Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Parenting Is Hard
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 7 | Aired on 07.16.2005
Claire's at her desk at work, and she's actually sprung for a new outfit. Now that the humor potential of the periwinkle suit has been exhausted, they've got her in conservative clothes in the wardrobe palette she usually wears. That's right, it's back to all puke-green, all the time. She concentrates on her monitor while behind her, her coworkers make plans to go to someplace called Doc's after work. And last week, we were led to believe that Nerd Drone is the only one in the office who's indiscriminately using the phrase "Yeah, baby," but since then the habit has spread like a cancer. To my horror and Claire's, Y-bombs are flying all over the place. Nerd Drone invites Claire to join them for drinks. "The bar in the mall?" Claire asks with too-cool-for-school incredulity and contempt. "That's just 'cause it's the closest place, and they have pitchers. Everyone from work goes there," Nerd Drone excuses, embarrassed. Claire has a real nametag on her cube wall now, by the way. Claire apologizes for her rudeness, but she still isn't joining them. Kirsten and Perky Cubemate lean on Claire, largely relying on an argument centered around whether she thinks her shit stinks, but she still declines. "Maybe another time," she says. She's just too punk rock for all this.
Ruth's back with her knitting circle, yammering manically about how much she loves being alone and how she's keeping herself busy with all stuff going on around town that she's suddenly freed up to attend. She learned all about Kabbalah last week, and she's going to a Jay McInerney reading at Dutton's in Brentwood for the twentieth anniversary of Bright Lights, Big City (dear God, I'm old). I was going to make a crack here about how she's acting like she's never been single before, but then I realized that before George there was all the juggling between Arthur and Nikolai and Begley and whomever else I'm forgetting, even going back to before Late Nate was Late. So if Ruth ever spent any significant time without a date, I can't recall it. Victoria, of course, claims to have known McInerney's old coke dealer. "Sweet guy," she says. I assume she means the coke dealer and not McInerney (I'm kidding. I haven't heard anything). While looking at her calendar, Ruth realizes that Victoria's "get-together" is the next night, and offers to bring her famous potato salad. Is Ruth aware that L.A. has a higher standard for "famous" than other places? Victoria assures Ruth that everything's taken care of. And, scene. By the way, the knitter who always says everything twice was there, but she didn't say anything this week, twice or otherwise. Probably because that would have required Ruth to take a breath.