Men of a Certain Age – Quietly scoring week after week

Life is full of compromise. It’s a fact we learn as kids, and one that we confront often in life. When two people approach a situation with differing opinions, a consensus must be reached in order to move forward uniformly. We all get that.

But I have a question that I know I’ve faced in my own life, something I was reminded of while watching last night’s episode of Men of a Certain Age: when one person comes with the stricter of opinions and needs, shouldn’t they always win out?

Here’s the example from last night — Joe wanted to make an issue out of his daughter Lucy sleeping with her boyfriend Sudheer (Kunal Sharma). His ex-wife Sonia (Penelope Ann Miller, looking nothing like herself) wanted to let it go. If Sonia wins Joe feels like a major issue is being ignored. If Joe wins Sonia feels like … well, she … she what? She disagrees. Okay, so what? What does she lose by acquiescing to him? On the other hand, he is losing something by acquiescing to her. Shouldn’t it be a given which way those compromises should go?

Either way, I was really proud of the great job Ray Romano did this episode. It was all raw emotion, with the undercurrent of finalizing his and Sonia’s divorce, and Ray did a tremendous job. I don’t think he should have apologized in the end, but otherwise he was great. And I think he had a point about being the “defendant” in the divorce. If Sonia cheated, shouldn’t he be the one pursuing a divorce from her?

Terry’s old commercial from a few episodes ago popped back up last night. It seems that the hype his colleagues made out of the YouTube video got it noticed by the company again. I wonder why he didn’t rub it in their faces. And while part of me was worried for Terry that he got sucked back into acting so easily, I was glad to know that he still sees himself, for now and forever, as an actor. He shouldn’t let that dream die, and Owen and Joe should support the fact that he still wants to be a success at what he loves. They both know what that’s all about.

I’m not sure how I feel about Erin (Melinda McGraw) as a permanent fixture, but Terry trying to stay hip by texting was really funny. It wasn’t overdone … his struggles with his cell phone’s keypad were just right.

Part of me is kind of pushing back against Owen settling into the dealership too much; I’m still hoping that he pursues his own dream while he still has the chance. But the rest of me loved how Senior showing up at the new car show turned into a passing of the torch. I’d miss Senior if he disappeared for good, but Junior definitely needs room to stretch his wings. It would be great to see him install some of his own visions at the dealership this season.

I liked how Melissa’s new job came about. I suspected that she’d find something in the group of hiding spouses, and the other group of spouses is definitely not her. I’m not sure why writing product reviews for Charlie at Amazon isn’t like the other jobs she belittled earlier in the episode, but good for her for wanting to do something and for pursuing it. As I’ve mentioned before, I think her getting her own life will be good for her (and for us … and for Owen).

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 28, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT