Episode Report Card Aaron: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I'm not dead yet! (It's just a flesh wound.)
By Aaron | Season 2 | Episode 10 | Aired on 05.04.2002
Cut to the dinner table, where Pa Chenowith is describing the circumstances of their reunion. Apparently, "the whore" dumped him, and he flew down to Belize to win back Zhora's love. They also reminisce about the first time they met, including the fact that Zhora's skirt had "a slit that went right up to [her] wazoo." "Mom was one of Dad's patients," explains Brenda. "It's actually kind of disgusting." No argument here. Nor is there one from Nate, who actually seems to be enjoying his in-laws' newfound romance. Ma Chenowith clarifies that she was an intern, not a patient, as if that makes any difference. Then she dissolves into a fit of giggles, and the menfolk get up to clear the table. Once they're gone, Brenda goes on the attack. "I can't believe you just took him back," she says. "Are you THAT scared of being alone?" "God, you're so fucking depressing," answers her mother, unconsciously echoing the entire viewing audience. "I love your father. And I'm very happy…maybe that's what's upsetting you so much. That I'm so happy." Brenda tries to shrug it off, but it's pretty clear that a nerve has been struck. "My advice to you," says Mom, "is to get your shit together, and don't blow it with this one. Because YOU are a major handful."
And speaking of major handfuls, here comes the Big Black Sex Cop. He climbs into bed beside David, complaining about the coffee stain he found on the sofa. He also asks why David didn't tell him on the phone that he doesn't like swordfish, instead of waiting until after he had cooked all day. The rest of the scene follows a pretty repetitive pattern, wherein David brings up a major problem in their relationship, and Keith proceeds to ignore it. Anvil, sublimate. Anvil, sublimate. Lather, rinse, repeat. Problems addressed (and ignored) include the fact that Keith "scares" David, Keith's constant need for everything to be perfect, and the revelation that Keith only blamed all their problems on David being in the closet so that he wouldn't have to take responsibility for his own faults. And as David lies awake in bed, wondering where their love has gone, we slowly fade to white.
Incidentally, what exactly is the point of including the pre-timed fade-to-white commercial indicators when the only way they'll ever be able to get this show into syndication is to take a chain-saw to each episode just to cut out the "fucks"?
We fade back up on Nate as he descends the staircase down into the Body Shop. He hears a child's laughter coming from the basement, and while the cameraman puts on a freaky lens to make us think we're entering a dream sequence, Foreshadowing suddenly leaps out of the shadows, twirls his light saber over his head, and slices me free of the silk webbing that's kept me tied to this chair for so long. Thanks, Foreshadowing. I'll see you later. A dream sequence thus avoided, Nate continues down into the Body Shop, where he finds Federico playing with his son. Rico immediately launches into a spiel that somehow attempts to justify why he's got a small child in a room full of dead people and dangerous chemicals, but I can't hear a word he's saying over the chorus of "Shut up, Rico" that rang out all across this great nation of ours. Since anyone who's ever watched TV before knows how this is going to end, I'll just skip the rest of the scene and tell you that Nate ends up watching the kid.