Episode Report Card Niki: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Won't Someone Please Help George Bailey Tonight? (2)
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.17.2001
Cut to said home, where Lily's passed out in the living room. Rick stumbles in -- past the moving boxes, which are a nice touch -- and Lily wakes and checks her watch. She rolls her eyes and hauls herself upright in the chair. Rick spots her, surprised. She says, "I've been calling you since ten." Her voice has an accusatory edge. He fibs some excuse about car trouble and leans in to kiss her forehead. She waves at the air to clear away the stank of his bar breath. He admits that he "bumped into some folks from the office for a couple drinks." "Or six," Lily says. "Or ten," Rick adds lightly, heading for the kitchen. Lily pulls a stool up to the counter, saying, "That's one way to deal with things." Her tone makes it clear that she doesn't think it's dealing with things at all. Rick says he thinks he has "a right to choose how [he] want[s] to deal with things." "Like avoiding me?" Lily asks. Rick acts like he doesn't know what she's talking about, and Lily says they "haven't really talked about this in days." She says she wants to help, and that she thinks they should talk about it. Rick gets a glass of water, takes a sip, and crossly says, "Well, Lil, you can't help. So I just wish you would stop...trying to help, because --" Lily recoils from the sting of his words, purses her lips, and pushes herself up off the stool. He says he knows she means well. "Oh please," she spits, turning toward the door. "It's really late. I don't even know what I'm doing here." Rick sets his mug on the counter and asks, "Did it ever occur to you that I might need to be alone right now?" Lily yanks her jacket on and shouts, "Well that's what I'm doing! I'm leaving!" She grits her teeth and says, "You want me to run out." He leans wearily on the counter, dropping his forehead into his hand, and tells her to do whatever she wants. She strides to the counter and says this isn't what she wants; she wants to "face this together like people who supposedly love each other do." He lifts his eyes, but his gaze is unfocused as he snaps, "I can't do that right now." "Well that's painfully obvious," she snarls. Rick slams his hands on the counter and yells, "Oh, don't start that crap!" Lily looks like she's never seen him before. Rick keeps on yelling, "This is what you always do! Why does everything have to be...just talked and talked to death?" Lily's outraged. She shrills, "What do you mean? We're not even talking!" "What do you want from me?" Rick shouts. Lily stares at him. The anger slowly drops from her eyes. She sighs and softly says, "Rick. I want to love you. That's all I want. And I'm sorry that's so particularly painful." Rick glances over her shoulder, and Lily turns to find Jessie on the stairs in her jammies. Rick says he'll be up in a minute. Without looking at her, Lily says, "Hi, Jess. I was just leaving." Jessie wordlessly turns and heads upstairs. Lily wordlessly turns and blows out the door. Rick just looks ashamed of himself. Or maybe he's just dreading tomorrow's hangover.
It's the next morning when we return after the commercial break. Rick staggers downstairs, bleary-eyed and clutching a bottle of water. "Hey there," he says. Jessie immediately says that Eli's going to drive her. Rick says he can drive, since he has to "go to court anyway." Eli asks why. Rick says, "They want to interview me as a possible witness against Miles." He scratches his belly under his t-shirt. Really. He'll make a fine witness, reeking of stale booze and squinting out of those red-rimmed eye-holes. Jessie just throws her knapsack over her shoulder and breezes out the door, wafting disapproval in her wake. Eli smirks an understanding "rough night, huh?" before following her. Rick sinks onto a stool and guzzles his water.