Episode Report Card Sara M: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Father, Why Bother?
By Sara M | Season 9 | Episode 6 | Aired on 10.17.2004
Martin tries to get the check, but Mac doesn't want to rush out. Martin orders Mac to get him another soda, which Mac leaves to do since he's totally Martin's bitch. Martin turns to Ruthie and asks if she's interested in Mac. At that point, Mac comes back with a soda and two hot older girls. Wow, that was quick. One of the hot girls asks if Ruthie is Mac's sister. "No," says Mac, "but she's like a little sister." Ruthie's face falls. Martin smirks. Asshole! The Clarinet of the Tragedy of Teen Crushes plays its mournful tune. I have to say, even though I loathe Ruthie, I did kind of feel a little sorry for her here. I'm sure the feeling won't last.
At the Promenade-located fish and chips place we had no idea existed, Ben answers his cell phone. I'm impressed; I would have thought Ben lacked the intelligence necessary to figure one of those modern hickdeedoos out. I guess this puts Ben over Matt on the Scale of Below-Average Intelligence. But they're still above SamVid. Kevin's on the phone, and he asks Ben where he is. When Ben says he's out for fish and chips, Kevin figures out that he's with DE, and he and Lucy ask Ben what he's doing with her. Ben hangs up on them.
In the CamPound backyard, Lucy asks Kevin to talk to her father. Kevin asks why, and Lucy says that fatherhood can best be explained by a father. Kevin says he doesn't want anyone to know that he doesn't know what he's doing, because men are always supposed to know what they're doing in Brenda's Bizarre Universe. Ruthie comes storming through the backyard, followed by Martin. They meet Wilson on their way inside the house, who calls Ruthie "all grown up." "Shut up," Ruthie says. Awesome. This is followed by a truly hilarious shot of the dining Camdens, looking extremely concerned, all getting up from the table at the same time with the collective thought that they need to go spy on Ruthie.
Ruthie's wiping off the last of her makeup in a shot that mirrors the Opening Credits Timewaster. It's like someone was actually trying to give this show a sense of quality this week! Alas, much too little, far too late. RevCam comes in and asks what's up. He isn't followed by the rest of the family, so I guess somewhere between the backyard and the attic they made the decision to let RevCam interfere alone. Crying Ruthie tells RevCam about how Mac said she was a like a little sister and says that even though she knew it was impossible, she still wanted to make Mac like her. Then she tells us what happened in the scene we already saw, and apologizes to RevCam and Annie for "lying" to them. She says she just wanted a seventeen year-old to ask her out because it would make her feel "important." Such are the values the CamRents teach their children.