Episode Report Card Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Liar, Liar
By Cate | Season 4 | Episode 20 | Aired on 05.07.2000
Brace yourself, because it's Ruthie time. Her blonde friend asks if Ruthie has come up with a story yet. Unfortunately for us, the viewing public, she has. It's an overly cutesy account of Aunt Julie's drinking problem, written in a way that's supposed to elicit hearty chuckles and a "kids say the darnedest things" reaction from the viewer. Ruthie natters on for a bit while the actor playing Dutch Boy does a good job of pretending to be interested. I'm too annoyed to even bother feigning interest, so I take a break to spin around in my new office chair. When Ruthie's done, Dutch Boy compliments the story and I clutch at my stomach. I could blame my sudden nausea on the spinning, but we all know it's really caused by Ruthie. ["And haven't we seen this on those chewy-granola-bar ads already?" -- Sars]
Sharon, Dopey's boss, calls SuperMom and says she's all concerned about Dopey. Who isn't!
Back at school, it's story time. When Ms. Beasley asks who wants to tell a story next, Dutch Boy and Ruthie both raise their hands. The teacher calls on Dutch Boy, who turns out to be named Chrissie. I'll bet you couldn't see this plot twist from ten miles away, but Chrissie starts telling Ruthie's dumb-ass Aunt Julie story. I wander out to the balcony to see how our newly planted herbs made it through the thunderstorm. As I come back inside, Dutch Boy is just winding down. Ruthie shoots her a nasty look but stays quiet, for once.
Dopey's having lunch in the hospital cafeteria when SuperMom comes in with the twins. She's obviously trying to look all casual about being there, so she makes an excuse about having to send something to Aunt Julie via Hank. Dopey rudely asks her what she's sending to Aunt Julie, and Annie says it's a box of fancifully shaped sex toys. Actually, she doesn't, but that's what I would have said to shut him up if I were in Annie's shoes. Unfortunately, the writers just have her look nervous and evade Matt's annoying questioning. Dopey thinks she's come down to talk to him about the newspaper interview, so she latches onto that as an excuse. I laugh when Dopey asks, "Are you afraid I'll say something stupid?" I'd love to think it's a shout-out to MBTV, but I'll bet they don't like us enough to do that. Annie slips in a little lecture about Matt working too hard, which is the real reason she came to see him anyway.
As Annie leaves, Elizabeth and another female orderly walk in. Elizabeth says hi to Dopey, but he just touches his face a lot and looks away. She says, "The guy's a zombie -- which I prefer, by the way, to his other personality." I do think a zombie-like demeanor is an improvement over the typical Camden Nosy Parker personality, but I realize Elizabeth's still just trying to turn people against Dopey. John walks in and ask if Dopey would accompany him to meet with the "crackpot politician" John saw on TV earlier. John reiterates that he's pissed about cultural appropriation, while Dopey distracts him with statements that are supposed to be funny but are not. John remembers that he ran into SuperMom and she gave him ten bucks to give to Dopey. Elizabeth sees the money change hands and insists that Dopey is on drugs. But of course, I stopped caring about this plotline before it even began.