What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother (Series Finale)

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 13 “Jean There Done That” (B)

It’s hard to be invested in the outcome of this episode when this show is completely over, but that’s not anyone’s fault since this installment was surely filmed long before anyone knew that would be the case. It was a pretty big step for Jean to bring Danny back to Iowa with her simply because they couldn’t get any privacy (though that door managed to lock just fine later on when Freddie and Jackie once again tried to burst in), and Jean regressed quickly into old habits of avoidance. I thought the issue might be that her house was impossibly messy or that there were photos of her husband everywhere, but instead it was just her not wanting to commit, something she opted to do in the end by returning to LA since apparently flights between Iowa and California are very easy to book last-minute. I knew that the children’s investigation into Danny as a serial killer wouldn’t lead anywhere, but it was more just fun to see them spin their conspiracy theories brought on by the disturbing content they were choosing to watch. I do feel that, though this show wasn’t always superb, it was consistently enjoyable, and the main cast was great. Kyra Sedgwick was a good fit for the lead, and, as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m eager to see what some of the younger cast does next, particularly Rachel Sennott, who played Jackie, Joey Bragg, who played Freddie, Emma Caymares, who played Celia, and Austin Crute, who played Lane. I doubt it will earn any Emmy attention, but I’d be happy if it did.

Series grade: B
Series MVP: Rachel Sennott as Jackie

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother (Penultimate Episode)

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 12 “The Raines Games” (B+)

I was sad to learn that this show has been cancelled by ABC and that tonight’s season finale will now be the last episode produced. It’s a shame since I did find this show to be very enjoyable, and I thought it had potential to develop as a perfectly traditional sitcom that still found ways to be funny. This episode was the perfect example, bringing everyone together as Jean clung desperately to the idea of being the more ideal family while every person in the room learned a lesson about what was most important. Though she’s often portrayed as an airhead, Celia was very tuned in to what was going on and how Jean felt, and her proposal of split holidays so that her family could also get to know Freddie was logical and actually quite sweet. Jackie putting on an entirely fake personality to impress Nick seemed like a bad idea, but apparently her deception wasn’t a problem and he was ultimately enticed by the real her once she was forced to be honest. Danny got extremely competitive during the games while Sharon and Lane played referee so that they could drink, and the use of the stick device during the not-game feelings session created a humorous scenario for everyone to spout off their true feelings. While some aspects of this show are indeed very formulaic, I’ve enjoyed it overall and would have loved to see more. Let’s hope that the finale offers some sort of satisfying closure and that these actors, especially Rachel Sennott, who plays Jackie, get great roles in the future.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 11 “Save the Date” (B+)

Jean and Danny’s relationship has been a long time coming, and their first official date at a fancy restaurant felt very formal in a way that it didn’t necessarily need to be. I liked the banter that preceded it, with Jean using spray paint instead of oven cleaner and then telling Danny that no one likes an eye bragger. They seemed to be set for a nice evening out until Jean got in her head after realizing that it was her anniversary with Mike. Fortunately, Sharon was doing more than just betting on how much action Jean was going to get and looking out for her best friend’s happiness, choosing to see her forgetting about what day it was as a positive sign that she was moving on. I’m glad that Danny was just joking when he pretended to remember at midnight that it was an important day for him too. As usual, Freddie failed to communicate with Celia and assumed what she wanted when, as she bluntly pointed out, that she had picked out her ring before she picked out her groom. Jackie was so distracted by her Oreo-stacking skills and finally being able to have the trucks for herself that she didn’t realize that Freddie was manipulating her into giving up Jean’s ring. Lane helped to show her that she could take back some power for herself, and keeping the trucks so that she could sell them for a good chuck of change was a great way of getting revenge against her brother.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 10 “The Prime Of Miss Jean Raines” (B)

It seems like Sharon’s visit is coming to an end, which is really fine since she’s probably better as a distant sounding board for the antics in Jean’s life. Their Vegas trip might have been a worthwhile event to see, but it was also entertaining to see them getting very drunk in the backyard in preparation for all the craziness that definitely did ensue. Jean got hung up on the fact that there was a much bigger age difference between her and Danny than she thought, something that he of course had known all along given that she had to give him her driver’s license when she first came to stay. Their relationship is interesting since they clearly like each other but both aren’t quite sure at what speed they should be moving. Freddie so bluntly saying that he and Celia were never having kids prompted a big reaction from her, and I liked that after she tossed the remote control and swatted away the donut from him, she kicked the donut so that his five-second rule could no longer apply. As usual, they worked it all out and seem to be headed in a good direction, while Jackie went from a very peculiar plan to one that actually makes a lot of sense. I like that Nick was rightfully concerned that he was either about to get seduced or murdered when Jean tried to overtly warn Jackie not to ask him outright to be her sperm donor, and it was a graceful pivot to her asking him out, something he readily agreed to because he thought they were already on a date.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 9 “One Bad Mother” (B-)

This episode felt even more exaggerated than this show usually does, but at least it was still entertaining. Sharon’s continued presence is making things awkward in a different way than I had expected, which is that her completely out-of-control behavior after she takes sleeping pills led to her crawling into Danny’s bed multiple times and cuddling with them. As someone who has frequently used sleep aids, I’ve never experienced anything like this, but I know it’s typically fodder for comedy, and it was most fun to see Danny freak out after he thought something had happened between them. The far more intimidating presence in the episode was that of Barbara, Lane’s mother, whose visit prompted him to purge any potentially vulnerable elements of his life. She was understandably upset when she heard Lane call her Mother Raines and saw a warm connection between the two of them, and I like that she responded to that by trying to steal Jean’s own children and provide them comfort, particularly the dejected Jackie who couldn’t catch a break. She’s usually much snarkier and more defensive of her actions, but here she was just all about stacking food and daring herself to eat it as she somehow didn’t feel a phone underneath her. Celia and Freddie should probably work on their communication since this all had an easy solution, though Freddie doesn’t seem great at mustering up the courage for confrontation, like the conversation he’ll never have with Celia about needing to shut down all of his games and devices before unplugging them.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 8 “California Jeanin’” (B-)

It wasn’t too hard to figure out where this episode was headed as soon as Sharon arrived in Los Angeles. I saw Sherri Shepherd featured recently in the upcoming FX documentary “Hysterical” and remember her very funny performance as an assistant with many very specific medical conditions on “Trial and Error,” and I just don’t feel this show gives her a great role at all. Seeing her show up and emphasize as many Midwestern stereotypes as possible in just a few minutes didn’t feel all that necessary, and I suspect that her sticking around for a whole month is going to lead to much more friction than anything else. It’s certainly not going to help with Jean’s developing relationship with Danny, whose first impulse to buy her the last bra she’d ever need might have been practical but whose final enduring plant idea was actually very sweet. I don’t think he calculated for having an extra tenant who will enable him even fewer private moments with Jean. Freddie and Jackie have a clearly competitive relationship, and it seemed inevitable that Jackie’s less flashy gift would outshine Freddie’s poorly-wrapped call for attention. Celia’s dinner party with an uncooked main course and clothing items that even the birthday girl wasn’t allowed to wear was rather intense, but at least she’s feeling like she’s part of the family. And Lane did a nice job with his song, pouring out his heart and affirming his connection to his beloved Mother Raines through a heartfelt expression of music.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 7 “Feelings” (B+)

I guess Celia has gotten over the fact that Jean isn’t her biggest fan – and Jean has maybe warmed to her future daughter-in-law – so that the two of them can get mad at the men in their lives for the things they did. I liked that Celia’s confidence and comfort level made Jean doubt her own situation, which in turn prompted Danny to make the mistake of putting his foot down so that Jean could walk right out the door and Freddie could later mock that move as something he would never do. It is fun to watch the awkward romance between Jean and Danny develop, especially since they’re not trying to pretend that the feelings aren’t mutual but just navigating a complicated reality. Jean lying to Freddie about going over to Danny’s to replace his carpet with other carpet was funny, and I enjoyed Celia’s quote about how love dies and her apartment is rent-controlled. Calling it a backup like car insurance was an entertaining way to put it, and all worked out with Freddie showing his affection and understanding by proposing that she keep her apartment. Learning about Jackie’s neuroses was a lot of fun, like that she got a fake ID just to be able to work at Dairy Queen, and Lane taking her to a restaurant where tables are reserved for walkups so that the actual reservations don’t get seated was hardly the brightest option. Her conclusion that she needed to feel this way and that she’s a pretty crier were helpful enough to her, and I’m eager to see what the newly unemployed and newly single woman does next with her life.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 6 “Sunday Dinner” (B)

It’s fun to see the family dynamics play out and have them not be entirely resolved, like the fact that Jean is awful to Celia and wasn’t so thrilled about having her as a permanent addition when Freddie made his feelings known by proposing to her. Celia’s assessment that her being “Iowa funny” meant that she was “California mean” was accurate, and giving her a recipe to show her that she was now part of the family was about as generous a gesture as she’s likely to make. I’m glad that we finally met Hank and that he wasn’t as old as even Jackie kept making him out to be, instead revealing a bigger issue that Jackie has with not being able to end relationships without the help of her mother or some other artificial excuse. Tim Bagley, a familiar face from “Monk” and “Will and Grace” and a current recurring player on “Call Me Kat,” was a perfect casting choice to play the man who set himself up for failure repeatedly by making dated references and would evidently have been a much better fit for Jean, though Jackie nixed the possibility of that happening pretty definitively. Danny going to a wedding with his not-so-ex-wife did not seem like a smart plan, especially when it meant cancelling on plans with Jean, but she was so caught up in other things when he got back that she didn’t even realize that she was passionately kissing him “on his mouth,” as he put it. It’s still hard to know where their romance will go, but this was a fun development.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 5 “Dating Jean” (B+)

While I do think that Jean and Danny would make a good couple, it’s almost more satisfying to see them at such sarcastic odds with each other, standing on ceremony after their legitimate excuses for cancelling on each other led them to concoct other reasons for not being available when they actually would have been. I appreciated the casting of Dave Foley as a perfectly nice guy who lived his life as a freegan, something that seemed far more elegant than what might typically be the case since he frequented a fancy farmer’s market where all the samples looked quite appetizing. That Jean decided to stick it out and spend an evening with him was probably good for her, especially because she came home knowing that she wasn’t going to proceed further but content with the choice to give it a try. Danny arguing with him over the ownership of his lemons was a funny moment. I was also happy to see Erick Lopez from “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” as Victor, the man who got Lane to commit to a weekend trip to Palm Springs much more enthusiastically than he had expected. Freddie and Celia reached a good moment when he showed her his bad-idea tattoo and she expressed a satisfaction with the two of them being a good match. I do hope that we see Jackie’s elderly boyfriend at some point soon since that joke might end up becoming tiresome, and the snippy way she responds to everyone else’s love life problems will surely force her to confront her own eventually.

What I’m Watching: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 4 “New Car, New Job, New Jean” (B)

Sometimes the things that Jean doesn’t quite understand about the world feel a bit far-fetched, like the fact that her new car would be completely voice-controlled when that really wasn’t the case at all. Being completely unaware of why she had a terrible passenger rating on a rideshare service was also a stretch given her obviously invasive behavior. I like the rapport she and Danny have developed that now finds him hiding from her when he thinks that she wants a ride, and that he was able to help her figure out that she needed to set boundaries for her kids. They did slide right back into a comfortable mode when they kept showing up to have Jean do their laundry and make them dinner, guilting her into playing games when she really needed to do work. I can appreciate her enthusiasm about having just her children there with her, though she definitely likes Lane a lot more than Celia, who she’s not shy about mocking even if Freddie just doesn’t seem to get it. Lane was awfully enthusiastic about volunteering to drive Jean to work until she got a car, and he quickly saw the error of his ways. Since this show does like to have a dramatic undercurrent, it was helpful that Jean was able to transfer the feelings she was having about her kids doing things for themselves and use them to motivate a startled and somewhat scared Connor into action, earning her a well-needed positive review from his parents to encourage Amy to see the value she brings to the table.

Take Three: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 3 “Quaran-Jean” (B+)

I had asked last week for more of a spotlight on Jackie and Freddie’s lives, and learning more about their individual relationships with their mother and the way in which they saw each other was informative and entertaining. Jackie was understandably annoyed that Freddie was the child who didn’t clearly express as much concern for Jean yet got more of her love, and Jean articulated it perfectly when she said that Freddie was easy, telling her what he needed at every juncture rather than making her guess what she actually wanted. Having them all end up in the emergency room with different injuries was evidently formulaic but it was still fun, and I like that all of the characters are aware of the affections of others. Celia forming an exclusive club with Jackie that she promptly dissolved since she would only ever call her in the event of a hair emergency was a nice subplot that lasted exactly as long as it should have, and it was good to see Celia stand up for herself when Freddie was more interested in having his mom come back to see the doctor instead of her. Danny was smart to go after Cheryl’s very muscular new boyfriend with psychological warfare, but he would have done better not to accidentally attack him physically. Cheryl acknowledging that she knows Danny is falling for Jean was an important step since now he might feel okay moving forward with it, especially since Jean clearly feels the same way.

Round Two: Call Your Mother

Call Your Mother: Season 1, Episode 2 “Distressed Jean” (B)

This second outing was moderately predictable but still fun, and I think that this premise should work well as its characters develop beyond the initial setup. Jean getting a job to keep her busy, for instance, is one such positive change. Now her family members won’t have to argue about who has to babysit her and will instead only see her maybe once a day for a meal or even less frequently if she starts to build more of a social life. I like that the attraction between Jean and Danny is something that’s being so openly talked about, even in front of her children, while the presence of his wife, though they’re separated, is hindering any substantial progress on that front. Jean’s constant conversations with Sharon on her propped-up tablet feel very pandemic-relevant, but of course that’s just something that’s happening in normal life since this show makes no mention of our current situation. I would like to learn more about Jackie and Freddie’s lives apart from their connection to their mother, and I’m hopeful that they’ll get more of a focus going forward aside from just a little love life trouble and playing video games all day, respectively. Celia and Lane are being used pretty well, both far more into spending time with Jean than either of her children are and possessing more personality and individuality than you might expect from supporting characters. I’m happy continuing with this show – it’s light and fun, and I can’t really say that about most of the programming I currently watch.

Pilot Review: Call Your Mother

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.