“About a Hook” picks up where “About a Boy Becoming a Man” left off -- Marcus is pissed at his mom for dating his teacher (and keeping it a secret), and
Will is trying to get the attention of music producer Johnny Idalis by any means necessary.
As was fairly obvious from Marcus’ reaction at the Bar Mitzvah, the pairing of his mom and Mr. Chris is
not something he’s on board with. In fact,
he gets so angry when his precious family painting time is infiltrated by his mom’s boyfriend, that Marcus decides to move out -- all the way to…next door.
Will’s not super pleased with the arrangement (Marcus does try to take a bath in the shower, after all), but he allows Marcus to stay, and helps him to
realize how important he is to Fiona. And then Marcus comes to realize how important Mr. Chris is to his mom. Obviously Marcus pushed Mr. Chris away out of
fear that his teacher’s relationship with his mom would ruin his
own relationship with his mom, but once he realizes that the “love bubble” only
expands, he’s okay. He even invites Mr. Chris over to come paint with them. Fiona makes a lot of sacrifices because she really loves Marcus, and it’s nice
to see Marcus recognize her love, and make a sacrifice (by giving up some alone time with her), in order to make her happy in return.
While Will puts Marcus up in his house, he tries to write a hook for the song he played for Idalis out of the back of Andy’s minivan. He can’t seem to
think of anything, until Fiona tells Marcus that there will always be room in her love bubble for him -- and inspiration strikes! For some reason the
phrase “love bubble” is exactly what Will’s looking for, and he uses that in the hook, which he then plays once again from the back of Andy’s minivan as
they stalk Johnny Idalis through his own neighborhood, and forget to pick up Andy’s kids. I honestly thought that it was a bit of a joke, since the phrase
“love bubble” is relatively ridiculous, but then Will actually put it in his song, so…I guess he was as earnest about it as Fiona was. As I mentioned
before, it’s nice to see Will trying to get into music again, though clearly his methods are a little…sketchy. Maybe that’s how it works in the music biz,
but the old “stalking a producer in a minivan with a boombox” seems just a bit creepy. Hopefully Will’s efforts to get back involved will give him a little
bit more direction in life.
Will’s reemergence into the music world continues in “About a Prostitute,” in which Will needs money, and decides to teach guitar. He doesn’t get very far
in the actually guitar-teaching field, however, because he ends up sleeping with his first student’s mom, and then Andy convinces Will that the mom is just
paying him for sex. Will doesn’t believe him at first, though he does start to get suspicious after a while, when Emma keeps paying for everything on their
date, and then buys him at the auction for $2,000. So Will takes another step in the right direction by trying to get a job, and finding something that
plays to his strengths -- but it might make things less complicated if he
doesn’t sleep with all the single moms. Music lessons seem like the sort
of thing that Will could really do well, especially considering he seems pretty good with middle school-aged kids -- though he may not admit that. Keep up
the progress, Will, and try not to turn to prostitution; I don’t think frosted tips and spray tans are really your style.
Due to Fiona’s relationship with the “hot teacher,” she has a status upgrade, and the “cool moms” ask her to help them plan the fundraising gala. Fiona
acts just about as awkward as Marcus when surrounded by the Queen Bees, and instead of advocating for Marcus’ choice of “Cuban Pete” for the seventh grade
musical number, she agrees with the other moms on their choice of Sara Bareilles’ “Brave.” (Admittedly, a very fun song.) But by encouraging Marcus to try
and fit in a little bit, she ignores their family motto, “Don’t fit it, fit out.” Fiona realizes, after spending a little time with the “cool moms” that
maybe it is better to fit out than to fit in with a bunch of mean women. So she has Marcus get up and perform “Cuban Pete” anyway (complete with maracas,
of course), and she dances the rumba with Chris. Very well, I might add -- I’m not particularly surprised, but I
am quite jealous of those smooth
dance moves.
All in all, a couple of fun episodes; “About a Hook” had a little more familial angst with Fiona and Marcus, whereas “About a Prostitute” focused on Will’s
goofy escapades in an attempt to get a job like normal, non-royalty-check-receiving people.
What did you think of the episodes? Is Mr. Chris and Fiona’s relationship going to get serious? Will Marcus ever really make a good friend around his own
age? Is Will going to find a real job that works for him, and start to cut down on his extravagant lifestyle? Let us know below!
About the Author - Kimberly
Kimberly is a big TV nerd - willing to talk any show, any time. Her tastes are various and sundry, but she’s got a soft spot for comedy. She currently writes the SpoilerTV reviews for Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and About a Boy.
Two very different but somehow equally fun episodes.
ReplyDeleteRe "About a Hook" - Thought I got Marcus' insecurities I thought he was acting horribly, and I wasn't particularly charmed or impressed that both Fiona and Will allowed to him to get away with acting like a brat.
Re "About a Prostitute" - I agree with you that Will would be a great music teacher, and I actually hope despite the misunderstanding he will actually keep those up! Fiona and the mean moms was a lovely storyline too! I loved that they brought those ladies back. And YAY for Marcus getting to dance Cuban Pete! That was too adorable for words!
I go back and forth on Mr Chris. I like him when he's being supportive of Fiona (as he was with the "statuesque - Smart - this is getting harder" moment - which made laugh pretty hard BTW) but I do think they need to tone him down a bit now (again with the super enunciated proper Spanish accent!) especially since I do think he might be sticking around (And I hope he does. As I said I like him, but I think he'd be better in smaller in smaller doses)