In Friday night’s “Members Only” episode of Truth Be Told on NBC, Russell (Tone Bell) asks Mitch (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) to negotiate for a new car he is hoping to purchase. Mitch has convinced Russell that he has superior skills in deal making.
The writers of this show promote the premise that being gay in America is commonplace; so commonplace that if two guys show up together to look into a purchase of a new car, the salesman will assume that those two men are gay. Really? I don’t see that in my world. Friendships are normal where I live. It’s ok for two straight guys to be pals.
Oh, did I mention that the car salesman is gay? Yeah. It’s a little too cute by half. Not only does he think that Russell and Mitch are partners, he assumes that Sophie, along for the trip, is their adopted daughter. You know, because he and his partner have an adopted daughter.
Salesman: My partner, Braxton, and I just adopted a little girl from Ethiopia. Where is she from?
Russell: Oh, oh, no, we're not--
Mitch: Her birth mother is from the Philippines.
Despite initial guilt over role-playing for a discount, Russell goes along with it and gets a good deal on the car he wanted.
Meanwhile, Tracy (Vanessa Lachey) convinces Angie (Bresha Webb) to participate on a little scam she has going on at a women’s gym. Tracy claims that all white people have a problem telling people of mixed race apart and uses another woman’s ID to get into the gym. Angie, the one with a higher moral compass, is temporarily sucked into it – but only as far as the first workout. Then the guilt kicks in.
Tracy: Ms. Maggie Ladonna Merriweather.
Angie: My heart is racing so fast. I'm gonna count this as a workout.
Tracy: Oh, no, this is just a warm-up to the real workout. Let's do this.
Angie: Yeah, let's do this. I can't do this. I can't do it. - Even if I could I would just wind up confessing to anyone who will listen. It's what I do. I just ate three powerbars and I never watched "12 Years a Slave"! See?
Tracy: Unbelievable.
Angie: I know, I can't help how the Sweet Lord made me. Thank you, Jesus.
So, at least Angie has a conscious. Though Mitch and Tracy want Russell and Angie to think that a scam is ok as long as a good deal is to be had, in the end at least half of that narrative doesn’t ring true.
