58 Thoughts I Had While Watching Chasing Life (01×03: Blood Cancer Sex Carrots)

1. I never understood the title of this episode. Like, are you listing things you want in life or is this your weird shopping checklist?
2. MAKEOUT SESH!!!!!
3. So does everybody carry around a spare toothbrush? I mean, is that a thing in case there’s a special sleepover? I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had a special sleepover. Unless you count the actual sleepover I had with my best friend before I officially moved to California. I guess that was pretty special. It was the last time we’d seen each other in person.
4. BLOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!
5. Yeah, what a turnoff, huh?
6. “Well, there are worse ways of bleeding that could ruin a date,” Beth says in front of a male customer as she is handing him his order. Me: Thank you! Please come again soon!
7. Two episodes later, they finally explain who the former manager of the café was.
8. Jeez, how many times was that elevator wall punched? Or was that just from REALLY awesome sex? You know, have amazing sex and then slam your fist into the wall 50 times? Why are there so many indents in that elevator wall?
9. “Hey…it’s you…”
10. Awk-ward… (Repeatedly crushes a stress ball.)
11. Except you can’t blame her for wanting to have fun and sneak around. She’s a woman, too.
12. BERNARD!!
13. That carrot juice reminds me of the juice that Nakéd makes. That’s why I try to drink them when I can. Don’t want to get cancer now, do we? Hehe…
14. Can Sara ever NOT be so shrink-y? I know that she wants to raise a healthy household and she has an advantage because of her psychological education, but sometimes, she’s just got to let Brenna handle some of this stuff on her own, you know?
15. I like how April said her coworker’s name at the workplace while talking to her best friend on the phone about her anxiety over how social he is. I would’ve looked around to make sure no one was listening and then say something subtle that only she would know. Or at least text her all this. “OMG I’m looking at Dom’s Facebook right now. He hung out with this girl last night and he seems to be pretty into her, judging by how close he’s posing with her.” (She reads on and looks into the girl.) “Never mind. That’s his sis.” Done. (That was fake. Dom doesn’t have a sis that we know of.)
16. “I’ve caught my parents together. Let’s just say his head was on her lap. Thanksgivings were never the same.” Great. He’s ruined Thanksgiving for me, too. Thanks, Kieran.
17. Another interview with Carrot Man? Hmm…I might not know exactly how journalism works if writing an article actually takes more than one interview.
18. That’s an interesting topic: how to forgive cancer. In Gerald’s case, his cancer helped him find a purpose in life again by helping those who also have cancer. I still don’t understand how anyone could know that though, unless they actually did an experiment. The “What the Heck?” guy said that he claimed his juice “treats cancer symptoms and keeps the disease from spreading”, which is why April was so interested in the case. Seeing this scene though, it looks like he at least prefers people to PRETEND that it’s working so he can “forgive the cancer”.
19. I love Gerald, though. He definitely cares for people who have cancer and considers how it’s affecting them. I mean, he’s obviously a nice guy, in general, but he takes a special interest in making sure that others like him are still okay.
20. I’ve considered psychiatry as a possible career path for myself, but I can’t stand it when people complain AT me. I still want to be able to help people and give advice, and basically do what a psychiatrist does, but I’m more comfortable TYPING words rather than using my mouth. Although the actual thing is probably better as far as reading the patient goes. Texting only makes you dependent on your own interpretation of their tone.
21. Dominic, you creeper, trying to make out with your girlfriend in the copy room. Would anyone else be annoyed in that situation? Like “this isn’t keeping this strictly professional, babe.” Oh, maybe it’s because I’m single.
22. Sara: My patient is about to get a divorce from Ben, who is going to be here in 15 minutes and I don’t know what to do. Emma: Then stop seeing your patient. Sara: I can’t prioritize my personal life over my patients’ like that. Emma: Then stop seeing your psycho. Me: I like how she’s calling HIM the psycho when SHE’S the one with the therapist.
23. Ben (talking about Pilates): You might break up with me once you figure out how inflexible I am. Literally. (Sara cracks up uncomfortably because of the situation with Ben, NOT because her daughters AND her mother were present.)
24. Brenna: We [with Kieran] work at a tattoo parlor. As you can tell. Me: By Kieran’s tattoos? That doesn’t mean shit about working at a tattoo parlor. That just means…HE HAS TATTOOS. Brenna: This one means “anarchy”. Me: Isn’t that just a star? Kieran: Actually, that’s just a star.
25. I still don’t get what Brenna is trying to do here and this is at least the third time I’ve watched this scene.
26. So while Brenna is the one spewing all this crap at Ben, trying to make him sound incompetent, April pulls SARA aside to talk about SARA’S behavior?
27. Oh, SARA’S being way too intense about this guy?
28. I never understood why TV shows use the familiar iPhone texting features, yet make them look differently when they’re being used on camera. Everyone can clearly see you have an iPhone. Rather than screenshotting it to look at the conversation like an image, why not use the real thing? Otherwise, it doesn’t feel real to those of us who have iPhones. What is it? Are you not allowed to replicate the iPhone texting? Screenshotting for the sake of time?
29. Jealousy sucks. Competition sucks. But why not just talk to Dominic rather than doing this to your cancer-ridden self, April? “So I heard it through the grapevine that you were a player. Is that still you?” Or do you just not ask guys that? Is this why I can never get a date?
30. April…you’re already the crazy-jealous girlfriend. Meeting him at a club to make sure he doesn’t stray?
31. It’s nice that you say that you’d handle the “mom’s new boyfriend” thing better, Kieran, but would you really? You can’t say that you’d be the bigger person until your statements are tested. I like you, Kieran, especially since you’ve had Brenna’s back for, like, a month, but I don’t trust anyone when they say something like that to make themselves look like a better person than the actual jerk. I mean, why would you even consider saying that if you didn’t want to make her feel bad? And now, she feels depressed about letting you down.
32. Jealous April has balls. Or at least is too hungry for Dominic’s attention.
33. Well, that escalated quickly.
34. Is it just me, or does Dominic remind anyone of Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games? They’re both similar in some respects. For one, they both hide their accents. Sam Claflin is British while Richard Brancatisano is Australian (but has Italian roots). Hm. Never noticed that before.
35. Oh, Graham. Always interrupting the important moments, complaining about shit.
36. Wow, Dominic. Kicking out your lady just because of that big fight? What if she was secretly depressed or dying of cancer? Oh, wait…
37. “I take plenty of risks. I crashed a blood drive last week…” Me: Wait, “last week”? I’ll never understand fictional TV timelines. Hasn’t each episode lasted an entire week in their world, so it matches up with the time it actually airs? I don’t know, man.
38. BFF fight. Things are getting personal!
39. “You’re one of the smartest people I know, and yet you’re not taking advantage of it! Instead, you’d rather sit around and make chai lattes and foam art and sleep with your ex-boyfriends! You think that’s taking a real risk?” And then, April’s mouth looks like she’s about to say a word that starts with an “F” or a “V”, after realizing she just hurt her best friend. My vote goes toward “fuck”, but Italia held back, reminding herself that this was ABC Family. Either that or “vomit”.
40. Never mind. BETH is the ballsy one.
41. Sara’s patient: Ben slept over last night. Me: DAYUM!! Looks like Dominic wasn’t the player in this episode!
42. So do the Carvers just have extra copies of Thomas’ book laying around? Or maybe Brenna actually bought that. (Shrugs.)
43. Ah, so Brenna was basically the overprotective son of the mother who is moving on from his father.
44. How does someone put a fake tattoo on an actor? Is it like a sticker that you need to dab with water in order to get it on? Nah, that seems too ridiculous. And what if they’re one of the lead roles? How do you find the patience and motivation to put it on every single day they film? Obviously, income, for one. But it still seems too…wasteful?
45. Okay, didn’t you just meet, like, a week ago? You already have feelings for each other and are making out?
46. Even as April is listening to the interview she recorded through her headphones and is transcribing it onto her work computer, it makes me want to become a journalist. Is that weird?
47. Uh-oh. Dominic alert.
48. Aaaaand he’s not too happy to see you either.
49. Gerald…he was her only cancer friend.
50. Why go to Dominic’s for that shoulder to cry on? I’d go to my best friend first. Or…does she want to have sympathy sex? Is that what they’re getting at? She didn’t even say, “I didn’t know who else to turn to.” Was Beth a little too busy, you know, being unemployed, and everything?
51. I know that April isn’t faking it and, obviously Italia is, but it sort of still sounds like April’s faking it to get Dominic’s attention. Like Regina George when she “discovered” the Burn Book.
52. “Why did he have to die?” Ah, jeez, April. I know he was your friend, but he was also dying. Probably in pain because of the cancer he already knew he had. At least now, he’s no longer in agony!
53. Finally! I mean, it was sympathy sex, but it still happened!
54. Dominic, you jerk! Don’t even joke about that, man! It’s bad luck!
55. Something I also never understood with fictional TV was, often times after sex, the woman would be wearing a bra anyway, which is understandable. But, on top of that, she’s also covering her chest. I used to think it was a personal choice because it was the actress’ body, but everybody does it. I don’t think it’s an ABC Family thing because I’ve seen Melissa Joan Hart cover up her chest for “Melissa & Joey” without bra straps showing.
56. “I’ve got your headline: ‘Carrot Dude: Shredded’.” That’s horrible! I have to admit: I chuckled a bit, but horrible! We’re horrible people!
57. Oh, ho-ho! Look who we have here! It’s Mr. Harmless Affluenza in a cancer support group meeting!
58. Excited to see Leo’s cancer case. Actually, you know I’ve already seen the entire series, so I don’t know why I just said that, but his story really is intriguing.