Cyclone139

Oh, wow, that made me cry! Why would they cut such a beautiful moment from the episode? (I know it was probably for timing, but even so...) Thank you for posting, Kimberly.

FoxPhile

Thank you, Kim! I so wanted to see a scene of them out on a date and this did not disappoint. I love that they are all dressed up and out for a stroll on the town, holding hands. It's just too romantic and sweet.

Cyclone139

Re-watched. This isn't one I ever really choose to watch so thanks for the prompt!

Things I really liked (that I didn't mention before):

- The opening scene where Cabe leaves the gifts on everyone's desks. I love that Allie wished they could have spent the night together, but understood why he didn't.

- Toby's explanation to Paige about why they were all so suddenly intent on saving the dog. He was in the middle of it himself, but he could still see what they were doing.

- Sylvester's outburst when Carson was giving his evidence. His objection was perfectly acceptable, but the way he ended with "And he's being a jerk!" was so Sly!

- Toby's threat to the builder he stole the supplies from. "I can kind of box"! Nice to see a little continuity reference from Season 2.

- Cabe's explanation when he took the stand for why he did what he did. "I helped another human being" and "I was raised to do what's right" and all the references to his father. The therapy storyline was so good and it showed us just how much family means to Cabe.

- I loved the scene where Walter was talking to the dog through the grate. Walter finds it so hard to be open with other people about his feelings, but he found it easy to talk to Monty I suppose because he knew the dog wouldn't question him, or judge him. The way he reassured Monty when he had to leave him was very sweet.

- I'm now wondering what the details were of the community service Toby and Florence had to carry out? (I think I can feel a fic brewing...)

- The final scene with the gifts was so touching, but Cabe's line to Paige leapt out at me this time. "The one thing that gave me comfort was that they'd have you."

If only they'd been able to keep the deleted scene with Cabe and Allie on their date in the final edit. We just didn't get enough Cabe and Allie scenes.

WeBuiltThePyramids

This was one of my favorite season four episodes. One of my favorite gags of the whole series is people being skeptical about saving the dog, but once Paige shows them the dog they're like "oh yeah we need to save him." So relatable.

This was also the episode I realized I liked Florence. When she and Toby are held up by the cops and he asks her to take one for the team and she's like "um look dude I've already said I'm NOT on this team......but fine." and then they just book it the heck out of there, I was like "haha I would totally watch an entire show that's just Toby and Florence running from the cops...holy crap I like Florence."

Cyclone139

Reading back through this thread, this episode was definitely the one that changed our opinions!

After seeing the trailer (but before the ep aired) you said:

"I'm honestly just annoyed that Flo is there. I'm over her."

Then I said (after seeing the episode):

"I have to say (and I'm surprised I'm saying this) I think Florence is growing on me."

WeBuiltThePyramids

It's funny to me that I think the Thanksgiving episode was supposed to make us like her, but in reality it was an episode where she wasn't the focus, but was on the side, which I think was more effective because it showed us how she could work within the group.

Cyclone139

It's Raining Men (of War) certainly fleshed out her character and gave us enough of her back story that we could start to understand her, but none of that really made her very likeable.

WriterFreak001

You see, there were times I liked her up until the point where Walter dreamt of her as his wife when he was unconscious. I know they explained that in the following episodes, but they still could have done something different with Florence and end up with the same outcome (of Walter saving his mind in his dream).

I did like Flo's line about the dog looking cute as a solid reason to help him. but other than that, I'm not exactly sure what value she brought to the team other than to stir things up (like Tim).

Cyclone139

I think if she'd have been part of the team from the start her character would have had far more value - as long as they didn't pair her up with Sylvester because then it would've become a show about three couples (and the writers would, no doubt, have given us loads more frustrating relationship drama... yawn!)

She was different to the others - even Walter - and her perspective on situations could have brought another interesting dynamic to cases and storylines. She also has a huge backstory that was never explored.

But you're right, she was basically used as another Tim and really she deserved much better.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Florence definitely had an outsider's perspective - she thought like them, obviously, but she also didn't have the years of history with them that would cloud her judgement in certain situations (sometimes familiarly is, of course, a bad thing, because you're gonna be biased). It's also hard to say what she could or couldn't have brought to the team when we really didn't know much about her. Are her parents alive? Did/does she have a good relationship with them? Where did she grow up? Where did she go to school, or does she not have a chemistry degree and she just worked her way up somehow? We don't even know why she doesn't like the nickname Flo - is it because nicknames imply familiarity and intimacy and she's either unfamiliar or uncomfortable with that type of closeness? Is it because it was used by someone who bullied her? Is it because of the whole "Aunt Flo" thing (which anyone who hasn't read ACOP, I make a joke about that and I was a little too proud of it)? Does she just really not like the Smash Mouth song?

Now she may have dropped info about parents or siblings and I'm just not remembering, but honestly IMO that would also prove we never really got to know her because it would have been mentioned in passing or it would have not carried through, i.e. we don't see lasting effects on her. Even before we met Patrick, we knew how his lack of presence in Happy's life impacted her. We had a very emotional scene that was related to Veronica that also revealed to us that Paige's father is dead. Megan was consistently mentioned even years after her death, right down to the series finale, and the way her life and death impacted Sly and Walter. Any backstory from Florence was not given any emotional weight. It's hard to both relate to her and learn about her without that information.

Cyclone139

The only real backstory we had for her was regarding the way her company was taken from her by her so-called friends. We also know she was bullied at school, but that's about it, certainly nothing about her family unless I've forgotten.

I'm trying to flesh out her backstory a little more in a fic that I'm working on now and I'm hoping I can write something believable for her (and I'm hoping I can get her voice right!)