Episode Report Card Niki: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Pressure Cooker
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 4 | Aired on 11.20.2000
He then hops on the Stool to explain: "I don't know why I get so sad at holidays. There's no reason for it. I have more to be thankful for than almost...anybody. And I can admit that almost any day of the year, except Thanksgiving."
Back at the table, it seems Barbara's been trying to snag Rick's attention, to no avail. The table falls silent as everyone looks at him, and Rick finally clues in. Judy gives him a friendly smile then grabs the bowl of potatoes in front of him and passes it down to Babs. Lily's a little peeved: "It's okay, you can go to bed soon," she informs him. He assures her that he's okay and that the food is delicious. She looks away, unimpressed. Eli scooches up next to Rick to ask if he can leave to practice. "Now?" Rick asks, annoyed. Eli says that he was actually supposed to be there half an hour ago. Rick is adamant that Eli won't leave: it's not his house, they're about to have dessert, and it would be rude. Peg watches the entire exchange over the rim of her wine glass. Her expression never changes, but her eyes speak volumes: she's disappointed in the way she sees Rick handling the kids. Lily's eyes also shift between Rick and Eli, and she looks uneasy. Rick finally snaps, "E. Just drop it!" Everyone at the table stops and stares. Mortified, Eli walks away. Lily shoots Rick a disgusted look, then turns to share a look with Peg. Rick may as well have stood and pissed all over the table.
The next shot we get is of the Sammlers filing out the door, getting good-bye squeezes from Lily. When it's Rick's turn, he starts to say, "It was..." "Yeah right," Lily interrupts then orders him to go home and get some sleep. Eli follows Rick. Lily gives him a sympathetic glance, pats his arm, and says goodnight. He looks grateful and thanks her. When Lily closes the door on all that bad energy, she looks troubled, shaking her head and rolling her eyes a little. Like the rest of us, I don't think she thought Rick had that brooding anger in him. She walks back toward the dinning room, passing Aaron who's blissfully passed out on the bench in the foyer. I hope we get to see more of him.
Meanwhile, at the Sammler place, Rick and his mom are getting ready to turn in. As Rick closes Jessie's door, she mentions, "Grace was nice to me...by the way." Rick thinks "that's nice." Eli storms to his room, ignoring Rick and his "goodnight." Peg says that Lily's family is "lovely" and that Lily is "quite a woman." She hopes to see more of her. Then she goes where she shouldn't: "I don't think Eli's trying to turn everything into a pissing match." Rick tells her she has no idea. He claims that he and Eli have a great relationship, and Peg assures him that she's not trying to attack him. Rick demands to know, point-blank, what she's trying to say. "Eli loves you, and he wants to know that you love him," she says. Bristling, Rick says that Eli does know. "Of course he does," she condescends. Rick is growing increasingly impatient with this little dance Peg's doing. He snaps, "So what am I supposed to do? What -- let him slide by in school, do whatever he wants just to show him how much I love him?" Peg laughs it off and suggests lightly that Rick just "talk to him, see him, find out what he's going through." Squeezing the bridge of his nose, Rick snaps that he does. Peg corrects, "You talk at him." "And you know this after two days," Rick says. "I knew it after two minutes. You checked out. I know what that looks like." Without looking at her, Rick wags his finger and tells her not to "do this." Peg rhymes off everything Rick's doing wrong in his various relationships. He steps closer, his voice growing quietly angry, telling her she doesn't even know him anymore, so she shouldn't be telling him how to live his life. Peg echoes Karen, telling Rick that he looks at everything but his problems -- he'd just rather ignore them. Rick says he deals with problems every day. "The only problem is you," Peg blurts, immediately looking like, "whoops, did I say that out loud?" Rick is stunned. She's sorry. Rick staggers away. "I just want to be close to you," she pleads. Okay, well I think you've learned how not to do it. Speaking of talking at people...Sadness, shadows, and closed doors as we head to commercial.