Dr. Ken, Season 1, Episode 17: “Ken at the Concert”
Original airdate March 4, 2016.
Symptoms: Ken senses that Molly is pulling away from him, so in a bonding effort, he escorts her and her friends to an Emblem3 concert, where Molly tells him to wait in the car until the show’s over. On his way out, he meets some moms who introduce him to the mothers’ lounge, where he and his new friends trade stories about how their teenaged daughters are going through this parents-aren’t-cool phase. Dave has an accident at a birthday party, so Allison takes him to Welltopia for a tetanus booster. Dave, afraid of shots, locks himself in the exam room and refuses to come out. Damona decides to end her physical relationship with Pat.
Diagnosis: The Molly and Ken situation is a real issue that parents have to deal with, and I appreciate the attempt. The bizarre, unbelievable way it plays out, however, seems more than just slightly lazy, and Ken’s shenanigans at the concert are impossible to accept even from Ken. Yet the forced emotional payoff at the end actually somehow works, so maybe I don’t know anything. The real highlight is the interaction between Pat and Dave in Pat’s office. Just as the show appears to be taking away the relationship with Damona that makes him somewhat likeable, Pat finds the second-most unlikely character to connect with, and darn it if that doesn’t also work, against reasonable expectation. I’m tempted to say everyone got lucky with all three storylines, but it’s probably fairer to say that the cast, director, and writers cashed in on some good character development in recent episodes so that even a weak story has an effective payoff.
Prognosis: I honestly don’t know what to think. The show has built up a fair amount of goodwill for its characters, and characters are the most important thing in serial television. Is it possible that my fondness for Ken’s family and colleagues is strong enough that it doesn’t matter what the stories are anymore?
Rx: I still feel strongly that we need a really good Allison-centric story.
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In this week’s Post Show and Tell, Joz Wang and her guest co-host chat about “Ken at the Concert,” leaving home to go to college, and first concert experiences. Mine was Rush in 1985 on the Grace Under Pressure tour in Honolulu, something I’m still rather proud of (and still one of my favorite shows ever). I was in tenth grade.
Symptoms: When Molly introduces her new boyfriend to Ken and Allison, Allison is confronted with a confidentiality issue: the new boyfriend is the son of one of her patients. This is especially stressful because the patient unknowingly reveals to her that the boyfriend is cheating on Molly. In the Welltopia office, Pat tries to cozy up to Damona, Julie, and Clark in the hopes of receiving positive evaluations from them.
Prognosis: I’ve heard a lot of speculation about what Molly’s boyfriends would be like, if we ever got introduced to them, and I honestly have no opinion about this. Does it mean something that her boyfriend appears to be at least part Asian, and not full-on Caucasian? Would it have meant something if he’d been some other ethnicity? There’s a temptation, because of the cultural significance of Dr. Ken‘s existence, to overthink details like this. Details do matter a lot, and each is a decision toward creating the art of a television program. Still, can this boy just be a guy Molly likes, without outside-the-fourth-wall context? I say yes, although I’m open to other opinions.
Microsynopsis: Inspired by the tennis success of Michael Chang, Emery takes up the sport, with the enthusiastic support of his parents. He’s declared “a natural” by Billie Jean King, and Jessica envisions future wealth while Louis sees a catalyst for father-son bonding. Because of his new status as a possibly elite athlete, Emery is moved into Eddie’s bedroom, forcing Eddie to share a bunk with Evan. Eddie discovers that someone might be bullying Evan for POGs, so he and his friends take action.
Bad: …but I get the feeling that Evan hasn’t been well conceived, because this pyscho-ish Evan feels like a bad note. I’m not sure I have a good grip on who he is, but my image of him wasn’t this. Also bad: in less than a year, the Huangs have met Shaquille O’Neal, DMX, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Billie Jean King, and Scottie Pippin. Really?
Symptoms: Ken and Suzy are invited to a Welltopia doctor’s wedding. Suzy is reluctant to go, supposedly because she doesn’t care for weddings, but what she really doesn’t care for is Ken’s dancing at weddings: he’s a “selfish dancer.” Molly is pressed into sitting duty when Dave’s sitter has to cancel at the last minute. Molly has other plans, so without telling her parents, she hires a substitute sitter. Dave also has other plans, so he hires a fill-in (Fresh off the Boat‘s Ian Chen) for him, figuring the substitute sitter won’t know the difference. The Welltopia crew is invited to the same wedding, but Clark, Julie, and Damona show up at the wrong wedding, where Clark meets someone who sparks his interest.
Prognosis: Clark gets some good character development, and it’s always good to see the Welltopia group socializing outside the office. I’m still finding the plots generally not worthy of the characters. Perhaps this week it’s due to my bias against dancing humor, something that may not be anyone’s fault but my own. Still, although I didn’t find the story very amusing or entertaining, I enjoyed spending time with the characters, and any show that aspires to longevity needs to develop good characters, which Dr.Ken has lately been doing.
