Episode Report Card Niki: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Jake And The Women
By Niki | Season 3 | Episode 6 | Aired on 11.08.2001
Cut to Booklovers, where Jake and Judy are working in the office. Judy's just hanging up the phone, having taken the third reservation for a singles' party. "And we're not even open yet!" she exclaims. Jake mutters an unenthusiastic "Great." Rick and Sam wander into the store, calling out, "Hey! Where do you want this thing?" They're hauling in a huge wooden sign that says, "Booklovers." Judy turns away from the sight of Sam and fights to catch her breath. Jake pops up and rushes out to show them where to prop the sign. "Wow. You guys made this?" Jake asks, surveying it appreciatively. Sam says that he did, "and it actually took a very long time." Rick says, "His partner did all the real work." Judy finally musters the nerve to come out of the office, and gasps at the sign. Sam stares hard at her pleased smile, and she glances up from the sign to thank him. They stare at one another a moment too long, and Judy's smile grows awkward. Sam turns to Rick for escape, asking, "Don't we need to get back to the Dreiser?" Rick tells Sam to give him a minute, and Sam says he'll give him two. What a cut-up. Judy can't take the tension, and makes an excuse to hide out in the office again, leaving Jake and Sam alone. Jake asks how it's going at the Dreiser. Sam says it's good, but they've "got to shamelessly sell themselves to some more investors, now." Jake absorbs this for a second, as if a spark of an idea is forming. But then he remembers he has nothing to invest, and quickly extinguishes the spark with a sigh. "So, you were married to Lily?" Sam asks. Jake confirms it. "Huh," Sam mutters. "Oh, you said it," Jake says. They share a naughty look, and Jake asks whether Sam is married. "Separated," Sam says. Jake asks if he has any kids, and Sam says one, a boy who's eleven. "I'm having another one," Jake says, as if he's still getting used to the idea. "Imminently," he adds. "Permanently," he chokes. Think he's still having trouble with the idea? "Why don't you just get yourself a dog?" Sam smart-asses. Gee, why didn't Jake think of that? Jake cracks up. Rick returns and tells Sam that they should go. "Oh, all right. Let me straighten your tie," Sam says, reaching affectionately for Rick's neckwear. Rick slaps his hand away and the two move on to yuk it up someplace else.
Once they leave, Judy emerges from hiding, clutching a clipboard and striding purposefully toward Jake. She says she wants to talk to him. He swallows whatever impulse he has and meekly says, "Yes, Judy." She says it's about some chick he hired who "doesn't seem super-swift." Jake assures her that the woman has "a lot of experience and great references." "References." I've never heard them called that before.