"Speechless," Season 2: I Am Disgustipated

I liked the first season of Speechless (2016-), the sitcom starring J. J. DiMeo (Micah Fowler), a teenager with cerebral palsy, who is wheelchair bound and "speechless," and his crazy relatives. It was nice to see a disabled character who was neither a saint nor a jerk, especially since the need to communicate without speech results in broad, theatrical, feminine gestures that could easily be read as gay.

Micah Fowler can speak but uses a wheelchair in real life.  Here he completes a mile-long walk with the aid of a special walking device.  Nice arms.

Plus J.J.'s early-teen brother Ray (18-year old Mason Cook, left) was not unbearably girl-crazy, and his personal attendant Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) was presented as so roly-poly asexual that he could be read as gay, too.

That left Mom and Dad, who were of course the leaders of a frazzled sitcom nuclear family, but came across more like team leaders than romantic partners.



Then came Season 2. Gulp.  Ok, we've got the audience used to this disabled kid, so let's pull out all the stops.  It will be nonstop Girls! Girls! Girls!

In the season premiere, the family hatches a wild scheme to get J.J. to kiss the girl he met at summer camp. Later he dates Norah, a new special needs girl at school.

J.J. and his brother get free tickets to a movie they're both dying to see, but at the last minute J.J. ditches him for a girl. Ray shouldn't be upset; he should know that on tv, male friendships are ephemeral.  A buddy will drop you in an instant if a girl smiles at him.

J.J. lies about his disability on an online dating app to get more girls interested.

In one episode, J.J. starts a brief buddy-bond with an actor starring in a movie he wants to be in (Nick Viall, left).

Later he has a "friend date" with Aaron (Christian Lees), a boy he really, really wants to like him.

And in a Halloween episode, Ray switches bodies with a girl and doesn't express any homophobic panic.

But that's cold comfort.

Ray pursues several girls before settling down with Taylor. So episodes involve meeting the parents, wanting to get more physical, having "the talk" with Dad, and so on.  Then they break up, and Taylor starts dating another boy, so Ray is jealous.

Ok, the kid is 18, but his character is about 15.  Do we really need a serious romance?

Kenneth suddenly has an ex-wife and girl-crushes.

Even the preteen Dylan, a girl, starts sparking over boys.

Of course, gay people do not exist.

I am disgustipated.

See also: In Bed with Mason Cook.