Bob Nelson (4)

Called a 'comedy' by some, I was most struck by the status of elderly in our society, especially those with some form of dementia. Doesn't give enough insight into Dave's actions: if his father was pretty absent throughout his life (due to alcohol, not physical abandonment), why is he treating his father so nice? I also couldn't quite reconcile the apparent age of Dave (30's?) with the decripit physical condition of his parents. I was surprised by the bawdy speech of the mother, & felt it partly explained the Dad's escapism. And also surprised that Dave kept being shocked by it; hadn't he heard it all his life? Or has his mother also slipped into her own form of dementia? She was obviously self-focused. At one point we find out that the dad was shot down in Korea, & it was such a non sequitur that it felt it was added to explain his behavior in a way acceptable to all the veteran viewers.… (meer)