Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 488 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT I Went To A Garden Party…
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 3 | Aired on 2009.08.30
Carla calls Bobby and Sally for dinner, and then puts a plate in front of Gene and tells him he needs to eat something. He balefully bites that she can't tell him what to do, prompting this response: "You either eat, or you don't eat. But there'll be no more of that." Ladies and gentlemen, Carla has Had Enough. Gene brings up the money again, and nearby, Sally is sitting under the dining room table trying to figure a way out of this mess. I was sure, after last week's little issue with the melba toast, Carla was going to end up getting canned, by the way, but I'm happy they didn't go that route. Anyway, Sally comes to a decision and takes the purloined bill out of her sock, then gets up and peers in on the people in the kitchen. Satisfied they haven't noticed her, she tosses the bill onto the kitchen floor, waits a few seconds, and then pops out all, "Grandpa! Is this your money?" Heh. Kids. Gene orders her to bring the bill to him, which she does while acting like she's on a death march, just in case they had bought her transparent scheme up until now, and after Gene stares at her for a million years while acknowledging it's the one, the poor girl literally looks like she might implode from stress, so I'm happy when Carla, who clearly knows exactly what happened, chooses to let her off the hook by making a loud show about what a relief it is that the money reappeared. Gene, however, keeps looking at her like a hungry troll, which is just another reason he really needs to eat his dinner.
It's now night under the tent, and Don brings some wine over for Betty and Trudy. After the latter thanks him, she sees Pete smile at her, and affably tells Betty he's pretending they didn't have a fight on the way over. Betty: "He seems amenable right now." Heh. Turns out Trudy warned him that with "this set," there was a good chance one of her exes might appear, and he's now in a better mood because that didn't happen. At another table, Harry complains to Jennifer that he's got nothing to talk about besides work, but she pooh-poohs his discomfort and leads him over to the other four, where...they're met with silence. Heh. It's only momentary, though, as after Harry uncomfortably swears they're having a great time, Jennifer brightly notes she hasn't seen Don and Betty on the dance floor. Betty jokes that she doesn't move that well at the moment, and then lets us know she's changed her mind from before -- she doesn't feel like dancing, which she thinks is disappointing Don. He doesn't respond that the only disappointing thing to him is that they're not home already, settling instead for rubbing her arm, and then Roger appears: "Your asses are going to wear out those chairs." With Roger and Jane are Bertram, some woman, and the guy who had his hands all over Betty's stomach. Bertram, who I think could have been given the episode off at his age, introduces the handsy guy as "Henry Francis," from the Governor's office; when he shakes hands with Betty, they exchange A Look of significance. Roger gossips that "Hank" just came from Governor Rockefeller's marriage to "Happy" (his second wife, Margaretta Murphy). Betty's scandalized, as Happy only officially got divorced a month earlier and has four children, and Bertram points out that that's the first thing people say, which is why the move is political suicide for Rockefeller. Jane, who I see on second viewing is already teetering a bit, asks why, then, he married her, and Hank tells her they're in love, to which she's like, "Aww!" Before everyone gets to be all "look at the drunk hostess," though, some peppy music starts up, and Pete and Trudy get out on the dance floor and proceed to kick the party's ass by doing a full-on, full-length Charleston, and all I can say is you go, Alison Brie and Vincent Kartheiser. I've never used this expression unironically, but that was good clean fun. Plus, Kartheiser looks as flexible as Gumby up there. To her dismay, Harry pulls Jennifer off the floor to give them more room, and then, watching them go, Ken, who for all we've seen of him has probably been trying his hand at being a proto-Wedding Crasher, says he has got to bring a date next time, while Jennifer, seemingly bummed at being reminded of her and her husband's misfit status, stomps off. Shut up, Jennifer. Pete and Trudy finish up and get the applause they deserve...