Writer: Rina Mimoun
Director: David Paymer
Grade: B
Rose didn’t have much to do here besides comic relief, which is a shame, though Lucy Hale was as delightful as always.
I really think the writers dropped the ball with the Luis/Sage conflict over gay marriage. I just wanted more from Luis’ PoV, even though I could never agree with it. I can buy that maybe Luis didn't give it much thought if this were a different show, but on this show, with its 50 bajillion uplifting moral messages, it just felt a little too sloppy and easy. We've never seen any hint that Luis disliked Marco or was uncomfortable around him in any way, so I would assume his homophobia is at least a few levels above "violent kneejerk reaction to all things gay." Which is actually kind of nice to see, but yeah, a little more exposition on the complexities of his feelings would have been great. They missed an opportunity for an interesting, nuanced exploration there, I think.
Megan’s writing career needs to either be given a decent level of attention or dropped, because as it is, it’s really not working. Did she really name a chapter of her book “I Am Woman, Hear me Roar”? Seriously?! Why do I give a flying fuck about the career of someone who writes that kind of trite, tired BS? It’s just painful to watch.
I know everyone is going to feel differently about the Megan/Will conflict, but the way that I saw it, Will was bitching and moaning and saying he wasn't going to go into work because the editor was being an annoying perfectionist on the first isssue ever of the magazine. Which seemed like exactly what a spoiled rich kid would do. If only the rest of us had it so easy that we could wave off going to work because our boss is annoying. And I think that's how Megan saw it, with the added bonus of knowing that she didn't get a job there because Will did. I can completely relate to her reaction there, and I agree with Megan's take on why she wouldn't let Will's dad pull strings for her. That may very well be "how the world works," but if that's not how Megan wants to operate in the world, that's her personal choice, and she shouldn't have to compromise her professional ethics for a romantic relationship.
I think Megan has behaved like a self-absorbed twit for much of the beginning-to-middle portion of the season, but I've found her much less annoying since the show came back from hiatus. She's done a few stupid things, but for the most part, I see Will as the one who is angry and controlling. Almost every fight they've had has been him taking something she said with no real intent to harm and turning it into an argument, including this one. Her phrasing about "sucking it up" was definitely a very stupid choice—she could have hinted to Will that maybe blowing off his job wasn't the best idea in a less angry and personal way. But Will has known her for months now, he knows what she's like, and he could have chosen to let it go and calmly listen to what she was trying to say (which was that when you have a job, and you're not the boss, you don't get to do whatever you want), rather than fly off the handle and exacerbate the entire argument.
Instead, it came off like he's jealous of the fact that Megan is able to hang onto her ethics in a situation where he could not—hence him starting a fight with her in the previous episode, over the exact same issue. Will was upset that his father got him the job, but he wanted the job, so he accepted it. And then he started a fight with Megan (twice!) when she said things that twinged on his own inner conflict.
The most simple way that I can boil it down is that I sided with Megan because even though they're both jealous of one another and they're letting it get in the way of their relationship, I see Will's jealousy as much more creepy and destructive. Megan is jealous that Will not only got the job, but is also the reason Megan didn't get the job. I don't really think she's jealous that Will is wealthy and entitled, but rather upset that he's acting like he's wealthy and entitled, especially after all the shit he gave her a few episodes ago about not wanting to get jobs because he's wealthy and entitled. Will, on the other hand, is not jealous of some sort of outside circumstance surrounding Megan, he's jealous of something that's at the core of who she is—her ethical code and her tenacity in sticking to her guns. And he's starting stupid, hypocritical fights with her about it. And I find that very, very unsettling.
To be honest, I’m very upset with the writers for giving Will’s character such abusive traits without even seeing or acknowledging that he’s abusive. He gets angry that Megan doesn’t take his advice, yet his advice is never even particularly good. And it’s even creepier that he gives her bad advice about her family and gets angry when she doesn’t follow it. He was jealous of her bond with Charlie and took every opportunity to belittle Charlie and start arguments with him. Lately, he’s even been doing the same thing to Megan herself because he’s jealous of her ability to stick to her moral code. It’s gotten to the point where he’s not just sticking up for himself or calling Megan on her crap, he’s belittling her and tearing her down. What a monumental creep. If one of my friends was dating this guy, I’d be telling her to dump him every chance I got.
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