Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 5 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Oh, Canada
By Couch Baron | Season 5 | Episode 7 | Aired on 04.29.2012
Dinner at the Judeo-Christian Household Of Sin has finished, and when Abe takes some plates to the kitchen, Katherine leans in and tells Peggy that she wasn't going to leave before dessert, but "this is taking a little longer than I thought." Which brings up one of two key mistakes Peggy made -- she shouldn't have made her mother come into the city, as it was bound to put her in a bad mood. The other mistake is not having Anita along as a buffer, although I expect after this she's going to be the first phone call for both Peggy and Katherine. Anyway, having surely heard that it's time to get on with it, Abe returns, and he and Peggy clasp hands as she tells Katherine they have news. Katherine does her best to respond positively, which signals to me that she was going to meet the engagement news she thought was coming her way as favorably as she could. However, when Peggy tells her she and Abe are going to live together, her voice drops an octave, and even though Abe assures her that he's going to take very good care of Peggy, that's all Katherine needs to start heading for the exit, asking for the cake for good measure; when Peggy asks why, she replies, "Because I'm not givin' you a cake to celebrate youse livin' in sin." And please mark your cards, those of you who had "living in sin" in this game of Catholic Bingo. Peggy asks if Katherine would rather she not have told her, and Katherine snaps that yes, that's exactly right. "Just lie. You think you're the first ones ever to do this?" She has a point, given that her reaction isn't exactly unexpected. Of course, lying's a sin too, and I'm pretty sure God also frowns on showing up with baked goods and taking them home with you, so no one is exactly covering herself in glory here. Peggy, a little steamed now, grabs her mother before she can get out the door, but Katherine honestly asks what Peggy wants from her, at which point Abe does the smart thing by heading downstairs to get Katherine a cab. Peggy tells her that she invited her there as an adult, but Katherine shoots back that if she's so grown up, she shouldn't care what Katherine thinks. Peggy spits that she thought Katherine would be relieved that "she wasn't marrying the Jew," but Katherine, I think honestly, tells her it has nothing to do with that. She bitterly goes on that after Peggy's father died, there was no one to set Peggy straight, but he would feel the same way she does -- Peggy is selling herself short. "This boy, he will use you for practice, until he decides to get married and have a family. And he will, believe me." These words are like freezing truth -- I'm shivering here -- and all Peggy can manage against them is to ask dully if Katherine wants her to be alone, but Katherine's too much of an old pro not to finish what she started: "You know what your aunt used to say? You're lonely? Get a cat. They live thirteen years, then you get another one, and another one after that. Then you're done." Of all the cutting, pointed, absolutely sugar-free dialogue this show has ever offered, I'm not sure that this speech, delivered barely above a whisper, isn't the most hellacious of them all. Whatever you may think of the sentiment, you have to tip your hat to the execution. Katherine makes for points in Kings County, leaving her daughter barely able to stand, so crushed is her enthusiasm.