Episode Report Card Niki: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Chew on This
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 6 | Aired on 12.04.2000
Karen's telling Dr. R. that Jessie's always been very sensitive and very aware of the interactions between people. He asks if that's a good thing. "Well, yeah, as long as it doesn't get taken too far," she says. "Who gets to decide?" he asks.
We're back at the party, where Lily's just arrived to pick up the girls. She thanks Karen for having them, and Karen says they had a great time having them. Blah blah blah forcedpolitenesscakes. They all wish Jessie a happy birthday before leaving, while Jessie tries to hold her face together. It's falling by the nanosecond. As soon as the Mannings are out of earshot, Jessie turns on Rick, demanding to know whom else he told. "What?" he asks. "Do you have to tell the whole world I'm crazy?" she asks, tears welling. Rick wants to know what she's talking about. "You know what I'm talking about!" Jessie snarls through clenched teeth. "How did Grace know I'm seeing a shrink?" Rick admits that he told Lily, but he didn't expect her to tell Grace. "Rick!" Karen snipes. Jessie starts walking away, and Rick follows, trying to convince her it's not such a bad thing for people to know. Karen joins in, telling Jessie she's got nothing to be ashamed of, and that Grace isn't going to do anything to hurt her. "Sure, she's probably already told the whole school," Jessie cries and then storms away. Karen turns and eyeballs Rick.
"Okay, I think I see what you're trying to do here, and I appreciate it," we hear Karen saying, and once again, we're back with Dr. R. Karen cuts right to the point: she wants to know how she can tell if Jessie is sick, and what she can do to help. The doc points out that "anorexia's not like the measles." Karen asks if he thinks that the problems between her and Rick caused it. The doctor says they may be part of it: "I know this isn't easy. But something happened when you walked in here and sat down today. And I know you tried to make it okay, and I don't think it is okay." She doesn't know what he's getting at. He says that Rick knows. Karen the brown-noser doesn't like that one bit. The doctor mentions the project, and Karen says that she was hired to represent the opposition to Rick's development. Rick says that that isn't it. "You're afraid of how it's going to look," Karen says. Rick says he's concerned about the impact it'll have on the kids. "Then drop out of the project," Karen says stonily. Yeah, because that's fair. She wants to know why she should change what she's doing just to spare Rick embarrassment. Rick's incredulous, wanting to know how she can think he'd drop out of a project he's been working on for eight months. "You shouldn't be doing it to begin with," Karen mutters bitterly. "What?" he snaps. She looks at him like "you know...oh, you know" and gives a little head toss. He tells her that it's none of her business. She snaps that it is her business when it affects her children. Except...the only reason it's affecting them is because you're taking on the case. Right? Rick snaps that he will drop out of the project, and he'll go back to art school. Karen mutters that he'd be happier. Rick's all over that, sniping that he just won't worry about who pays for camp or tae kwon do or birthday parties or the mortgage on the house that Karen lives in. Whooee. That gets Karen's skirt in a knot. But she doesn't get a chance to snarl, because Rick's still on a roll, asking her how she thinks she can afford to lead such a noble life. He tells her that it's because he's out there making money that she's able to do what she wants, so she shouldn't "freakin' tell [him] how to live [his] life!" Someone pointed out in the forums that it doesn't look like Rick said "freakin'" and, you know, I think they're right. Hee. Karen, for once, has nothing to say. She just sits there, her mouth agape, wondering where the hell the backbone came from. Uncomfortable silence descends for a second until Rick wearily rubs his face and apologizes. The doctor, who's been watching them with a bemused expression, says, "Know what, guys? You may not want to hear this, and you may have a piece of paper claiming the opposite, but from where I sit, you're still married." Can you say "dumbfounded"? "Who gets angry like that?" the doc continues, and I really hope he's not looking for an answer from these two stupefied individuals. He's not, apparently, because he answers himself: "Married people." He continues, "People who've gone on and created new lives just don't have that kind of investment. What I see is a family that's holding onto the past because the present is just so upsetting. When a girl her age doesn't eat, it means she's trying to stop the clock in her own body -- literally trying to stay a little girl. We need to help her make that leap, but if you're so busy hanging onto the past, you're not helping her." Karen points out that they're her parents -- they have to have some kind of relationship. The doctor suggests they develop a "new kind."