Episode Report Card Niki: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mediation
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 13 | Aired on 01.23.2000
Cut to the interior of the Sammlers' refrigerator, where we're apparently camping out with the Arm and Hammer. Jesse opens the door, which is our "window" on the scene. Rick walks past Eli sitting on the counter, and Eli tells him his new tutor is Grace Manning. Jesse shuts the fridge door with a thunk. In case you're wondering, it's true -- when the door's closed, the light really does go out. We're sitting here in the dark for just a beat, as Rick immediately opens the door and starts eyeballing the fridge contents. He's trying to play it cool but isn't succeeding. He says that with everything that's been happening at work, he hasn't seen much of Lily lately. Hmmm. Zo he doesn't vant to tell zem zat he broke up with ze Mom. Werrry interestink. He walks away, and in his state of distraction leaves the fridge door gaping. Jessie and Eli look at him like his biscuit's flipped, and then Jessie hops down to slam the fridge door closed, leaving us in the dark again.
The next time the door opens, we're peering into the Manning's kitchen. We're no longer in the fridge, however -- it seems we've graduated to hanging out in the cupboards. And, in case you didn't notice, we're in the midst of another parallel experience. It's the second of many, so get used to it. Grace is grabbing for a box of crackers as Lily asks incredulously, "You're tutoring Eli?" Grace says "Yeah" with that wide-eyed adolescent expression that silently tags "you moron" to whatever statement is being made. Lily wants to know how it happened, and Grace impatiently answers, "How [does she] think it happened? It just happened. How does anything happen?" Well, snark, snark. What's up her ass? She shuts the cupboard door, and once again, we're in the dark.
Which gives me a second to compose a note to Grace: Not everyone can pull off the barrette thing. There's no shame in admitting defeat to hair accessories. I too have tried and failed. Please, please just give up and move on.
Later that day, Lily and the girls are in the dining room, and she tells them that they'll have to clean the house that night because someone is coming to look at it in the morning. Immediately, both girls turn rabid, wanting to know what's up, since Lily said they wouldn't have to move. Lily does her best to assure them they won't be moving, but she tacks on "probably" to avoid making promises she can't keep. Grace looks like she's got a mouthful of turds and gets up to leave the table. Zoe's right behind her. "Girls," Lily pleads, but Zoe turns in the doorway and says "You said we should clean up." Looks like she's been taking some lessons in snark from her big sis. And we're left to contemplate the loneliness of Lily, who's looking smaller and smaller as the camera pans away from her.