Welcome to the Parenting Roundabout podcast. I'm Terry Morrow and I'm Catherine hileco. As parents and parenting writers, we can't help but see everything through a parenting lens. But as our kids have become adults, we find ourselves more interested in getting caught up on movies and streaming than I'm going over the same parenting topics over and over.
So since we're pretty sure we can find parenting wisdom anywhere, we're going to talk about what we're watching, what we thought about it, and maybe what we can learn from it, if only what not to do. Watch and listen along, and let's all make like we're doing something important for
our families. Each Wednesday we bring you our thoughts on a newer entertainment property, and for this week of July twenty second, we are returning to the latest season of a show that we've enjoyed in the past, The Guilded Age. As we mentioned yesterday a few times, we are a few weeks behind when it is airing on Sunday nights. This one. I very much enjoyed the title of the first episode, who is in Charge Here? Which it has many references.
We have Yeah, we have ada and Agnes fighting for control of their home and their servants who are caught in the middle and real put out about it, getting conflicting instructions from the two.
Ladies, oh my goodness.
And the butler just trying to keep the peace. And then we have at the Russells. Of course, we have is George in charge of the family or is Bertha? I think we know the answer to that one.
He's Gladys in charge of her own life? Or is Bertha? You know the answer to that one? And Larry also is yeah, he's more like waiting out.
Yeah. And Larry, my friend, like he's the way he tells his sister, He's like, you know, time's running out. You should probably run Elope with this dude, like, sir, this is this is a girl who has been raised, you know, as a hot house flower. Like you think she's just gonna like steal away in the night, which she does by the end of the episode, Like yes, oh, Larry, come on, yeah, Oh shouldn't you just Elope? What stop?
And also you're going into business with the footman from across the street and you're acting like he should be served coffee in your house, which is real big of you. But not so much that you would bring him to meetings to actually explain the thing, would you do not which.
You cannot explain exactly.
Yeah, you think you so broad, but you're not gonna be able to sell this thing if you cannot explain it, or you're not gonna sell it well anyway. And then we have Aurora. Yeah, that came out of being sort of a secondary character that apparently, you know, her husband comes home and says, please divorce me so that I can go be with my mistress and you can flounder
in society for the rest of your life. That is, you know, the whole She's just gonna she'll have a nice house and be well taken care of, but she won't have any social life whatsoever, although there's other people in Newport who are cast out right. I imagine she and Laura bann Anti could have a pretty nice party.
Yeah, they could just do karaoke all the time.
Yeah, they could put on Broadway place you know.
Yeah, that was that was a real gut punch, like, oh, yes, it's been nothing but sweet and lovely to everyone, and yes, yeah, we're all of a sudden, Charles, why are you such a jerk?
Oh my gosh. Yes, just perhaps this is this should be taken by some as a lesson of what happens if you marry the wrong person. Yeah, and if you like, even if you love him and you think everything's just great, is he the kind of guy who at some point will run off with a recent widow And then of course everybody, you know, even even her friends, are going to exclude her from polite society because that is what you do. That's just that's the way polite society works.
We're very sorry we have we're powerless against it.
Right, Yeah, I agness. It's just like, well, she might not be comfortable in groups like well, if you make her a comfortable she will be uncomfortable.
Yeah, and uh, you know, probably would not want to go to a party at that house anyway because there won't be any alcohol.
Yes, the whole there was a temperance meeting and the face acting from the audience from from Aurora and even Marion comes across with a little snark.
But most especially Oscar, who just looks like, shoot me now, the only pleasure I have left in life, it's a glass of wine with dinner, and you're taking that from me too.
It was. It was delightful. I mean, not for them, but for us.
Yeah.
You know when you when you drag your kids to some meeting, they may.
Respond, dear, Yes, Ada is feeling her power and uncomfortable for everybody. Yes, even those who might have one time rooted for her. They're like, we didn't think this was going to go this direction, okay, and.
I just it was just a wonderful vehicle for snarky comments from everyone.
Yes, so dear, And much romantic drama over at the Russell household, with Missus Russell determined to marry her daughter to the duke. The daughter determined to marry what a kid named Billy, very unpromising guy, and Billy's mother, always excruciating, makes the kind of mistake that we've all made of just saying the wrong thing that is going to cause your child no end of trouble, right, and you cannot pull the words.
Back into your mouth.
So she goes up to Missus Russell and is a, oh, isn't it wonderful? Our two children are all but engaged, and Missus Russell is saying, say what to me? Yeah, oh dear, and uh yeah, that was that was a disastrous misstep by Billy's mother. I just I just cringed for her. This is like, I believe I have done the same at one point or another, not on that particular subject, but.
Yeah, and I mean it's it's almost like when you you know, you're in a social situation and you're just like, oh, let me make conversation with this yes, with this person. Oh dear not that conversation.
No, no, it was the wrong one. Yikes.
And there's so many characters on this show. They really aren't gotten to Peggy yet.
Who oh, yes, she has she has, which is always can't be good ominous in a period piece.
But from what I've been reading online, everyone's like, oh it's it's okay because she's like in all the previous for the whole season. So the speculation is that a hot doctor comes to take care of her, yeah, to give her a love interest, since the white doctor was like, uh no, not doing that, and Agnes immediately is like, oh, he's going to pay for that, And yeah, I do believe.
She felt like he would not want to cross her. But she is no longer in the same position of daunting power that you used to be. I wondered if that was supposed to be a comment on that, right, But we'll show him. We'll take away his alcohol. That's right, that's what we're about.
Now, you'll be sorry.
And early on we had dropped something that I'm sure we'll pay off in future episodes, which is the chef of the Russell household getting a letter and saying, I suppose it's bad news. This kind of thing usually is yes, which is also what Aurora might have said when her husband came in and said, stop, just sit and listen. Right, it's bad news. This kind of thing usually is also what we say parenting tip wise, when you get a note from the school. Yes, I suppose it's bad news.
Nothing usually is.
So I wonder what the deal will be with him.
Yes, still still enjoy.
A pin in this little placeholder come back in another episode for the chef.
Yes, yes, yeah, it's I still remember and enjoy the whole storyline of him being like where was he? Where is he from? Like Saint Louis or something?
Yeah, Italian?
Right, No, he's supposed to be French, like I supposed to be French, like a famous French chef. His name is Josh. He's from the Midwest, somewhere fantastic.
Yes, he's glad he doesn't have to do the accent anymore. So we had a whole extended, uh change of scenery with George out in Arizona. Yes, a little more civilized than than Manhattan.
Yeah, when they're mad.
They can get himself a drink if nothing else.
And when they're when they're happy, they just fire a gun into the ceiling and.
As yeah, you know, none of this pussy pooting around. So there's that whole plot and all apparently possible that George's bankrupt now because there was a problem with the bank and I'm sure that won't affect anybody's plants at all.
Yeah. Well, and he left Patrick Page out there to do his dirty work. And even you know Patrick Page is himself is just like, well, I'm expendable, Like he knows his place.
Yeah, he seems like a pretty capable dude. You know, he'll do it or die try it. Yeah, it just was like so weird, just like suddenly we're in Deadwood. Where do they move shows here?
But and the little they you know, stagecoach up to this little town, which truly looked like a movie set. I was like, yes, you know, you spare no expense for the costumes and the and the dinners in Manhattan, but like this truly looked like a ghost town that you would visit at an amusement park, you know, just like.
All it didn't look very gilded.
All flat facades and something behind.
Them is the impression we're only going to go there once.
Yeah, we're not going to spend a lot of money on it. I guess instead, we'll spend our money making it snow in Yes, in March, I guess is what the implication is.
But they mentioned that enough. Yeah, we get it. It's unusual.
Yeah, we heard along.
But the uh, the help of the two different households having a snowball fight was kind of cute.
It was cute. I'll give them that. But yeah, this whole you know, there's this whole argument between Bertha and her daughter Gladys in terms of like, oh, but I want to marry for love and you got to marry for love, so and Bertha's like, well, I was nothing special. You know, you have this opportunity and oh.
Oh parenting wise, man, I yeah, parenting tip, don't do that.
No, don't project your ambitions onto your child you've already gotten, Bertha so much of what you wanted. I mean, yes, you've You've won the opera war for one thing. Yeah, so well.
But I think legitimately she is applying the lessons of her own life to her daughter, although her daughter is a completely different person and also in a completely different stage. I get the feeling that Bertha was not rich at birth and sort of scrapped her way into her relationship with George, and now she wants to pass on to her daughter the things that she's learned. But the things that she's learned aren't appropriate for somebody who has had
a completely different life, which parenting tip. We all do this. I mean, I have lots of advice about the world of work for my daughter who will not work in the same industry I did and have anything anything like the same experiences in the workplace, So it's completely useless, And you know what She's We definitely are not supposed to be on team Bertha, obviously, although she's not wrong that Gladys is not necessarily making good choices for herself.
Billy has like a neon sign on his head saying feckless and will leave you for somebody in your middle age and you will be off in a house in Newport. But Larry says, do not think it enough that Gladys just wants to be happy, And Bertha says happiness as a bip product of a well ordered life may last
as a goal. It is doomed to failure. And that is not wrong, you know, just saying I love him, we'll be happy, let's flit off, you know, does not necessarily have such a long life finding something that is having a well ordered life? You know? But does that necessarily mean marrying the dook who you don't love and going off to a life of luxury but possibly not the way you would like it. That's not going to happen either, So you can't you can identify what's not
going to work. You can't always construct what is. It's a problem. That's a problem right for parents. I would like to construct it. May I build a well ordered life for my child's police, so then she will be happy? Could I do that? These building blocks here have a set of legos? Could I build that place? You know?
You?
Unfortunately, so much of life involves making mistakes and learning from them. Yeah, but as parents, we want to eliminate the mistakes part and just go straight to the I have my life together now part.
Right, Yeah, well, the parent has the lived experience that the.
Child exactly exactly. I absolutely believe that Birtha is working from her lived experience that she's not like, I want to be the mother in law of a duke. She's saying, I'm going to construct for my child a life that is meaningful, right, but not possibly to Gladys, I'm not possibly happy. It's rough. I I sympath I was with Birtha birthday, even as I think we're supposed to think she's the bad guy.
Yeah, yeah, I mean she's she's not. She's not. Oh that's the word. I'm like malicious about it. She's not like I really, I don't want you to be happy. I don't want you to be with the person that that you want to be with just because I have my own right, you know it's it's it's.
Four year own good. Yes supposedly so, yes, she must be sensible and avoids stupid choices along with that.
Yeah, she's like eighteen or whatever.
Maybe at one point she says to Gladys, you're a girl. If I say, and I pray, that's why you have no judgment. We have all said some version about your Yes, I love parenting tip. They don't want to hear it.
No, unfortunately they do not.
Oh no, but yeah, this plotline is gonna get worse than it's before it gets better. It is if it gets better.
Yes, but I am glad to be back in this show.
Yes, yes, just.
The historical fiction soap opera. Is it's my jam.
Yeah, yeah, but it's these first episodes. You'll like setting up our conflicts for the season, right, and then they will play out. So I like the playing out part better than I like the setting up part. But parenting wise, just one point at which Adas said to Oscar, I will house you and feed you and even clothe you. You are safe from real poverty. The rest you must do for yourself. And that is like put that on an embroidery and put that up on the wall. This
is what I give to my children. I will keep you from being destitute, but make something of yourself, will you please? Yes, I don't know. Foscar has it in it. And we hope that for our children. We hope that they will not just constantly be for the rest of their lives satisfied with housing and feeding and clothing, and it's like, I'm good, Yeah, it's gonna go upstairs and find my hidden stash of booze and have a party.
Hang out in my fabulous bathroom and share a bathroom with my cousin.
This is where I am.
No, no, it's fine, you go.
Oh gosh. Yeah, But Marian was going to go to the bathroom, and then she has their conversation with Oscar and then she decides to take to the pig tray to Pagy and I'm like, don't you want to go to the bathroom first? What if you're up with Pagan? You have to go real bad and Oscar's in the bathroom. She has better bladder control. She's a young woman, right me, I would just have to probably, you know, pee before and after eight am, sing, friend.
Sure, enjoy that bladder control while you can, lady, and.
Your ability to just scamper up the stairs.
With the true Sure, I can wait, that's mine, no emergency, right.
Problem. Oh well, we'll see where Gladys thinks she is going in the in the middle of the night.
So that definitely was Gladys sneaking out at the end. If I had my dark scenes. Problem with that is I could see that somebody was scurrying out of somewhere, but I couldn't see or what. Oh, yeah, but she seemed like the most likely choice.
But yeah, first she packed a bag with a bunch of truly random items. And then because she's never had to pack a bag in.
Her life, is she wearing a hat? She was wearing a ridiculous hat.
Gloves cloak entire situations.
Sweetie, are you going to Billy's house? Because I don't think they're going to be happy to see you under these circumstances, because I imagine you can expect Bertha's revenge to be swift if they do anything at all but bring her immediately back home, right, oh dear so well?
Well, perhaps find out Next Wednesday, we'll continue with season three, episode two, What the Papers Say? Oh, I hope the papers still get end of this.
Uh oh.
We'll see you back to here tomorrow for our weekly roundabout roundup.
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