Episode Report Card Niki: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT 'Til The One Day When The Lady Met This Fellow...
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 15 | Aired on 03.13.2001
We return to find Rick busy in the kitchen, surrounded by the casualties of waffle making. Rick's back is killing him, and Lily assures him they can get a new mattress. Grace flies in with the cordless pressed to her ear. Rick calls out to see if she wants eggs with her waffles. Lily informs him that Grace doesn't eat eggs. Zoe chimes in that Grace doesn't eat waffles, either, but that Zoe does. Rick hands her a plate piled with waffles covered in whipped cream and fresh fruit. Zoe says she doesn't eat nuts, though, so she and Rick pick them out of the whipped cream. Zoe moves off to the table, and Rick turns his attention to Lily's needs. They make a joke about the whipped cream. Ew, not in front of the kids, please. Or me, for that matter. Zoe asks, "Are these papers important?" and gestures at the blueprints blanketing the table. Rick hops to move them out of the way, and Lily suggests that he move them to the dining-room table. Except that it's covered with clothes. So she suggests that Zoe come and eat at the counter. Zoe's happy to comply, but her waffles aren't so cooperative, throwing themselves in protest all over Rick's plans. Zoe feels terrible, but Rick reassures her that he has other copies, he thinks. Lily shoos Zoe off to see whether Grace is off the phone, and then she kisses Rick, saying that she's impressed. "I hope so. It's all I care about, after all," Rick answers. Well, good. That makes two of them.
As they smooch, Jake appears in the kitchen doorway clutching a cup of take-out coffee. He's brought the Plucky Guitars of Fun with him as he startles the two of them, and Lily nearly ends up splayed over the table. She does not look happy to see him. I wonder how long it takes before Jake's spare key gets revoked? Rick asks how Jake is, and Jake phonies that he's just great. He looks around uncomfortably. After a beat, Rick says, "Congratulations, by the way." Jake thanks him, and then says the same back; he raises a toast with his coffee cup, adding, "To all of us." Lily figures out that she can escape the awkwardness by running to get the girls. She abandons Rick, who fills the silence by asking how the restaurant is doing. "Somewhat lonely at the moment," Jake answers a little bitterly, as he and Rick simultaneously reach for the sliced strawberries. Their fingers dance around over the bowl, until Rick gestures for Jake to go ahead and have one. The Plucky Guitars pluck on. "Well, I'm sure that...people will come back," Rick says, not sounding sure at all. "Ab-so-lutely," Jake says, popping a berry in his mouth. They're interrupted by the beeping of the smoke detector, which has certainly been getting a workout these past couple of episodes. Jake chuckles and gestures with his coffee cup, "I think your waffles are burning there." Rick takes his cue and starts bumbling around with the waffle iron.