Round Two: Welcome to the Family

Welcome to the Family: Season 1, Episode 2 “Dan Finds Out” (B+)

I’m hanging on to this show for as long as I can, and a big drop in ratings from last week’s already miserable numbers means that it’s not looking good. Content-wise, this episode was a strong follow-up to the pilot, providing some slightly exaggerated scenarios in which the entire family got to all be present together at big life events and important moments. Katrina’s pregnancy wasn’t going to stay secret for long, and having Junior walk in on her while he was trying to go get Molly’s purse was as god a way as any for the news to start spreading. This episode was most productive for the embellishment of the relationships between the mothers and the fathers. The latter already started last week, but it’s the former that was new and surprising in this episode. Lisette seems to have it together, certainly much more so than Katrina in the face of this life-altering news, but she also demonstrated her pushy curiosity, which might create some awkwardness going forward if the Yoders don’t want to be fully public about all of their affairs. Dan’s visit to Miguel’s gym went about as well as their first encounter there did, and ended with a predictably immature resolution on both of their parts. Agreeing to be punched in the crotch for the satisfaction of getting to punch the other in the crotch was rather funny, and it’s good to see Mike O’Malley and Ricardo Chavira having fun playing these dads who just aren’t ever going to like each other.