Date of airing: May 25, 2020 (ABC)
Nielsen ratings information: 2.235 million viewers, 1.5/4 in Households, 0.4/2 with Adults 18-49, 0.2/2 with Adults 18-34, 0.6/3 with Adults 25-54
This is the perfect endpoint for anyone who stuck with the show, just to see where it will go and realized that the direction the show took wasn’t exactly for them. The final act of the episode had a few conclusions to a couple of stories, with Noa retaining control over her company, and Natalie and Mari burying the hatchet (or whatever the Cuban equivalent of a hatchet is), which could almost mean that the next hour will come along with a couple of new storylines threading their way through the season finale, if this episode already hasn’t established those stories. In the meantime, THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY will show the viewers what the premise of the series looks like from the point of view of a separated couple. Here are the “Baker” stories and there are the “Beauty” stories, and how long will it take for the two to merge again and for Daniel and Noa to realize that they might be the one for each other? It’s certainly season finale material (I just hope it isn’t an engagement, because at this point it would be too obvious and a silly final moment of the season, despite the circle that would be closed), so THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY had some time to focus on how Daniel and Noa go through their lives without each other, and to show how much their love and attraction for one another has affected their lives. It’s a nice idea to go into the next phase of the show with, which is why I hope the writers weren’t blowing it.
In a way, this episode already had Noa and Daniel separated, they only needed an entire day to get to see each other and look each other in the eye to realize what they must do right now. And while separated, the two central characters were dealing with their own dramas, making the audience see that their lives are wholly different from each other. Daniel gets arrested in the morning, yet still has somewhat of a great day in hindsight. On the other side of town, Noa is battling against her father about control of the company, and sheds a tear for her realization that she never really had a father in Gideon, and that he might only exist to scheme some money off of his daughter for his failing businesses. Daniel’s family proves that they love each other and that you can overcome conflicts at the end of the day, but on the other side of town, Noa’s family is not who she thought was her family, and while the biological family is broken off of her life, her real family currently lies in a hospital with cancer. Daniel’s day could have ended perfectly, with Noa in his arms and on his lips, and able to forget that the entire day has happened – he had hope. Noa ended the day, knowing that her heart is going to break into pieces, because she has never been around this great family love Daniel has experienced.
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| Daniel is a hot commodity in jail. |
This episode made it crystal clear for those in the back of the room who haven’t listened: Daniel and Noa couldn’t be more different. They are yin and yang, and somehow they still ended up in a summer romance together. How they are going to work out is questionable, and probably an element the show was living off of at this moment. It’s the will-they/won’t-they part of the show, even though they have been dating since the beginning.
As expected, Natalie was unable to be the rebellious daughter to a confronting, possibly controlling, mother, because Natalie never seemed to have had a bad bone in her body, so all she could do was just skip school and spend a great day with her girlfriend. And I’m glad that Mari brokered peace between her and her daughter, because if this story had continued until the season finale, then maybe Rafael didn’t know his wife as much as he thought he did when he said that she never had a bigoted bone in her body.
Besides, the romance between Amy and Natalie has been developed with this episode, and somewhat resembles that of Daniel and Noa: It’s a fun summer romance at the moment, with the difference that both have the same status in life and Amy doesn’t have a backstory. I mean, what are Amy’s parents thinking about their daughter dating a Cuban girl? Where are Amy's parents? The episodes so far made it seem like Amy isn’t in the closet at all, but because she has always been a plot device in Natalie’s life, the writers haven’t bothered giving Amy depth. And if they wanted to keep the romance fresh and new and exciting, then maybe it would have been time now to showcase who Amy is as a person. Giving her a backstory alone would give me grounds to not call her a plot device any longer.
As expected, Mateo and Vanessa finally shared a kiss. Of course, it happened on the day she was having a nice understanding, and maybe a bit of a flirt, with her ex-boyfriend. Now I believe that Vanessa may become involved in a love triangle with two men (who, and this is kind of funny, are brothers), which could turn out to be an enjoyable piece of storytelling. Granted, it would take away from Vanessa becoming her own character, independent from the Garcia family life, but because she always considered herself part of the family (and even Natalie’s bigger sister), it only seemed logical that she would stick around. The writers even spelled it out for the viewers and gave Vanessa a logical reason why she would always stick with the Garcia family. I am still a Vanessa/Mateo shipper though, even if I’m intrigued by the love triangle as a whole. As long as it’s a plot device to bring a conflict between Daniel and Mateo, I’m in for that, similar to how Noa brought a conflict between Daniel and his family, regarding his future with the family and in the bakery. The potential sounds very stereotypical, but it almost guarantees for Mateo to become a serious character in the process, at the same time Noa has become a serious and emotional character.
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| Let's kiss and create even more drama! |
Lewis ending the board meeting by falling unconscious and into the hospital served the necessary amount of emotion to keep me invested in the show. Especially the deepened relationship between Noa and Lewis was touching, as it not only gave him a lot of character depth, but also potential for either of them to fight for the other in a future conflict. I almost shed a tear in unison with Lewis when Noa told him she considered him more of a father than her actual father. Yes, it’s a relationship that has never been established on the show before, but it gives Lewis purpose as a character and it gives Noa a different relationship to work hard on keeping alive. Besides, Lewis’s story was a great way to bring some of the acting chops out of Nathalie Kelley. She is warming up to the character she is portraying, getting better at it with every episode. She’s still somewhat below average for standard broadcast network television acting, but at least I’m not thinking of her as a bad actor any longer.
