Episode Report Card Niki: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Daddy's Girl
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 16 | Aired on 02.13.2000
Cut to Lily's dad having a nice nap with a newspaper spread on his chest. He is awakened by the doorbell, which rings a couple of times. He grumbles the requisite "coming, coming" and pulls the door open to find Rick. At last, the two finally meet. Rick looks stunned for a second, but manages to introduce himself. Lily's dad cuts him off, though, saying, "Rick. I know. I saw you skulking around the garbage cans on Thanksgiving. That was some night, let me tell you." He doesn't sound impressed. Rick is still standing on the step, looking pained. Dad invites him in, assuring him that Lily will be back any minute. After offering him a drink, Dad cuts to the chase by asking "So, Rick Sammler, what are your intentions?" as if they're heading to the prom. "Only the noblest...uh, sir," Rick mumbles. Dad says, "You've got a daughter, right? Yeah, you'll see...they grow up so fast. I just love her so much." Rick replies, "Well, you're not alone in that." Woo-hoo, score one for the Rick-man. Dad looks suitably impressed, and at that moment, the front door opens. Grace walks in, and both men are clearly relieved at the distraction. Rick asks her how she liked the book he brought for her, but she doesn't know what he's talking about. He reminds her it was a book on the U.S. women's soccer team, and that he peeked at the pictures and they looked pretty good. He looks so hopeful and is trying so hard, it's absolutely adorable. "Oh, that book. Yeah. Really good," says Grace, giving a piss-poor imitation of sincerity. Rick's face falls and I wish I could slap her. Just once.
Later on, in the kitchen, Lily is getting dinner ready while Zoe entertains her grandpa with yet another card trick. Lily asks whether Jake dropped anything off, and she's clearly pissed off when she hears that he didn't. Her father mentions that Rick "seemed like a nice fella." "Yeah, he's...he's all right," Lily understates, with the biggest smile she's had all episode. Dad takes over the cooking, and from the joke she makes, it's apparent that taking over for her is a bit of a trend in their relationship. Lily asks Grace to help her set the table, but Grace doesn't hear her because she's too busy staring at her reflection in the toaster. She's actually holding the appliance in both hands, which is pretty bizarre. Don't most people try to disguise the fact that they're checking themselves out, especially when they're self-conscious teenagers? When she finally snaps out of her little trance, Grace brings up the damn camp thing again. I know she's only, like, fourteen, and it's typical of people that age to be totally oblivious to the needs of anyone else around them, but I just want to yell shut up already! God, I'll write her the damn check myself if she'll just leave her mother alone. But there's no need, since Lily finally writes the check herself, looking all the while like she's signing away her soul.