to get us to notice you, we don't get to know you," he lets his guard down and opens up to the girls... only for the boys to suddenly come back (one's dad happens to be a lawyer who threatened to sue the school).
-- The day before his interview, Jimmy is still laboring over his sample project and blames his lack of a real drafting pencil, so Dylan dishes back the same "no more excuses, do the work" lecture he'd given her; this only sets him off into a frenzy of throwing together multiple scale models he's not happy with, and he admits that since she told him his dream matters to her too, he's been feeling a lot more pressure not to disappoint her. She sets him right again by assuring him she doesn't really care that much; and on the day of the interview, she compliments his finished project and surprises him with the drafting pencil he wanted ("for good luck").
-- Izzy goes apartment-hunting with JJ, but soon breaks up with him; when Maya confronts her, she reveals that JJ's been accepted to NYU after all but is instead settling for University of California - Irvine just so he can be with her, and she doesn't want to hold him back. When Maya tells Jimmy and he insists their son can't just stay close to home for his high-school girlfriend, she admits she doesn't want him to go to New York and won't push him to pursue a dream he no longer seems to want.

At graduation, Dylan informs Ray that his moment of vulnerability with the Junior-class girls has actually made them want to help him become more desirable -- which I think is the best thing that could've happened for him (rather than simply finding a new girlfriend), considering how his vow to work on himself at the end of s.2 ultimately didn't come to much.

Speaking of the s.2 finale, Jimmy and Dylan's pairing in that ep (when he first opened up to her about not liking his airport job) gets a sweet sequel here as the architecture firm calls him with a job offer and she's the first person he tells -- revealing that he shaved his mustache (with art-class scissors). Of course, in any other episode, this moment would've been the clear highlight for me; but literally everything after it left me a teary-eyed mess...

Mere minutes before JJ is supposed to give his speech, Maya assures him he could still try to make it work with Izzy if he goes to NYU. His reply is heartbreaking enough ("Because I'm so good on the phone? Because I'm so worth waiting for? I found someone who loves me, Mom. If I leave, I lose her. I may never find someone again. Be realistic"), but her response may be some of the most beautiful writing I've heard on this show: "My love, you know what you have to do. I've opened so many doors for you, but you've walked through every one. And look what it got you -- [chuckling] this silly hat. Don't tell me to be realistic. Don't tell you, 'cause that's not what got you here. You be afraid, fine. But don't stay out of fear -- that's not what love is, darling. This is love. Go."

After JJ reveals to Kenneth -- who had been frustrated with him for putting off writing his speech -- that he has a speech after all, the big guy breaks down as he tries to read it ("I'm just so proud!"), and so do JJ's siblings and dad. The young man decides to scrap what he wrote and instead share "one message, a lesson I was learning every day for years without realizing it. I learned it again today from my first teacher"; he looks up at his mom, who has Kenneth read from JJ's communication board: "It's a hard lesson. It can make you do things you don't want to... like say goodbye. [JJ looks at Izzy, who smiles and nods.] Be unrealistic. Be unrealistic. Thank you."

Musical Moment: "Outro " by M83 starts during JJ's speech, and continues as he gets up in his New York dorm, dons his adaptive gear and makes his way through the city. (It turns out classes don't start for another two months -- his family and Kenneth have just been timing him as he practices getting to class on time.)

Grade: 10/10. A near-perfect ending to a strong -- very possibly (though hopefully not) final -- season, it smartly works as a series capper (unlike s.2's fate-tempting cliffhanger) yet leaves me wanting more time to follow these delightful characters into the next phases of their lives: Architect Jimmy living his dream (not to mention the show still hasn't really explored his relationships with his parents... or his sister, first mentioned in a throwaway line in s3e16 "W-H-- Wheelchair P-L-- Planet"), Maya continuing Fashion 4 All with her pal Melanie, Ray being a "project" for the girls in his class as he prepares for his own graduation from high school, Dylan adjusting to life without JJ at home as she continues to grow into a young woman, Kenneth balancing college classes with work (coaching the Lafayette girls' basketball team) and his personal life (his friendship with the DiMeo family and his relationship with Melanie), and JJ dealing more with the real world as he gets into college life. So how about it, ABC? Come on -- be unrealistic. #renewspeechless

Bonus: Full s.3 cast and crew photo :)

Speechless S3E21 Review

"THE S-T-A-- STAIRCASE"

After last week's road-trip adventure, it's back to the regular routine for the DiMeos. However, while checking e-mail on the duct-taped family laptop, Maya makes an exciting discovery -- JJ has just received his first "college decision" -- and Jimmy joins her in taking the computer to their son's Film class (to have him open the message himself, rather than invade his privacy). Kenneth notices the letter is from Long Beach Technical College, his alma mater; but despite being accepted, JJ is still holding out for an acceptance from NYU and doesn't want to hear Jimmy's arguments for going to a school that's more affordable and closer to home.

Convinced that JJ will be more inclined to listen to his friend than to his dad, Jimmy invites Kenneth to go to LBTC with him and help make a video during a campus tour that should appeal to the young man. After the tour, Jimmy (whose status as a graduate-school dropout was first revealed in s1e12 "H-E-R-- Hero") asks Kenneth if he's ever considered finishing his degree... and the eager response he receives surprises and touches him. To get reacquainted with campus life, they hit the bookstore, sit in on a lecture, etc.; but the fun stops when they look into getting Kenneth re-enrolled and see his old transcript*, which reveals just how much of a screw-up he'd been as a college basketball star. He storms off, and Jimmy later finds him in his apartment's hot tub; when Jimmy wonders what could be wrong now, since Kenneth seemed so excited at first about going back to school, Kenneth admits he's afraid of reverting to his old self after JJ (whom he credits for bringing out his best self -- as both an aide and a high-school basketball coach) goes off on his own. Jimmy apologizes for pushing the re-enrollment thing too hard on him but admits it felt nice to have someone take his fatherly advice seriously, and he assures Kenneth of his support. (In the sweet closing-tag, when Kenneth tells him he's returning to college, Jimmy couldn't be prouder if the big guy were one of his kids.)

That same evening is an annual Cerebral Palsy Foundation event to which Maya and Melanie (Sarah Chalke) have been invited, as Fashion 4 All is supplying the clothing this year. Maya dislikes the self-congratulation of such events (she has to be reminded that this isn't an "awards" thing), and only decides she wants to go with JJ after Melanie talks about how she and her son, Logan (Cole Massie), always enjoy attending them together. When JJ declines due to other plans, his siblings are happy to take his place (or "move up in the [family] power rankings," as Ray puts it); but things quickly go south for Maya at the event, as Logan is invited onstage and praises his mother in a brief speech.

When another attendee asks where JJ is, Maya claims he's around somewhere and then tells Ray and Dylan to call him away from his girlfriend's house; after their brother says he's going to Izzy's bedroom (causing Dylan to freak out -- "Sexualized JJ!"), Dylan ends up making a spectacle of herself and Ray by forcing him to pose as JJ (who has just been called to the stage, along with Logan and their mothers). Later in the parking lot, the two moms have a lovely scene: Maya apologizes and admits she only wanted some of what Logan gave Melanie earlier; Melanie admits to her own envy (she praises the strides JJ has made and wishes her son could be "too busy to come to these kinds of things"), but gently chides Maya for comparing their sons and tells her to be proud of JJ; and Maya admits Melanie's moment of glory was well-deserved. (They've sure come a long way since feuding over a hospital room in this season's Thanksgiving ep!)

Meanwhile, having ditched both his parents, JJ goes to meet Izzy's dad and mom (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez and Jill Lover). Her dad cuts an intimidating figure, and Izzy (Kayla Maisonet) warns JJ that he isn't happy about her wanting to bring home a boy, but the man changes his mind immediately upon seeing JJ's wheelchair (something Izzy failed to mention beforehand) -- he treats him patronizingly, rather than seeing him as a sexual being like any other boy from whom he would want to protect his daughter. This upsets Izzy so much that, after her parents (trusting JJ enough to leave him unsupervised with her) decide to go out for a few hours, she plots to teach her dad a lesson... by having him catch her in bed with JJ later. JJ complies, at the risk of really angering her father ("If that's what it takes to fight prejudice, I am willing to make the sacrifice"); he won't even be put off by stairs ("I'm a DiMeo, so two things drive me -- love and spite. This has both"), ultimately calling on his physical therapist, Joyce (Liz Cackowski), to help him.

But after he needs additional help getting carried up the ladder to Izzy's loft bed -- from a neighbor named Brad, for whom her dad recently did a favor (and whom Joyce ends up inviting to her place) -- JJ sadly admits, "I tried to show your dad that I'm a man; I wound up showing you that I'm not." When he isn't convinced by Izzy's reassurance that "everyone needs help sometimes," she assures him she doesn't think of him as just "harmless;" despite all the work it took to get him into the bed, she says there's no other boy she'd rather be with there... and gives him a kiss. Of course, this beautiful love story isn't without big laughs: Thanks to the adaptive wear his mom made him, JJ is caught pants-less in Izzy's bed after she attempts to move him, and Izzy's dad both loudly threatens him and softly tries to avoid being insensitive while carrying him downstairs.

(* While this reveal didn't seem to jibe with what Kenneth told Dylan in s1e20 "R-U-N-- Runaway -- he had been kicked off the team for taking bribes from "boosters" -- I suppose it's possible he felt the truth was too embarrassing, or simply could've forgotten all the other stuff.)

Musical Moments: Logan sings "Ave Maria" after his speech; "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell plays twice, as Izzy encourages JJ's stair-climb and as he reaches the top with Joyce; "My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small scores Jimmy and Kenneth's campus fun.

Fun Facts: Micah Fowler (JJ) celebrated his 21st birthday the week this episode was filmed; Brad is played by production assistant AJ Cast (and this wouldn't be the first time a crew member has popped up on-screen this season, as director of photography Rhet Bear had a cameo as a portrait painter in s3e18 "S-E-- Seoul B-R-- Brothers").

Next Week: Kenneth pushes for one last hurrah with JJ while Maya braces herself for his high-school graduation and departure for college, Dylan helps Jimmy as he prepares for a job interview, and Ray turns introspective during a class trip in the s.3 finale, "U-N-R-- UNREALISTIC."

Grade: 10/10. All three plots this week find Speechless at its sweetest: JJ reaches another milestone with his beloved Izzy, and his parents each find ways to cope with his growing up thanks to the help of good friends -- Maya learns to appreciate how far JJ has come after Melanie gives her a bit of perspective on their sons' different paces of development, and Jimmy gets renewed confidence in his parenting abilities from Kenneth, who accepts his encouragement to start a new chapter in life.

Bonus: In 2015, CPF launched their Design For Disability competition; every year since then they've held a runway show / gala.
2016 (links to press coverage)
2017 (press links and pics)
2018 (article and pics)

Speechless S3E20 Review

"ON THE R-O-- ROAD A-G-- AGAIN"

At the end of "S-P-- Special B-- Boy T-I-- Time" (s3e17) a few weeks ago, Kenneth promised to help JJ find a new aide with whom he can start to navigate life after high school. As this week's ep begins, Kenneth (with Dylan's help) announces to the DiMeo men that he's found an ideal candidate in Seattle named Tim -- who's willing to relocate, but also very much in-demand -- and Jimmy suggests a road-trip to meet the guy ("one last JJ adventure before college"). When Maya suddenly appears and interrupts, she's quickly appeased by Jimmy's suggestion that she can use this opportunity to make a few more new mother-son memories with their eldest child; as this is the first she's heard of Kenneth and JJ's next-aide plan, I would think she'd be a bit upset that they didn't seek her input on the matter, though I suppose since JJ lets her know this is something he both wants and needs, it makes sense that she would go along with it.

As the DiMeo family and Kenneth hit the road*, Ray announces he's joined the Eagle Scouts to beef up his high school resume; he's even wearing the uniform and bringing along his Scout Journal. In a welcome callback, Maya hauls out a book of her own: her "JJ's Care Book" (the previous appearances of which bookended her s.1 arc of learning to trust Kenneth with her "baby boy" -- she first showed it to him in s1e2 "N-E-- New A-I-- Aide," and he ended up quoting her own advice back to her in s1e23 "C-A-- Camp"); however, after an ill-advised shortcut leaves the DiMeos' wheelchair van with two flat tires, Maya trips and loses her book, which goes flying into a nearby river. The group then splits up: Maya (with an injured ankle) starts re-creating the book from memory with Kenneth's help, and Ray also stays behind to test his Scout skills in "the jungle," while Jimmy must take the punctured tires to the nearest town (since nobody can get any cell-phone reception), and Dylan (who wants to spend a quarter she's just found) and JJ decide to join their dad.

While sitting in the van with Maya, Kenneth reveals that he not only has his own "JJ's Care Book," he's been making corrections, updates, and so on. Later, as Ray mediates their argument, she admits she feels like Kenneth is second-guessing her abilities, and he admits he feels like she doesn't appreciate the strides her son has taken since he met him; this causes her to flip out, hurl Kenneth's "book of secrets and lies" into the river, and lock him out of the van. She initially doesn't believe his claim that he's being pursued by a bear, but soon she finds him hiding in a nearby cabin, and the bear finds them as they continue their fight; Kenneth is upset that she keeps undermining him as he thought they were friends, she says it was always just a "friendship of convenience based around JJ," and he confesses he only made himself a copy of her manual because he wanted to be more like her, "ready for anything." Ray comes to the rescue by diverting the bear's attention away from them -- and ultimately sacrificing his Scout book (which still smells of the jerky he placed in it earlier), its "record of my achievements" on paper no match for a real act of heroism he can now write about for his college-application essays. Funny stuff, but I was especially impressed by how Maya and Kenneth's conflict over who's more in-tune with JJ's needs at this point ended up being about their own relationship, rather than actually making any decisions for the young man.

Meanwhile, Jimmy takes the tires to a gas station and, having promised Maya that he wouldn't let their eldest and youngest have any fun she would miss out on, reluctantly takes JJ and Dylan to the diner across the street to wait for the mechanic. As Dylan lingers at the prize machines trying to pick a toy (she eventually buys a rubber ball... which she loses the first time she bounces it), her dad and brother have a lovely heart-to-heart, with JJ admitting he's "nervous about a lot" and asking how he'll be able to meet people on his own, and Jimmy reassuring him that he initially had a hard time at college but "ended up OK." The mechanic soon arrives, and when he offers to either patch up the old tires or get new ones from the next town over, Jimmy chooses the latter to buy himself more bonding time with JJ; but even after the new tires are ready to be picked up, the guys still aren't done yet (a farmer is letting them take his tractor for a ride). When Dylan demands to know why her father is so reluctant to go back to the van, Jimmy admits he "saw an opportunity" to spend some time with her brother, and he breaks down as he tells JJ how he's been "so focused on making sure that Mom got time with you, because she needs it, but... she's not the only one who's gonna miss you." JJ is moved to offer some reassurance of his own ("There's time for Mom bonding and Dad bonding -- I'll make time"); and the trio have a group hug, nicely offset by the weirdness of Dylan capturing one of her dad's tears in the capsule that had held her bouncy ball.

(* DiMeo road-trip rule: "Getting carsick isn't a choice, but letting the vomit leave your mouth is!")

Musical Moments: In the cold-open, I loved how Jimya just throw together one of their "Born to be Wild" parodies after Dylan points out that, unlike previous occasions when they announced family trips (see #1 on this list), this time the idea didn't come from them so they had no time to prepare ("NOT OUR BEST WO-O-ORK!"); I also loved how the Cat Stevens "Father and Son" cue during Jimmy and JJ's diner bonding session turns out to be from the jukebox (it briefly stops when they play something else, but they decide to go back to it because it "fit the tone better").

Fun Fact: In the closing-tag, Micah Fowler's (JJ) real-life sister, Kelsey Fowler, plays the barista at the coffee shop in Seattle where the DiMeos and Kenneth -- armed with a binder of water-damaged pages saved from both JJ-care manuals -- claim they have an appointment to meet Tim (who sees them and runs away immediately after getting his coffee).

Next Week: JJ meets Izzy's parents, Maya envies Melanie, and Kenneth needs Jimmy's support in "THE S-T-A-- STAIRCASE."

Grade: 10/10. I found everything about this incredibly sweet yet never saccharine; as so much of s.3 has dealt with figuring out how Maya and Kenneth (who consider themselves friends for real by this episode's end) might cope without JJ around, I'm especially glad Jimmy finally got to open up about his own feelings regarding Jimmy Junior's impending departure from the nest.

Bonus: A message from Micah and Kelsey for National CP Awareness Day (which was earlier this week -- Monday, March 25).

Speechless S3E19 Review

"P-R-O-M-P-- PROMPOSAL"

Last week, Jimmy and Maya realized they need to be more financially responsible -- not only to JJ to help with his SSI situation (as he received and spent about a year's worth of backpay, but he had neglected to report his earnings from his part-time supermarket job), but also to each other regarding their own mounting debts and the looming specter of bankruptcy -- and they decided to give up their status quo (of trying to find little moments of fun for themselves) so they could focus more on their work. Easier said than done, as it turns out: This week, Maya's difficulty keeping her temper in check -- previously addressed in eps like s2e8 "B-I-- Bikini U-N-- University" (when she got a taste of what Jimmy goes through at the airport letting people "walk all over [him]" and realized she just doesn't have his "flair for being emasculated") and s3e13 "F-A-- Fashion 4 A-- All" (when both she and her pal / partner Melanie ended up having to apologize for many of the fights they'd picked over the years) -- poses a very real threat to her and Melanie's clothing line.

After Maya lashes out at a banker for questioning her "rosy" projections, causing the business to lose out on a loan offer, Melanie (Sarah Chalke) finds a potential investor -- Blair, an old business-school friend who inherited a fortune after losing his parents in a plane crash -- and with her and Kenneth's help, Jimmy teaches Maya a way to control herself so she doesn't screw up this deal. As he explains, "When you work a dead-end job like mine, you learn a thing or two about licking boots, or you die"; later, he gives her his lucky laser pointer from his days as an architecture intern in graduate school, and she thanks him for his "lessons on dullness" (what he calls "professionalism"). When Blair first arrives, he reveals that he and Melanie had dated before marrying other people but is now (like her) divorced; this makes Kenneth insanely jealous but ultimately it's Maya who snaps, after Blair suggests the ladies switch out their own sons with professional models on their poster.

After Blair leaves (with Melanie and Kenneth following), Jimmy calls out Maya for blowing a big chance and not taking her job seriously: Around the time they had JJ, he left his promising career to take an airline baggage-handling job that he knew would support his family; and now that she has the luxury of pursuing a personally fulfilling career (creating designer adaptive clothing) mostly on her own terms yet doesn't seem to appreciate it, while he continues to miss getting to do work he actually cares about, he's understandably infuriated. His speech makes for one of the most powerful moments he's had all season; and what follows is one of his loveliest scenes yet with Maya, as she admits he was right and apologizes, adding, "I never considered that while I was chasing my dream, you were getting left behind. But we're gonna change that, Jimmy -- you have waited long enough." While the show's first two seasons each had an episode near the end that touched on Jimmy's architecture background for maximum emotional impact (he opened up to Ray about his sacrifice in s1e19 "C-H-- Cheater," and enjoyed an opportunity to design additions to a neighbor's home in s2e17 "A-C-- Action"), this time -- especially now that Maya has her business and JJ may be leaving home for college soon -- it looks like he might finally be able to pursue his dream again in earnest. (The closing-tag reveals a video resume Maya has made for him with the kids and Kenneth.)

Meanwhile, JJ gets his first lesson in compromise with his girlfriend. As he tries to show her the adorable prom-posal video his family and Kenneth helped make for him, Izzy (Kayla Maisonet) declines his invitation -- she worked on the Prom Committee and is still upset that her idea for a Grease theme was rejected in favor of a "heaven" motif (suggested by a member whose mother's frozen-yogurt shop the rest of the committee loves). JJ insists she go with him anyway, and his pushiness angers her; but despite his threat to find another date, he tells his siblings he might as well join in her "protest" plan (she wants to have a viewing of the movie with some friends) because it's taken him so long to find a girl who likes him, he's not going to mess that up over "some dance." This bothers Dylan, who feels her brother shouldn't have to give up what he wants ("prom-comise"); Ray suggests taking someone else to the prom, and Dylan agrees, hatching a plot to make Izzy jealous. Even Maya gets involved, helping them address and send the prom-posal video to several of JJ's celebrity crushes; and he quickly receives an acceptance from Cassidy Chambers (actress-model-singer Bella Thorne), a child star-turned-"immediate serious thespian."

On the way to the school, however, Cassidy admits she could use some of JJ's insight about the disability experience for a film she's working on... that sounds hilariously awful in every conceivable way: She plays a would-be dancer who gets hurt, ends up in a wheelchair, and considers suicide before she's miraculously healed; it's no wonder, then, that she has a wheelchair dance troupe following her around in protest of the project. During the prom, Ray and Dylan see that Cassidy and JJ have no chemistry, but they have them pose for some pictures to post on social media where Izzy will find them; when the plan works and Izzy is on her way, Dylan and Ray confess of their scheme to Cassidy but JJ chooses to stick with her, wanting Izzy to actually see them together in person, and Cassidy (in a fit of newfound "woke"-ness) gladly goes with whatever JJ wants because "I, the able-bodied person, am no longer making decisions for the person with a disability!" Unfortunately, Izzy does see the pair when she arrives, but rather than confront them she retreats to a closet in the Drama room; the DiMeo siblings go after her, and JJ admits he should've gone with his original compromise... but then figures out a new, better one. Later, after Dylan convinces her to return to the prom, Izzy learns that JJ has realized just how much her Grease idea meant to her when she finds him dressed as Danny Zuko...

Musical Moments: ...And "You're the One That I Want" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starts playing (Cassidy sings along, wildly off-key, and the wheelchair dancers that had been protesting outside join JJ and Izzy on the dance floor); earlier in the episode, Kenneth sings "Fly Me to the Moon" as JJ first asks Izzy to be his prom date.

Next Week: Maya and Kenneth clash over JJ's needs, while JJ gets into some mischief with Dylan and Jimmy in "ON THE R-O-- ROAD A-G-- AGAIN."

Grade: 10/10. The A-plot that lends this ep its title is utterly delightful -- Ray and Dylan are great siblings to their big brother, JJ/Izzy continue to be sweet, and while I don't recall having seen Thorne in anything before, I thought she was a total hoot as the ditzy yet well-meaning Cassidy -- but it's the B-plot that packs real emotional punch as it points Jimmy and Maya toward a new life.

Bonus: A couple articles about Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox -- which was completed earlier this week, and might possibly affect the renewal chances of both Speechless (co-produced by ABC and Fox) and its Fox-produced TGIF mate Fresh Off the Boat as they're now fully owned by Disney/ABC.

Speechless S3E18 Review

"S-E-- SEOUL B-R-- BROTHERS"

Desire versus responsibility is the unifying theme of this week's odd but interesting outing, as the DiMeo men especially struggle with deciding what's most important to them.

When Dylan brings in the mail, she gives JJ what turns out to be his first Social Security disability check -- something for which he was supposed to qualify when he turned 18, just over a year ago in s2e14 "E-I-- Eighteen" (incidentally, also the ep in which Taylor, Ray's girlfriend for most of s.2 and the daughter of his mom's rival-turned-friend / business partner Melanie, broke up with him for having let another girl kiss him). The check comes with a letter recommending JJ use the money for "living expenses" (or "boring stuff," as Dylan puts it); still, getting so much at once makes him feel like a "big shot," and while shopping for medical supplies he also splurges on a gift for Ray, which he claims to have bought with his savings from the supermarket job Kenneth got him (introduced and last mentioned in s3e5 "S-T-- Stage Mom"). Ray is awestruck by his brother's generosity but feels their parents and sister are more deserving, so JJ buys them belated birthday gifts he claims he won in a raffle. Dylan knows where the money really came from, though, and JJ's response to her is heartbreaking: He's felt like just a "taker" for so long, it's become more important for him to be able to give back to his family than to get more (even things he could really use) for himself.

Later, as JJ announces yet another extravagant gift for his family (a custom-made oil painting of them), Maya calls him out, claiming she has just called the SS office to complain about the delay in his disability benefits only to learn that 1) he's already started receiving and spending them, and 2) he's actually not allowed to keep the money since he failed to report his supermarket earnings. I'm not quite sure I understood this part, as I find it hard to believe JJ was making too much to qualify for benefits; and while I could understand Kenneth not knowing any better about how JJ's pay might affect his eligibility for SSI (Supplemental Security Income), I would think Maya would be up on things like this and should've known that earned income is a crucial factor the SSA takes into account. Also, I found this twist a bit too similar to the premise of this season's Christmas episode ("J-I-- Jingle T-H-- Thon"), in which Maya ended up inadvertently defrauding a family-outreach charity after fibbing to the kids about presents they lost in a house fire.

Meanwhile, nice to see that Jimmy's old pals Carl, Weird Pete and Glen (Kyle Gass, Derek Basco and Rob Bruner) want to reunite after the disastrous Lafayette High gig Dylan had arranged for them a while back (in s3e11 "H-- Hey, You")! When Maya gives him the OK to "have fun" with his band, Jimmy reluctantly agrees to join them for a weekly "gastropub" gig, only to back out due to having a hard time dealing with a new supervisor at the airport; however, when Kenneth attends a Korean wedding (as a friend of the groom), he spots Jimmy performing with a K-pop combo called the Seoul Brothers and demands to know why he'd rather play with them than his friends. Jimmy tells him he doesn't want Maya to know, and when Kenneth later confronts him again he gets some perspective on Jimya's working dynamic: Having "too much real stuff going on" (as special-needs families like theirs do) means they're not free to indulge in "a lot of silly fun" just for themselves on their own, but since they don't like openly telling each other what they can't or shouldn't do, they choose to "each do our own little things quietly -- it's a beautiful dance that we both hate." (His playing in a Korean wedding band is a curious sort of compromise -- getting to play music and make a bit of extra cash without having to put in additional hours at his airline job, but not with his buddies.)

After he takes Maya to see Jimmy perform at another Korean wedding and the couple refuse to acknowledge each other, Kenneth becomes frustrated with both and spills Jimmy's secret (as well as Maya's own secret -- she and Melanie, who's been dating Kenneth for about six weeks now, have been going out for wine once a week after claiming to be working late on their clothing line). Feeling bad for having blown up a system that has worked for so long between Maya and Jimmy (no matter how messed-up it seems to him), Kenneth starts going through the pair's financial records to see where they can each afford to treat themselves to a little fun, only to discover they're about two years away from having to declare bankruptcy. Jimya are amusingly unfazed at first, but on their way to the Quiz Bowl at Lafayette High, they find JJ panhandling in front the bank -- the same spot where, in the cold-open, a passerby mistook him for a charity case when he and his siblings were waiting for their parents (who were inside, refinancing their debt). In a touching scene, JJ finally opens up to his parents about what he told Dylan earlier, as well as how he's trying to make back the money he spent so they don't have to bail him out, and they reassure him: All the stuff they've given him and done for him over the years isn't "charity," it's what family does; and because they really do believe in him, they're willing to help him out (literally "betting" on him) so he can go on to become successful and pay them back eventually. Suddenly for Jimmy and Maya, finding fun (secret or no) seems less likely as they now have little choice but to devote themselves more to their work.

As for Ray, this year he's joined Lafayette's Quiz Bowl team; with his help, unlike last year, the team is able to win the regional competition and make it to the finals, where they'll be going against the Holy Oaks Catholic High team... of which Taylor (Sedona James, making her first appearance on the show since the s.2 finale) is a member. After she sweetly compliments Ray's regionals performance, his friend / teammate Justin Chang (Lance Lim) observes that because she still seems into him, he should use her to get to her team's notes and help their own team win; but later as Ray meets with her at her school's library, she wonders whether he's trying to win her or the tournament, so he admits what he'd planned to do and offers to throw the final competition for her instead. (I thought her excited response would turn out to be part of a dream / fantasy; kudos to the writers for remembering that she could be as much of a weirdo as him.) Unfortunately, at the Quiz Bowl finals, Ray has an attack of conscience after Justin informs him he's counting on getting a partial college scholarship (the tournament's top prize for each of the winning team members); and in a twist lifted from the Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" (s14e12), Ray announces his refusal to deliberately lose... right before he accidentally loses. I found this a slight but funny little side-plot that wisely doesn't take too much away from the weightier main plots; plus, it was cute seeing Raylor together again (however temporarily, though Taylor's smile at Ray when her team wins seems to suggest no hard feelings...).

Musical Moments: Jimmy's bandmates try to torture him with "barbershop quartet-like harmonies"; in a sort of running-gag, "Take It" by The Siege plays as Dylan "make[s] it rain" for JJ (using his SS check and their parents' mail), as they hit the medical-supplies store together, and one more time as JJ has Ray dance like he's in a rap video after gifting him with a microscope; in the closing-tag, Jimmy and Maya sing "I Got You Babe" in Korean at yet another Seoul Brothers gig.

Next Week: Maya must learn to take criticism for the sake of her business, while Ray and Dylan plot to make Izzy jealous after she declines JJ's invitation to prom in "P-R-O-M-P-- PROMPOSAL."

Grade: 8.5/10. A few head-scratching moments aside, I thought this ep did a decent job of getting serious (particularly about priorities and economic struggles) while retaining the series' usual quirky humor and heart.

Bonus: Filming on s.3 wrapped this week, but the show's renewal or cancellation likely won't be announced until about mid-May; in the meantime, check out this RenewSpeechless campaign. :)