Episode Report Card Sara M: B- | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT The Gang's All Here
By Sara M | Season 2 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.02.1997
Mary comes downstairs, where she is verbally attacked by Annie, who demands that Mary bring Ruthie to her so they can go to the mall. Mary says she has to find Ruthie first, because they're playing hide-and-seek, and Ruthie's hiding. So, of course, Annie scolds Mary for not doing a good enough job of seeking Ruthie. Someone's got some pretty high seeking standards. Mary wants to know why Annie is going to the mall earlier than Lucy expected. "That's why they call me 'Mom,'" Annie responds. What a coincidence! That's also why they call you "antagonistic busybody."
Mary is stumped as to where Ruthie could be hiding. It must be hard being as stupid as Mary. Honestly, how does she figure out how to get out of bed every morning? She checks the hamper in the bathroom, but Ruthie's not there. Good, Ruthie. As it turns out, hiding in the bathroom laundry hamper is not too bright. I knew someone who did that at a friend's house, and then her friend's mom came into the bathroom. My friend didn't know what to do, so she panicked and popped out of the hamper while the poor lady was peeing and scared and embarrassed her to death at the same time. It was tragic. And messy. So don't hide in bathroom, kids. Annie comes out of the CamBoudoir and asks Mary if she needs to blot her lipstick. Mary and I say "yes." Annie says she knows where Ruthie is, but won't tell Mary because Mary was the one who promised Ruthie she would find her. And by the way, now that her make-up looks slightly less crappy than before she blotted, Annie's ready to go, so Mary had better hurry up. Wow, that's really annoying, to have someone not tell you where something is, and then tell you to hurry up and find it. Mary finally finds Ruthie sleeping in Simon's bunk bed. They got a lot of mileage out of that bed this episode.
RevCam is talking to Stan's parents about their gangbanger daughter. They are understandably dubious. RevCam is all, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I totally know how you feel," and the parents are like, "Um, no, you don't know how we feel and how dare you come into our house and tell us these things about our daughter, you smug bastard." I like the StanRents, even if they didn't actually call RevCam a smug bastard. I could tell they were thinking it, and that's enough. You recap this show enough times, and your standards really lower. The StanRents express surprise that a female could be in a gang. RevCam points out that gangs are equal-opportunity organizations. Well, that's good. A lot of other things aren't. Like certain television shows that pretend that minorities don't exist unless it's convenient to the storyline, and that homosexuals don't exist at all, ever. Stan's mom says that she doesn't think anything is going on with Karen, although things have been tense between Karen and Stan lately because she's been spending more time with her friends. RevCam asks if they've seen anything in Karen's room, to which Stan's dad snaps, "You mean, like, have we found any gang members milling around in her sock drawer?" So awesome. Then: "We don't search our children's rooms!" This is presented as if not invading your kids' privacy is a bad thing, which I don't think it is. RevCam says that he doesn't search his kids' rooms either. No, RevCam, you just "go out for ice cream." While wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. To watch your kids make out. RevCam patronizingly declares that "in cases like this, there's some kind of gang paraphernalia around." Stan's dad kicks total ass as he tells RevCam that his family is not "a case," and that he trusts his kids. RevCam lies and says that he trusts his kids too, but he doesn't know what they do when he's not around and "the possibilities are becoming more and more frightening." Surely they can't be as scary as the prospect of your daughter wearing terrible clothing and make-up in a public area -- oh wait. The StanRents, realizing that RevCam won't leave until they do as he asks, reluctantly agree to search Karen's room, while Stan's mom, who has suddenly Learned Her CamLesson, poorly delivers this stupid line: "I didn't know what to look for before today -- I didn't even know I needed to look. But I should have been looking -- harder. At my kids, at their friends, everything."