Episode Report Card Deborah: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Jew Of Arcadia
By Deborah | Season 2 | Episode 10 | Aired on 11.25.2004
Dress shop. Grace is whipping hangers along a rack looking for a dress that won't provoke any more homicidal rage than she's already stewing in: "The whole concept of a dress is a sexist symbol of thousands of years of reducing women to fetish objects!" Joan: "This would look so hot on you!" Heh. Grace: "Have you been listening at all?" Joan: "Yeah, angry, angry, angry, society, angry, angry, politics, angry." She loops a red sleeveless dress on a hanger over Grace's neck. Grace looks sulky but leaves the dress there. I think she should be looking into a chic little black suit, which is the only skirted item I can ever imagine her finding use for again. Couldn't she have worn an elegant pantsuit? I don't think non-Orthodox Judaism requires women in skirts. I think even in Orthodox Judaism there are allowances for pants for situations like working in kibbutzim. Joan tells her it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, like a wedding: "Except lots of people do that more than once, so it'll be even better." Grace: "Guilt and pressure. That is [sic] the only reasons I'm here." Maybe Rabbi and Mrs. Polonski could work on Ryan, or his lawyer. Joan keeps looking through dresses as she insists, "No, that is not true. Look, you've never been afraid to say no to anything before. You learned Hebrew, all the prayers…this has to mean something to you." Grace: "Yeah, well, it gets kinda diluted when you have to spend three hours trying to convince the DJ not to blow off a confetti cannon when you walk into the party." Joan holds up a black dress with wispy little transparent cap sleeves, saying, "Look, very Courtney Love, huh? What do you think: post-makeover, pre-meltdown?" Well, it's definitely pre-meltdown, but it's not really Versace enough for post-makeover. Nor is there nearly as much décolletage as Courtney requires to show off her rack. Joan loops that dress over Grace's neck, too, telling her to try it on. Professor Frink: "It's like she's in stocks." I think Grace would agree.
Before Grace can make another angry comment, someone comes into the store waving and singing, "Gracie!" It's her mom. Grace mutters, "Oh, my God." She gets the hangers off her neck and pastes on a passably pleasant look over the sheer horror. You can just bet she loves being called Gracie. Grace's mother is played by Mary Mara, who was excellently cast, as about 95% of this show is. She says, "You must be Joan. I'm Sarah, Gracie's mom. She hides me because I don't wear all black. I think." You just keep telling yourself that, rummy. "I know I'm supposed to leave you alone, honey, but you're not an adult until Saturday, so I'm still allowed." Actually, in my book, once your child has had to put your drunken ass in the shower, you're not allowed to play the "not an adult" card anymore. I think Grace is going to throw up. Quietly, she tells her babbling mother to take a breath: "Are you…" Sarah says she's fine. Sarah tells Joan it's so nice to finally meet her. Joan: "You too. I was…starting to think that maybe Grace didn't have a mother." Way to help, Joan. Sarah says she constantly tells Grace to bring her friends over: "She finally let your brother through. He seems so nice." She whispers, "Even though I've just seen him leaving." Heh. Good thing Joan already found out, or this would be even more excruciating for Grace. Sarah turns her attention to the dresses Grace is holding: "Those are beautiful!" Grace won't relinquish them: "Okay, Mom." Sarah pretends to zip it: "I'm done, not another word." Grace says she's going to go try them on. Sarah stops her, saying, "Let's see how it looks with this." She starts unfastening the silver pendant she's wearing as Grace says, "What are you doing, Mom? Grandma gave you that." Sarah says it's her turn to wear it now. Grace is stunned. Frink: "That shut her up good." Joan: "Oh, that is so sweet! I wanna be Jewish!" Should we tell her the necklace thing has nothing to do with religion? The necklace is just long enough to hang below the fish necklace Grace usually wears. Grace's eyes look slightly wet as she contemplates all the meanings wrapped up in this: the inheritance, the passages it represents, and her fears both for her mother and of turning out like Sarah. Her mother smiles at Grace, who just looks serious. She goes into the dressing room without a word. Sarah moves over next to Joan, saying, "I don't mean to embarrass her…" Joan chalks it up to being a mom. Aw, the scene's over? We don't get to watch her try stuff on? I kind of wish the whole hour was "Grace buys a dress." I could watch that.