Episode Report Card Al Lowe: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT You're Bound to Lose Control When the Rubberband Starts to Jam
By Al Lowe | Season 1 | Episode 8 | Aired on 04.20.2010
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Sydney is obsessed with a ball made of rubber bands. It makes Julia afraid that her daughter might have Asperger's. Kristina tries to reassure her, but has a moment of secret pleasure that there might be someone else in the family who will have similar struggles. Julia and Joel end up in the same scary Dr. Pelikan meeting that Adam and Kristina once had, but this time the news is good -- Sydney's issues stem from her being gifted. Of course. After some reverse-Schadenfreude, Kristina and Adam recognize the gift that is their son.
Zeek drags Adam off on an overnight trip, saying he wants Adam to see a piece of real estate he is thinking of buying. The truth is revealed when they arrive at the empty strip mall that Zeek already owns. He wants Adam's shoe company to buy it from him. Finally, Zeek admits that he's in serious financial trouble, possibly in danger of losing his house, and hasn't told Camille. Dudes, things are bad between Zeek and Camille.
Crosby is upset that Jasmine invited him to Jabbar's birthday party via the mail. He tries to get involved in the party planning, despite Jasmine's cold shoulder, and they finally throw down about Jasmine keeping Jabbar from Crosby for the first years of his life. Crosby finds out that Jasmine let her family think that he knew about Jabbar and abandoned him. At the party, they make their feelings known. There's kind of a racial element, as well, and of course Zeek sticks his foot in it. Finally, Jasmine admits the truth to her family, and the focus returns to the awesome Jabbar. The whole experience brings Crosby and Jasmine closer together. (Yay!)
Sarah catches Amber in the shower with the detested Damian. She's devastated that Amber is making all the mistakes she made in her own life. Zeek awesomely runs the kid off, but he oozes back. Guidance from Camille helps Sarah reach out to Amber and trust her. This inspires Amber to see what a complete doofus Damian really is. She sends him back to Fresno. (YAY!)
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Joel and Julia are at Sydney's school for a meeting. Sydney's annoying teacher reports -- as they all sit at a child's tiny work table looking like a bunch of oversized clowns -- that Sydney is "obsessed" with a rubber band ball she has taken to bouncing around the room during class. "She uses the ball to draw attention to herself," the teacher says, also suggesting that Sydney might have made the ball out of a box of rubber bands taken from her desk. Um, Mama, Esq., ain't having that. "When would she be able to do that?" Julia grills. "Is she ever left in the room alone? Then you don't have any evidence that she could do that?" Joel stifles the Perry Mason cross-examination and the teacher says no, she's not certain about the stealing. "I was going to let it run its course," she says, "but... when it became a danger..." Ugh. Joel asks what she means. "She hit little Jaden Krantz in the head with that ball," the teacher says. No one points out that Sydney probably did it because the kid's name is Jaden. Teach reluctantly adds that she doesn't think Sydney did it on purpose, and that Jaden is okay. "She may have been aiming at me," the teacher says, nervously watching Julia, who seems to have become fascinated with the ball, herself, and is tossing it up and down. Joel grabs her hand, again, telling the teacher they'll take care of this matter with Sydney. "I can take this, right?" Julia asks, holding up her new toy.
At Adam's office, Zeek has arrived with delicious Italian food to share with his son for lunch. His doctor, to his shock, has told him he can't eat garlic knots... which he is eating now, with abandon. After inappropriately ogling a female employee, he gets to the gist of the lunch: he wants Adam to come with him on an overnight trip to see some "investment property." Adam is confused as to why his father would ask for his advice on something like that. "Because you have real estate-slash-business acumen, son," he says. Adam: "Acumen?" He is obviously swayed by this complimentary vocabulary, even in the face of having to spend "father and son time" with his crazy father, because he says he'll call Kristina and make sure it's clear with her. "That's all I wanted to hear," Zeek says. "You're not going to be sorry." He offers Adam some garlic knots. "Why don't I take those from you?" Adam suggests, trying to helpful with what is obviously a serious knot addiction. Zeek grabs the plate. "I'll have as many garlic knots," he says, "as I want."