‘OutMatched’ Season 1, Episode 5 ‘Dating’ Review: Attraction & Connection

OutMatched is a story about an average American family with not-so-average children. Here, a pair of loving parents do their best to cope up with their genius children. Often, they find it hard to understand their kids and their unique personalities. From science experiments restricting the kitchen to scholarship calls from various prestigious universities, the house never runs out of oddities. Every sense of normalcy is gone and the pair will have to make do.

On Thursday’s episode of OutMatched, Mike (Jason Biggs) deals with Marc’s (Jack Stanton) strange crush on a painting. Meanwhile, Kay (Maggie Lawson) deals with Nicole’s (Ashley Boettcher) attraction to Tyler (Gunner Burkhardt), a guy who is not ideal boyfriend material. At home, Brian (Connor Kalopsis) keeps himself busy while Leila (Oakley Bull) enjoys her blissful life.

Dougs and Tylers

FOX

During the teenage years, one begins to develop an attraction towards another person. These do not necessarily mean that it determines if one person is good or bad for you; one simply finds a person that they like. Such is Nicole’s case as she meets this guy named Tyler. Tyler is an Uber driver who thinks vandalizing by drawing penises is art. Everything about the guy says red flags all over the place. With that, Kay decides to teach her daughter a thing or two about guys. Initially thinking of ‘fixing’ Tyler, Kay enjoys the newfound time she has with her daughter. This move eventually backfires as Nicole starts to skip some classes so she could spend more time with Tyler. Eventually, Kay tells Nicole the truth about dating guys like Tyler. True enough, Nicole finds herself heartbroken. Still, the mom and daughter duo’s bond becomes closer despite the experience.

Holdingham

FOX

The mother and daughter are not the only ones dealing with attraction. Elsewhere, Mike talks to Marc about his feelings for a girl. However, it is not what it looks like. Apparently, Marc was referring to a painting of a woman holding ham at the museum. Mike, in his first instinct, thought that ‘Catherine Holding Ham’ was an actual person. With that, he sends his son to talk to what he expected was a lady; much to his dismay. At some point, Mike finds himself talking to the painting, too, at Marc’s request. With that, Mike realizes that he appreciates art– and it creeps people out if you are an adult talking out loud to a painting.

‘OutMatched’ Season 1, Episode 5 ‘Dating’ Final Verdict

OutMatched is a good story working on a funny premise. However, much can be improved. For instance, its characters need further development. It is established that they are all smart children, but it would be better if there is something more to them than being geniuses. Arguably, the side characters in the show have more background than the children. Mike and Kay’s dynamic brings the show’s gears working, however. They evoke a sense of being relatable despite being in a unique situation. Still, the episode can serve as the start of having more substantial plots as this one’s theme plays out differently.

OutMatched continues Thursday, February 27th with ‘Bullying’ at 8/7c on FOX.