Episode Report Card Niki: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT 'Til The One Day When The Lady Met This Fellow...
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 15 | Aired on 03.13.2001
We open on a dance floor where a band is playing something waltzy and older couples are tripping the light fantastic. The camera pans back and finally lands on Rick and Lily's clasped hands. Lily reaches for her champagne. As they clink glasses, Rick surveys the restaurant and deadpans, "See anybody with a gun?" See, that's funny, because very recently, Lily's daughter and ex-husband were held hostage by a busboy who later shot himself. Oh, wait, that's not funny at all. Lily doesn't seem to object, though, and chides him with a huge smile, "Oh, shut up!" Rick grabs her hand, pulls her close, and says, "You're right. How dare we be happy?" I don't think that refraining from making crass jokes about a fatal situation necessarily cramps one's happiness, so much as it shows a little tact and good taste. But that's just me. And Rick has never been less attractive, for the record. Anyway, Lily's face melts, and she looks all dreamy as she realizes that yes, dammit, they do deserve to be happy. She emphatically says, "This feels so good!" as she smushes Rick's mouth in her hand and plants a big wet one on him. Rick suggests that they "never tell anybody," but Lily purrs, "They may get suspicious when we move in together." They then discuss living arrangements, Lily pointing out that Rick's lease is up soon (well-y well well, isn't that convenient?), and he countering that her house isn't big enough and besides, it "has Jake cooties," so they should buy a new one. She points out that they can't afford it. Which is hard to believe, when you factor in the value of her house and Rick's fat Atlantor project, but whatever. ["It's possible he won't get paid for the bulk of his work until he's finished, though, and if he's having to turn down other projects in other to leave enough room for Atlantor, cash flow might be tight just now." -- Wing Chun] Lily insists that they'll "make [her house] big enough," and then girlishly declares, "I want to dance." Rick adds that he doesn't want to "upset [their] kids' lives anymore than [they] already have." Lily's finished with this conversation, though, saying that she doesn't want to think about any realistic details for the rest of the night as she leads Rick to the dance floor.
Surveying the Lawrence Welk crowd, Rick quips, "These people are good. They've been on cruise ships." To prove his point, he practically gooses some little old lady when he grabs Lily's arm to lead. By way of apologizing, he explains that they just got engaged. He and Lily kiss, and the music changes to an upbeat salsa or mambo or something. Lily and Rick stand there, uncertain of what to do. The goosed lady and her husband offer them a couple of dance tips and they strike up a little conversation. Lily reveals that they're the first people she and Rick have told about the engagement, and that they haven't even told their kids yet. The woman advises them to tell their exes before they tell the kids -- it shows the kids they still respect their other parents. Rick asks how long they've been married, and the man says it's going on...eight months. I think we're supposed to be surprised because they're old or something. The woman whispers conspiratorially that they lived together first, and they dance away, laughing. Rick and Lily smile and kiss, all warm and fuzzy after seeing the kooky old couple in love. Whatever. I feel like I'm trapped in Cocoon.