‘Grand Crew’ Recap: ‘Wine & Children’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

GRAND CREW -- "Wine & Children" Episode 205 -- Pictured: (l-r) Charles Parnell as Franklin, Nicole Byer as Nicky, Echo Kellum as Noah -- (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Grand Crew’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

​It is genuinely fascinating how we view dating and dating traditions in our modern world. Simply because… what we expect and demand from dating… is quite old fashioned in nature. Which is strange because in 2023, dating websites and the open nature of the world should denote looser views on dating. But that simply isn’t the case. For people still hold to a need to be married by a certain age, and they still have high expectations for their partner, and what traits they should exhibit from a physical and psychological and even financial standpoint. Not to mention, there are stringent ideas we apply to how people should handle dating if they’re a single parent or in their later years. Since there is a mantra that single parents shouldn’t ever date because only the child matters or that people in their twilight years should forget about love if they’ve lost their partner along the way, because that somehow sullies what they had.
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All of which are genuinely silly views. Because love is love, and it knows no bounds and abides by no rules. And we as a modern society should forget about setting a target date for when we find it, so we don’t feel pressured and panicked over not having ‘The One’ in our lives. Not to mention, we shouldn’t have specific expectations of who they should be. We should just want them to be good people that treat us right and make us happy so genuine love can blossom and of course… people should be near someone that matters regardless of their age or the life they’ve led. Because everyone deserves love, and those wondrous truths about love are top of mind today… simply because this week’s episode of Grand Crew on NBC, explored them in wondrous detail. A feat that ‘Wine & Children’ accomplished by way of several engaging journeys.

One of which, involved Sherm. Who met a wonderful woman while behind the wheel and decided to date her regardless of the fact that she was a single mother. For he believed that one should just… take a chance and see where it leads and well, that brought forth some funny moments for certain. Since it turned out her son was Sherm’s age and that made some of the dates awkward at first, but eventually led to several surprises. Such as the fact that Sherm became friends with the man and that the relationship ended. Just because they weren’t compatible. But Sherm did a get new buddy out of it and taught us all a valuable lesson. In that, one cannot discount single parents as viable partners because you simply don’t know where dating a single parent might lead. It could bring you the love of your life, or a new bestie. So, take the chance and understand that sometimes, single parents looking to date is part of the game and to be ready for that and open to it, since that is how life goes in matters of love.

Speaking of being open minded, well that applied to Nicky and Noah’s journey in this tale. Since their father wanted back in the game, and was eagerly looking to find women to date, and that didn’t sit right with Nicky. Because she believed that there should be no replacement for her late mother, and that pushed her to pull Noah into a detailed plan to stop dad’s newfound dating ways. Which led a slapstick sequence where they worked to sour dad’s opinion on his current interest. One that backfired and taught Nicky… to let her father do his thing. Because he wasn’t looking for a replacement, just companionship and a great time and there’s nothing wrong with that. Because that was what his heart needed, and she needed to respect that and respect the fact that he was an in demand ‘Zaddy’. But what mattered more here is that this hammered home the lesson that matters of the heart should be open to anyone and everyone regardless of age or past, because we all need to feel wanted, desired, and loved. 

Yet while those two plotlines alone could have carried this tale, there were more explorations of modern love to be found here. Since Anthony and Fay continued to explore their physical attraction to one another… in front of Wyatt’s many plants no less when the opportunity presented itself. But they wanted to keep that secret and quiet when they didn’t need to. For sometimes that’s the only way to work through what we want and to discover if a partner is right for us, and there should be no shame in indulging in that attraction and seeing where it goes and really, all of this made for one beautiful tale. One that really did a great job of hammering home the stigmas about love we need to leave behind. So that people can just live their lives and be happy and not worry about how matters of the heart are perceived to others, and hopefully that message is expressed more often in popular media down the line, so that love can truly find freedom in our world. Until next time.

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