Episode Report Card Niki: D | 1 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Sneaky Feelings
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 14 | Aired on 01.30.2000
Cut to Jessie laying in bed, reading Catcher. Rick checks on her, and they bond for a bit over tickles and silly talk. When he asks if she's feeling better, she says she "just thinks Eli is a jerk, and [she's] entitled to [her] opinion." She tells Rick she's worried that she'll never see Jennifer again. He says maybe she will, and maybe she won't.
For the next few minutes, everything we see is accompanied by Jessie's voice-over. Eli meets up with the ever-grinning Cassidy in the hallway as Jessie says, "Everybody acts like there's something better out there. It's just so stupid. We only have the people we have, right?" Jennifer pushes unsmilingly past Eli in the hall as Jessie continues: "So if we run from that, we keep running from that..."
Cut to a shot of Karen stepping off the elevator at her office, where Leo is waiting for her. Jessie says, "And I know people think I'm delusional or something, but I know what's going on. And I just think people make things harder than they should be." This kid really belongs at the top of a mountain, or something, dispensing the wisdom of her innocence. She's totally right that none of it makes sense, but there's not a damn thing we can do about it, is there? Karen and Leo kiss. Jessie continues: "They put themselves through all this unnecessary torture for no reason. At least to me." Give yourself a couple years, sweetie. Pretty soon, you'll be all lusty and irrational, and you'll begin to understand why the rest of us are nuts. Speaking of which, we cut to Jessie sitting in her English class (a nice cyclical effect, if you will, to round out the show), where her friend Toby is staring at her with those big eyes they paint on black-velvet kids and dogs. She catches him and turns around to register the impact of this strange new experience. Then she turns to look at him again, somehow instinctively knowing how to drive the guy crazy, just as her teacher hands her a book. The class is moving on to -- can you guess? -- Romeo and Juliet. Jessie starts to flip through the book with a small smile, relishing her first thrill of successful flirtation, as her eyes flick from side to side like someone hatching a devious little plot to take over the world. Or, at least, pre-pubescent boys.
Later that night, Eli's in the driveway, loading up his snowboarding gear with Cassidy. They admire his board for a minute -- clearly they're meant for one another -- and Jessie calls him from the porch, where she's sitting with her Shakespeare. Eli yanks her ponytail. And then he yanks it again. And again. Jessie finally reacts, hitting his arm. He feigns injury, and the two start play fighting. They wrestle around the front yard for a bit and then start an impromptu snowball fight. We can't see her, but I'm sure Cassidy's standing off to the side doing what she does best -- grinning like a simpering fool.