Following multiple confrontations in her life, Callie decides to make a change. Gael learns something unexpected about Elijah from the group commissioning his new art project. Mariana gets the real story about what happened with the female former engineer.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of Freeform's Good Trouble.
"Disruptions" was written by Joanna Johnson and directed by Peter Paige
This midseason finale is designed around big surprises happening in every significant storyline. At times, it's easy to see where the melodrama is going to come from because the show has been carefully teasing it along the way. When those revelations do come, it should feel dramatically satisfying because it provides a sense of relief that everything that has come before has been worth it for this significant moment that changes everything. That's what makes it somewhat frustrating when the show designs most of its closing moments around some of the twists that the audience could have seen coming. Sure, it's absolutely unexpected to see a shakeup occur at Speckulate and Judge Wilson returning during Malika's Black Lives Matter disruption. And yet, it was inevitable that Callie would move in with Jamie. That's the direction the show has been actively pursuing for awhile now. It made it completely explicit when she saw what the people at the Coterie were saying behind her back. She no longer feels like she has the love and support of those around her. So instead, she is committing to a relationship she can feel love in even though her doubts have not been addressed in a meaningful way just yet. Callie continues to tow the line of wanting to make a difference and stand by the big decisions in her life. And yet, she is mostly just failing at trying to do everything simply because she's overwhelmed and doesn't know how to focus on one particular corner of her world. She needs the comfort and support of family. She just feels like she no longer has that. Now, Mariana has an excuse because she has been busy leading a team at Speckulate to get her app up and running as soon as possible. But she too is overwhelmed simply because Evan is asking so much of her. Nothing romantic happens between them. The show just continues to tease that as something that could occur. But it mostly just showcases how Evan doesn't understand social normalities and as such may be unfit to run this company. Mariana isn't as helpful as she thinks she is either. Evan is being sued despite Mariana trying to patch things up between him and Amanda. Of course, that story really doesn't have a ton of depth to it. It's just this thing added to the proceedings to make Mariana constantly worried that her life could fall apart at any moment in time if she speaks her mind. This newcomer to the company could be the right energy necessary to right the many wrongs. It just comes with the investigation into who leaked the male salaries coming to the forefront once more. That hasn't been mentioned in awhile and mostly just suggests this newcomer as an antagonistic threat to what Mariana is trying to do and nothing more than that. Elsewhere, it should be a big deal worth celebrating that Alice is performing stand-up for the first time at a major club. Instead, it's a storyline riddled with personal drama that is hard to follow. The same is somewhat true of Davia and Dennis' ongoing connection. It seemed like they were heading towards an official romance. Instead, they pull away and are both left crying in bed all alone. That's unfortunate. The show could use this as an opportunity to explore who each of them is before committing to this relationship. It just doesn't provide an example as to what more that could be. And finally, the Judge Wilson reveal mostly arises so that Malika feels personal about this disruption. She doesn't know much about this event beforehand. But she is pivotal to its success because she needs to film it so the outside world can see. The fallout should be crucial. It's just unclear what exactly Malika is feeling in that moment seeing the man she confronted after Jamal's trial once more. This is a messy episode overall that struggles when it comes to defining what the future may hold for these characters. Sure, Gael sticks to his morals and ends things with Elijah following the review scandal. But that's one separate corner of the show that never feels like it amounts to much elsewhere.
