In an installment with an overabundance of truth, some moments stuck out to me.
The first guilty party was Shane, who, in an attempt to do Hazel-induced damage control, lied to Oliver about Steve's role in her past. He's immediately suspicious, but allows the opportunity to call her on it to pass. Let's remember, Oliver was sitting behind Shane and Becky in "Something Good" and heard all about Steve. Funny enough, Shane never put the pieces together that he might have heard about Steve, which leaves her fumbling to minimize the reality of her ex. Of course, we all saw the card, and eventually so did Oliver. It clearly said, "Love, Steve." This probably explains why Oliver attempts to call Shane out on her "vast experience with men," naming Steve specifically, which Shane masterfully deflects. Oliver pushes the right button, but perhaps at the wrong time for getting any answers out of her. At the same time, he's catching her in a lie and while she seemed uncomfortable, she wasn't uncomfortable enough to tell the truth. |
It was probably only something you would catch after seeing this film a few times through. But when Norman, ever the optimist, attempted to remind Oliver that there were some people who didn't even have one dad, I couldn't help but shake my head a bit. For whatever reason, I couldn't shake the feeling Norman was gently reminding Oliver that he himself grew up without a biological father. Norman admitted early on his concerns about not growing up with a dad impacting his future ability to be one. But what Norman doesn't seem to realize is that in a lot of ways he looks up to Oliver as a father figure, and Oliver seems to embrace that roll in Norman's life. In fact, Oliver responds to Norman by telling him that he will, in fact, make a good father one day. Earlier, Oliver expressed pride in Norman for developing his revelation solution. How could he miss such an obvious truth, and speak a lie into being at the same time? |
Maybe I am making too much of this and Norman was merely imparting a universal truth on Oliver. Either way, the moment---and its dialogue---happened to stand out!
Overall, these were some quirky little things I noticed. Shane for putting a wall up in an episode where her counterparts seemed to lower theirs, and Norman speaking into being something a bit left of the truth, which, in the end, may simply have been me reading into something way too far. Likely wouldn't be the first time.
Hey---life, and people, are complicated. Regardless, love that this show constantly reflects that.
Before you go, have you checked out all the Impossible Dream scoop that came out this week? You definitely should!
Uncovering The Lies We Tell Ourselves And Sometimes Others,
~C