‘The Baker and The Beauty’ 1×05 Review: “Honeymoon’s Over”

Hollywood is a drug. It’s this intoxicating world of fame, free gifts, people knowing your name, and people judging your every single move. Hollywood isn’t just in California – it’s in every time we give someone fame, every time that we pay attention to someone’s every move, every time that we know someones name and every time our lives are influenced by their lives.

Association with someone famous sometimes brings you fame. But being close to a celebrity, and the fame that it brings you isn’t always easy. It sometimes can affect you, sometimes make you reevaluate the reasons you do things, and it will change you. Because the world will look at you through eyes that you never wanted to have stare at you.

And that’s the thing: Daniel thought that he could take on the world. But he wasn’t ready for the world that was waiting for him.

THE WORLD KNOWS HIS NAME

Mateo and Natalie may be into all of the gifts that Daniel is getting, but Rafael isn’t. One of his biggest things in life was that he didn’t want Daniel to forget where he came from.

Daniel doesn’t know what is wrong with being in the public eye. But Lewis is always there to correct him, and I find that to be a beautiful thing. Lewis doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Noa and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect her.

But what he sees and what I think we all see is when Noa sends Daniel’s video in to become a TV star – we’re crossing into dangerous territory. She’s supposed to respect and love him for who he is. She told his father that she wanted him to remember who he was. So, isn’t that good enough for her? Why is she trying to change him?

Look, I get that she’s famous – but because she is famous, that doesn’t mean that she has to be with someone famous. I personally feel that Daniel has a lot of ambition. But his ambition has been to do what is best for his family. So is being there for your family a bad ambition?

Is making sure that you follow your own dreams a bad ambition?

I have always loved Noa, but I don’t want her to change Daniel. If he grows and changes of his own accord, then that’s fine. But he’s new to this life and what if he feels like he needs to be someone else. Shouldn’t she love him for him?

I want to like Noa, and I truly do. But in the same breath I think that she is being this way because she knows that she has always had to be guarded. If she trusted Daniel with everything that she is from the beginning – it wouldn’t be real.

And that’s the one thing I can appreciate about this show.

They are willing to make it real.

LET’S MAKE OUR APOLOGIES

Mateo and Vanessa. Umm…

Look, these two are a little odd, but I can appreciate that Vanessa deserves more. She deserves a guy who is going to treat her with respect and realize her worth.

Do I think Mateo is that guy? No. But I do think that maybe over time the slow burn may be where we need to go. But what I need right now is for these two to work together.

Because Vanessa is a hustler.

Vanessa agrees to manage Mateo, but one more lie and she’s done. We all know that there will be more lies – there always are. However, lies are also a part of life.

But that being said – I would really like Mateo and Vanessa to just remain professional. I feel like anything else would just be gross. And judging by the ending and knowing what is coming, I don’t want that for Mateo. He’s a jokester, but he deserves more.

Vanessa is about to have her life transformed too. She’s trying to just do her job – but she’s part of Noa and Daniel’s story too. She’s going to have the world want to hear her part of the story, but is her story truly what people want to hear?

The truth is Lewis is trying to see what Vanessa will do. But what Lewis does is fucked up. He’s screwing with everyone’s life and that can result in is chaos. I don’t believe that Lewis starts out with the worst of intentions, but I do think that he needs to be less of a “the world will shit on you, so I will shit on it first” kind of man.

I know that he doesn’t trust Daniel. I know that his job is to make sure that he has all the information. But showing up at Vanessa’s work, offering on the house, making a mockery in his own way – it’s not okay.

He tells Vanessa who he is and that he will buy the house. He’ll pay above asking, in cash, but he wants her to sign an NDA. He’s trying to flatter her, but he’s being a dick. And so I have the utmost respect for Vanessa when she says that she is not for sale.

A CAFE? WELL…

One thing that I can respect about Rafael is that he is reasonable. He’s not looking at the small picture, he’s looking at the big picture. Sure, the man has dreams, but the dreams he has now are to keep his childrern happy and taken care of.

He wants to know that his family is taking all of the right strides in order to be the family that they have always been. Close, filled with love, and supportive.

But the truth for Rafael is that there is too much going on. And there are too many people that are only in the bakery because they want to meet Daniel. He’s trying to figure out how to make his family whole, but what it does is make Mateo feel like he’s not as important as his brother and sister.

Mr. Garcia goes off on Mateo when he finds out that Mateo spent $300 on recording sessions – it’s throwing money away. He didn’t believe in Mateo’s dream, and seeing him break Mateo broke my soul. Mateo may be a joke half the time, but he is a man with dreams and hopes and he wants to be his own man. Standing up to his father wasn’t easy.

But it was necessary.

For Mateo he’s growing into the man that he wants to be. He’s growing into his own confidence, and he knows that music is his life. He wants everyone to see it, the same way that he sees their dreams.

IT WILL GET BETTER… WON’T IT?

Mrs. Garcia wants to find a way to reconnect with her daughter, but the two of them are walking on eggshells around each other. I want these two to reconnect – to see the love that they have for each other. Neither one of them have changed.

The two of them go shopping and find a dress for Natalie’s quince and the sales lady is talking about preserving tradition. She tells that last week someone came in for a quince suit.

Mrs. Garcia goes off and tells her that they will take their business everywhere. The two head home and Natalie thanks her for standing up for her, but what follows was a moment that both comforted me for a second and broke me in the same breathe.

When Natalie aimed to make a connection with her Mom – my heart swelled. I thought that they were getting somewhere. But when her Mom responds with the “are you sure you want this?” and not understanding that Natalie can’t choose this – being gay is who she is – I became angry. I do understand that parents want to protect their kids and be there for them.

But what I feel like the Garcia’s are failing at – which I know, is hard for me to say – is that they aren’t seeing their kids outside of their own dreams for their kids. And it’s okay that parents have dreams for their kids. It’s okay that they want to protect their children and make sure that they aren’t hurt.

But what is better is that you instill the faith in your child that it doesn’t matter if they fall or fly – it’s how they get back up. What is better is that you instill the faith in your child that it doesn’t matter who they love – because you are going to love them no matter what.

A parent’s job is to love and protect you – but also to know when to set you free. And it also is their job to respect who you are. And you know… love you through it.

NOA WANTS TO HOLD ONTO HER OWN

The world is mad at Noa – well her board of director’s world – because she turned down a deal to sell the company. I respect the fact that Noa wants to hold onto her own dreams.

As Noa wants to be there for Daniel, Melanie Kahn calls for a meeting. She decides to take the meeting and tells Daniel he will have to do his meeting on his own. It’s obvious that they only took the meeting because of his connection to Noa, and when they ask him for a pitch, he knows he is way out of his element.

This isn’t what Noa told him would be. But Daniel can charm the pants off anyone. The channel wants him to be something that he’s not, and they want Noa along for the ride.

Noa shows up at Melanie’s in the midst of a birthday party for her seven year old. It’s a weird situation – Noa doesn’t know why she’s there. She feels awkward being there, but she’s a natural. She connects with kids and it is a beautiful thing. Because for Noa – it’s the parenting that she didn’t get.

And she wants to be better. I can respect that.

Melanie wants Noa to be the lead in a film – a film about a young mother. She invited her to the party, because she wanted to see how she would be around kids. And she offers Noa the role. It would be three months in Morocco.

Melanie says that it is a passion project – which is always a double edge sword. Personally, I have been around enough of Hollywood to know that passion projects are not always passion projects. It really depends. But if it is truly one, then it would be the most amazing thing for Noa to be a part of.

Noa needs a break out role. One that is hard and gritty and gets people to think about who she is outside of the kid born into money and privilege. She needs people to look at her with the respect and love that she wants from them. She wants them to see her as a hard worker,because she is.

Celebrity doesn’t mean that you are lazy. Celebrity is a lot of work. Not only physically, but emotionally. Your life suddenly isn’t yours and everything you do is for public consumption. So how do you draw the line between celebrity, and being the person that the world thinks that you are and the person that you truly want to be.

And for Noa taking the role, it’s a great thing. But for her to think that Daniel can drop his life and just go with her? I want her to respect his life as much as he’s trying to respect hers.

I feel like Noa is trying to find a way to balance this – because it really is a different life than she expected. She didn’t expect to fall for Daniel – but she’s really traveling down that road.

And that road is terrifying.

DANIEL AND THE REAL DANIEL

When you are with someone with more notoriety then you people ask for you to be who you are with. But you need to be who you are.

Daniel doesn’t want to someone that he is not. He finds that his biggest strength is being who he is.

Vanessa texts Daniel and tells him that she’s upset that he sent her manager to buy him off. And Daniel stands up for himself. Maybe the world that he thought he wasn’t prepared for – he’s not. When he asks Noa what she thinks, she reminds him of the hard truth. She’s going to be the one that they come after.

It’s a rude awakening, but the truth.

Whatever Daniel has done – whatever he does – it all falls on her. It’s a sad reality, but it is reality. When you are around a celebrity, it’s hard enough – but when you date one – be sure that you are in love and that your skeletons can come out.

Because the skeletons will be brought out from wherever they are buried. And sure, Daniel doesn’t realize that. But it’s not just about him. It’s about everyone he’s ever known, anyone who would have any power to speak about him.

It’s a sad truth, but his life suddenly became open for public consumption. His life and his family’s life is no longer just his. And Noa had every right to remind him of that.

He needs to hear it.

FINALLY HEARD

The thing about Rafael is that sometimes he is wrong – but he always tries to adjust and correct himself, to be there for his kids. When he sees what his kids want – he wants more than anything to be supportive of those dreams.

Like when he changes the storage closet into a recording studio for Mateo.

I cried. Full on burst out in tears cried.

All a kid wants to know is that they are believed in, and for Rafael to do that without hesitation… he’s a good man.

But Natalie and her Mom – well that is a different story. She thinks that she needs to run to Daniel, but I find that Mateo is this man that is more honorable and kind and serious than we all give him credit for.

Mateo wants to be the guy that protects his sister and is there for her. And that is honestly one of the kindest things in the world. But for Natalie – she just wants the world to see that she’s still the same.

I wonder why it’s so easy for Mr. Garcia to see the error of his ways, but Mrs. Garcia can’t see the way that she reacts is an error. The truth is – the kids – all three of them are discovering who they are.

“Life is always changing. That’s how we know we are alive.”

OTHER THOUGHTS

• Daniel reminding Noa that she has to adjust as much as he does is so important. He’s not willing to back down from loving her and for her I think that is a sense of comfort.
• The reporter telling Vanessa that Noa flirted. with. Daniel right before the proposal. Lord, please don’t let her change. We know angry Vanessa isn’t a good thing.
• NEXT WEEK LOOKS INTENSE. SHIT IS GETTING REAL!