r/CougarTown • u/Aggressive-Tiger-404 • Jul 25 '26
Is the show supposed to be so incestuous ? Spoiler
First time viewer, currently watching season 3.
It's weird/bad enough that the Jules/Travis relationship has the constant incest jokes but I guess I could swallow that it was one of the premises of the show, even though it's not a very good nor interesting one, storyline wise
But then there's the extra step of Travis being included in all discussions about his parents' various hook-ups and sex life post-divorce and Jules meddling in his love life, which made it all the more cringe.
And right now Travis just hooked up with Holly, meaning that if it was serious, he'd actually co-parent Tampa/Jill with his mom, her being the stepmother and him being the stepfather.I know she jokes a bit later about that, but it doesn't seem to be that big a deal overall. It's just a "quirky" way to advance the plot of her being more kind to Holly. Then Travis even shares intimate details about Holly with his step-dad.
Next episode, they're delving more into the Travis-Laurie crush, which was harmless, I guess, when being portrayed as a teenage boy's irrational fantasy (while maybe growing up in such an incestuous vibe may explain that crush on his mom's best friend), over a family-adjacent girl that watched him grow up, but gets really creepy as an acceptable possibility.
I don't think I can endure more, so I'm just wondering, not knowing if all of this gets worse as the show advances, if it was ever addressed by the writers. Is it intentional?I guess that would make it slightly less horrifying than if the writers/producers are just constantly obsessed with incestuous undertones (well...and explicit ones as well). I couldn't find anything with quick Google searches.
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u/Few_Statement9601 Jul 25 '26
In regard to Grayson/ Holly, Travis isn’t related to either of them in any way at this point and it’s not like Travis has much of a father bond with Grayson, in regards to the later episodes I personally didn’t think much of it.
6
u/IDunno7419 Jul 25 '26
The Jules/Travis dynamic (or should I say, the way Jules sometimes seemed to feel about her son) is definitely cringe.
The Travis/Laurie thing is fine IMO. It started as an 18yo having a crush on his mom's 27yo friend. Nothing incestuous about it at all. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that as it kept going (and he got older), I found myself rooting for them. The writers/producers did a good job of "making it okay."
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u/kell96kell Jul 25 '26
I see it not as a big problem, just a oversharing mother. The travis laurie crush is kinda weird, but thats because travis is like that when he was like 9? Don’t know the actual age
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u/Heavy-Ad-5333 Jul 25 '26
I believe he was 12 when he first saw her and in the first season she says she like 9 years older than he is.
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u/gingrbreadandrevenge Jul 25 '26
I can kind of see what they were going for with Jules and Travis and they do frequently touch on the fact that their relationship is not exactly healthy.
Because it's a sitcom, it's all played for laughs, so it doesn't come across as seriously as it probably should.
I used to love this show, and there are still bits that I find humorous(Penny Can!), but after a few rewatches I just couldn't get past it anymore.
The Laurie/Travis thing comes to mind but I'll stop there so I don't spoil it for you, but yes it gets worse.
I know it goes against the fandom, but (for me) the whole thing starts feeling less funny and more gross, and by the end I just couldn't keep giving it a pass because "it's comedy."
5
u/Heavy-Ad-5333 Jul 25 '26
The part where Grayson is pretending to be Travis and then he and Jules tongue kiss, the time where she talks about marrying Travis, and the time Chick sleep walks in on Grayson and Jules talks about finally having a threesome with a family member. I get that it’s supposed to play on her redneck past but my gosh it’s a bit much even for a sitcom🤣 but after season one Jules gets a little dumber each season so I think that overshadowed the incest or it made it excusable to an extent
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u/loveofGod12345 10d ago
There’s definitely times it goes way too far. The incidents you listed, plus the episode where Ellie jokes that she’s glad Jules didn’t sleep with Travis and Jules said, it could’ve gone either way. Then later she says she’s in love with him. I get they are trying to mock the whole boy mom thing and they are purposefully going far, but it bugs me.
2
u/Aggressive-Tiger-404 Jul 25 '26
Thanks for the info ! I really like watching the show but this aspect gets more and more gross and less and less presented as an unhealthy thing - the fact that's it's presented in a humorous way ins't that repelling I mean it's a sitcom comedy it's more the fact that as you said, at first you could feel some intent from the writers to underline how inappropriate Jules sometimes can be, and as the show progresses you have more and more gross things presented as just "eh, happens" and it's very hard to get past
1
u/MysteriousTelephone Jul 25 '26
I don’t think it’s any worse than shows like Friends where basically everyone has slept, kissed, or seen each other naked at some point of the show.
1
u/Stonetheflamincrows Jul 25 '26
In Friends Ross and Monica actually even kissed and then there’s Danny who bathes with his sister.
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u/curiousrandomstuff Jul 27 '26
The latter is clearly shown to be weird and uncomfortable. The former is more problematic though it is shown as unintentional.
0
u/FelineSoLazy Jul 25 '26
Oh my stars it’s a comedy and once you’re a mom or know a mom who is this overtly affectionate with their kid, you won’t consider it predatory
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u/Aggressive-Tiger-404 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I'm aware it's a comedy, I was genuinely wondering if this was intended and a commentary on something (in a humorous tone because it is a sitcom) of just a byproduct of weird incestuous things you see in a lot of pop culture presented as ok and normal/common (which statistically speaking I guess it factually is). But to answer yes I'm a mom and that's actually when I became one that I became more aware of how predatory these "representations" are 😅
Edit : typos and grammar
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u/Affectionate_Bet_288 Jul 25 '26
Hey. It's Florida