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 Karen, heading out of her darkened office to pick up Jessie and Eli. The phone stops her on her way out. It's Jessie, telling her not to bother coming. As Jessie tries to get out the reason for her call, she's interrupted by Judy bursting through the front door with a bouquet of daisies and an armload of stuff. Judy's decked out in her bridesmaid's dress. "Mom, they're going to do it tonight!" Jessie beams. "What?" Karen asks. The ass-pole does an angry dance of disappointment. "Yeah, they're, like, getting married any minute, so don't come over, all right?" Jessie says giddily. She has no idea that her mother's heart is breaking on the other end of the line. Karen starts to stammer something, but Eli dashes past Jessie, nagging her to get ready. She cuts Karen off with a brisk, "Gotta go, Mom. I love you!" Karen slowly replaces the receiver, practically paralyzed. In its frenzied dance, the ass-pole neatly punctures her heart. She leans against the window, tears silently streaming down her face, as the man she loves goes off and marries someone else.
Over at Manning Manor, Zoe's outfitted in her little purple gown and is busily rifling through a junk drawer in the kitchen. She's frowning hard. Rick comes in and asks if she's all set. "No, I am not," she pouts. She stomps over to the table and plops in a seat, asking him please not to tell her that nothing is going to change now that he and Lily are getting married. She says she's not upset about that; she's upset because she can't find her mirror, and she really needs it. Rick looks at her tenderly, and takes a breath as if to say something, but he stops when he hears a whoosh and the tinkling of wind chimes. He cocks his head and turns, moving as if he's not sure why, toward the cupboards. He reaches up to the exact spot where Phil earlier placed the mirror, and pulls it down. Zoe watches, amazed. "This little mirror?" Rick asks, turning it over in his hands and then handing it to her. She asks how he knew where it was. He says he doesn't know. "I guess it's a good thing that you're tall," Zoe says. Rick crouches down in front of her and says, "Zoe, I would never tell you that nothing's going to change [another nice contrast to Jake, by the way] because everything is going to change." "I know," Zoe says, her face crumpling a little. Rick looks at her with red eyes, and she throws herself into his arms. He stands up, still holding her, and Zoe's eyes almost pop out of her head. "Come on, let's go get married," he says. She points out that he's still in his jeans and flannel. "Oh, you're right!" he says, putting her down. He holds her face and says, "And I have to call my accountant." He leaves, and Zoe follows a few seconds later, slowing near the cupboards and wondering how the hell her mirror got all the way up there.