Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Losing You
By Niki | Season 3 | Episode 18 | Aired on 04.07.2002
Blissfully unaware of the Explorer's action, Judy strolls up to the house and enters, calling out. Zoe appears at the top of the stairs in her robe. "Hey, happy birthday, button!" Judy exclaims. "What's so happy about it?" Zoe grumbles, shuffling down the stairs. Zoe rumbles right past Judy without so much as a glance. Judy stands there, taken aback.
Out in the truck, Lily and Rick are snuggling. She murmurs that she loves him, and he jokes that her mother should visit more often. Lily laughs and then immediately starts sobbing, her shoulders heaving. Rick asks what's wrong, and Lily catches her breath long enough to choke out that she doesn't know how she can do this: "I try to talk to her, and she just shuts me down. How can someone give birth to you and change your diapers and be your mother and have it all be about her?" Hmm, I bet Grace could tell you. She adds, "She doesn't even see me." Rick whispers that it's not too late; Bea is right there. "No, she's not. I never had a mother. Not really. Not the one I wanted. And now I'm losing her," Lily sighs. Rick whispers that he wishes he could help. She touches his face. "Oh, Rick, you do. You have no idea how much." That's right. Never underestimate the power of a boy-toy.
Meanwhile, Judy's been slicing coffee cake in the kitchen. Lily breezes in, zipping up her hoodie. "Oh, Judy. I didn't know you were here!" she lies. She exclaims over the cake and takes a seat at the counter. Judy asks why she has grease on her face. "Oh, hi Judy. I didn't know you were here," Rick says, much less convincingly. He kisses her forehead. "Why do you have grease on your face?" Judy asks. "I was working on Lily's...car," he says lamely. Judy grins as she clues in. Rick gives Lily a kiss and the two of them start giggling. It spreads to Judy. She asks if he's hungry. He laughs, "No thanks," but grabs a piece anyway, and says he's going to get more tools. Lily and Judy keep laughing. The whole thing seems like it was a genuine case of the giggles, and it just happened to fit the scene, so they kept it. I'm not complaining. It's quite charming. "In the car! I'm telling Mom!" Judy teases. Zoe breezes in and asks if she can have a popsicle. "For breakfast?" Lily asks. Then she remembers that she just got laid, and grandly says sure. Zoe exclaims in surprise as she rummages in the freezer, and pulls out the cordless phone along with her popsicles. "Oh, god, I hope we can defrost it!" Lily says, and she and Judy burst into giggles again as Zoe backs slowly out of the room. Lily puts her head on her hand and chuckles that she's losing it. Judy tells her to join the club, adding, "I had this whole conversation with Dad last night." Lily looks up, pleasantly surprised: "You, too?" Judy can't believe she's serious. "Oh, yeah," Lily assures her. "I do it all the time. I just never told you about it because I thought you'd think I was --" "Nuts?" Judy supplies. "I think it runs in the family." Judy sighs and concedes that Bea is not herself. Lily fills her in on a few of the more recent episodes, and laments that she can't believe they're "already at this point. It's like life is five seconds long."