Episode Report Card Aaron: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Dead as Folk? No. Dead as Fuck? Yes.
By Aaron | Season 2 | Episode 9 | Aired on 04.27.2002
Downstairs, David has finally managed to drag himself into work. The only problem is that the area around his mouth appears to be bright red and inflamed for some reason. The dialogue here is the only part of the episode worth transcribing verbatim, so here we go:
Nate: What's with the red face?
David: Oh. Um, Keith and I were…fooling around, and, well, he hadn't shaved.
Nate: You big whore!
David: Is it really bad?
Nate: Nah. Actually, yes. It's bright red. It's red as a baboon's ass.
David: Oh my God! I look like a burn victim.
As David examines his face in a mirror, Nate asks the real question that's on his mind, which is whether or not David would be the best man at his wedding. David agrees delightedly, and they both head off to chat with the clients of the week.
Which is where we head as well, as we join them in Das Sargzimmer. I can't even begin to describe the horror that is Peter Krause's hair in this scene, but let me just say that edge lights are not his friend. That stuff looks radioactive, for God's sake. David tries his best to cover his mouth as he explains that the DGDJ had already made all the arrangements, so all the two daughters sitting across from him have to do is show up. Basically, this scene has two points. One is to emphasize the fact that the DGDJ wanted to be buried next to their mother, and the other is for one of the daughters (the one who doesn't look like a reject from Designing Women) to tell David that she knows the number of a good dermatologist. With both missions accomplished, it's now time to move on.
Keith arrives at Karla's place, vitamins in hand, and he's met at the door by Taylor. She quickly takes the vitamins from him, tosses them in the trash, and explains that she's staying home from school because Karla is sick. The place is once again a big mess, and for the first time all season, Taylor isn't watching something disgusting on TV. Unless, that is, you consider Nelly Furtado disgusting, which many of us do. Karla emerges from the bedroom looking like shit, and warns Keith to stay away because she's got the flu. "Have you seen a doctor?" he asks, the disbelief clear in his voice. "I ain't paying nobody's doctor a hundred bucks just to tell me to stay in bed," she replies. "Fuck that shit." Fk=11. Keith strides over and checks to see if she's got a fever, which prompts Karla to ask if he wants to "shove a thermometer up [her] ass." I know I shouldn't laugh at homophobic subtext, but heh nonetheless. Keith sends Taylor to his room so he and her mother can argue, and she goes reluctantly. There's much Angry Keith-style screaming as he demands that Karla enter rehab, and there's also at least two more "fucks" (Fk=13), before Karla accuses her brother of becoming just like their father. "What are you gonna do next?" she shouts. "Slap me so hard I can't hear out of one ear for the next day and a half?" Keith remains kold, and tells her that she can either do rehab or he'll call the cops on her. We get a too-tight close-up on Karla as she brings herself back under control, and finally makes the decision to get help. "It has to be outpatient," she insists. "I'm not leaving Taylor again." She sits herself down on the couch and cries a single tear as the scene comes to an end.