Episode Report Card Niki: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mediation
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 13 | Aired on 01.23.2000
Cut to Eli and Grace in the tutoring room again, working on The Stranger. Eli mentions how weird the phone thing was the night before, and Graces agrees then asks what he means. Eli tells her Rick was listening to every little word, and Grace admits that Lily was too. Eli then asks who she thinks ended it, and she says it was definitely Rick. Eli says there's no way, but Grace is firm -- Lily's been in her "depressed clothes and jumping, like, a mile, every time the phone rings." Eli says Rick has been, too, in "his own Rick Sammler way." The two share a laugh at how completely gone their respective parents are.
Rick, meanwhile, is at Miles' office. Haunting Japanese woodwind music plays in the background while Miles carefully snips stalks from a plant like some kind of Zen master. Could this guy be more anal? (Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great character.) He admits that he misjudged Rick by assuming he couldn't be bright because he's "so rugged and handsome." Um, yeah. Creepy much? He goes on to explain that the two have a problem -- namely, he doesn't want to work with David. Rick makes clear his loyalty to David, and Miles puts on his psychoanalyst cap, pondering about the source of Rick's notions of loyalty. He finds them "quaint." When he learns that Rick is divorced, Miles wonders if Rick's loyalty to David stems from the betrayal of his wife. Ouch. Rick's not taking any crap from Miles today, though, and lets him know he's out of line. Miles agrees and flinchingly tells Rick that he thinks he's a very talented architect. He gives him his version of a pep talk, rhyming off the names of famous architects with buildings in their city and saying "We may never ascend to such heights, but let's reach, shall we?" He tells Rick he'd like an answer by the following day and leaves him standing there looking utterly confuzzled.
Eli and Grace are goofing around when Rick shows up to give Eli a ride. And, still flogging that parallelism, Lily walks into the classroom seconds later, through a door on the other side. Major awkwardness ensues, and Eli and Grace wisely duck out. Alone, Rick and Lily are incredibly tense, and to break the silence, Lily begins sputtering about The Stranger. Meanwhile, Grace and Eli are waiting just outside the door, eavesdropping. Eli asks Grace if she set up the whole tutoring thing as a way of getting their parents into contact again. He's wondering because he heard from some other girl that she was supposed to tutor him. Grace tells him Jennifer arranged the switch, and he asks why.