Written by Allison Lips
Sean Saves the World finally showed it’s potential last night in “Date Expectations.” Unfortunately, there is no hope for the show. It will be resigned to one of two fates: cancellation or becoming one of those shows that manages to stay on the air despite no one watching.
“Date Expectations” was a mediocre episode, yet somehow manages to be the best one so far. Sean (Sean Hayes) and his mother, Lorna, (Linda Lavin) admitted that they overstep the boundaries that they should have with their children. However, it’s too little too late. As Sean’s date in last night’s episode said, everyone in their family is “obsessed with each other,” which makes the show hard to watch.
Lorna may be a caring mother, but she doesn’t need to constantly barge through the front door of Sean’s apartment uninvited just because her son doesn’t answer his phone. To make matters worse, she’s also raised her son to stalk his daughter, Ellie (Samantha Isler), more than she stalks Sean. He actually went as far to install a tracking device on Ellie’s cell phone. Both Lorna and Sean write this off as a result of being single parents, but it’s creepy and annoying.
When Sean isn’t dealing with one member of his family smothering another, he has to play along with his boss’s belief that Sean has a crush on him. His boss, Max, believes Sean has a crush on him because Sean asked Max’s road kill magic 8 ball, if a handsome man would be at his door tonight. Max assumed that the handsome man was him. It’s not. Everyone knew it’s not, except for Max.
Even though, Max isn’t gay. Sean has to play along and act like he has a crush on Max, but he knows it’s never going to work. Because there’s absolutely no truth in Max’s suspicions, Sean half-heartedly compliments Max, which Max doesn’t notice. It’s awkward and uncomfortable to watch. Max fails to understand anything about his employees, yet is convinced he knows everything and is in tune with their feelings.
There’s no saving Sean Saves the World. Ellie is the only likable character. She’s the most down to earth and points out that her family is crazy. Sean seems torn between being part of the craziness and acknowledging it, which is frustrating because he rarely rises above his mother’s level. Other than Ellie, the main characters need to be developed past their current caricatures and be written as actual people, who aren’t annoying or do things that are unsettling. Since this is the third episode, the writers have already had their chance, so it looks like they blew it.
