"Detour," Season 4 is Still Obsessed with Boys

 I liked the misunderstandings that humiliated the social justice warriors by making them appear racist or homophobic.

I liked the gradual unraveling of the "perfect" nuclear family, as both Nate and Robin reveal game-changing secrets.

I didn't like Jared's body constantly under display, his pubescence a constant topic of discussion.  The character was 11, and actor Liam Carroll 13.  Why so many references to his penis?

Season #2 wasn't about a road trip -- they moved to New York.  And none of the big questions were answered.  It was like Lost, more and more convoluted, with flashbacks that turn out to be flash-forwards, and questions inside of questions.  I stopped watching halfway through.

I gave Season #3 a pass, although heard that they were now hiding out in Alaska.

Season #4, which premiered June 18th, drew me back in with the promise of globetrotting adventure:  Delilah has gone missing, and left word that she doesn't want to be found.  But she keeps sending video clues, so the family jmps on the nearest plane.  First up: Paraguay, Tibet, and New Zealand, with references to Japan and Peru.

Location shots, I assumed.  Maybe some interesting shots of Lhasa.  So I watched.

Nate and Robin are no longer social justice warriors who inadvertently say or do things that seem racist.  The show itself is racist.  The "natives" they meet always try to con them.  Paraguay is full of drug lords, and there are no cars, so they have to travel on horseback.

In a Tibetan monastery, the monks chant "Let's Be Weird," a song they found on youtube.  And by the way, in Tibet they speak Tibetan, not Chinese.

Jared, now 13, has gone hetero-horny, and kisses lots of bikini-clad girls in a dream sequence.  In real life, he gets a Tibetan girlfriend, only to discover, to his horror, that she is 10 years old (don't worry, the actress, Tiffany Alycia Tong, is an adult).  It's not clear how far he's gone with her, but after his discovery he is desperate to get away.

The obsession with Jared's body continues.  In a cringeworthy scene, Nate and Robin are sleeping with Jared between them, naked to share body heat (they're on a mountain in Tibet, after all), when Jared gets an erection.  Nate thinks it's "weird" to have his son's erect penis pushing against his penis, but if they turn Jared around, he will be pushing against his mother's vagina, even more "weird."

Robin points out that boys that age get erections randomly; it doesn't mean that he is attracted to either of them.  And they're being good parents by keeping their son safe.

Am I the only one who didn't think this was funny?

Liam Carroll is now 17, old enough to be a "dreamy" teen idol, and above the age of consent in some states, if you're interested in seeing him drink water with his shirt off.



Or posting a comment about his feet to his instagram page.

But Jared is only 13, and I still don't want to hear about his penis.

Sacralization of the Family:  Lotsof "Famiy is everything!" rhetoric

Gay characters: No.

Beefcake: No.  No adult beefcake, I mean.

See also: The Detour