Episode Report Card Niki: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Acting Out
By Niki | Season 3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.18.2001
Cut to Grace onstage, reciting her lines. She finishes with a flourish and a bow. "I must say, I enjoyed that very much," Creepitri says from the front row. He asks to hear her song. Grace exhales nervously and adjusts herself. She takes her pitch pipe out of her pocket and surreptitiously blows a note. She begins singing as the camera pans out over the auditorium. Creepitri looks pleasantly surprised, while A.J. and Cynthia turn to whisper something to one another. Grace is no Jessie, but she's not bad either. Dammit. Jessie watches, unsmiling and slumped in her seat. She nervously bites at her nail.
Cut to Rick and Sam at a café counter, where a bright young thing leans forward and squeezes her cleavage together. Rick occupies himself with grabbing sugar packets while Sam rhymes off their latte order to Chesty the Coffee Wench, openly flirting with her in the process. When she goes to fetch their coffees, Sam mutters, "How old do you think she is?" Rick snides, "Quite possibly not of legal drinking age." Sam slimes, "Quite possibly not interested, then." Liar. Rick snaps down a sugar packet and wearily says, "You and Judy, Sam? What...?" Sam pretends to have forgotten who Judy is. Rick's not playing. He asks what's going on with them, and points out that Sam's in the midst of a messy separation. Sam dryly remarks that his "wife is preparing to savagely rake [him] over the coals." I'd buy tickets to that, if anyone's selling. Sam says he doesn't see what it has to do with Judy, though. Rick says that it would be really unfair of Sam to "string Judy along if, in fact, [he's] not serious." Sam sarcastically thanks Rick "for the moral, ethical advice," and promises to keep it in mind. Too bad it's not his mind that does the thinking for him. Rick tells him not to get mad, and says he's "just concerned, for everyone." Sam snaps that Rick doesn't need to be concerned "because it's not [his] business, and it's too late." Their coffee order's up, and Sam tells Chesty to keep the change, adding, "Oh, and my friend here thinks you're really cute." Sam storms off, leaving Rick there to guppy-mouth in embarrassment. Oh, burn! What are you, twelve? Right, look who I'm asking. How telling is this little scene about Sam's attitude toward women in general? Chesty smiles hopefully at Rick, not realizing that she's been had. Rick smiles uncomfortably.
Cut to Judy and Lily having lunch at Lily's desk at the radio station. Judy throws out a couple of her ideas for Booklovers, and Lily somehow sees them as a segue to pry about Judy and Sam. Lily comments that it seems like they're seeing a lot of each other, and Judy agrees, but says they're not "seeing each other; [they're] just seeing each other." "So it's not serious serious," Lily says. Judy agrees, conveniently leaving out the tidbit that she like likes Sam. Lily raises her coffee mug and says, unconvincingly, that she won't worry, then. "Because you know what you're doing," she adds, dubiously. Judy defensively agrees that she does. There's a bristling silence. "Judy," Lily mothers. Judy stands up, grabs her purse, and says, "I'm leaving." Lily flaps her lips a few times, trying to find something to say, but failing.