the mother-daughter dynamic between carm and meadow is so relatable and so well-written and i’m really glad they chose to highlight it like this. i do think carm sees a lot of what she wants (or wanted) for her life in meadow’s life, but i also think meadow is becoming so “impressive” as a young woman that carm is sort of intimidated by her and doesn’t fully understand her. carm dropped out of college and became a homemaker, and here meadow is bringing up homosexual themes in literature as casual dinner conversation, and carm just can’t keep up with her ivy league daughter who volunteers at a law services office and is dating a future dentist. so tony sees his daughter becoming this amazing young woman, so independent and ambitious, and of course all he can think about is how proud carm should be of the daughter she raised. but it’s so much more complex for her as a mother and a woman, who loves her daughter but also sees her achieving and experiencing things she never could. i have other opinions about meadow’s storyline overall but i think their interactions in this ep were really good and important 👍