Season 1, Episode 2
Date of airing: April 20, 2020 (ABC)
Nielsen ratings information: 2.823 million viewers, 1.9/4 in Households, 0.53/3 with Adults 18-49, 0.3/3 with Adults 18-34, 0.7/3 with Adults 25-54
teleplay by: Dean Georgaris, Becky Hartman Edwards
directed by: David Frankel, Steve Pearlman
Instead of focusing on spin-offs of THE BACHELOR franchise, maybe ABC should pump out a few of those serialized romantic comedies, because they seem to be worth a little more of my time. They are more lighthearted and fun than the reality dating television show with contestants who are only focused on upgrading their Instagram portfolio, and they could give the network a few opportunities to be a bit more serious with romantic stories. I don’t think that we’re watching THE BACHELOR and its spin-offs just to see who is falling in love with whom (although I’m sure we will celebrate when true love does indeed come out of that reality TV premise), but love in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic needs some reassurance that there is a love story out there which will lead to a happy end. THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY gives me that reassurance, while the current Bachelor seasons and spin-offs do the exact opposite.
In an incredibly convenient fashion, Noa Hamilton is celebrating her birthday, and to the surprise of her confidantes, she invites her newest best friend Daniel to the festivities, in the hopes to begin living a version of her life she may have been missing ever since she became a superstar. Daniel takes on that opportunity while at the same time trying to find a way to stay away from the girl who broke his heart, all while the birthday party itself gives Noa enough character depth to make her a more intriguing person for the show, one who is capable of shedding a tear when something tragic and emotional is happening in her life. At the end of another very successful evening together, Daniel and Noa go skinny-dipping, and she asked him, while probably having her hand down where third legs grow, if he wants to come to Puerto Rico with her. If that isn’t the beginning of a beautiful romance that is also being carried by its sexual attractiveness...
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| Obvious screenshot of an attractive woman in lingerie is obvious. |
This episode reminded me of the notion that THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY is a very simple show with a candied taste that only wants to do one thing: to please you. It’s the snack that gets baked in the oven, and it’s the snack you eat when you crave something that lets you melt for a quick second and then forget all about it, if you are one of those people that doesn’t curse their lives after having had a snack, needing to work out to remove the calories and carbs that have just been added to the body. THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY serves delicious snacks and after two episodes I can’t say that I’m already having enough of it, because it happens to be the right kind of snack I’m needing at the moment, although it’s simply too much of it at times. The premise seemed to be building towards good outcomes only, which means there will never be enough drama to cause huge conflicts between the characters – an idea that is needed during a pandemic where the crapshow is happening on an hourly basis. Granted, the show does have its conflicts, and with Noa’s backstory and Vanessa’s broken heart, the episode also delivered a couple of tears, but things are currently going quite well for the characters. The star food critic teased that his review will be glowing, Daniel and Noa had another fantastic day despite all the bullcrap they were going through, and even Natalie seemed to be in good spirits, even if her family has absolutely nothing to do with all of it. Making fictional friends seems to be a good palette cleanser for depression that comes up during a real-life pandemic.
I am wondering however if the show is only good because it happened to air during very dark times for humankind. Would it have struck a small nerve with me if it had premiered a year before the pandemic, when I didn’t care for happy-go-lucky television stuff with expected outcomes for certain stories? Has it struck a nerve with me, because I was actively searching out stuff that could bring a little smile to my face? THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY is still not an objectively great show, but while the acting got slightly better and the writers added some emotional value to the premise that makes it easier to connect with the characters, it isn’t necessarily a show that is going to keep folks entertained for years to come, or talking about it on the social media channels.
After all, THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY truly is predictable when it comes to stories: Of course, the star food critic would come with a good review (destroying the bakery after it made a ton of money would have been cruel for this lighthearted show). And of course, Noa would crave alone-time with Daniel to create the idea that she wants a normal life with a normal man by her side and normal friends keeping her company. And of course, Vanessa would think that she needed to up the ante to go up against the superstar rival for Daniel’s affection. Those are stories with turns that were never surprising, and because some of the stories led Daniel and Noa on the road to happiness, it proved that THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY is only interested in serving you all the sweet treats, and not mixing up your diet with bitter food.
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| The rich and famous are teary-eyed behind closed doors. |
What the show could do better was to bring some excitement into the lives of the Garcia family though. The baking order that almost went up in flames while the oven exploded was missing thrill, although I appreciated the depiction of a happy marriage between two characters in their 50s. Please, more of that! I also liked the fact that Natalie and Mateo didn’t go from one failure to the next, just so they can learn the comedic value of humiliation (her being chaperoned by authority figures while shopping for a swimsuit, him being berated for not fixing the oven – things that did not happen in this episode and I’m glad that was the case). The thing is just that all those positive experiences hinder the characters from developing into more mature personalities. After all, it took Noa to phone her ill mother for the audience to realize that there is darkness in her life and the tears that rolled down her face in this episode haven’t been the only ones. Not that it needs dark and emotionally driven backstories for the characters to develop, but something in that regard would help a lot to connect with them, and right now there is nothing to connect with Natalie and Mateo, especially after their days also ended on a positive note. She got a new friend, he saw how a crowd went wild to one of his demo tapes.
One final note I have though: Did Noa really put her hand on Daniel’s
crotch during the skinny-dipping scene? Apparently, the two were ready
to put their new relationship to the steamy level, because the water was
close to cooking during that scene. This time, climate change is not to be blamed.
