Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Flirting with Disaster
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 12 | Aired on 02.06.2001
Cut to a close-up of an alarm clock (it's 10:15) and a photograph of Eli and Jessie. The camera swings over to the right, and we find Karen sitting in bed with a book, looking worried. She runs an anxious hand through her hair and glances at the clock. She takes a closer look. When the front door closes, she sits up like a little prairie dog.
Cut to the darkened foyer. We hear a loud thump and Jessie giggling. Leo shushes her. "Shut up, get the light!" she stage-whispers. "Excuse me, I'm grievously injured here!" he mock-protests. Not quietly, either. Karen stands in her bedroom doorway, eyeing them sternly. Jessie flicks on the lights, sing-songing, "Oh, but I do care," and twirling around like a high little fairy. Karen steps forward in her bathrobe, waiting for them to notice her. The party mood quickly dampens. Leo cops to the crime quickly, hoping for leniency: "Yes, she had a caffeinated beverage. Yes I am evil." Jessie protests vehemently and bounces around like a Chihuahua on meth. Talking a mile a minute, she grabs some books off the pile Leo's holding, and starts trying to show Karen some of the stuff they learned. "That's great, but you need to get to bed right now. It's late," Karen pooh-poohs. Did I mention that it's 10:15? They're hardly sneaking in at the crack of dawn. ["Plus Jessie's in high school, so whatever." -- Wing Chun] Jessie continues to yammer and twitter in front of Leo, so Karen gives her a stern, "Goodnight, honey." Jessie prances off to bed. As he hangs up his coat, Leo playfully observes, "It's funny how the words 'school night' have come to mean 'instant doom.'" Well, they're about to now, buddy. Karen is not amused. Leo's high evaporates, and he says, "Sorry." She just smiles tightly and nods like a good little martyr.
Crusty heads out of her office, telling Lily that she's heading out for some drinks with "functional idiots" and says that if she's done by seven, she'll call. Lily, gathering her purse, reminds Crusty that she has to leave, too. "Oh. Right. Well, okay. Say hi to Rick," Crusty says, but she doesn't sound friendly about it. As Crusty walks away, Lily pops out of her chair and watches her depart, waiting for the coast to be clear. She then heads to Graham's office.
"Hey, I was just thinking about you," Graham says, and invites Lily to have a seat. She declines. Her body language screams discomfort. "We need to talk," she says tightly. "Before we say or do anything, we need to talk." How can they talk before they say anything? She says they need to establish that they're co-workers. "Just because I like your ideas, I shouldn't take liberties," Graham admits. Lily keeps an arm clenched firmly across her body. "Do you always go around doing that?" she asks, gesturing with her free arm. Graham looks embarrassed. She adds that it's "very weird" and forces out, "You just can't go around kissing people's foreheads." Well, there's no arguing with that, and Graham knows it. He apologizes. Lily questions his apology. "Of course I'm sorry!" he asserts. "You think I just go around kissing people's foreheads?" "I have no idea," says Lily the Social Virgin. "I don't. You do have no idea. I really don't. I pride myself on being able to act like a professional." He apologizes again, and Lily accepts it, looking far more at ease. "Then we don't have a problem," she says brightly. She turns on her heel and heads for the door, but Graham throws out a snag.