Is it just me, or was this a weak episode?
Well, at least every single character didn’t have a major meltdown at the same time. So if that’s what you mean by weak, yes.
This episode was setting everyone up for major meltdowns to come:
[ul][li]Marriage problems in the offing for Nate and Brenda[/li][li]And Ruth and George [/li][li]Claire’s going nuts along with Billy (where’d he get all the money for that shopping spree, BTW?)[/li][li]David and Keith had a minor flap and got over it. But that surrogate is clearly going to cause some trouble[/li][li]And poor Rico has picked a real winner with oh, what’s her name? (I gotta say, if someone called me a “cute little fucker,” or whatever she called him, in the middle of the act, that would pretty much kill it for me right there.) [/ul][/li]Am I leaving anyone out?
Frankly the episodes in which all hell breaks loose are my least favorite: they tend to overdo it, and strain credulity a bit too much for my taste.
At least everything didn’t go to shit this week ;).
They are really playing up the George sympathy and I started feeling bad for him last week, but now I’m really feeling it. He genuinely seems to love Ruth and wouldn’t (or couldn’t) tell her the reason why he was keeping food in his pockets. It was kind of sad seeing George dealing with memories of his mother killing herself in front of him and wanting to get better so Ruth would be happier.
Claire’s being a big baby. She acts like she totally doesn’t understand the idea of a trust fund to pay for education. Or maybe she’s going off her rocker because of too many chemicals (vs. Billy, who isn’t getting enough of the right chemicals).
Billy might have gotten some inheritance from his father who died a season or two ago, or he might just now be starting to rack up credit card debt.
I liked this episode, although when things get out of control like they did, I get tensed up and anxious. Is that a sign of good writing?
It was fun seeing Illeana Douglas again. Did she say something about farting, when she was tossing Fritos on the bed? She’s so classless. What a hoot.
This was the first time that I noticed how camera angles can be used to deceive us about people’s height. There was one shot where Angela and Rico looked the same height. Before, it was obvious that she towers over him. The sexy little f***er. 
I didn’t recognize Jan Brady as the surrogate. My guess is that they’ll use Keith’s “seed”. Anyone wondering whether he’ll consider delivering it in the usual way?
Hard to believe Claire isn’t noticing that Billy must be off his meds. Maybe she does, and she doesn’t care, cuz he’s more fun that way.
I didn’t like the Nate-Maggie bonding and I hope it doesn’t go any farther (further?).
Felt bad for George, and sad that he couldn’t tell Ruth about the significance of the day. It might have helped.
I was disappointed in this episode. How many more till the season is over? Not that I’m eager for it to be over with - just wondering how many more weirdnesses might be in store before it ends.
Illeana Douglas rocks, just wish she would have taken the bra off. IMDB lists her as being 5’7 1/2" (above average but hardly towering ;)) and Freddy Rodríguez as being 5’6" (definitely a little guy) so there isn’t a big difference in height, but she might have been wearing some serious heels to give the impression that she was a lot taller.
Last year we saw Brenda being able to afford a house in LA without a “real job” so presumably Billy has a similar fund of money from dad or maybe royalties from that book. However the shot of all the recently purchased stuff seems to implicate that a symptom of Billy’s manic behavior is spending beyond his means.
Can someone refresh my memory on why Illeana’s character got canned from Fisher & Sons?
The Illeana Douglas character was fired because she talked too much and annoyed Ruth. I think she talked about David being gay and that ticked Ruth off.
What is with the impossibly wonderful family Brenda had dinner with…it was like a talking Norman Rockwell painting. All that was missing was the voice over of John-Boy saying “goodnight Brenda”?
Poor Ruth…but you would think she would thrive on taking care of George…isn’t/wasn’t that her mission in life, to take care of other people?
And nice to see Claire’s radar for picking up losers hasn’t waned.
Just think, some lucky child is about to be born into the family via David and Keith…what a wonderful extended family that child has to look forward to. Instead of a college education, they might as well set up a trust fund for the child’s therapy and/or regular visits to the rehab center.
20/06/05?
Johnny, why do you do this? With the date, I mean. You’re American.
I don’t know if I’d call the ep weak. The threads started in the season opener seem to be progressing about as expected…hey maybe that is weak.
I thought they were weird. I think there’s such a thing as a family being too connected.
Normally I don’t watch 6FU more than once, but I’m going to watch again, just for that scene, and see if it still creeps me out.
fiddlesticks, thanks for the info. Yeah, she must have been wearing heels. Rico isn’t as short as I thought.
Screw that! Knowing this show, the surrogate won’t give the child up and will decide to run away with it somewhere and David and Keith will never get to see him or her.
Screw that! She’ll run off with Keith.
Only in contrast to the other families on the show.
Seriously, I think the dinner scene was supposed to depict a normal family, and to trigger Brenda’s longings for normalcy in her own life. And I don’t think the family was that weird; I grew up in a normal family, and I’m currently raising a normal family, and it looked pretty familiar.
But maybe the writers really had to stretch beyond their comfort zone to write this scene, and weren’t up to the task.
I thought the same thing. She has been scorned in past seasons for doing just that, but now that she has the perfect opportunity she wants nothing to do with it.