Episode Report Card Niki: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT There Be Dragons
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 5 | Aired on 10.18.1999
B/W Lily keeps dragging us, kicking and screaming, into that terrifying bizarro place where Jake was desirable. Without any warning she tells us that they slept together twelve hours after they met. Wowza. That takes me a moment to digest. All the obvious horrors aside, isn't she the one who's always judging Judy as some kind of loose hosebag because she sleeps with guys too soon? Little bit of the old pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?
Despite the bourbon and water soaking though his pants, Jake holds Lily still for a moment and gives her a hungry look. She's found the strength she lacked so sorely all those years ago, though, and beats a path to the exit.
B/W Lily starts to say something more but seems justifiably overcome with embarrassment over the last detail she shared. Thankfully, she covers her face with her hands and shuts the hell up.
Cut to Rick, who's still passed out on his couch. Jessie comes into the room and looks at him for a moment. We next see her looking through the stuff on his dresser: cufflink, tape measure, pocket knife. Nothing worth stealing, but I don't think that's why she's there, anyway. B/W Jessie starts to tell us about her summers as a kid, which were always spent at her grandparents' cottage on the lake.
Back in Rick's room, Jessie picks up an old family photo from one of these summers. She studies it carefully.
B/W Jessie continues remembering the cottage, and how they didn't do anything special there. They played cards, worked on puzzles, and "other stupid stuff."
The phone rings, and Jessie lays the picture face-down on the table before answering. It's Karen, checking up on her. Jessie tells her they didn't go hiking because Rick had a little accident with his finger and they had to go to the emergency room. Karen asks why they didn't call her, and Jessie says that Lily drove them. Karen looks like she smells something foul and repeats, "Lily?" Jessie explains that Lily was there when Rick cut himself. Karen tries to make her voice sound light, as if she doesn't care that Lily was there, and Jessie says that Lily just stopped by for a minute. Karen closes her eyes, shakes her head, and looks like she's trying not to vomit. She reminds Jessie that she can always call if she needs anything. Translation: you don't let that other woman anywhere near you. As they're about to hang up, Jessie blurts out, "Mom!" as if she's got something more to say, but then she just says, "See you tomorrow." Karen's finely tuned mother's intuition (the same one that always lets her open the door about two seconds before the kid gets there) senses that something is awry, and she asks if anything is wrong. Jessie says, "It's nothing," but she's not very convincing. Karen hangs up looking unimpressed, still thinking about Lily no doubt. You just know that Rick's going to get it next time she sees him.