Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Taking Sides
By Niki | Season 3 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.03.2002
A phone rings, and we follow the sound to Judy's apartment again. Her answering machine flashes that she already has three messages, and as it picks up, we hear Sam Blue leaving yet one more. He pleads with her to pick up if she's home. Oh, Judy's home, all right. Home and cowering on the floor behind her kitchen table like some whipped puppy.
Fade to Judy wandering into the kitchen at Manning Manor. Grace is at the table working on homework. She tells Judy that Lily is upstairs, but Judy flops into a chair and says she's not really there for any reason; she just had to get out of the house to avoid some phone calls. "A stalker?" Grace asks. "Sam," Judy admits. Grace stops writing and looks up at her. "Is that bad?" she asks. Judy admits that she's stopped seeing Sam. Grace points out that Judy claimed she wasn't seeing him to begin with. Caught, Judy confesses that her relationship with Sam "has been somewhat confused." "I'll say," Grace snorts. Judy looks wounded and asks what she means. Grace gives her an oh-please eyeroll and informs her that she knows all about when the affair started. Her tone turns dismissive as she announces that she doesn't want to talk about it, and she really has a lot of work to do. She pointedly turns her attention back to her homework. Judy reels for a second and then leans across the table, asking if she can explain something to Grace. She says that she didn't foresee the consequences of her actions when she first met Sam. She didn't know there would be a wife and a kid who were going to be hurt. "That was my failure, but it wasn't my intention," she adds. Grace is unmoved. "And when my dad screwed around? What do you think his intentions were?" Grace asks stonily.
The phone rings. Grace answers and tells Karen that she'll run upstairs and get Jessie for her. Judy takes the opportunity to say hello to Karen, who is a little distant in return. Judy says she just wanted to let Karen know that she stopped seeing Sam. Karen says she knows; Sam already told her. Karen says she's sorry. Jessie picks up the extension upstairs, and Judy says hi to her. Jessie says "Bye" in return. Wow, Judy's getting the scorn everywhere she turns, now, isn't she? Judy says a soft goodbye to Jessie and Karen and clicks off. Karen's tone turns exuberant, and she says she's just on her way over to get Jessie as she tosses a couple pairs of skates over her shoulder. Jessie says she was just about to call -- she doesn't think she'll be able to go skating after all because of the History paper. Karen stammers that they won't stay late, but Jessie says that she's barely started writing the paper. Karen pauses and tries to think of a new angle, finally saying that they could just grab a quick dinner instead. Jessie craps all over that suggestion by saying that she already ate with the rest of the crew at Manning Manor. You can almost hear Karen's heart crack. She struggles to maintain her composure. "Mom?" Jessie asks. Karen doesn't trust herself to speak yet. She swallows and tries to make her voice sound normal, and finally asks, "Are you saying that you want to stay at Lily's?" Jessie sighs and says no, and that she guesses she could come over; it's just that she's worried about not finishing her paper. Why doesn't she just use Karen's computer to work on it? Karen struggles for a few moments and finally chokes out that she understands. She wishes Jessie good luck with the paper, and as her voice starts to thicken with tears, she chokes out, "I love you." "Me too," Jessie says quickly, which brings a smile to Karen's face. They say goodbye, and Karen's face immediately falls. She clutches one of the skates and slowly sinks to the floor, finally letting herself have a really good cry. The sound of waves washes over her and draws us back to Soliloquy Beach.