Episode Report Card Gwen: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Hoop Dreams
By Gwen | Season 4 | Episode 18 | Aired on 04.09.2000
It's obvious that the promo for the movie Where The Heart Is was designed to appeal to trailer-trash housewives like myself, because the marketers know that I'm recapping this time slot. Everyone knows that I am the online trailer housewife specialist, right? I might have to go see the movie. It seems to be the poor woman's Steel Magnolias.
Back on the sidewalk in front of Flicks, RevCam starts to wax nostalgic about men, life, purposes, and cowboys. Simon rudely interrupts to point out that the fleamarket's open. Of course they head over and stop right at Matt's booth. Simon picks up a Crawford U. sweatshirt and suggests buying it for Matt, who is hiding under the table. The nosy woman at the neighboring booth bellows, "Hey, Doc! You got a customer!" and the gig is up. Now there's a silver tinsel garland on the table. "Is there something you want to tell me?" RevCam asks him. Nosy Bandana says, "He's working his way through med school!" Get a life, lady. I'll give you two bucks for that flashy gold lamp. RevCam thought he was the one paying Matt's way through med school. Matt explains his hair-brained, cock-eyed, greasy-haired scheme. RevCam will talk to Matt later. Matt supposes it's because their dad has to have his après-Wild-Bunch talk with Simon now. RevCam asks how much Matt wants for his sweatshirt. Matt tells him $15, which is half of what Eric paid the first time he bought it. Nosy Bandana rolls her eyes. RevCam tosses the shirt on the table, saying, "You're not gonna get fifteen bucks for that." Ha. It would've been funnier without the intrusion of the Lighthearted Acoustic Guitar. Maybe there are people who can't laugh without it, though. Nosy Bandana waves the ten-dollar bill at Matt, who tells her to forget it. Yeah, lady. Matt's not desperate enough to be your gigolo yet.
Contrived Conversation time! Mary and Lucy sit in their room yakking about their futures. All you need to know is that Annie walks in just in time to hear Lucy say, "I have a lot in common with Mom, but I'm not Mom and I don't want to be Mom. Well -- not just Mom." D'oh! Annie is quite wounded. There's a heavy silence. Then Annie goes, "'Just Mom' left her laundry basket." She picks up said basket and hauls ass out the door. Lucy and Mary make uh-oh faces at each other. Okay, now this is interesting. It's about time they addressed the girls' feelings towards Annie's stay-at-home-mom-ed-ness.
At some restaurant, RevCam is telling an unappreciative Simon the story of his life. You want to hear it, don't you? Okay. Eric's dad, The Colonel, didn't cough up any college money because he was hoping Eric would "crack" and go into the Marines. Young Eric entered a seminary in New York instead. The Colonel wanted Eric to enlist and fight in Vietnam. "Wait -- you're not gonna tell me you dodged the draft, are you?" Simon cuts in. Eric explains that there was a drafting lottery. He told himself that the outcome would be a sign from God. The lottery let him out of the draft and Eric felt God wanted him to be a minister. "Is that the end of the story?" asks Simon, who makes a resigned face when RevCam continues. Young Eric dredged up the guts to tell The Colonel that he'd entered the seminary. The Colonel surprised him by merely instructing him to be a good minister. Simon chuckles and asks again if that's the end of the story. "No. It should have been . . ." says Eric. He starts trying to have a revelation. He's wondering if The Colonel was issuing a challenge instead of just expressing acceptance. He's wondered whether God actually "performs signs" for anyone on request. Simon breaks it down for him: "If you don't believe in signs, maybe that high draft number didn't mean anything and you're really not supposed to be a minister. Maybe it just meant that you lucked out and you didn't have to sign up." Eric ponders this wryly as the Lighthearted Acoustic Guitar takes us into the next scene.