Episode Report Card Deborah: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Luke of Narcadia
By Deborah | Season 2 | Episode 21 | Aired on 04.14.2005
Ranger station. The storm's still raging. Ranger Tactful walks two rangers to their vehicle. By the fire, Grace and Joan take off some of their wet things as Joan complains to her father about just sitting around until morning: "I don't understand why we can't go look for him!" Will points out that it's too dangerous. This seems too obvious to need much explanation. Grace: "But isn't that what they do?" Will says it's dark and the rain's too heavy: "The helicopters can't fly." Joan wants to know what will happen to Adam. Will says that as soon as the weather changes and it gets light, they'll start looking. Grace and Joan plop down on the couches near the fire.
The camera fades from that fire to the one in the Girardi fireplace. It drifts across the coffee table (upon which is a book on the museums of the Vatican, in a timely bit of stage dressing) to where Helen's asleep on the sofa. She wakes up as Kevin wheels in, wet from the storm, and parks himself by the fire. He asks if there's any news. Helen says there isn't, and that Will and Joan went up to the mountain. Kevin: "How could he be so stupid?" Helen: "Maybe he doesn't care. That's what I'm worried about." She puts her head down. Kevin: "So, uh…how'd it go today? Did you see him?" She looks up, not quite sure how Kevin found out. Kevin answers her unasked question: "Dad told me." He wheels over to face Helen, who says, "Well, he had no right." So that means Luke's probably the only one now who doesn't know Helen was raped. Kevin says he was worried about her. Helen: "Let's not do this, Kevin." Kevin: "Talk?" Helen's incredulous: "About this? Yes." Kevin replies gently, "So what happened to me is open season, but…" Helen interjects, "I said, let's drop it, Kevin." He says, "Look, Mom…I -- I know what it's like to have something happen to you that no one else can really understand…" She gets up, and cries, "You don't understand this! I have never claimed to know what it's like to be in that chair so don't you patronize me!" Kevin is taken aback by her vehement reaction, and watches as her face contracts and she sobs. Then she says, "I'm so sorry. But -- it's been twenty-five years, and seeing him, I -- I am right back there. And I just cannot talk about this with my children. I just can't." God, I don't blame her. I'm sure I couldn't either. She walks out, leaving Kevin a little shaken.
Back at the ranger station, Adam's father waits in what looks like a tiny bedroom. He sits on the edge of the bed, hands folded in his lap. I feel bad that he's alone, but maybe that's what he wants. We see a clock, so we know it's about 2:20 AM. Joan, working on her knitting (which I guess was in her bag, because I really don't want to believe she stopped to collect it on the way. That would make knitting Joan's Jujyfruits), admits to Grace, "The sick thing is, I wanted to hurt him." Grace doesn't react at all, but you can't tell this isn't news to her. Joan: "I mean, when I cut him off, he had this expression on his face like he was gonna crumble or something." Well…that's the same expression that's on his face about 65% of the time. Whatever. Carry on: "And for a second…it felt good." Grace: "I've seen him like that…after his mom died…he totally shut down. Stopped talking…I don't think I heard more than ten words out of him. Until you came along." Joan mutters, "Why did he have to hook up with Bonnie?" Grace takes the bull by the horns: "Dude, it's -- it's not just him." Joan, keeping her voice low: "So if I had slept with him, he wouldn't be out there right now?" Well, chaos theory seems to think so. Grace: "It's not about the sex. Sometimes you're not the easiest person to connect with." Joan acts dumb: "What do you mean?" Grace: "All I saying is, what Rove did, yeah, it was low, but maybe he didn't know where he stood." Joan: "I loved him. I mean, I still love him. He knows that." Grace: "Yeah, but…it's like you always have something that you're keeping to yourself, something you're hiding." Just then a clap of thunder accompanies a blackout. Grace: "Great." Now they're only lit by the fire's glow. Joan asks what Grace thinks she's hiding. Grace replies, "All the insane things you do, the clubs you have to join…you never really let anyone in on all that, not really. You just want us to go along with it." Joan: "I…like to try stuff." Grace: "Like knitting? What's that about?" Joan claims somebody suggested it; Grace wants to know who. Joan wonders what difference it makes, just as the electricity comes back on. Grace: "People who keep secrets, Girardi…I've been there. It keeps people away." That hit home a little too closely. Joan says, "I hate this. It's too stuffy in here." She grabs her knitting and takes off. Wonderful scene. I've wanted a good Grace/Joan scene for so long now I can't remember the last one. Amber and Becky are really good together, and Grace was perfect person to call her on this.