Episode Report Card M. Giant: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I Say Quakerism, You Say Aneurysm
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 8 | Aired on 07.23.2005
Nate tries to get Brenda excited about where they're driving to, presumably to distract her from the terribly fake street scene backdrop crawling past them at about four frames per second: "Come on, a Quaker church service. At the very least it'll be interesting." Brenda lies that she's trying to keep an open mind. Nate's all excited about the lack of sermon: "People just sit silently and wait to be filled with the presence of God." He tries to sound like he's kidding so he doesn't seem completely uncool, but he's totally doing that thing where you actually kind of mean it. Al Franken calls it kidding on the square, which is a handy phrase because there's going to be quite a bit of that going on this week. Brenda regards Nate with a certain incredulity. Nate adds that Maggie says you can say something at the meeting if you want, but it's not a requirement. Brenda asks pointedly, "Is there anything else Maggie thinks we should know?" Since Nate doesn't rise to the bait, Brenda changes the subject, saying her OB thinks the baby's looking good. Nate acts hurt that she didn't tell him about the appointment today, and Brenda claims,"I wanted to spare you the grief." Nate acts all pissed, so Brenda suggests he "sit there and allow yourself to be filled with the presence of God." Nate knows when he's being told to shut up, no matter how creatively it's being done, and it actually works for a second. But then he asks what else the doctor said. Brenda starts with the good news, and when Nate tries to get Brenda to say the baby's "perfectly healthy," she admits that "there are some things that the sonogram can't tell." Nate asks if that means Down's or spina bifida. Brenda assures him that the neck measurement they did makes Down's unlikely. Nate mock-excitedly says, "So, great! We get to maybe check this one thing off the list and the baby could still have a million other things wrong with it." Brenda snaps that it's not an "it." "We're having another daughter." Nate's huffy reaction could be interpreted as this whole baby thing hitting another level of reality for him, or irritation that Brenda's mad at him for using the wrong pronoun before she told him a new one was in place.
David is taking his child-care provider to task for allowing the joyriding incident. "I had no idea they'd left," Ruth says. Oh, good argument there. David asks why she wasn't watching them, and she reminds him that the kids were allowed to play in the courtyard. Ruth snaps, "Don't talk to me like I'm an imbecile. I've raised three children." David says that's why he expected more. What? David, have you met those three children? Ruth snits that in that case, he can take her off his list of babysitters. And on her way out, she picks up the plate of cookies from the dining room table, where the kids have been sitting and watching the whole exchange. David tells Durrell to wipe the smirk off his face; he's grounded. "And you cannot tell Keith about this." Durrell nods. Dammit, David, quit doing that. It's so not helping.