Home Economics Review: Windmount Academy, $42,000/year (Season 2 Episode 4)

Home Economics Season 2 Episode 4, “Windmount Academy, $42,000/year,” is a very fitting episode for Hispanic Heritage Month with Marina trying to teach her daughter about their Mexican culture. 

The timeliness aside, this is a strong episode, and it’s made stronger by Karla Souza’s outstanding performance. It’s difficult to get across real emotion on a sitcom, but she manages to do just that, and in a way that fits with the lighthearted comedy atmosphere of the show. 

It’s been evident since Season 1 that Marina is very connected to her heritage despite being married to Tom (Topher Grace), who is “extremely white.” She often corrects him on the pronunciation of Spanish words, including the names of his own children. Tom takes it in stride and he does try. 

It is a dynamic that works surprisingly well and that’s due, in large part, to Souza and Grace’s charming chemistry. When a white student from an elite private school speaks Spanish more fluently than their daughter, Camila (Chloe Jo Rountree), Marina kind of spirals and tries to make up for the lack of culture in Camila’s upbringing. Tom is supportive and eases her concerns. 

I recognize Marina’s spiral all too well. There are a number of things—ideologies and principles—that I hope to impart to my child, and when I see that it’s not getting through as much as I’d like, I tend to overcorrect, going hard for the cause and giving myself anxiety in the process.

She looks around at their family life which is steeped heavily in whiteness—the environment itself poses an obstacle from the get-go. 

Marina: Denise, have you ever thought about how white this family is?
Denise: Oh, I never stopped thinking about it. 

Then Marina turns the blame on herself, and the spiraling begins. 

Denise: They’re eating macaroni salad out of a bread bowl. 
Tom: Careful, guys, it’s a little spicy.
Marina: Oh my God, I brought the macaroni salad. The white is coming from inside the house!

It’s hard not to put the responsibility on oneself in these situations. In a really sweet and heartfelt scene, Marina confesses to Tom that she has become complacent and fears it’s too late. She feels she let things slide and, in turn, is letting down her parents, her people, and Camila. 

Just when she says that it might be too late, one of her infant sons cries. It’s not too late for the twins and it’s not too late for Camila to connect with her Mexican roots. Marina watches her daughter comfort her baby brother by singing a lullaby in Spanish that Marina had sung to her when she was little. 

  Tom: I think you’re passing on more than you know. 

I agree with Tom. Just the fact that she is stressing so much about passing on her cultural values makes it clear to her kids and to her family the pride she has for her Mexican heritage, and that passion will, undoubtedly, rub off on them. 

What did you think of this episode of Home Economics? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Home Economics airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.

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