Inevitably this episode was going to deal with the fallout of Patty’s death. I liked how the episode focused on the unanswered questions of Patty’s death rather than the emotions. While the emotional reactions and grief were addressed, it was done with subtlety. With Martha feeling guilty, Viv feeling sadness and disbelief, Matron lashing out in anger, and Joan feeling
Read moreThis episode again pulled back another layer of the ‘onion’ of the aspects of a special needs family. Their special needs child playing competitive sport. JJ’s desire for the thrill of competition is understandable, even more so when people patronise him and constantly let him win. Jimmy’s own overprotective nature is hinted at when he takes JJ to the ice
Read moreI think this was the best episode of Speechless so far. I believe this for many reasons. The structure of the episode was outstanding, with the practice runs neatly and humorously kicking off all three acts of the episode. The choice to show character development in all three of the children was an equally smart choice, as until now the
Read moreThe premise of this episode is summed up perfectly by a speech that Maya makes to her brother-in-law, Billy: “We’re so focused on the fact that you don’t understand our problems, we didn’t even consider that you might actually have problems of your own.” I’ve always felt that each Speechless episode focuses on one of many aspects of a family
Read moreWell this season opener was filled with shocking moments. The purpose of a season premiere is similar to the purpose of a season finale. The season finale’s job is to conclude the season’s story arcs and set up potential new arcs for the next season. The season premiere’s job is to commence new story arcs for the new season and
Read moreSo we’ve now reached the end of the fifth season. Season finales tend to go one way or the other due to their unpredictable nature. If a show isn’t renewed, all loose ends have to be tied up and the ending has to be satisfying (although you can’t please everyone). If the show is renewed, there has to be enough
Read moreSo now the focus is on Lewis as a Councillor. Lewis has won the district bi-election and can now “clean up council” or so he thinks, the reality of Lewis actually ending up on the bottom of the council pecking order was obvious and I like how the writers subtly but surely showed that reality. I found the fact that
Read moreThis episode explored the possibilities of JJ dating. I found the meet-cute of JJ and Claire (McKaley Miller) first interacting under hostile circumstances, only for them to grow to like each other to be cliche. However I appreciated that the cliche itself had a JJ flavour to it through the temporary disabled parking permit, sarcastic school tour, and the physiotherapy
Read moreThis is the first episode providing an insight on how the DiMeos celebrate holidays. Of all the holidays that the writers could have used to show the comedic side of a family with a special needs child, I felt that Halloween was the perfect one. The costumes, trick or treating, haunted houses and so on, were all incorporated throughout the
Read moreThis is the first episode that explores both sides of independence in the DiMeo family–JJ’s independence from his family and the DiMeo family’s independence from the concessions they have to make for JJ. The A story of JJ’s day of freedom and the special treatment that he and Kenneth receive was well done. The exploration of special treatment, and the
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