Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | 10 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Toeing The Line
By Couch Baron | Season 6 | Episode 9 | Aired on 05.26.2013
Betty, dressed in a gown that leaves no room for a fat suit, is having a cigarette in the foyer of some swanky place when a man in black tie and a white dinner jacket accosts her and says that Henry mentioned they were leaving. Betty gestures to the phone bank and says Henry just had to make a couple calls, to which the guy replies that it's his good fortune -- he's wanted to be alone with Betty all night. Betty informs "Mr. Dell" that she's had three children, but when he tells her he doesn't care, her expression turns from stern to playful: "No, look at me. Can you believe I've had three children?" Dell's face falls at the unexpected way Betty just seized control of the conversation, and then Henry appears with an I-know-what's-going-on face and asks Dell how his evening was. Dell recovers to tell him he raised a lot of money, and then Henry and Betty get on their way, leaving Dell to look like he's realizing he's going to have to up his conversational game if he wants a piece of that.
Peggy arrives home to find Abe, his arm in a sling, sitting with a police officer. She uncertainly asks what's going on and is informed by the policeman that Abe got stabbed after getting off the train. Abe's like, hey, bro, I don't want to worry the lady, which is ridiculous, so I'm glad the policeman doesn't hesitate to upbraid him, saying that his account of what happened is missing detail "for a reporter" (hee), and also, if he'd stayed at the hospital as was recommended to him, they'd be done already. The point of all this is that Abe is too much of an "I don't see color, man" hippie to provide a description of even his assailants' skin, and while the general principle is laudable, when you're refusing to cooperate in an investigation that might help other people avoid a similar or worse fate, you're part of the problem. I've always kind of liked Abe, so I wonder if the show is making his character more extreme here to soften his departure; if so, I have to admit it's kind of working. Also, I'm tired of his hair. When the cop leaves, Abe starts to rail about "fascist pigs," but Peggy tells him to shut up (thank you) before accusingly pointing out that he has a photographic memory. Well, if he ever grows out of his pinko stage, it'll be hilarious that he'll recall all the bullshit that spewed from his mouth in fine detail.
Speaking of, he tells her to keep talking -- as everything she says is going in a story he's writing -- before wondering why she'd "side with the cops." Not that I need to point this out again, but Peggy is a much better person than I am and as such she opts to be kind to the stabbing victim, sitting next to him and trying (not well, but it is Peggy here) to be comforting as she says he obviously had a traumatic experience. However, he opts to bite the hand that strokes his hair, barking that THOSE KIDS WERE BROUGHT HERE BY SLAVE SHIPS! I mean, if he wants to talk kids, I don't know that I'd be too keen on raising them in a neighborhood in which they could literally get stabbed. I grew up in NYC in the '70s, but the worst I ever got was being mugged for my bus pass. Peggy doesn't even bother, merely pointing out that she was brought to this neighborhood by him. "And I don't care if I take a loss -- I'm gonna sell this shithole." This at least takes the fight out of Abe, but only to the point of him thanking her for worrying about him before asking her to get his typewriter so she can take some of "this" down. I'd probably take him down at this point, but Peggy merely says she's going to bed. She's not so nice, though, that she doesn't slam the double pocket doors together. Might as well get your money's worth.