Life is complicated, but it truly gets more complicated around the holidays. It feels as though every emotion, everything that you’ve been holding in, everything that you’ve been through, every memory that you wish didn’t define you.
It feels like on holidays, you start second guessing every move you’ve ever made. The way that family comes together is supposed to be a joyous time, but it feels as though what it always turns into is chaos. No matter Joe’s timeline there is always some level of chaos and it feels like there is always a spectrum of the chaos.
It’s kinda funny how holidays are supposed to be this happy time, but somehow they seem to bring out everything that family feels was ever done wrong.
And then there is the part of us that tries to cover up all of the things that we are feeling, but when you think about it, everything always bubbles to the top. The secrets that we keep, the feelings that we feel – they will all come out.
And when they do, you never know who will be in the path of the destruction.
MUSIC JOE
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t like Amy in this timeline. I don’t like how she’s dishonest. I don’t like how she manipulates things. I don’t like how she tries to act like she’s a victim when she’s made choices that have put her in the situation that she is in.
Joe is trying to figure out how to deal with the knowledge that Amy has cheated. He loves his wife and he knows that he has kept secrets, but he loves her. He loves her and would never cheat on her.
He needs space and as he’s pounding the drums to release his anger, Eric enters. Now, I love Eric in every timeline, but right now, he pisses me off. He has known Joe his whole life, they’ve been best friends forever. Here he is, trying to talk Joe into performing at Amy’s fundraiser and telling him that whatever the issue is, he can’t take sides, because he loves them both.
I do understand that it is an impossible situation, but I also understand loyalty. Eric was already on my shit list because he didn’t tell Joe any of his suspicions about Amy cheating. That’s just some bullshit.
Joe is a lot better than I am – because I would have come at Eric hard. But the thing is – Joe knows the meaning of loyalty and is there for his friend. Finding out your spouse is lying is hard and tries to give Joe advice. He tells Joe to think about what he wants, but Joe doesn’t know what wants. He just wants to get through Thanksgiving.
I do get why Eric didn’t want to take sides, but I also think that sometimes you have to.
I can’t believe that Joe still wants to go through with Thanksgiving, but he does. He’s trying so hard to hold his shit together, but when his sister arrives, he has to talk about it. Why? Because he told her about it. He may not anyone to know, but she reminds him that he needs to talk about it.
Therapy has taught her that.
Joe has to decide if he can forgive her and I don’t believe that is an easy choice. If anything it’s one of the most complicated choices that Joe could face. He doesn’t know what he wants and do any of us when a wound is that fresh? I may not agree with Celeste a lot, but she is right to tell him that he needs to make a decision, I just don’t feel that it’s fair that all of these people have a right to place pressure and a timeline on Joe. He knows that he needs to end things or move past it, but again, wound is fresh.
When the family arrives, everyone can see that there is something bothering Joe. Celeste tries to get him to pull his shit together, but he really is having a hard time doing just that.
Do you have that thing at Thanksgiving, where you go around the table and tell others what you are thankful for over the year? This family does – they even have a turkey that they hold while telling what they are thankful for.
And when it comes to Joe’s turn, his Mom thinks that she knows what he’s thankful for. It has to be his wife, right?
Moms know their kids and she can see that something is wrong. Joe doesn’t want to talk about it, you can see that all over his face. Luckily, he’s saved by the ring tone. Everyone involved with Any’s campaign gets an alert, Virginia Diaz has decided that she’s going to run for Congress.
Virginia sure is going to do everything that she can to punish Amy.
If I was Joe, I would have just lost my shit right there and not even entertained doing her fundraiser. But Joe, well, he’s trying to keep the peace.
The thing is that doing anything when you are in pain, you can’t always predict what your emotions are going to do.
Amy tries to make a public declaration of how much she loves Joe, but it comes across as manipulation. It makes me not like her even more. And doing that before Joe goes onstage and fucking with his emotions even more? Hard pass.
Joe breaks down on stage, tears filling his eyes. His life has been destroyed. Personally, I don’t think that he will ever get over his pain. They are broken – Amy and Joe.
Amy apologizes again when they are at home and personally I am over it. Apologies don’t change what she did. When Amy asks if they are broken – he says he doesn’t know but maybe they are.
And I have to applaud him for not being rude, cause most people would have torn into their spouse.
When Joe walks off, Amy checks her voice mail. Her doctor has left her a voice mail.
She’s pregnant.
NURSE JOE
We all knew that things would be complicated in this timeline with Jenny being gone to school. But I don’t think that any of them were prepared for exactly how complicated it is.
Jenny loves her family. That is evident. But she’s also gotta prove herself at school and her mean professor has given her a chance to intern on a case. This means not coming home for Thanksgiving.
Joe is so supportive of his wife and says it is not a big deal – that he gets it. Jenny does feel bad for not being there for her family and says that maybe it’s time to get Chris an aide. Joe should not have to be doing all of this on his own.
I think it’s great that Joe and Jenny see that they need help. Joe is quite snappy because he is tired. He even snaps at a nursing student in the break room at work.
Like any show, every moment has a purpose. And for Joe, that snapping at the nursing student (she took the last pumpkin spice pod), well she ends up interviewing for the aide position.
She’s enthusiastic, funny, and loves astronomy. Chris loves her and wants to hire her. Joe says that he should talk to Jenny, but seeing how Chris likes her, decides to give her a trial period.
Her name is Kinsley and to be honest she’s a little too enthusiastic for me. But she’s good with Chris and that is what matters. Kinsley says that she can start that day.
This is probably the least dramatic timeline. Everyone at Thanksgiving seems at peace and really joyful. Eric and Amy even announce that they are going to adopt.
Jenny is having a hard time, her professor wants her to be focused, but she is missing her family. She keeps rejecting Joes call and you can tell it is killing her.
Derek, dude from her office that I don’t trust shows up. He’s into Jenny, you can see it. The only thing that we’re thankful for when it comes to him is that he gets Jenny out of the office to be able to call her family back.
COP JOE
I think that everyone should be happy with their job. I don’t know that many people that would take a demotion in order to make themselves happy. I guess, climbing ladders don’t always make a person happy.
Amy is staying with Joe, as we all know. I don’t agree with her being there, cause again – I can’t stand her. In this timelines and the Music Joe timeline, she’s a manipulative liar who doesn’t think of anyone but herself.
I said what I said.
Amy is hanging with Joe’s Mom, cooking Thanksgiving dinner. She is trying to fit in, trying to show she’s thankful, but like I don’t know. I just don’t buy her performance.
Joe’s Mom is scared with Joe back out on the beat. She worries about him, the same way she worried about his Dad. She tells Amy not to worry, but how can she not? Amy really hasn’t thought about Joes job or the danger that he is in (at least that is the vibe I got). But then again, Amy doesn’t really think of anyone but herself.
Joe’s sister shows up, and she’s really not the same as Joe. She’s over the top. She’s honestly, too much. But it goes to show you that people are different and they perceive things differently.
And as if Celeste wasn’t a handful enough, Uncle Frank shows up and he’s pissed. He’s pissed that Amy is there. He’s pissed that Joe has gone back to walking the beat. Frank is pissed that he’s suspended. He’s also drunk so he’s taking shit out on Joe and Amy.
Joe’s Mom isn’t having it and tells Frank to watch it. But this makes Celeste laugh. She doesn’t understand how the family never really talks. They shut everything down.
Celeste doesn’t remember things the way that Joe or his Mom do. When Joe asks if she thinks this is funny, she’s like its a little funny. She thinks that it’s funny that Joe puts their on a pedestal. They all make him out to be something great, but Celeste doesn’t think that.
It’s been 21 years and they still have to do the turkey, tell their thanks. Their Mom is like the turkey means something to me, but Celeste doesn’t want it to be that way. The turkey has bad memories for her. Celeste is like Dad threw it at my head and even though Mom is like he never did that and she’s like your Dad wanted the best for you, Celeste isn’t having it.
Joe is like Dad did everything for you, trying to tell his sister in his own way to shut up. She’s like I know you all think he was perfect, but he wasn’t perfect for me.
It’s gotta be hard for anyone to hear anything negative, especially about someone you loved and someone who passed away.
In this version of Joes life, Celeste hasn’t gotten the help that she needs. And this whole family needs to heal. There has been mistake after mistake and they don’t communicate.
And then there is Joe, who is always trying to prove that he deserves to be alive, because he blames himself for his Dads death. Joe needs to heal, but he’s doing everything that he can to just move forward.
When he leaves the dinner and heads out for a drive with Amy, where he gets a call that one of the buildings at a place on his beat is on fire.
Of course he automatically heads there.
Joe is a hero, but I truly believe that everyone is in their own right. But Joe running into a burning building – I just can’t. I know that it falls in line with his personality, but I also don’t understand it. But then again, that’s why i am not a first responder.
But him stopping for a second before he does to tell Amy that he loves her? Please. She’s not worth your time.
I also don’t think that’s right – something Joe would do. I think that he would forget about everything else and run right in to save a kid. Amy wouldn’t be who he was thinking of.
But maybe that’s just me.
I just feel that Cop Joe would be thinking of protecting and serving first. And his feelings would take a backseat.
But then again maybe it’s my distrust and dislike for Amy that makes me feel that way. I really don’t like that character.
Ordinary Joe airs Monday nights on NBC.