Episode Report Card Aaron: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Zed's Dead, Baby. Zed's Dead.
By Aaron | Season 2 | Episode 8 | Aired on 04.20.2002
Back at the funeral, our musical tour through the guitar rock of the seventies continues with "Don't Fear the Reaper." David, Keith, and Taylor are sitting on the steps watching the funeral, and Taylor doesn't understand why everyone seems so happy that the DGDJ is dead. "I think it's about time we get you home," says Keith, and then Taylor delivers the episode's signature line: "But it's Christmas, and I want to watch the funeral." Hee. Keith suggests that David come home with them, especially because he has a few presents that he didn't want David to open in "mixed company." "Ew," says Taylor, looking back and forth at them. Heh. I get the sense that Taylor and I would be pretty good friends. My stomach hurts a lot too, sometimes. David runs down to ask Nate for permission to leave, and Nate is only too happy to oblige. They hug, and share a sweet moment when they wish each other a merry Christmas.
Ahh. At last, a Toby scene everyone can enjoy. He and Claire are hanging out up in the living room. He suggests they take off and go somewhere, but Claire has nothing but scorn for his various suggestions. "Why are you so hostile?" he asks. "You act like you're incredibly put out by, I don't know, being alive. And maybe you think that's really cool, but it's not. It's irritating." Whoa there, Loser Boy. YOU are going to tell HER about being "irritating"? I think someone needs to introduce this kid to both the pot and the kettle, and I ain't talking about the Alan Ball kind of pot, either. Claire shares my sentiments, and points out Toby's need to "feel all superior or something." She also tells him that she "fully supports [his] little desire to have some life you'd see on Nickelodeon, but [she doesn't] support [his] desire to be a judgmental dick." Amen. Sing it, sister. And with that, Toby is gone, hopefully for good.
With the mandatory "Ew" scene and repeated usage of the word "fuck" already out of the way, it's now time for the Important Lessons About Life scene. Nate is joined at his post by the Widow DJ, who laments the passing of her husband. "He was a crazy son-of-a-bitch," she says, "but I loved him." She reminisces about how they met, and also confesses that he always used to say that "his two favorite things in life were riding his hog, and riding [her]." Which, honestly, doesn't really sound like all that bad of a life. Anyway, all the nostalgia prompts Nate to remember the motorcycle he had in high school, which he wrecked and "fucked up royally" less than a week after he got it. "Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that I live my life to the fullest," he continues, "but compared to you and Jesse I think I've got a lot to learn." The Widow DJ says that if she were a few years younger, she might have been willing to teach him a thing or two, and Nate grins as he admits that he might have let her. A quick check indicates that we've now gone four entire paragraphs without a reference to Nate's illness, so the Widow also adds, "Jesse always said you got to live every day like you might die tomorrow. Because you know what?" "You just might," finishes Nate. Thanks for the tip, guys. I had no idea that Nate could die at any moment. The Widow hands over a bottle of Jack Daniels, and Nate takes a big swig. Looking closely at the bottle, it's pretty clear that whatever is in there isn't Jack Daniels, and judging from the look on Peter Krause's face, I don't think he has any more of a clue as to what it was than I do. They cut away pretty quickly before he can break character, but I guarantee you that the rest of that shot has ended up on a blooper reel somewhere.