Episode Discussion: Setting A President

[Ub3rD4n]

Once again, loved the episode. Especially how it's mostly from the point of view of Frankie. Not that I have anything against Bloo, I just hate how he's the centrepoint of almost every episode. I know WHY he is, it's cause he's freakin' awesome, in a way that produces a lot of comedy, but still.....

But yeah, I liked the way Frankie won out without it being contrived or devoid of humour And, though Mr H was not portrayed in the best of lights, he was shown to be truly sympathetic at the end.

Ub3rD4n says: three thumbs up!

[Major Abbey]

(First of all, sorry if I wasn't supposed to bump this thread)

This is my favourite episode for a number of reasons. First, it's always good to see an episode where Frankie has a good role - and here she shares the spotlight with another of my favourites, Mr Herriman, and it's a great episode for both. Frankie finally gets some respect from the IFs and we see just how important Herriman's job is to him. As some other people have said, this made him more of a sympathetic character than he's usually portrayed.

And, to top it off, it's funny. The debate, the conversation at the dinnertable ("oh, come on, that's just ridiculous"), everything... I just love this episode.

[Lynnie]

Nah, don't worry about bumping an old thread as long as you have something relevant to add, which I think you did a good job at doing.

I really like this episode too, but there's always been something that bugs me about it. And that's the very end where Frankie gives the job as House President back to Mr. H. I mean, the house voted for her, they wanted her to be president. And in running for president she should have realized she would be committed once elected. It would be like whoever was elected president of a country to suddenly hand over the job to the president they had just replaced, without consulting the country's people. It's just not ethical.

I of course am not saying Frankie was "bad" in doing what she did. She couldn't have been able to survive with the salary she was making now. But with Madame F being her grandma and the employer, you'd think she could just talk to her and come to some kind of barter. I believe Madame F would have understood and given Frankie the pay she deserved. That would have made more sense than for Frankie to hand over the keys back to Mr. H. It didn't feel very in character for her either.

I would also have loved to see Frankie in a much more pleasurable job than the job she holds now, which is primarily cooking and cleaning. Even in the future, if she had kept her job, I imagine she's like me and would end up doing some cooking and cleaning anyway because she wants to help out and/or it's just simply the responsible thing to do. So it didn't have to change the story or her character at all.

Those are just my thoughts on the matter.

[Major Abbey]

Personally, I thought she gave the job back to Mr H. simply because the job really was all he had. It wasn't ethical, but it was more of a charitable decision on her behalf.

I suppose some people could say that she only gave it back because the salary was lower, but I don't think that was the case; as you've pointed out, she could have just talked to Madame Foster about it. I think she gave the job back to Mr H. because she saw what a hard time he was having at the supermarket. IFs like him weren't created to pack bags. Of course Frankie was doing a better job; heck, I'd have voted for her if I were in the house.

I'd like to think that, once he got the job back, Herriman took some of what was being said into account and stopped treating all IFs like they're the same. But since this is Herriman we're talking about, that's probably not very likely.

[Lynnie]

You have a good point there. I can easily believe she gave his job back to him because she could clearly see how unhappy he was at the supermarket. It's just that seeing how low the salary was is what broke the camel's back, and then her last statement "You deserve every penny it pays" with a sly smirk that leans me more toward the salary being the main reason she gave it back. Although it's in character for her to get sly and sneaky with Mr. H, I thought it was out of character for her to basically turn her back on the rest of the house like that because they're the ones who voted for her. I don't in the least look down on her for that, I just think the episode's ending could have been thought through a little better. That just didn't feel like "Frankie" to me.

[KazooBloo]

Not a fan of this episode. Gotta feel bad for Mr. H here.