Reviews: "Double date with Dad" and "Pushed Out"

I now continue my analysis of the second part of season 3 of the award-winning webseries “Out With Dad”.  “Double Date with Dad” picks up where we left off, as Claire drags Rose to talk to Rose’s dad while he is on his date with Angela.  This inevitable first meeting between the daughter and Dad’s girlfriend is light and entertaining and every bit as good as I hoped it would be!

To start with, we have Angela and Claire encouraging the group to sit all together, while Dad and Daughter are reluctant to do so.  It fits the personalities perfectly, as we know Claire isn’t afraid of much, or going to consider the consequences of something until after she has committed to the idea.  Angela, as we saw in the first part of season 3, is anxious to meet Rose and a bit miffed that Nathan didn’t tell Rose about his dating.  We don’t get to find out if Nathan mentioned that Rose knew about Angela before now, but I think it’s likely. So, the group gets together for desert, and…awkward silence…finally broken by a conversation about Nathan’s shirt design.  Then the conversation gets to interesting things, such as the pairings telling of how they met, and Rose admitting she didn’t even know Claire’s name. (And, of course, neither did us fans!) The incident with the tea is funny and another of those Miller-ism character moments.  One of the many little touches that make the characters seem so real.  I would be certain to follow the Miller tea rules, if I liked tea.

Rose gets a glimpse of something (Vanessa, which I’ll talk about later) and Angela gets a call, which leaves Nathan to express his feelings about Rose dating Claire.  Is there a little bit “I’m glad it’s you, and not that other girl who makes Rose upset all the time” in Nathan’s appreciation?  As a parent, I would probably see Claire as the best match for Rose.  Parents want happy children, not upset, crying children.  Finally, we have Claire being a total potty-mouth, and father and daughter discussing how much they both like Angela.  Which is good, because I like her a lot, too!

And speaking of crying children, we come to “Pushed Out”, the finale of the 3^rd season’s second block.  That sounds confusing, so maybe I should just refer to it as the mid-season finale, as Jason does. Anyway, I need to get more serious, because this episode is quite serious.

First, you have the issue with the school dance and buying a “couple’s ticket” for a same-gender couple.  I never went to dances, and I never heard of “couple’s tickets” before watching this show, but it does stand to reason that a couple is a couple, no matter what the sexual orientation.  However, as Kenny notes, it isn’t entirely surprising.  They are in a catholic school, and it just happens that bigotry in the name of god is something a lot of people support.  I’m not an expert on religions, but I understand the bible calls for the extermination of homosexuals, though many Christians don’t agree with this policy.  I know laws are changing rapidly in the United States, and they are even more LGBT friendly in Canada, but changing a religion is something I think will take longer.

Anyway, Claire accidently starts something, Rose gets upset (probably heightened by her despair over Vanessa’s disappearance), Kenny awkwardly tries to comfort Claire, and then Rose gets assaulted by a homophobe.  While people stand and watch. Which is something we should think about. Because if you are supporting an organization that practices bigotry as an official policy, and I mean any type of bigotry against anyone or any group, you are standing there watching too.  You may not be watching someone get physically beaten, but you are aiding in the trampling of their rights as a human being. The human race has come a long way, and we are only going to get better if we refuse to put up with the bigots and their excuses.

And bravo Jason and all the actors and crew.  You got me thinking about some serious stuff