Episode Report Card Niki: D | 1 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Sneaky Feelings
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 14 | Aired on 01.30.2000
The next morning, Karen and Lloyd are having breakfast at the counter of a diner. Lloyd's babbling about the western omlette, ketchup, and other gastric banalities, while Karen's doing a fine job of tuning him out. Finally, Lloyd shuts up, and the two occupy themselves with some serious chewing. Karen steals a couple glances at him and then musters her nerve. She takes a deep breath and blurts that she doesn't think she's "being fair to him." He cuts her off, telling her he doesn't need her to be up-front with him. Karen insists that she has to be open about her feelings, and Lloyd jumps in to say he knows that she hasn't "been completely invested in this relationship" and that "sometimes [she] doesn't even hear what he's saying." Karen moves to protest, but Lloyd tells her it's all okay -- he knows she's a complicated person, and he's not. He tells her that he just loves watching her, with all her "moods" and "colors." He gushes that she "just shines from the inside" and that's why she needs to be with someone like him -- she "deserves to be adored." By the time Lloyd's wrung out his last drop of self-respect, Karen can't meet his eyes. Lloyd watches her hopefully but to no avail. "I'm really sorry, I just..." Karen says to her plate, and Lloyd's gaze drops. He turns slowly on his stool, gathers the check and his coat, and walks over to the cashier. He tells the woman to have a nice day and then, eyes downcast, he shuffles to the door, pauses, and steps outside. He doesn't look back, which is a nice surprise.
Meanwhile, hearts are breaking on the other side of town, as Eli approaches Jennifer at her locker. He mentions softly that she wasn't in chemistry. I assume it's because she spent the morning twisting and clipping her hair in about fifty little braids and loops all over her head, but it turns out she was at the dentist. Eli proceeds to ramble lamely about the class, but Jennifer's not too interested. He asks if they can go somewhere to talk. She wants to know why, and he says he'd like to get some things off his chest. Jennifer's not too concerned with his turmoil, however, and tells him so. He says he never meant for any of it to happen, as if that's going to make her feel better somehow. Jennifer wants to know why he didn't just talk to her about it, especially since she asked him more than once what was wrong. He tells her he cares about her "so much. [He] really, really needs [her]. As a close friend." What a dick. "That would be really convenient for [him], wouldn't it?" Jennifer responds. She makes it clear there's no way she's going to be an emotional revolving door, to which Eli says, "Can you please try to be mature about this?" Amazingly, she doesn't plant her foot straight in his mouth. "Oh, you want mature?" she retorts, "After everything you did? You lied to me. You can't have it both ways." She starts to walk away, accompanied by my personal soundtrack of whoops and cheers. Eli calls out to her. When she stops, he tells her she still "means a lot" to him. Nice consolation prize, that. She tells him he means more to her, and then walks away.