Episode Report Card Niki: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Aaron's Gettin' Better
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 16 | Aired on 03.20.2001
Grace starts peeling the orange as she moves into the dining room, saying somewhat distractedly, "I don't know if I'm in love. I just don't know." Aaron nods and starts grabbing cutlery, saying, "Would be an unknown element." Grace asks whether he's ever been in love. He looks at her, looks down, and smiles, saying he thinks he was. He describes the object of his desire, saying that she had a scarf with fringe that hung to her knees, and he thinks he tried to talk to her but that there was just too much fringe. Grace is impressed that he remembers so much. "Things remember me," Aaron mutters, setting some napkins in place. Grace stares at him blankly for a second, then something clicks. She tells him she knows just what he means, which gets his attention. She says that sometimes she wonders if she's "actually here, or if [she's] just someone's idea of [her]. But who's the someone, and what's the idea? And what if it's a bad idea?" Oooh, echoes of David Lynch. Aaron looks a little freaked that someone is expressing his experience, but then he smiles at having found someone who understands. Grace catches his half smile and rolls her eyes self-consciously, saying, "These are all recent weirdnesses." She flops onto a chair and offers him a wedge of orange. Aaron sits down, too, and leans across the table, asking her what it's like. "Love, you mean?" Grace smiles and looks off, while Aaron nibbles at his orange wedge, seemingly not expecting her to answer. After a few seconds, she looks at him again and answers, "Snow." He registers this and repeats, "Snow," like it's the most profound word he's ever heard. Grace explains, "You know how there's mornings where you wake up, and the night before you knew snow might be coming, but...you'd forgotten? Then you go to the window, and it's everywhere? You're surprised, but...not really." Wow. Nice metaphor, I guess, but I have the exact opposite reaction to snow: sinking stomach, curses flowing freely, excuses not to get out of bed flying through my brain. It's just a gigantic pain in the ass. Then again, I say this at the end of March, but that first Christmas snow? Magic. Okay, yeah, I get it now. I'm sure you're all thrilled for me, so let's get back to it. Aaron smiles and takes another bite of orange, asking, "So, is there snow?" Grace grins and answers, "All around!" They share a smile until something makes them both jump and look toward the front door. "I hear Mom," Grace says as they pop up and scramble to finish setting the table.