Episode Report Card Gwen: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT All By Myself
By Gwen | Season 4 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.23.2000
Annie's doing something with kids' clothing while RevCam sits on the dryer and watches her like a worthless clod. She continues doing the "I know way more about our kids than you do so I have to give you all these instructions" shtick. She asks Eric not to crush Matt's dream, which will be that a long-distance relationship with Shana can really work. Eric absorbs this like a Christian sponge as Annie slams laundry into his lap.
At the junior high or wherever, Dina is bitching Simon out for not wearing the blue shirt. She says that if he really cared about her, he would have washed it himself the night before. Word, Dina! You tell him, girl! Don't let your man be not wearing the matchin' shirt! Simon apologizes. Dina totally ranks on him thusly, "You're thirteen. You can wash your own clothes." She decides that he must not care enough about her to do it, so she huffs away, leaving Simon all dumbfounded and everything.
Annie is still giving Eric instructions, this time about Simon, Dina, and the troublesome new phase their relationship is entering. Okay, whatever.
At Roosevelt Elementary, Ruthie is waiting outside a door. A woman emerges from said door and asks if Ruthie's ready to apologize for pulling Doug's hair and saying that Doug cries like a girl. Ruthie thinks she's precocious. The woman says, "So you're not going apologize [sic]?" I think it's rather lame that they couldn't even let the extra get all her words in. What, did they save a dollar on this scene or something? Ruthie's too bratty to apologize and suggests they expel her. Then Ruthie asks if they can hurry it up, because she has someplace to be. Ruthie, shut up now.
Annie's almost out the door. She tells Rev that Ruthie's going to try to go with her, so he can expect a call from the school soon. The twins blah, the laundry blah blah. Eric recaps all the advice she's given him. She asks about his sermon. He hasn't had time to write one, but he'll wing it. Okay, she'll call him when she gets there. Smooch. Bye, Annie. Have fun. Try to resist taking off and living on your own for a year like that woman did in that Anne Tyler novel. Annie's gone. The phone rings. "Ring!" it says. RevCam answers. "Hello? [Nano-second-long pause, then] Ruthie did WHAT?" The "take our word for it, this is family-values-ly hilarious" music plays. Annie comes back in because she forgot Happy. Happy follows her out. Eric tells her everything's fine and rolls his eyes at the phone as she's gone again.