Episode Report Card Sara M: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Father, Why Bother?
By Sara M | Season 9 | Episode 6 | Aired on 10.17.2004
Martin and Mac walk in, Martin pessimistically saying that "they're" not going to "show up." He asks RevCam if he needs help with the picnic table, which, IT'S A PICNIC TABLE. I think RevCam and SamVid can handle it themselves. RevCam says as much. Mac thinks that they should help out even though RevCam just told them not to, saying that he wishes his dad spent time with him like RevCam spends time making his children do his housework. Mac whines that his parents are divorced, and neither of them have been to his baseball games in years. "They divorced, and I lost them both," he anvils. ["'They divorced'? What kid talks like this? Wouldn't he say 'got a divorce'? I hate this goddamn show." --Sars] Martin asks Mac why he never mentioned this before, and Mac responds that it's because the writers only just made this facet of his existence up in order to loosely tie their storyline into this week's Titular Theme. Actually, Mac just says he didn't feel comfortable complaining about his parents with Martin's dad being somewhere else, but I forget where that is since it's not mentioned enough on this show. Mac says that as long as he can get a woman, he'll be fine. Okay.
When Martin and Mac enter the house, they're assaulted by an image of Ruthie that I'm sure we'd all love to forget: she's got her back leaning against the kitchen counter, her arms splayed causally across it, and her chest thrown out. She asks them, in a breathy, "seductive" voice, how their baseball practice went. Martin says they're starving, and they're getting pizza after he checks his "email." And here I thought the Camdens didn't have an internet connection. Where could I have gotten that silly idea? Oh yeah, maybe when THEY SAID IT LAST WEEK. But how much continuity can I expect from the writing team that is recycling the "I don't have parents, so I just need a good woman" story that they used with Harry only two weeks ago? Why do I expect anything from this writing team? I need to learn to lower my expectations to more realistic levels. Like, I should be impressed that the characters occasionally know each other's names. Ruthie says she's excited about getting pizza, and Martin asks what makes Ruthie think she's invited. Ruthie points out that it was her idea, as if going out for pizza is some kind of Level Five BrainHurricane. Martin and Mac shrug and say she can come. Martin walks upstairs, and Ruthie gets Mac a glass of water. That's the hotness right there, Ruthie. Work it.
Lucy's on the phone with Annie, who's using a pay phone at the mall. And how exactly did this come about? Did Lucy call the mall pay phone and ask whoever answered it to track down her mother, telling him to check the sale racks of Lane Bryant for a woman with a terrifying clownface? I guess it worked, since they're now talking to each other through the Cheesy Split Screen, which I really thought we had gotten rid of along with Chandler, Roxanne, Peter, and Asslee. But no. Anyway, Annie doesn't think Lucy should have a doctor Kevin doesn't like.