Episode Report Card Gwen: F | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The family that prays together, pries together
By Gwen | Season 5 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.28.2001
Matt barges in on Mrs. Bink in a radiology room. He's wearing a sloppily large shirt with some sort of pea-coat affair over it. Mrs. Bink is there for her mastectomy results, and the doctor has asked her to wait. She's worried, but still comically old enough to be cantankerous about Matt's uncomforting reaction. Yes, breast cancer is cute.
Annie strolls Mercy into Pete's Pizza and learns from Pete that Frankie allegedly has the flu. StuporMom tells him that Mercy was left on her doorstep. Pete yells to all his customers that the parlor is closed due to a family emergency. He knew it wasn't the flu. He knows Frankie is gone. The restaurant patrons actually get up and leave without yelling curse words or anything. They have great respect for familial dysfunction, I see.
Matt and Mrs. Bink play cards while they wait. The doctor strides in, glances at a couple of x-rays, and says, "Everything looks fine. You can go now." Matt gets up and reads him the riot act for such a lack of sensitivity. "My hero," says Mrs. Bink. My ulcer.
"... and that's what a mammography is," a nurse tells Simon. He looks grossed out. We're supposed to realize that he's learned to respect women's issues more than before, and that some day he will be as sensitive and caring as his big brother Matt. Isn't that heartwarming?
Annie has called Robbie from the pizza parlor. Robbie tells her that he's done all her secret special-event chores. He even ironed Annie's dress. Annie says, "Wow," even though she's insecure about her position as Head Wife. Robbie turns to find that Ruthie and the twins messed up some fluorescent three-tiered cake. "Now that's a cake and a half," he says. I think he's dropping acid.
RevCam rudely accosts an airline clerk and finds out that Mary's plane isn't due for another hour. I think he should go to the airport bar and have a drink so he can be even more obnoxious to Robbie and his family when he finally gets home.
George and GramCam say something about Mary flying to Glenoak. I stopped caring about them so long ago that I can't even be bothered to rewind my VCR for those few seconds of filler and find out what exactly they said.
Lucy paces as she waits for Mike to get home. She's near tears as she relays his mother's message to Mike. She theorizes that Mike's mom blames herself for Mike's suicide attempt, as well as for Mike's dad's suicide. She tells some long story about a friend of hers who died in a car accident. I don't really listen because I'm too busy envying Lucy her youth. I'm sitting here recapping this with wrinkles and dark circles under my eyes. It's too late for me to start a career in television, isn't it?