[8.0/10] Two good stories in this one, which had strong moments for each of the four members of the Rose family, and some good laughs as well.
The more purely comic of them is David and Johnny being the emergency fill-ins for the local crosstown baseball championship game. The very prospect of David playing organized sports is kind of hilarious, and him mixing up baseball terms with movie terms, complaining about the outfits, and mostly being focused on barbecue is a solid laugh in and of itself.
There’s some good back and forth in the apparently growing rivalry between Patrick and Ronnie, and her and Roland giving Johnny guff for consorting with the enemy is an amusing note. It’s the finale of this one that really wins it though, as David manages to hit a home run, bolstered by his father being too happy to him to field the ball in time, only to accidentally plunk his son with it when he does make the throw, thereby confirming David’s preternatural ability to get hit with the ball.
David still wins for Patrick’s team, leaving his boyfriend quite pleased, but not as happy as Johnny, who doesn’t care about winning and losing, and is much more jubilant to see his boy succeed like that. It’s a very sweet place to take that story and deft way to tie the different pieces of Johnny and David’s baseball backstories together.
The other half of the episode, with the first rehearsal for Cabaret is a winner as well. I’m glad that they don’t suddenly make Stevie a brilliant performer, but that this is still against type for her and something she’s reluctant about. Her awkwardness in the various theater games is a good dramatization of that, and Moira pushing her like she would a young version of herself makes sense for that character.
I like that it’s Alexis who turns the tide there, taking the initiative to translate between Stevie and her mom, and letting Moira know that if she doesn’t take a different, easier approach on Stevie, she might lose her star. It’s a sign of Alexis’s growing empathy, which I always approve of.
Likewise, Moira turning around, letting Stevie know that she’s as new at directing as Stevie is at acting, and encouraging the two of them to learn together is a strong place to take things for both characters, showing some understanding from the show’s grand dame. The fact that Stevie then succeeds at one of the exercises is a great way to show her instantly increased confidence and ability when encouraged, and the running gag that everyone thinks she’s doing something spooky got a good laugh out of me.
Overall, this one is strong on both fronts, and includes nice moments for not only the roses, but Stevie and Patrick as well. A warm and funny episode.
Review by EdrickBlockedParent2021-09-07T12:43:29Z— updated 2021-09-09T12:42:59Z
If season 3 was for David, and season 4 was for Alexis, then I think season 5 is for Moira, but most of all Stevie, and it's a well deserved long time coming.
Moira is the only one who still didn't let go the idea of leaving the town, so I'm not sure if she finding a role that suits her will be used to jumpstart the "leaving" narrative again or will it be used so we could see her finally settle down here while getting closer and closer to the community - in her own way, sure, but theatre is her cornerstone, and Alexis' growing empathy sticking to her and Stevie being a somewhat protegée might break her out of the memory of their old life so she can realize she already started another, and she even likes it.
But Stevie is, and has been my favourite character since the beginning, so seeing her getting into a relationship and slowly tear her walls down, getting vulnerable and leaving room to grow and to try to be more confident is fantastic. And right now she and Alexis seem to be the key to Moira's evolve and she is to Stevie's, eventough Stevie's connection to the people of the town in general is heavily underlined in this season, but honestly the arcs are really satisfying, for both characters.