Speechless – T-TR-Training D-A-Day

By starrymag | October 24, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

After chickening out several times, Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) finally has the talk with Ray (Mason Cook). Ray assures him that he and Taylor are far from thinking about sex but is flattered he thought they were close to taking it to that level.

 

The next morning, Maya (Minnie Driver) is all dressed up, as she and Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) are going to train the new aides. Ray gives Jimmy a pen as a thank you token “from one man to another.” Jimmy tells Maya what he did, thinking she’ll be impressed, but Maya is a little upset he didn’t give JJ (Micah Fowler) the talk first since he’s the older brother. Jimmy defends himself, saying it’s not a matter of cerebral palsy but the fact that Ray currently has a girlfriend. However, Jimmy promises to fix things and give JJ the talk too.

 

Jimmy takes JJ on a camping trip in order to do this. He starts giving him the talk, but JJ tells him he already knows about sex. Jimmy isn’t surprised, knowing JJ has probably learned everything from the internet. He tells JJ to let him know if he ever has any questions and JJ catches him off guard, asking if he’ll ever be able to have a wife and kids and take care of a family. Jimmy says he can do anything he sets his mind to, and JJ is disappointed at his sugarcoated answer.

 

Jimmy suggests they take a walk to get more marshmallow sticks, but JJ is determined to go alone. If Jimmy says he can have a family, surely he can handle picking up sticks. Jimmy reluctantly allows him to go off, clearly worried. He strategically leans some sticks in plain view on a tree trunk, and JJ sees him. Insulted that Jimmy doesn’t trust him, JJ asks to go home.

 

Jimmy uses the outhouse before hitting the road, but a tree trunk falls in front of it and blocks the door. Despite Jimmy’s warning JJ runs off to find help. He makes it down a huge hill and finds a park ranger who helps move the trunk to rescue Jimmy.

 

That night, Jimmy gives JJ a more sincere talk. Jimmy admits that there are some things JJ can’t do, but there are some things he can’t do either. Although it’s difficult for him to imagine JJ being able to be a father, it was also difficult for him to imagine JJ at a mainstream school and spending an entire summer at camp. Jimmy doesn’t know what the future holds, but JJ is an amazing son and has come pretty close to doing everything he’s set his mind to so far. JJ thanks Jimmy for being honest with him.

 

At school, Ray hides behind Dylan (Kyla Kenedy), convinced that Brandon (Felix Avitia) is jealous of him. Dylan tells him he’s not jealous, he just wants to senselessly bully him. Dylan goes over with the intention of telling Brandon to stop messing with Ray, but when she sees bats fly out of Ray’s locker and a bird fly out of his backpack, she ends up impressed by his creativity and they strike up a flirtation.

 

Dylan invites Brandon to come over to her house and torture Ray with her. Dylan tells Ray that Brandon doesn’t like him because he’s in band—Ray isn’t even in band, and Brandon’s irrationality makes him all the more intriguing to Dylan. Dylan thinks she might even be in love.

 

The next day at school, Brandon bails on a prank they had planned for Ray. Brandon is starting to think Ray is actually kind of cool and wants to bully other people, leaving Dylan heartbroken. Ray doesn’t like seeing her so down and dresses up like a band kid to try and coax Brandon into bullying him again, but he has moved on to torturing some other nerd.

 

Maya and Kenneth’s class doesn’t start out well. Although they’re enthusiastic, the new aides don’t pay attention to their lessons and are more concerned with vacation days than helping kids. Maya storms into Dr. Miller’s (Marin Hinkle) office, demanding that she hire qualified aides. When Dr. Miller tells her she can’t do that, Maya is determined to make them all quit.

 

Maya starts training them military-style, yelling at and mocking them. They don’t seem to be very intimidated, still just wanting to get their checks. Maya tells Kenneth they’re all hopeless, sharing her plan to get them all to quit. Kenneth doesn’t think this is the right method and wishes Maya would give them a chance. He leaves her alone, not wanting any part of her strategy.

 

Maya puts them through ridiculous challenges like climbing up to a high window, doing her housework, and brushing their teeth with another person’s toothbrush. They tell Maya they won’t quit because Kenneth promised them it would be worth it. Maya storms over to Kenneth’s house, furious about him sabotaging her sabotage.

 

On her drive home, Maya sees the aides attempting to climb the huge window she asked them to and realizes they do care after all. Maya goes back to Kenneth’s house and begs him to help her teach them. He agrees, and they all successfully complete their training before being paired up with students that mesh with their personalities. One of them tells Maya that Kenneth was right—he told them she was tough but also the best mother he’d ever met.