Episode Report Card Niki: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Sex, Lies, and Bugaboos
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.11.1999
The subdued mood is shattered by Jessie screaming for Karen at the top of her lungs. She's in the kitchen, and hops up onto a counter, hugging her knees to her chest. Karen runs in, breathlessly warning Jessie that she'd better be close to death. Then she glances at the sink, shrinks in terror, and pulls Jessie close to her. Eli saunters in to save the day. "Spider!" Karen manages, pointing in its general direction.
Over at Manning Manor, Lily is calling for Grace to hurry up. Grace reluctantly appears at the top of the stairs, complaining, "I'd rather not do this." "Same here," Lily says, and orders her to put her shoes on.
Close-up on the spider scurrying around the sink. It doesn't look that scary to me. Jessie urges Eli to scoop it up in a cup without hurting it, the way Rick does. Eli impatiently orders the back-seat scooper to shut up, and gets on with the business of arachnid-wrangling. He sweeps it into the cup with a basting brush while Jessie and Karen cringe like a couple of girls. In the next shot, the spider is running free on the deck. Jessie thanks Eli and tells him, "You did that really well." Karen watches the whole thing, looking thoughtful. After Jessie leaves, she says, "You've been taking care of a lot around here. You're really good at it." "So what's your point?" Eli asks. Karen shrugs and offhandedly says, "You don't have to take care of me." Eli says, "Okay," and heads for the door. Karen rushes to stop him, anxious to make him understand. She says she knows that Rick is seeing someone, and that she doesn't need Eli to try to shield Karen from it. Eli gets tears in his eyes and says, "Okay." Karen moves to the table to keep herself from crying. Eli says, "It's not like...I don't think that there's anything, like, amazing about her. And that's not shielding you, Mom. That's just my opinion." Karen looks like she could kiss him. Eli walks out slowly, and Karen sinks into a chair.
Cut to Lily striding like a maniac around a corner in her neighborhood. She turns around and starts walking backward, calling to Grace, "Come on! Why are you all the way back there?" Grace sullenly replies, "Because. I don't want to be seen with you." I don't think I'd want to be working out side-by-side with Sela, either, but I don't think that's what Grace means. Lily chuckles but after a second realizes that Grace is serious. Grace blows by her, and Lily shouts, "Hey!" She catches up and asks why Grace doesn't want to be seen with her. "Is it my sneakers?" she asks. Until now, I hadn't noticed that she's wearing tomato red shoes. Interesting choice with that fuchsia t-shirt. "Partly," Grace says. "And partly because I'm seeing someone?" Lily asks. Grace sighs and changes the subject: "I met a girl I kind of like today. Well, actually, I already knew her; I just didn't know her. I knew who she was, but we never really talked." Lily asks what her name is. Grace stops short and asks, "Mom. Do I pry into your personal life?" Lily says she doesn't. Grace struggles for a second and says, "There are just some subjects I'd rather not discuss." Lily says she can understand that. Grace seems surprised, but Lily assures her that it's true. "Good," Grace says. Lily smiles at her. Grace almost lets herself smile back before taking off down the sidewalk. Lily races to catch up, and the music is kicky and happy as the camera pans up and away from them.