Episode Report Card Aaron: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Zed's Dead, Baby. Zed's Dead.
By Aaron | Season 2 | Episode 8 | Aired on 04.20.2002
On their way to Midnight Mass, Ruth and Claire stop off at Nikolai's store to pick up some poinsettias. When they open the door, however, they find the place in a shambles, and Nikolai collapsed on the floor. "Were you robbed?" asks a frantic Ruth. "Did they hurt you?" Nikolai remains polite to the end, greeting her with a cheery "hello, Ruthie" before admitting that he "broke [his] legs" in a fight. Uh, huh. Whatever Nikolai. Even Claire looks confused at that one, before rushing out to get the car so they can take him to the hospital.
Back at the very merry Chenowith Christmas, everyone is studying a photo of Billy that hangs on the wall. It's a black-and-white shot of him in full-on "Creepy Jesus" mode, with his eyes crossed and all glazed over. He looks like something out of Gorillas in the Mist. "You should take that down," he says. "It's kind of ghoulish. I don't like to think of myself in that way anymore." Mom wants him to take a new picture of how he feels about himself now, but then amends that with (what she considers to be) an even better idea. "You should take Nate and Brenda's wedding pictures," she suggests, letting the cat out of the bag. Nate and Brenda look horrifically uncomfortable about this revelation, but Billy just takes it in stride. "Congratulations," he says. "I love it when people who really should get married do." With a pointed look at his drunken mother beside him, he adds, "It doesn't always happen that way." Nate takes the kind wishes gracefully, but Brenda has been shocked into silence.
Until, that is, they reach the elevator. As they descend, Brenda starts ranting. "I can't believe she got Billy out of the hospital just so that she wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone. That fucking evil bitch." And you know what? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's not the only reason she got Billy out. I'm betting Zhora spends the next few episodes intentionally dropping casual hints around the house about how badly Pa Chenowith has screwed her and the kids over, all of which will culminate with Billy making his daddy the season's final DGDJ. You know, because Nate's dad died on Christmas (and their anniversary) in the premiere episode, so it stands to reason that Brenda's dad will die on their wedding day in the season finale. Now for the record, that's pure speculation. But if it's not true, it should be. Meanwhile, Nate thinks Billy actually looked pretty good, but in a thinly transparent attempt to not let more than five minutes go by without a reference to Nate's anvilitis, Brenda screams that she just can't take dealing with sick people anymore. "I've been a fucking nursemaid more than enough for one lifetime," she yells, stomping off and leaving Nate alone in the elevator to look sad. Fade to white.