Episode Report Card Cate: C | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Bitch, bitch, bitch
By Cate | Season 5 | Episode 9 | Aired on 11.26.2000
Ruthie and Lucy have been listening in from the stairs. They go into the kitchen so that Ruthie can ask permission to go to the "39" concert. At first Annie refuses because she thinks Lucy is too young for a concert. Lucy goes into super-keener mode and tells Annie that she has listened to the "39" CD, "and there is nothing harmful about the lyrics, other than they say the same thing over and over and over again." Huh. That sure is a meta-statement about the show itself. Ruthie makes the mistake of claiming that the songs are about "love." Lucy clarifies that the big "39" hit song is about puppy love, and it's called "Puppy Me, Puppy You." She insists it really is about a golden retriever. Lucy, yeah, I'm not sure the bestiality angle will be a big selling point for your mom. Maybe you should just go back to pushing the "love" theme. Annie agrees to let the girls go to the concert, but only if they agree to leave immediately should the crowd get "rough." Tee hee! You know, come to think of it, Norton and his stupid headband probably would not look out of place at the "39" concert. Ruthie goes upstairs to get ready. Annie stares sadly at Lucy for a bit and then asks if she thinks Mary is still in touch with Robbie. Lucy doesn't know what's going on with Mary because Mary still won't speak to her. That makes Lucy one lucky bitch, in my opinion.
See, I had to provide the segue there, because the writers didn't. They just had Annie ask, totally out of the blue, "How do you get past being called that name and forget about it and go on?" Lucy says she has grown immune to that name. I have to confess, when this episode first aired, I missed the beginning and started watching right about now. I thought from the way they were talking that Lucy had been called a "whore" or a "slut," and I was thinking, Wow, I can't believe this is almost a good plot. I still think it would have been a much more powerful episode if they'd done it that way. And the bonus is that you wouldn't have to say coy shit like "the B-word" to keep the G rating. Annie tells Lucy not to become immune to being called names "because it's wrong, just wrong!" I'm on the fence on that one, but I tell you, having Annie deliver the line as over-dramatically as she did ain't exactly helping me to take the message seriously.
Over at the hospital, John is talking to someone named Dr. Walker, who is asking John if he's "stacking the CDs for the ORs." He wants John to add some CD to the mix. Thankfully, it's been a long time since I've had any surgery, but I certainly don't remember any music being played and I can't see that it would be a very good idea. Imagine how depressing it would be to hear songs about, say, death while your life was hanging in the balance. John doesn't want to add the doctor's CD to the mix, but he says it's because he finds the music offensive. The doctor threatens him in a half-assed way, but John stands his ground, claiming he's sure the hospital would never fire him for refusing to play music he found offensive. The doc tries to work the angle that John should like this music because he's black, but John calls him on it. All well and good, until we get to the part where John claims that every person who listens to that CD must hate women. Way to simplify an issue and make it pointless! Because it's 7th Heaven, though, the doctor changes his mind and apologizes.