Episode Report Card Sara M: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Annie's BlocKKK Party
By Sara M | Season 8 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.02.2003
Up in her bedroom, Ruthie and Peter are doing what all young couples do when their parents leave them alone and unsupervised in a bedroom. Talking about religion, that is! Ruthie wonders if Jill's parents made it to the meeting. Peter asks Ruthie if anyone will mind that they're Muslim. Ruthie doesn't see why anyone has to know that they are. Peter's shocked; he can't believe Ruthie didn't tell her parents about Jill's religion. Ruthie asks why she should, as she didn't tell her parents what religion he was when she met him. "That's a little different, doncha think?" Peter says. Why's that, Peter? Because your religion is "normal," whereas Jill's is "strange" and "exotic"? Shut up. Ruthie says that she just wants people to get to know Jill's family before they make any decisions about them based on their religion. "What's a Maah-zaaa-lummmm?" SamVid asks. Damn, I was hoping we could make it through the entire scene without hearing from them. "Someone who practices the Islamic religion," Ruthie responds. Oh, that's brilliant, Ruthie. Surely the four-year-old twins, who have no idea what a Muslim is, are well-acquainted with the Islamic religion and will thus totally understand your definition. SamVid asks if they're Muslim. Ruthie responds that they're Protestants, then silently hopes that the twins won't ask her to get any more specific than that. Ruthie asks if SamVid remembers Yasmin, who was also Muslim. She sure was. I'm surprised she didn't just travel on a parade float with a big ol' sign on it that said "MUSLIM" with an arrow pointing to her, the way she was always carrying on about it. And why hasn't Yasmin's family been invited to the meeting or the party? Oh, that's right -- the Glenoak's strictly-enforced "one representative minority per event" ordinance. SamVid wants to know what the difference is between "us" (Protestants) and "them" (Muslims). Ruthie and Peter explain that while both groups believe in God, they do so in different ways. "But if we all believe in God, aren't we all the same?" SamVid asks. Yes, and atheists belong in an entirely separate group known as "Satan's Minions."
Roxanne has dinner with the Jordan the Troubled Youth. He's sporting what appears to be the male version of Annie's unfortunate hairstyle. I wonder if the show's hairstylists and make-up artists (who have once again applied The Least Flattering Colors of Lipstick Ever to the entire female cast) are trying to tell us something. Maybe there's some kind of code in those garish colors, or a signal fire hidden in Annie's nest of hair. I just can't see any other reason for why they would make the cast look so horrible every week. Jordan opens things up awkwardly by telling Roxanne that she's too pretty to be a police officer. Roxanne brushes this aside and asks Jordan about his other counselors. He explains that they all dropped out due to lack of interest in the program, or him. How sad. Roxanne suggests that they could see "the new action movie" tomorrow. It's playing on a double bill with Generic Comedy Feature. Jordan says that he can't because he needs to help his mother out this weekend, but suggests dinner and a movie next weekend. I wonder if the real reason why Jordan's counselors ditched him is because his awkward flirting made them feel uncomfortable.