Episode Report Card Niki: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Baby Blues
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 8 | Aired on 01.09.2001
Their conversation is interrupted by Grace and Carla, who come bounding into the kitchen to inform Lily that they're "leaving now." Judy has the unmitigated nerve to ask where they're going. "Out," Carla grates, snapping her gum and leveling Judy with a snotty look. Grace supplies that they're heading to a pep rally. Wow, we never had pep rallies at my high school. Probably because the only thing anyone ever got pepped about was the arrival of the latest batch of hash or B.C. Skunk. Judy seems surprised to hear that's where they're going, and Carla, laughing like the baboon she is, says they're going to "laugh at people." Grace asks whether Lily can pick them up, but she has to repeat herself before she gets an answer because Lily's lost in la-la land. Or Lily land. Same difference. Carla, meanwhile, has started eating something, and for the benefit of the rapidly expanding anti-Carla contingent, I'd just like to point out that she chews obnoxiously with her mouth open. Who's surprised? A horn honks outside, and the girls make their move. Carla makes sure to grab a couple more of whatever she's eating (the gummy fish?) before she swings out. Judy calls out that it was nice to meet her, and Carla, without bothering to turn around, responds with a dismissively raised hand and a "later." Judy turns to Lily and, in one of her finest moments yet, declares stonily, "I do not like her." Across the nation, spontaneous whoops and cheers erupt, as members of the Anti-Wannabe League leap from their couches dispensing high fives, raising their glasses, and scaring their cats into hiding. Or maybe that was just me.
We cut to Eli, brooding in front of a mirror and contemplating what appears to be a tube of hair mascara. Jessie creeps up behind and asks if he's going to color his hair. Embarrassed, Eli snaps that he's not. Rick appears at Eli's door with a hamper of laundry, announcing that if they're ready, he'll drop them at the pep rally. Jessie eagerly asks whether Eli had heard that one of the cheerleaders got mono so the squad had to find a last-minute replacement. He's not impressed, and warns Jessie not to try out for the cheerleading team because "it's so mindless." This from the mental giant who so obviously did not see Bring it On. Jessie snaps that she's not going to, and Rick, ever eager to step into the role of lame-o parent, voices that he thinks Jessie'd "make a cute cheerleader, especially now that [she's] got [her] braces off." Jessie is suitably offended and leaves with an exasperated, "Dad!" Rick starts to apologize about missing the pep rally, but Eli interrupts him because he really couldn't care less and he thinks pep rallies are "stupid and shallow anyways." Rick's stuck in rah-rah mode, but his enthusiasm for basketball isn't contagious. Eli's clearly not interested in discussing the upcoming game, or his team's chances, or anything else that Rick's talking about. Eli finishes broodily packing his bag and huffs out to find Jessie because they're going to be late. Rick is left sitting bewildered on Eli's bed.