I am right there with you. Of course, I didn’t stop watching until towards the very end, which was kind of stupid. My husband tried to convince me that of course they weren’t going to kill him off, but I wasn’t putting anything past them at this point. I also thought he was more than stupid a couple of times. Why not speed away when the guy got out of the van first? Why not call 911 right away when he escaped from the shoddy tying-up job? Perhaps that’s why I kept watching, because I thought that somehow the stupidity would stop.
I, too, felt bad for Nate with the whole fire alarm thing. This episode was so David-centric that it’s almost like the audience had very little time to drum up sympathy for Nate, just like everyone else.
Nate’s just in the wrong bereavement group; of course that bunch would have been perfect for Ruth. For someone who’s been, as he says, in grief counseling for three years, wouldn’t Nate have known of other groups that perhaps have a focus on younger widows and widowers?
Thinking about it afterwards, I thought that David’s storyline was a little absurd, but definitely emphasized how lonely and clingy he is, particularly when Keith’s not around.
I respectfully disagree. I think this was a pivotal episode for several reasons.
Real cracks are developing in the Ruth/George relationship. This guy is a bad egg and Ruth will do well to dump him.
Clare is being forced to look inside herself. I she “empty” as her photos speak to others or is she simply “still” as she thinks she is. I think she is terribly conflicted and what she learns about herself in the next few weeks is going to change her life.
Nate finally reaches out. . . and has to deal with confessionus interruptus. What, if anything, will he do next?
Brenda and Tom: they’re buying a house together and planning to have a baby? Doesn’t she understand that she still loves Nate and this will be a mistake?
Rico. The bloodsucking hooker is smothering him. He wants out and doesn’t know how to extricate himself. Now Ruth knows there’s something screwy going on. . . and so does Nate. Looks like Vanessa is let in on the secret next week. Sparks will fly!
And then there’s David. The Focus of the Show. I don’t think it was possible for him to run away or drive away. Psycho-Crook had A GUN!!! And he was probably pretty good at using it. I think David’s fear paralyzed him. Maybe this episode was a cruel way of pointing out David’s need to be loved physically and spiritually and his fear that he doesn’t really deserve it. He’s been the fine, upstanding son and what has it gotten him? A flatulent corpse in a crummy van and getting the snot beaten out of him by a deranged criminal. He’s lucky he escaped alive. . . but I’m glad he did. What will he do next? Looks like he’s going to fold into himself, probably alienating everyone, including Keith, until he meets a hunky shrink. . . .
I know this is what the writers are going for - George has secrets and that’s bad - but Ruth’s constant meddling and needling would definitely drive me f-ing crazy! I end up each episode more on George’s side than Ruth’s. And I would turn the crap-mailing freak of a son in to the cops…
Gotta agree. Ruth’s inviting the shit-sending son to dinner is just insane! After she was so angry and upset when she thought Arthur was sending it (please make Arthur come back… please!) and now, she just doesn’t care.
I’ve seen David make some horrible decisions in the past, but this is ridiculous. Practically every action he took (or chose not to take) made me yell at the TV screen.
I agree with TeaElle: David should’ve had alarm bells going off as soon as Jake(?) started talking. That whole story about his grandmother with a broken hip had me thinking, “Uh oh. This will not end well.” The guy was giving way too much info. And he really shouldn’t have believed the maxed out credit card thing for a second.
I know David is a little naive, but he really didn’t seem to have any idea what trouble he was in. Even after the guy robbed him, David seemed to want to befriend him. I realize that trying not to anger an assailant/captor is a good thing, but I really don’t think David was just trying to humor psycho boy.
BTW, did David choose to smoke the crack or was he pretty much forced to?
BTW, I was reading the music credits for the episode on the HBO website and one of the songs was said to have been played during David’s fantasy of Psycho Guy going down on him. Am I the only dork who missed that the blow job in the van was supposed to be a crack induced fantasy? Now that I know that, the way that the bat attack on the wind shield happened makes a lot more sense.
I thought that was van blowjob fantasy happened way before they had the crack. I remember it being shortly after he picked the guy up and before anything bad happened.
I’m not sure what I think of this episode yet - I guess I’ll wait and see how they follow-up on it. I almost always try to catch episodes at least twice, but this is one I won’t be watching again; it was just too unpleasant, and it didn’t have any of the quirkiness I enjoy.
Put me on the list that greatly enjoyed this episode!
Yes, David could have escaped several times, but I believed he was gripped with fear and was not thinking rationally. Also David is not a very self-secure person and his personality is a little weak and submissive at times, so I think this is also why he acted as he did.
Another thing, David picked up this guy because he thought he could help him and also because he thought he was CUTE. David was thinking with his penis and therefore he was not always thinking rationally. He does seem to like “rough-trade” type guys like the plumber from a few episodes before and I think that while he was scared at times, he also in an odd and weird way found this fear to be sexually exciting. He had two fantasies about his crazy friend. One was that the hitchhiker confessed to him that he was gay and wanted to be his lover on the side and the other fantasy/dream was of him receiving a BJ from this psychopath.
Seeing David smoke the crack at gunpoint was not surprising, we’ve seen him do other drugs at the clubs. So the idea of getting high and going for a trip was nothing new or too freighting to him.
Gosh I love Brenda’s mom…love to loathe her that is. What kinda outfit was that she had on in this episode? Didn’t she look like the queen from Alice in Wonderland or was it one of the queens from a Disney movie (not a big Disney fan here so I’ll need help here on this one?)
That George is going to end up being way more odd than Arthur ever was.
So this episode didn’t follow the linear plot line that has been set up so far this season, no big deal, even if you don’t like that the plot took a curve or even a rest, you were sitting on the edge of your seat either in fear for David’s life or yelling at him to do certain actions to escape his doom. And that is why this is better than soap operas!
I originally thought the BJ was real too, but now thinking about it again, it seems like it had to have been a drug induced fantasy. It seems that if David really did start driving while high the van wouldn’t have ended up parked neatly at the side of the street before they zonked out.
Really intense episode, especially since a friend of mine had a nasty armed mugging experience while walking in his neighborhood in the LA 'burb of Hawthorne. He tried to run away and luckily the muggers fired and missed (whether it was on purpose or not…) and still got pistol-whipped and his money stolen for his troubles. (And the local cops were damn near close to useless…)
True, but I really thought David’s character had grown. I know the plumber was a recent example, but I thought that his penchant for random sex didn’t make him the idiot he seemed to be in this episode. I still wonder if David would have actually picked up the guy. Typically, I’d say yeah, but while transporting a body? I don’t know. David’s always taken his job seriously. How realistic is it for him to pick up a stranger with a corpse in the van and not even mention it?
As a sidenote, please, please tell me that David doesn’t get into crack because of this episode. I’m worried because he had such a euphoric reaction to it. But I trust the writers more than that (I think). I’m just afraid that this will mess David up so much that he will become completely unlikeable. Nate’s now just a tiresome basket case, for the most part. I’d hate to see David fall into a similar rut.
I got the sense that the whole fiasco with David and “Jake” was a metaphor for the risks of casual sex for David. Clearly David picked this guy up because he fantasizes about having a “guy on the side” who will do whatever he wants, the opposite of strong-willed Keith. Also, hypocritically enough, he forbade Keith to have sex with anyone else more than once, while longing to do just that himself. Then, even after “Jake” has shown himself to be a violent psycho drug addict kidnapper, David still fantasizes about getting head from him. Basically, it’s like Fatal Attraction: the worst possible outcome of trying to get a piece of strange, that thrill of danger combined with the fear of a very bad outcome.
I have no idea what this will do to the Keith/David 'ship. Probably nothing good; it’ll make David more clingy and fearful with Keith, but will he own up to his reasons for picking up “Jake” and the unhealthy risks he’s been taking in his sexual escapades? This theme was alluded to when David scolded Keith to be safe, use a rubber even with oral, when he himself is perfectly willing to get head from anyone, anywhere, unprotected (and makes excuses for it). This time, he got Jaked, which despite its horror was a better outcome than getting HIV or Hep C, for example. Time for David to take a hard look at his habits and reevaluate. Should be interesting to see where they go with this.
Good points. I think, given some distance, I’m starting to see where this whole incident could have the purpose with regards to the series that I was seeking in my earlier post. There is, of course, the thing about David’s loneliness, sexual and otherwise, and partial excitement from the ordeal.
Something else I remembered, though…when they went to the gas station where “the ATM didn’t work,” the guy said something about how he must have bad karma, and David said something like, “I don’t think it works like that. I think things just happen.” And then, sure enough, something…just happened…to David. Something completely random and senseless, yet perhaps ultimately not without meaning and certainly not without impact on the rest of David’s life. I hope he won’t become unlikeable as a result of this though, and I hope (probably fruitlessly) that it doesn’t fuck up his relationship with Keith. They’ve been doing so well…
Side question related to that: I got into the series late, devouring the first season on DVD last summer and finally just reading the synopses from the 2nd and 3rd seasons before starting the 4th so I could stay with it. (Gonna rent and watch the 2nd season soon!) I was pretty surprised as this season went along with how much more, well, gay David was acting, at least in comparison to the first season. He’s so flamboyant and playful with Keith these days, and I just didn’t remember him being quite like that before. And then there’s him having gotten a blowjob from the plumber when I know he used to not be comfortable with outside stuff. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but I’m just wondering if this is a relatively new development or more gradual or what. (I’m also worried that the incident with Psycho will kill this playfulness in him. )
Back to the episode…I’m with the “feeling for Nate” as opposed to the “can’t stand Nate” camp. I’ve always liked his character and I don’t fault him much for going through a tough time. I’ve always like Claire, too, but I can see where she needs to get back on track. I’m eagerly awaiting her foray into LesbianLand next week (at least it looks like it’ll be next week).
Cruella deVille? Maleficent (Snow White)? Ursula (Little Mermaid)?
God, she’s awful. I can’t stand that she’s a psychotherapist, it’s just embarassing! WHY does Brenda still speak to her? I hope that’s the first thing she’ll get out of school: “Hmmm. Maybe it’s time to write off “mom””.
Put me in the Didn’t-Know-the-2nd-BJ-Was-A-Fantasy column. That’s just the kind of thing a homophobic, sociopathic little f*cker like that would do. Except that he would have wanted David to do him, not the other way around. I think David just wants someone to adore him and worship him the way he does Keith, or at least that’s what he thinks he wants. The sad thing is, Keith does adore him, in his own way, he just realizes that David’s, y’know, mortal. And David has “come out” a lot since the beginning - much of it at Keith’s (who is now pretending to cruise chicks at work) urging.
Nate can be a jerkoff, no doubt about it, but I’ll always like him because he has those soft brown eyes like my father had…
Watch it again? I couldn’t finish watching it the first time! I had to come here to find out whether or not David made it. I got as far as the guy pouring gas on him and figured that I wouldn’t be subjecting myself to that kind of trauma voluntarily. ::shudder:: If the rest of the series was going to be about Deep Fried David coping, I would have stopped watching, stat.
Only Ruth would have tyied to fix up two people based on their common interest in using feces-related packages to express their unhappiness.
It’s a pity David is nonviolent, but then, it’s hard to say how one will act in a life-threatening situation. I’d kind of like to see Keith catch up with that little fucker and completely forget about anger management.
Not long after seeing the episode, I saw a commercial for Saturn cars, in which, if I’m not mistaken, the same actor who played David’s hitchhiker was playing a Saturn salesman! Maybe not a juxtaposition the Saturn people would have liked.
It seems like the writers don’t know what to do with Claire when she’s not in a serious boy-related crisis. I’d like to see her actually grow up. I hate every one of the young people she hangs around with. On the other hand, it’s nice to see Brooke Smith as a teacher.
Benda’s mom is so desperate and repulsive that she might actually be some sort of supernatural beast, such as a succubus or a harpy. Just a thought.
They’ve been doing so well…