Episode Report Card Niki: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Second Time Around
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.01.2001
Cut to Tiffany bursting into the restaurant. "Hey!" Jake says, sounding happy to see her. She answers by tucking in her chin and biting back tears. He asks what's the matter, immediately concerned that it's something with the baby. Tiffany blows her nose loudly and says, "I just got...a call from Lily. They called off the wedding!" "You're kidding!" Jake says. He doesn't exactly keep the glee out of his voice. "I knew they'd chicken out," he adds. Tiffany looks incredulous at his insensitivity, and informs him that they didn't chicken out; it's that the whole reception got out of hand. Jake's still not buying it. He says that's just what they're telling people: "If you want to get married, you get married." She tells him to stop it and adds, "The fact that they were brave enough to attempt marriage was...giving me hope." She smiles sheepishly. Jake's mood is suddenly sober, as he eyes her, and then looks away. "Well, you can still have hope," he says. Tiffany almost lets herself smile, asking, "I can?" Jake tears a page out of the accounts book in front of him and tosses it over the bar, grumbling, "Yeah, doesn't cost anything." Crushed, Tiffany's face falls. I can't tell if she's more disgusted with Jake's cold remark or with herself for walking into it. Poor Tiffany could use a good Gluck. Then again, who couldn't?
Cut to the parachute tent in Lily's backyard, where Rick's standing in the entrance, leaning sadly against a pole. Lily walks out and joins him with a soft "hey." Rick says that the parachutes were a good idea. Lily forces an exuberant "yeah! Well, we don't have to take them down right away." She strolls inside, looking around. It is really cool. Will Gluck managed to twist and hang the chutes so they look like a swirling, subdued circus tent. Lily says she called the caterer, and they're out their deposit. I'd imagine they'd be out a whole lot more than that, considering it's less than twenty-four hours to the reception. And can you imagine how horrible that phone call would be? And now that I think about it, all of that seems to have fallen to Lily and Judy, while Rick made nice-nice with his Russian friend and watched a fifty-year-old news clip. Anyway, Rick says they knew they'd be out the deposit. Lily says, "It's weird calling so many people at once -- it's like when someone dies." Rick strolls around in the tent and then spins around, hands on his hips, to declare, "This is like that quote -- that Winston Churchill quote!" Lily looks at him like he's mental, and snides, "That's exactly what I was thinking." Rick explains, "Churchill said, 'Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms.'" He looks at Lily intensely; her smile is widening by the nanosecond. "What?" he asks. She shakes her head a little and answers, "The fact that you can stand here, under a parachute, and quote Winston Churchill when we're deciding whether or not to get married...makes me want to marry you." Uh huh. Well, I've never heard a better reason. "Is that what we're doing? We're just standing here deciding whether to get married or not?" Rick asks. Maybe he should have another shot of vodka and really get a grip on the situation. Lily points out that they're "not just whistling Dixie." Rick looks at her with realization dawning in his eyes, and says that he just realized that how Churchill felt about democracy is how he feels about marriage. Aw, isn't he sweet. "Marriage is the worst system there is, except for all the others." Doesn't that make you all weak-kneed? Then again, maybe it sounds better when you've downed half a bottle of the hard stuff. I'll get back to you on that. They move closer together as Rick asks if Lily knows what he means. "I do," she answers. Oh brother. "I do, too," he echoes. They kiss. "Do you suppose it's too late to get that rabbi over here?" Rick asks. Lily smiles, "On a Friday night I think the rabbi might have plans." She starts to say that you can't just call a member of the clergy and expect them to...and then jumps, remembering with a flash that Will Gluck oh so conveniently just happens to be an ordained minister. Oh, see, Rick wasn't expecting that.