Atta Boy George!!
Suddenly the dumper turns into the dumpee, by both George and her gal pals. I don’t feel very sorry for her.
I do feel sorry that the real world is sucking Claire in. Kept wanting to scream, “Get Out, Run!” several times while she was at work.
Nate and George’s daughter will be banging each other in the near future.
Billy is going to take someone out
David & Keith - Keith is going to blow
This was one of the first episodes of the year that I thought was really good.
What Ruth did to George was horrible; maybe he deserved it for not being up front with her about his psychiatric past, but being left alone in a new apartment to piece together the fact that your wife just dumped you is one of the coldest things I can imagine. I thought George took it well, considering. If I died tomorrow, their big get-everybody-together-and-get-loaded all-night bash is exactly what I would want to happen (though without the man-hating).
Nate’s whole “I married someone for the wrong reasons and now I regret it” schtick was much better the first time we saw it, two seasons ago. At least he acknowledges now that “love isn’t something you feel–it’s something you do”, and he’s trying now, but you have to wonder who he was trying to convince, or how it will fall apart when Maggie needs a penis to cry on.
I just can’t care about David and Keith and their kids; to me, it was such a bad idea for them to take on kids in the first place that anything afterwards can’t be good.
Very funny episode, and about time. Nate’s just a dog being true to his nature; what a stupid, clumsy attempt to get George’s daughter over for a quick fuck, but not at all unexpected. The singing over the corpse was a bit too choreographed for my liking; that shit just doesn’t happen IRL. Claire’s singing daydream was hysterical: “You Climb Up My Thighs” 
Jeebus, does anyone know any women who really act like that when a group of them get together and drink wine? I hope that’s just TV.
I wanted to run through the scene and hose them all down with testosterone, motor oil and Miller High Life.
I’m having a really difficult time caring about anybody in the Fischer sphere this season. I almost wish they had ended it last season.
The way Ruth dumped and got dumped by George is, I think, typical of her. She is a pretty cold woman who doesn’t handle confrontation well. She made a big mistake when she married the big galoot and she just HAD to get out of it. Maybe she could have locked him in his bomb shelter, but this way, he’s probably out of her ZIP code.
Claire. Very, very funny song sequence. Probably my favorite thing that happened last night (except for having Patricia Clarkson return for a spicy visit). But isn’t it time she learned to function in the real world? She needs to know that it’s not all about her. And what better place to learn that but in an uptight corporate environment?
Nate. Gimme a break! This guy will never be happy, no matter what. He’s a total downer. And Bad Brenda doesn’t help much.
Rico. I love him. But I really don’t like Vanessa! He should take his boys and run away.
David and Keith. Oh, boy! I think they’re going to end up apart. Maybe they never should have been together in the first place. But these Kids from Heck are really going to do the pair of them in! And it’s not going to be pretty.
And Billy still scares me.
Nate has me confused. I thought he’d shown some growth this season. When he was in the bar with his old friend, and when he talked to Billy, it looked like he was starting to figure things out.
So what’s he doing looking to hook up with Maggie? And what’s she doing, with the “Don’t ever lie to me” comment? That’s something you say to a lover, not an acquaintance. (They haven’t had enough interaction to even be friends yet, IMHO).
Does anyone know if that was Lauren Ambrose singing?
I wondered that, myself. I heard where they did they segue, and it didn’t quite sound like her. On the other hand, you can do wonders in the studio.
I liked the rant that included ‘George-Fucking-Bush getting re-elected’. They were preaching to the choir-sum-audience, of course; but I laughed.
Nate. Nate, Nate, Nate! What is wrong with you? You’re a good guy. You’re an intelligent guy. Drop the drama, and stop being a jerk.
Claire is getting a taste of life in the real world. I worked in a cube farm for a long time. I think they overdid it. But I can relate to Claire. After I destroyed my knees and realised I wouldn’t fly for a living, I turned to my second love: filmmaking. My friends and I made short films on super-8. I got a job at K-Mart that was somewhat flexible and allowed us to have fun with film. Then I got a job at the Air Force base. This was cool, since I love flying machines. I still found time to play in films. But then I got a job with another contractor in L.A. I went for the steady income (which was higher than at the base) and ended up spending my time in cube farms instead of making films. I can see the same thing happening to Claire. (I’m at a juncture now where I have to make a choice between finding another job, or go into partnership in a video studio. Guess what decision I’ve made. 
)
Rico committed an indescretion. He tried to atone, but Vanessa wouldn’t accept it. Having been dumped from every relationship I’ve been in, I sympathise with Rico and think Vanessa is being unreasonable. But having been cheated on, I know how she feels. Rico has pulled some sleazy stunts trying to get her back, but I feel she is the one who is being more unreasonable.
I feel bad for George. Yes, he should have been upfront about his episodes; but I think it may be more denial than concealment. Good for him for seeing the Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin and making a clean break.
I’m pretty sure that was Lauren Ambrose singing. AFAIK she’s a trained opera singer, and she sang in a previous episode (way back in Season 1 I think). That was a definite highlight of the episode.
I got a lump in my throat watching George dump Ruth. It was just. so. sad. And he made her feel totally like crap, which was deserved. And good on him for buying his own pots and pans, heh.
My mom was saying she thinks and hopes Billy will off himself by the end of the season, and I agree. He has no one to give a shit about him and he’s clearly NOT on his meds, so that can’t end well.
I hope Nate and Brenda work it out and Maggie never becomes a real issue. I just want ONE couple to live semi-happily ever after.
I agree that Billy will off himself, but I have a nasty suspicion he’ll take one or more people with him when he does! :eek:
I think it was Lauren Ambrose singing too. I remember reading that she’s an opera singer. That was absolutely hysterical, “you ride up my thighs.”
Billy terrifies me and he’s a ticking time bomb! I am so scared that he’s going to take either Brenda or Claire with him when he offs himself. Ugh I dread that.
I too hope Maggie doesn’t become a problem but I think she will. I don’t think this series will end on a fluffy high note of live-happily-ever-after.
Keith - I wanted to slap him upside the head!!! :smack:
Way to Go, George!! That was great. Ruth, thinking there really was going to be a womens’ weekend (oh, gullible Ruth ;)), and disapointed when it was a joke decided to go back and decide she didn’t want to get rid of George, but George wasn’t having it.
Vanessa really pisses me off. I mean I realize it isn’t the best thing to bring a homeless guy in, but just losing on the Canadian girl was just out there. I mean she basically thought she was going to have her own slave with no personality. And now it seems she’s going to use Rico just to do the work around the house… ugh.
David really screwed the pooch by seemingly forcing keeping the kids over Keith’s objections. He really isn’t dealing well and sooner, rather than later, he WILL be hitting the older kid. But Hell, opening up a Playstation with a screwdriver because you couldn’t get to the next level? WTF? That deserves a time out most definetly!
Claire’s turn in the corporate environment may do good for her. Get her in the real world and, as someone else said, stop focusing on herself. Maybe Ruth’s sister was right… maybe she isn’t an artist.
Nate and George’s daughter are definetly getting together. The question is when.
There have been so many times we’ve seen Nate come to the realization that he needs to grow up and act responsibly, and yet we still see him falling back to skirt chasing. I wish he could grow up and stay there.
I think Billy mentioned that he’s back on his meds, but it takes a while for them to be effective. But yeah, he’s not a lot better than he was a week ago.
I hope she decides to go back to college, and finds out that it beats going to work all day, and maybe actually learn something along the way. She needs to stop rolling her eyes and saying that everything is boring and pointless. It’s kind of delusional to expect to go to art school for a year or two and then expect your art career to take off after having one show and applying for a single grant.
I was just saying to someone that it seems to late in series for Claire to make a full blown lifestyle change, but OTOH some times the whole teen angst thing gets a little old.
Oh and did anyone else notice that when Ruth took the bong hit the smoke she exhaled looked computer generated?
I expect by being in the morgue, not to mention smoking there, that Ruth and her friends violated umpteen sections of the California Business And Professions and Public Safety Codes. It was tremendously disrespectful to the family business and her sons’ profession. Nate and David (and Rico) should be livid when they find out, and I hope they give Ruth hell.
Like almost everyone, I say good for George. It was as if to say, “I may be mentally ill, but I’m not an idiot.”
Random speculation to how a main plot point ends:
I said Keith goes and hits the older kid. But I was thinking, with Keith’s history of aggression, what if the kid pushes him so far that Keith beats him to a bloody pulp? Keith’s aggression is not conquered and he goes to the big house.
Unlikely, yeah? But probably would fit with the dark themes of the show.
Dare I say this episode was one of the best of the season? I may need to look at it again tonight to confirm . . .
Claire doing the “You Ride up my Thighs” bit was a scream. I think that was Lauren Ambrose singing. This harkens back to the first season’s musical number. Good stuff.
George’s grip on reality is better than Ruth’s at this point. I think he is well rid of her. The actress who plays Ruth (mind just went blank) is wonderful. Kathy Bates looked awful, though. And in the kitchen scene, I swear I saw a production “oops” – in one shot it looked like Bettina had just rolled out of bed, and the next, her hair was fixed up. I’ll have to watch it again to see if it wasn’t my imagination.
I don’t like the David-Keith adoption story line. Sorry. I know it’s topical and everything, but these two have been off-on-off-on in their relationship since day one. To bring children into that environment is a bad move. I suppose IRL people do it all the time – adopt or have children hoping it will “stabilize” a relationship – somebody should talk some sense into them. Gay or straight, not a good idea.
And Nate. Good Og, I want to smack him. Hard. Repeatedly. Leave Maggie alone! She’s good people.
That would be the excellent Frances Conroy. On Saturday I saw a trailer for a new film with Bill Murray. . . and she’s in it, but she’s all glammed up! Cool!
I thought this was the best episode of the season so far.
The scene where the women gathered around the body of their dead friend and sang “Calling All Angels” was very moving. I don’t weep easily anymore, but this brought tears to my eyes.
Does anybody have the words to Claire’s “You Ride Up My Thighs” song? I LOVED it! Anybody with it on tape or tivo and can transcribe for me?