American Housewife - Getting Frank with the Ottos - Review: "100"

 On the monumental 100th episode of American Housewife, the Otto's find themselves facing some monumental conflicts with each other.

It is, appropriately enough, also the 100th episode of Franklin's podcast Getting Frank with Franklin. When he invites Katie to be a guest for the special episode, she suggests he get the whole family in on the interview fun. (And what fun it will be...bahaha!)

In the midst of the podcast making, each of the Otto's is also dealing with some struggles of their own. Anna-Kat wants to try out for the cheerleading team, but Katie, who not-so-discretely hides that she doesn't think Anna-Kat can make the team, suggests she become the school mascot instead. Yep, because that's every preteen girl's dream. Greg is up against a series of campaign attack ads by Principal Franklin, though he's planning to take the high road and just ignore them. Katie's taking a break from the vlog because of how much time it eats up. Oliver and Cooper are prepping for the launch of the app Oliver and Trevor have designed. And Taylor's still in the midst of figuring out her new feelings for Andre, and how they complicate her old feelings for Trip. Unsurprisingly, all these issues make their way into the podcast interviews!

Seriously, Franklin doesn't go easy. In fact, he's pretty darn evil when it comes to his interview topics. The topic for his discussion with Greg - why he has no backbone (as evidenced by his lack of response to Ablin's smear campaign). He quickly turns his talk with Oliver and Cooper to the subject of Cooper following Oliver around like a puppy and him having no interests of his own. For Taylor's piece, Anna-Kat takes the reins... and then she promptly tells Taylor "You a ho!." (In case it's not obvious, Anna-Kat's not too happy about losing her pony-loving friend Trip so Taylor can date a guy with more "mature" interests!) 

Following the disaster of an interview, Cooper finally blows up about not having his own interests and just pretending to like everything Oliver does. He tells Oliver he's done going along with everything Oliver wants. Greg, meanwhile, decides it's high time to grow a spine and stand up for himself. So, he decides to hire a new campaign manager..one who will push him to fire back at Ablin without hesitancy...Lonnie! And a now anxious Taylor decides to go out to lunch with Andre, where she's all but ready to pull the ripcord and admit her feelings...until Trip walks in...with a new girl by his side. Both Taylor and Trip awkwardly make excuses about why they're both seemingly on dates, and it becomes clear that Taylor's not as ready to admit her feelings to Andre as she thought she was.

Finally, it's time for Katie's big interview, and she goes in braced for anything. And sure enough, Franklin fires away, asking her why she quits every job she starts (party planning, lasagna, now vlogging.) And then Franklin accuses her of projecting her insecurities onto Anna-Kat by telling her not to try out for the cheer squad. And Franklin thinks those motherly shortcomings come from Kathryn, the queen of bad mothers herself. So, what have he and Anna-Kat done but invited her to visit! 

Anna-Kat and Franklin orchestrated the confrontation by inviting Kathryn to visit for Katie's birthday (which isn't for five more months, but Kathryn doesn't have the slightest clue about that!). Kathryn's not happy to hear that she's apparently the reason Katie passed on her habit of giving up to Anna-Kat. Kathryn insists that her habit of discouraging Katie was nothing like her own stepmother's habit of discouraging her. And thus, we find the source of the problem. So Kathryn, Katie, and Anna-Kat decided they need to confront that problem!

They video chat with Kathryn's stepmother Margaret (played by the late great Jessica Walter aka Mama Bluth). Kathryn tells Margaret that her own discouragement of Kathryn going to college harmed her life. Margaret's response...is to tell her to "get the *uck over it!" This leads to Kathryn telling Katie the same, which somehow leads to Katie realizing she shouldn't be discouraging Anna-Kat from trying new things. So, weirdly enough, problem solved thanks to Franklin?

Oliver, meanwhile, tells Cooper he needs to follow his own interests and pursue the thing that makes him happy - cooking! Thankfully there's a good culinary school right next to Harvard, so it looks like the two might not have to be so far apart in their future plans after all. 

Anna-Kat does try out for the cheerleading team and doesn't end up making it. But she's happy she was brave enough to do it, and Katie's happy she encouraged her to take the risk. 

Random Thoughts:

-The best line goes to Katie when Franklin starts grilling her during her interview - "Are you calling me a bad mom because you're about to be a guest on "Getting Killed by Katie!" 

-Katheryn's advice about "working two jobs at once"... I sincerely hope Taylor doesn't decide to take it!

Were you surprised to see the Otto's face their problems head-on? Do you think that attitude will last? Let me know below!