The New Normal: The Hate Flairs Up

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Bringing in the bigotry and hate in the third episode... interesting move, The New Normal. We all knew it was coming (it would be the biggest elephant in the smallest room if it was ignored), but I wasn't expecting so much so soon, I guess. I mean, it's obvious that Jane will continue to make offensive remarks about what David, Bryan, and Goldie are doing, but the views of outsiders will likely be a part of many episodes to come... and I wonder if they will all be as busy as this one! Personally, I don't know that I would have gone that far with Shania's storyline, but having her wear a toddler dress as a crop top was pretty believable... even if nobody wears crop tops anymore and I can't imagine that a school would allow her to remain in class all day while wearing it! But, back to the major point of this episode - it's hard to be "different," but it's even harder to get past the fact that something can always happen, regardless of how well you plan. Agree?

The New Normal "Baby Clothes" (S01E03): David is upset that Bryan has already been buying baby clothes after they had agreed that they'd wait until after some medical tests. [so I'm guessing that they'd consider aborting a fetus with Down Syndrome markers?? or what, exactly, are they waiting on?] David says that everything needs to go back, and wants to make sure that every test possible is run as soon as can be. [haha, the "Marc Jacobs" test! that comment about Jane taking Goldie to a vet when she was pregnant was kinda crazy!] However, when they go to hear the heartbeat for the first time, David decides that it's okay to start preparing for their little bundle of joy - after all, they're starting a family!

(Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)

[yeah, that was the nice, fluffy part of the episode. now onward to the nitty-gritty...] Goldie and the guys go to an outlet mall so she can pick up a few new things for Shania, and a guy confronts David and Bryan for kissing in public, and then says that he feels bad for their future child, because "that's disgusting." Goldie pretends not to hear, but later tells Bryan and David that she will stand up for them when it happens again. At home, Bryan cries, thinking that it's time that they stop ignoring the problems and stand up to them. This gets David thinking, and the next day, when a bully at the gym calls a guy a "retard," David punches him, only for the bullied guy to call David a "fag." [omg. I did NOT see that one coming!] David and the bully both have their memberships revoked, and the third guy continues to say hateful things toward them without recourse. [but that's probably the last we'll see of him.]

Meanwhile, Shania goes to school wearing one of Bryan's baby dresses as a crop top, attracting so much attention that a boy kisses her in the cloakroom... just as Jane goes to pick up her great-granddaughter. [and, also disturbingly, 9-year-old Shania texts while at school.] Jane takes the duo to Planned Parenthood and asks for birth control pills and condoms. [I thought this was to embarrass the kids, but it seemed like Jane was actually pretty serious!] Later, the teacher calls in Goldie as well as the boy's mother, but Jane won't let the issue go - she wants to make sure that Shania won't make her a great-great-grandmother at 68 years old, so Goldie agrees to have "the talk" with her daughter. [off-camera.]