Episode Report Card Niki: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Second Time Around
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.01.2001
In bed, Lily jumps and looks sideways at the chair next to her bed. Phil's sitting there, and he reminds her, "You have to ask him." Lily sort of rolls her eyes and then leans over in Phil's direction to whisper, "Daddy, he's obviously not comfortable with Hebrew in the ceremony. He just doesn't understand." Phil is stern: "Not Rick. You have to ask Jake." Lily looks up and mumbles, "Oh, that reminds me." Rick hears her "muttering," but amazingly, he can't make out what she's saying even though she's like six inches away from him. He asks what she's muttering about. She asks, "Could you possibly write me a check for this month's mortgage?" Rick feels the vise around his privates tighten a little more, and his face is pinched as he says he will. She asks if he's sure. He won't take his eyes off the page in front of him, trying hard to swallow the scream that's starting to build somewhere around his ankles. "Thanks," she says simply, and turns her attention back to her book. Next to her, Rick claps a hand to his forehead, seeing if he's still, in fact, generating a body temperature. Lily says she thinks he's absolutely right about the hot hors d'oeuvres, and he distractedly answers her. She asks if he's okay, and he runs his hand through his hair, saying, "I'm fine. I'm just feeling sort of --"
"Panicked? Pressured? Poor?" Soliloquy Rick supplies. Punchy! Gotta love the alliteration.
"Exhausted," is what he tells Lily. Chickenshit. He clicks off his bedside light as she says, "Me too." She clicks off her lamp, and they kiss goodnight, each of them rolling over and facing in different directions. Nothing like a wedding to bring people together, is there?
After commercials, Lily's entering the restaurant, where Jake's busily stacking really big match boxes into a tower. "See, your fiancé isn't the only one who can build a house," he says when he sees Lily. She ignores the comment and says that Tiffany told her Jake had some extra cocktail napkins. While Jake's scrounging behind the bar, Lily brings up the subject of the check with a cynical sigh. Jake says he thought he explained about that the other day. Lily looks up from the bar and finds her father there, behind Jake. "Ask him," Phil orders. "Jake," Lily starts, faltering. "Ask him what has been --" Phil prods. "What has been lost?" Lily asks impatiently, like she's trying to shut Phil up. Jake stands transfixed for a few moments before asking, "How'd you know?" Lily repeats the question, dreading the answer. Jake takes a breath and leans heavily on the bar, defeatedly saying, "All of it. It's all gone Lil -- the bank is threatening to foreclose...It's over." He swipes at the matchbook house, sending the pieces flying. "What does that mean?" Lily asks. "It's gone!" Jake thunders. "Okay? All of it. They're taking all of it." He covers his face with his hands, rubbing it wearily, and says, "I didn't mean for you to find out like this." He rests his head against the bar and says, "I should be grateful, I guess -- you know, that your father's not here to witness all of this." Oh, the irony! Lily glances over her shoulder toward Phil, as the sound of magic fairy dust tinkles in the soundtrack.