Episode Report Card Niki: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Unity of Effect
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.30.2001
"I don't believe this!" Eli storms, striding away from Rick, who's hot on his tail. "Have you and Carla been spending time in this apartment: yes or no?" Rick demands. Cornered, Eli breaks and confesses that they have. "But that doesn't mean she took anything!" he adds. Rick says he never accused her. Eli stresses again that he shouldn't be there when Rick's not home, "that's fine, [he's] admitting to that, but when [Rick accuses] someone [Eli] cares about of stealing! Especially when it's --" Eli continues. Rick tries to interrupt, but Eli won't let him. "No!" he cries (and he really does sound like he's about to bawl), "I know her! You don't even know her. You have got to stop thinking the worst of people, Dad. It's not fair." Well, he's a little righteously indignant for someone who partook of the pilfered snack cakes. It's not like he's defending a known saint here. Eli blows out of the room, leaving Rick to sit and look wounded.
Spencer Lewicki's phone is ringing. It's Grace returning his call. "Hey! What's up?" she asks. "So...uh...what is unity of effect?" Spencer asks. "It's when...you know," Grace answers. Yes, he does, and is feigning ignorance as an excuse to talk to her. He answers his own question, trying to sound like he doesn't know what he's talking about. "Is it like when all the incidents kind of contribute...to the effect...of the story? Even seemingly insignificant ones?" Grace nods her head, and tears well up in her eyes. "Pretty much," she says wetly.
Soliloquy Grace pops in, saying, "Here's the question: what kind of person would sit in somebody else's room waiting for two people to finish...enjoying themselves? What kind of person would do that?" The kind who's unfortunate enough to hang out with a bag of trash and her love-struck boy toy, that's who.
"Listen, Spencer, I can't really talk," Grace chokes into the phone. He wants to know why. "Because there's something wrong with me," she answers. "There's stuff wrong with everybody," Spencer says. "What if I'm just going to be alone for the rest of my life?" Grace asks. Spencer answers that he believes there is someone out there for everyone: "It's what keeps me going." Grace can't fight off the tears anymore, and manages, "I gotta go. I'll see you at school." She clicks off the phone, buries her face on the bed, and bawls.
We return from commercials to find Lily racing to grab the phone. "Come on, girls! Chop chop!" she bellows as she picks it up. "'Chop chop'?" Rick questions. "Yeah, it's Russian," she says. What? Whatever. Lily's lighthearted remarks usually leave me scratching my head, so why should this one be any different? Grace appears, and reminds Lily that they "have three whole minutes" before they have to go. Eli broods and pouts past a scruffy, bed-headed Rick. Rick asks to speak to Grace for a second. Lily tries to hand off the phone, but Grace acts like Lily just wiped her ass with it. Lily can't figure out why Grace is acting strange and avoiding the phone, and persists. "Why does he want to talk to me?" Grace whispers loudly. Lily tells Grace to ask Rick, and hands her the phone. Grace takes it, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and says hello. She's braced. Then she's totally thrown when Rick asks if she'll go shopping with him the next day. "'Shopping'?" she repeats. Rick reminds her that Lily's birthday is coming up, and he'd like her to help him pick out something, plus it would give them a "chance to talk...about things." Grace's internal organs rearrange themselves. She blurts that she has to talk to her English teacher after school. Rick doesn't mind; he'll wait for her. He asks to speak to Lily again. Looking like she's been sentenced to execution, Grace slowly slides the phone from her ear and holds it out behind her. Rick asks whether there's "any chance" Lily could pick up Jessie from her counseling session on Friday. Because that's just what the kid needs after spending an hour twitching under Dr. Wise-ass's unflinching stare and feeling like an exposed nerve. They get onto the subject of the previous night, and both apologize. Although, why Lily is sorry, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe she's sorry she couldn't supply the fuel for his bender? Anyway, she assures him that, even if Miles is being investigated, Rick has nothing to worry about. Lily notices Grace staring out the kitchen window, transfixed. She snaps her out of her reverie and gestures toward the door. Then she turns her attention back to Rick, saying, "You didn't do anything wrong. Right?" "Yeah," Rick says, but he doesn't sound convinced.
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