Episode Report Card Aaron: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Nobody Likes A Busybody
By Aaron | Season 3 | Episode 2 | Aired on 03.08.2003
Schrödinger's Flat (tm Brandi). Nate comes to the breakfast table to find Lisa already there, cleaning Maya's Dumbo-esque ears with a special baby-sized Q-tip. She helpfully exposits that they'll be having David and Keith over for dinner later that evening, but Nate seems reluctant, mostly because he sees David at work every day and he wasn't really "dying to spend quality time with Keith." Now someone in the forums (as they always, always do) has interpreted that sentiment to be homophobic, but I think it's safe to say that Nate simply just doesn't like Keith, especially after some of the things David has told him. And besides, no one shouted heterophobia when David didn't like Brenda. During their conversation on the subject, Maya reaches out for a lock of Lisa's hair and gives it a pretty hefty tug. Aww. Good girl! Now go do that to Daddy a few hundred times. With their plans for the evening thus settled, Nate mentions that he's noticed Lisa digging around in Maya's auditory canal like a dog who can't remember where she buried a bone. When he wonders aloud if she might not be applying too much pressure, Lisa is offended that anyone could ever possibly question her perfect parenting skills. This, of course, quickly causes things to degenerate into an argument, with Lisa calling Maya "[her] child" and Nate relying on the hoary old "I know I'm just the father here" gambit. Eventually he storms off to work without their resolving anything, and Lisa goes back to digging for buried treasure somewhere in the vicinity of Maya's tympanic membrane.
Ruth, meanwhile, is scrubbing her kitchen counter and still screening her calls. When Sarah phones to leave a message that sounds even more pathetic than the last one, however, Ruth finally picks up. It seems Sarah has hurt her back, and desperately needs Ruth to pick up a Vicodin prescription and bring it out to her. Thrilled at the prospect of finally finding a family member who actually needs her for something, Ruth readily accepts the assignment.
Cut to the downstairs, where Rico is getting ready to handle another intake. David comes down to join him, which (as he always, always does) Rico feels compelled to complain about. Shut up, Rico. Once inside Das Sargzimmer, it soon becomes clear that the bereaved parents are seeking a funeral for the Angry Young Man (with his feet in the air and his head in the sand). Dad wants to keep things private and simple, but Mom is still in a state of shocked disbelief. "You see this kind of thing on TV," she says, "and you think, 'Oh, my God. Those poor people.' But now it's happening to us, and we have to see it every time we turn it on." Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I recap Oz, The Sopranos, and Six Feet Under. I have to see death every time I turn on the TV too, but you don't hear me whining about it. Stop blaming television for ruining your life. Only I get to do that, dammit. And that's only because I'm recapping this at 10:30 on a Friday night and television actually is ruining my life at the moment. When Rico (who was never the sharpest nail in the coffin) finally realizes what's going on, he immediately tries to tell the parents that Fisher & Diaz won't accept their business. David, however, interrupts to assure them that everything will be taken care of.