After learning of Elizabeth's affair, Carter and Taylor urge her to come clean. Carter has to determine if she can pull the family back together.
I've been willing to put up with a lot of ridiculous stuff with Finding Carter as it has been finding itself throughout its first season. The premiere showed potential in this world and these characters that the series afterwards faltered with. Things looked like they were turning around last week. But "Half Baked" is probably the most ridiculous and manipulative episode of Finding Carter so far. Everything that happens throughout the hour doesn't make any kind of sense. But more importantly, it doesn't happen for any good reason.David really just becomes a dick. His bond with Carter was completely natural. When she approached him at the end of last week's episode to tell him about Lori, it was a genuinely great moment between the two. He is the father figure she has always wanted in life. And now, he's just completely self-interested. Elizabeth is the one who had an affair and yet he's the one who comes off as a terrible person throughout the hour. The only thing he actually cares about is his book - which he has been writing all season long despite Carter telling him he couldn't. He's known about Elizabeth's affair and dealt with it in the most passive aggressive way possible. So when the kids found out and confront her, he's worried about coming across as weak and deserving of pity. Elizabeth will do anything to fix this family but he wants to be seen with respect and power. His bond with his family is completely blown up. But why? I honestly have no clue why. He's manipulating his children's emotions that are then very damaging. Grant is left at school alone. Taylor does drugs for the first time. Carter feels the need to fix the family because it was her fault. But it wasn't her fault. It was the parents and the stupid decisions both of them made.
Carter has been through so much already and this latest twist just pushes that way too far. At least she realizes that she was being manipulated. It was mean of David to dangle the prospect of a final goodbye with Lori that we all knew was never going to happen. She's just a teenager who is still at a very impressionable part of her development. Lori is a person she is incredibly close to. David wants to make sure her last memory of her is one of pain so she won't want to leave if presented with the choice again. But she already chose to stay! Why twist the knife? Carter was finally becoming a part of this family and she loved the amount of connection to her past they offered her. She has roots here now. He should trust her to be honest and open with him just like she was when she told him about Lori. David does untrustworthy acts that severely damage his likability on the show. The world has been conspiring against Carter and she finally thought she had a safe place. But the lies just keep on coming because even members of a family are self-interested. That's not the type of story I want to be seeing. This twist leaves me very concerned for the future of the series.
Some more thoughts:
- "Half Baked" was written by Heather Thomason & Sam Wolfson and directed by Jamie Travis.
- I totally love how Max already treats Grant like his little brother and how protective he is of Taylor. Love it! As well as his statement on the carbon cycle.
- The actual exposure of the affair is such a small part of the actual story. It's David's plot after the truth is learned by all that fuels much of the episode.
- Last week it seemed like Gabe found out about the affair at the same time Grant did. This week, he's known about it for three years.
- So much is said about Gabe's father and how much he loves Elizabeth. And yet, he doesn't appear at all. That emotional side of the story isn't resolved at all onscreen. People tell us it's over but it's never actually shown.
- Finding Carter was renewed for a second season today - which shows the drama has support at the network despite some low-ish ratings. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes although not excited about it at this point in time.
