Date of airing: March 31, 2004 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 11.37 million viewers, 7.4/11 in Households, 5.1/13 with Adults 18-49
written by: Allan Heinberg
directed by: Michael Lange
Did you notice that Jimmy and Hailey were holding hands in the last shot, while the camera panned away from the Seder, all in secret, so that no one sees them holding their hands like they are just freshly in love with one another? Oh boy, they are going full-on secret romance in Newport Beach, and they are also going full in love during that moment, beginning each of the characters’ happy times, which may or may not hold on for long, considering the season finale is about to knock on the door. I was almost starting to ship Jimmy and Hailey because this was a simple romantic moment – it is a love you do not share with anyone (just with the one you love) and instead keep it from everyone (possibly due to certain stigma, like dating your former lover’s sister, or dating the woman you were babysitting once), there is something pretty cool and romantic about it. Something I will never get to experience myself, thanks to my anxiety and trust and intimacy issues. Please, press a tear out of your eye to feel sad for me. It is an issue that has plagued my mind sometimes and made me feel uneasy about myself. Although that may be a topic to talk about with a therapist, if I ever get one.
This was a solid episode. Finally, Sandy had a story with an emotional angle for once, which did not bore me, thanks to the fact that his story was of personal nature, instead of the business lawsuit crap the writers made him go through during the first stages of the season. You can have Sandy and Caleb feud all episode long if you want, and you can have Caleb threaten his daughter’s marriage for an entire year. At the end of the day, those stories have not brought much to the table for the characters, especially Sandy. But his fear of losing his mother did bring something to the table dramatically speaking and it made me appreciate the character more, understand him more, and bring him down to a level on which I can connect with him.
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| The Nana is back and she has changed a lot, to the surprise of her family. |
The story even connected well with the majority of the other characters, and I especially loved the scene with Nana in Seth’s bedroom, finally allowing him to be sad and emotional and serious for once, instead of being the constant comic relief and pop culture joke delivery person. It is however a shame that Nana’s story continued to be mainly Sandy’s, when the episode could have been a lot better if her health status had affected all the characters (even Ryan, whether or not he had a personal connection with Nana). Although Sandy never talked badly about his mother before and instead kind of tried to push her meatloaf recipe on all the people of Newport Beach, she was supposed to be a crazy witch for some reason in this very episode, and the fact that she was not at all a witch in this episode surprised only Sandy. Or the writers only cared about that it surprised Sandy. For a mother/son storyline, there was not much behind it, as it was defined only by Nana’s cancer diagnosis, even though I appreciated some of the backstory that reminded me of the greatest show that ever dealt with social services: JUDGING AMY. It’s a show that needs a reboot.
Meanwhile, Marissa’s escape from Newport and arrival in Chino was an okay-ish storyline. There was no big secret about where she went, especially after Navi Rawat’s name appeared in the credits and Marissa was not seen throughout the first act, but I liked that the story was used to create additional, albeit useless conflict between Ryan and Theresa/Eddie. Granted, Eddie could have thought for a second about why Ryan would not just come for Theresa (especially with the sudden appearance of Marissa at their place), but at least Marissa’s troubles were used to having Ryan and Eddie make peace, although they could have signaled that with a handshake. Because really, I was rolling some serious eye when Eddie came with his muscular buddies, threatening to beat Ryan to a pulp if he is not gone by the time Eddie is finished with his drink (a beer, perhaps?). I do not even know how Theresa thinks that Eddie is the best man for the future of her life when he went all in on Ryan during a cocktail party a few episodes ago, and decided to go all in on Ryan during their engagement party. Eddie does not seem like the evil and violent type at all, but the guy likes to answer troubles ahead of him with violence, and those kinds of guys are no good for a long-lasting relationship. Theresa should have moved on, Eddie is not the guy for her. But I guess that was not the story of the episode.
The rest of the episode seemed meaningless. Julie stood there like someone forgot to pick her up, delivering absolutely nothing to Marissa’s dramatic story (in fact, Julie’s constant “I will call the cops” reminded me of the episode “The Rescue,” which means the writers already proved how grey they were with repetition). There was not a single emote on her face when Marissa came by to pick up her stuff – Julie should be more emotional, but it looks like she has no emotion at all, which is probably the biggest reason why I cannot connect with her character. She has no empathy, she could be a perfect First Lady for a president like Trump. Luke’s appearance in Chino is meaningless as well. We already knew that Marissa would not want to deal with Luke any longer, and celebrating it with a slap seemed redundant as well. Plus, why would Seth sell out Marissa like that, telling Luke where she was hiding? This seems very out of character for Seth.
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| How does it feel to get slapped by your ex whose mother you have been "slapping around" in bed? |
Maybe some things can be said about Jimmy and Hailey getting closer again, but I am asking myself right now why it took so long. They were already flirting when Hailey was having her first three-episode stint, and the writers decided not to pursue it. Was it always plant for Amanda Righetti to be on the show for more than three episodes? Then okay, I can accept this little secret shindig happening right now, but if the producers decided Righetti was wonderful and she needs to come back immediately... Oh whatever, what do I know about TV productions?
