Pitch - San Francisco - Review

This week to focus was on Mike. We finally got to know more of his backstory. Turned out he moved a lot as a kid. In the flashbacks, he seemed to bond with his baseball coach until his mother made him help her con the coach. Afterward, Mike found out that the coach was his dad. In the present day, Ginny and Amelia try to find a way to deal with the photos that are about to be leaked. Their solution is a photoshoot with the entire team in their birthday suits to deflect attention from the leaks, and it works. Livan Duarte joins the team, pushing Mike into another spot. Duarte immediately clashes with Mike, who has a problem with how entitled Duarte acts. Oscar eventually puts Duarte in his place, but there seems to be trouble on the horizon for Mike. 

Most confusing backstory: I can’t be the only one who was incredibly confused by Mike’s backstory. My biggest issue was with the coach who turned out to be Mike’s father. Did he know? When Mike asked him if he could live with him, his answer came across as weird to me. If a kid that’s not yours asks you to live with you, you usually explain that that’s not possible because you’re not their parent, etc. You don’t use the “I already have a family” excuse. You only use that if the kid is yours. Which leads me to believe that he did know. He must have either known before meeting Mike or figured it out after seeing Mike’s mom. And I just don’t get why he didn’t fight for him. They clearly had a bond. Did he have an affair with Mike’s mom, is that why he was so afraid of Mike’s mom finding out? Or did he simply just not care as much as I thought he did? 

Favorite moment: One of the things that I love about this show is that it tackles double standards head on. This week both Amelia and Ginny pointed those out. Ginny would’ve gotten a lot of crap over those selfies, a lot more than any guy on the team would have. Why? Because society lets guys get away with a whole lot more than woman. You don’t have to look far to see examples of this *cough* election *cough*. Now I was expecting for a lot more backlash from the higher-ups over this. Luckily Oscar reacted better than I had expected. Was he happy? No. But it was more because of what he knew the media would say rather than the actual photos. When Blip said that Ginny should’ve been smarter because she’s a woman, he immediately knew he should not have. This double standard is so ingrained into society that we sometimes use it without realizing. Ginny is absolutely right, though. Her body, her business. If she wants to send pictures to her boyfriend, that’s her right. When photos like this leak, the woman is always the one who gets the blame. Not the person who leaked them for the entire world to see but the woman whose only “crime” was to send a private photo to the guy she liked or loved. 

Best progress: Remember how only a few episodes ago, no one expect for Blip and Mike wanted to even sit next to Ginny on the bus? Look how far they’ve come. Granted, some of those guys probably didn’t need too much incentive to get naked, but still. They came through for her in a big way. In the beginning of the season, they probably would’ve let their pride or egos get in the way of what’s best for the team. But now they seem to have accepted Ginny as a full-fledged member of the team. It also helps they have someone new to dislike. With reason this time. 

Most annoying character: OMG, the new guy got on my nerves so much. Yes, he has a tragic backstory but that doesn’t excuse him from being an asshole. From his complete lack of respect for Mike to him being late to practice, he acted like the owned the place even though he’d only been there a few days. He’s lucky he’s good, otherwise, they probably would’ve tossed him out on his ass. No one told him to get his shit together because they need him too much. I’m glad Oscar eventually got over that and set him straight. While he will probably one day take over Mike’s spot, he’s not there yet and he needs to stop acting like he is. 

Most underappreciated character: I feel like Al doesn’t get enough appreciation. He really does care about everyone on his team. Whether it’s taking a team member out to dinner because he knows something is wrong or learning a language because a member of the team only speaks that one. Whatever it is, he’ll do it. And yeah, he occasionally says something stupid. But he’s just as valuable to the team as any other member is. And if the higher-ups try to kick him out again, I’m betting the team will have something to say about it. 

Best quotes: Ginny: “You want me to change my body to support a lie?” Amelia: “Are you kidding me? Never! … You wouldn’t, would you?... Shouldn’t, good for you.” 
Amelia: “Thank you for mansplaining that to me. … I’ve always wanted to use that word.” 
Blip: “I like my Yorkie. I take pictures of him sometimes in outfits. I don’t feel comfortable showing that around.” 
Ginny: “I have a shrink.” Al: “And I have a dietician!” 

That’s it for this week. Check in again next week for an all-new review and let me know in the comments what you thought of this week’s episode.