Episode Report Card Cate: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Twelve Angry People
By Cate | Season 4 | Episode 17 | Aired on 02.27.2000
You know, having said that, the next scene also made me laugh out loud, and that's pretty weird, considering it's a scene in which Dopey plays "Alley Cat" on the church organ. Well, part of what cracks me up is that I suspect Barry Watson doesn't know how to play "Alley Cat" on an organ, so they're showing someone else's hands in the close-ups. And that makes me think of the Kids in the Hall sketch where Kevin McDonald plays a singer with a speech impediment, and Dave Foley plays the guy who interprets for him while he's singing. Ever since I saw them substitute a shot of some black guy's hands in the close-ups during that sketch, I've never been able to take this camera trick seriously, no matter how carefully a director tries to do it. Even though Barry Watson's no Kid in the Hall, he is kind of funny as a smarmy lounge-lizard kind of entertainer in this scene.
Unfortunately that scene is much too short, and we have to head back to the CamPound to see Mary run into Ruthie's room to hide from Lucy. Mary is freaked because Ruthie is wearing a hat, and she thinks maybe Ruthie has cut her own hair. Lucy comes into the room, followed by SuperMom. Annie is horrified as she asks if Ruthie cut her hair. Ruthie takes off her hat to show that she hasn't, but she realizes from Annie's scared facial expression how Sarah's mother must have felt when she saw that Sarah's hair was all cut off. Mary and Lucy wisely leave to avoid the SuperMom/Ruthie bonding scene that follows. Ruthie decides to offer to let Sarah cut her bangs in retaliation for the bad haircut she gave Sarah. You may find this hard to believe, but it's actually kind of a cute scene.
The next scene, however, is about as far from cute as you could possibly get. Yes, it's Simon and Whiny Deena. Actually, right now Simon is whining too. It looks like he's losing the board game, so he just wants to quit. The conversation moves inexorably to world politics. Naw, I'm kidding. Obviously it's the old hickey debate again. Deena still really pissed at Simon for biting her. What I want to know is if she was going to be this angry about it, why didn't she put a stop to the whole thing when he was just getting started? I mean, even if it's your first hickey ever, it's not too hard to guess what's happening when it's going on. Deena points out that Simon never apologized for giving her the love bite. Is there anyone out there who doesn't think that's the height of stupidity? Simon argues that he considers himself and Deena "partners in crime." The whining continues until Deena decides that maybe she's to blame too.