I want to talk about the end of maid, but I'd also like to talk about this new show I just started watching called Feel Good. Actually, I watched the first episode a while back, and I liked it, but I waited a little while before I watched any more and I watched the second episode tonight.
So, the end of Maid. I felt that, although it ended well (a little bittersweet), it wasn't as realistic an ending as the rest of the show has been. That is because in the end Shawn did the right thing, realized what he was and what he'd been doing, and decided that he didn't want his daughter to grow up with that. I don't feel like that's realistic. The really infuriating part was the guy with the beard whose name I don't even remember, although he is in half the show, because... well he's the typical "nice guy" isn't he? He has that mentality that ultimately he's expecting something from Alex and she knows it, she can feel it, that's why she's so standoffish to him. If he were a really nice guy he would have understood what had happened to her. He comes into her life (after her breakup with Shawn anyway) as she's sleeping on the floor of the ferry station with her daughter. That had to raise some bells. Then there's the insistence that she can't go back to Shawn no matter what. The need to keep working even though she's barely staying afloat. All of these were context clues that she'd been in an abusive relationship, and the kicker is that she's not ready to move on and that she turns to her abuser when something really bad happens. Because that's what they do. That's how they control, by being there for you at your lowest point so you let them back in. And that bearded asshole did exactly what Shawn needed him to do to get her back under his thumb and I'll never forgive his asshole of a character. But then again, perhaps Alex needed to go back so that she could leave and leave for good and end up with the happy ending (although it's not realistic that it went down like that).
Now for Feel Good. The show is about a lesbian Mae who is a comedian, an ex drug-addict, and who (in the first episode) starts a whirlwind romance with a girl who has been coming to her shows (George). Mae and George are a good couple, in private. But George isn't open about her sexuality. While hanging out with her friends, George pretends to be dating a guy to keep a creepy jerk at arms length. Mae repeatedly asks George about meeting her friends and George keeps making excuses and then lying to her friends. Then, last episode she went to a family member's wedding and told Mae that she wasn't allowed a plus one then lied to her family about why she didn't bring a plus one.
Of course, George didn't find out about Mae's past with drugs until Mae was talking to her acerbic mother on skype, so there's a little bit of dishonesty on both sides. I'm liking the show so far. It is realistic about how addicts will replace one addiction with another, especially if the new addiction is something that also brings them shame. Mae's new addiction is George, and although being with George doesn't bring her shame, she's ashamed of being too clingy and thinks she might be driving George away. Meanwhile, George is in head over heals but too ashamed of being gay to openly admit it to family and friends. I look forward to continuing this series to see where it goes. I also really like the roommate. He's a fun character.
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