My Top Five Least-Favorite “My Two Dads” Episodes
(As always, these are just my opinions. You may think these are great. Ain’t no shame in that!)
I should love this episode. Nicole learns a lesson, the dads learn a lesson, everyone hugs at the end, and I cry like I’m PMSing. My issue with this episode, though, is that Nicole doesn’t act like herself. Every decision she makes in this episode feels like something Shelby or Nina would do, or some other teenage girl, but not Nicole. She’s always been consistently smart and self-aware, possibly more so than other girls her age, but in this episode she acts like a love-sick puppy. She’s writing bad poetry, she’s sulking in her room, and generally isn’t in character. She’s dated boys that were “bad for her” in other episodes, but always in an obvious and aware “just doing this to get back at her dads” reason. (Heck, the VERY NEXT EPISODE, “You Can Count on Me” shows just how aware Nicole is, when Shelby wants to have sex with a boy she barely knows, and Nicole manages to talk her out of it.)
I also feel like this episode didn’t impress upon Nicole, or the audience, the seriousness of her being fifteen and dating an nineteen year old. And this show was obviously before the present era where this is FAR more taboo, but I feel like the boy should have made the point that what they were doing, even just by kissing, was HIGHLY illegal. I still like elements of this episode, especially the message that Nicole’s dads will always love her, no matter how many mistakes she makes, so it’s not a total loss and that’s why it’s #5. But still not one of my favorites.
Again, for the most part, this episode is actually alright. It’s more the second half I don’t like than the first. Nicole goes on a date and has her first kiss, something that makes her dads very uncomfortable. After they send Cory to her room to spy on her, they catch them in a very awkward “not what it looks like” scenario. One in which the dads definitely overreact, but I can’t exactly blame them entirely. It did look bad.
After Nicole explains herself, with the Judge as a mediator, the dads realize they should probably learn more about the teenage girl experience. So, they read a book? They talk to moms of Nicole’s friends? NOPE! They decide to go to a “Female Sexual Awakening” seminar (how they thought this would be about puberty is beyond me). And, of course, they act like absolute pigs. With Michael saying a shockingly inappropriate line that I refuse to repeat and I’m surprised they got away with. The lesson of this episode seemed to be more about “men will act like men, women will act like women, and no one should try to do anything different.” The talk they have with Nicole at the end was fairly decent, where they make a vague attempt to say “you can come to us about anything,” but they’ve had better family moments.
I like the overall ATTEMPTED lesson behind this episode, but I don’t truly feel like Michael learned anything, which was what the episode was trying to do.
Nicole begins to think that she shouldn’t act as smart as she is because “boys don’t like smart girls.” Shelby is the one who impresses this on her, but Nicole actually is more influenced by the way her dads talk about their boss, Karen (more on her later in the list). Nicole ends up asking her dads to let her drop back into normal literature instead of being in the advanced class, which they allow, before realizing why she’s done it. Michael’s attitude towards his boss left a bad taste in my mouth, and I really felt like he didn’t change hardly at all, and the room for self-reflection on his part was not taken advantage of.
The episode felt like it ended on a more “agree to disagree” message with Michael and Nicole, which I didn’t really like. Other episodes have done this better, in my opinion, such as “Dirty Dating,” showing that her dads are still the parents and still in charge, but should also always consider Nicole’s feelings and opinions.
For those that don’t know, this is the series finale, and most would agree that it was not satisfying in the slightest. Though I can’t find a lot of background information on this, I have a feeling that the creators were told halfway through Season 3 that they wouldn’t be picked up for another season. Characters that got more of a relationship arc were suddenly rushed together for the sake of a happy “heterosexual” ending.
Sarah just happens to be having her wedding in New York, and Joey goes to stop her from getting married. Which actually works! He then makes an uncharacteristically abrupt decision to leave Michael and Nicole and move to San Francisco to be with Sarah and Gracie. And no matter which way you lean on the “are they?/aren’t they?” thing with Michael and Joey, most can see Joey was very against leaving Nicole in “Bye Bye, Baby” (one of Joey’s best episodes). And though Michael has his own love interest at this point (fuck if I can even remember her name), it was all very weirdly abrupt. I’ve only seen the finale once, and once was enough for me.
Remember when I said in another post that this show can be sexist as hell? Well, this is the crowning jewel of these episodes. Michael and Joey have recently been rehired by Mr. Kelcher to run a financial magazine. At first, we think Michael is going to be the boss of their department, but it turns out both men have a new boss named Karen. One that they, but especially Michael, treat like absolute garbage.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with showing workplace sexism in the media; it’s a very real issue, and when handled correctly, can be entertaining and informative. (“Anchorman” does this really well, in my opinion.) But in this episode, our favorite boys are shown to be absolute pigs. And this is never shown to be the “wrong” or “bad” thing to be. They’re seen as right, and they never get any comeuppance. I found no redeemable qualities in this episode and I am quite comfortable throwing the whole thing away. It was the cream of the crap!
* The God of Love: Overall a VERY uncomfortable episode. The whole segment with Nicole talking to Joey’s nude date (AND THE DADS LETTING HER) made me want to barf.
* Crushed: (see my feelings on “Love and Learn.” But with less “meh” enjoyment.)
* The Wedge & Fallen Idol: Solidly fine episodes, I just truly couldn’t care less about Joey’s rockstar friend.
* Who’s Night is it Anyway? & Stupid Macho Guy Time: Jesus, what is with the women in this show? These were bad episodes that make Michael and Joey look like horrible idiots.
