Episode Report Card Aaron: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Dead as Folk? No. Dead as Fuck? Yes.
By Aaron | Season 2 | Episode 9 | Aired on 04.27.2002
Aaron: Dude. A lunchbox to the head? You've got an Oscar and Golden Globe, and THAT'S the best you could fucking come up with?
Alan Ball: What? I kinda liked it. It's very symbolic of the irrational...
Aaron:...of the irrational absurdity of death. Yeah. We. Get. It.
Alan Ball: But see, it's also a sly metaphor for...
Aaron: For Nate's brain tumor. We know.
Alan Ball: Oh. Well, excuse the fuck out of me.
Aaron: It's okay. At least you didn't make us use algebra.
The episode proper opens on a beach with Nate and Brenda discussing their wedding plans, which confirms at least one of my hypotheses for how the season will be ending. Brenda thinks the location is perfect, especially once you add in the "sunset factor." Given that the director is currently using the "sunrise factor" to silhouette Nate's Schwarzenegger-sized brain, however, I'm thinking it might be somewhat more cheesy than perfect. Either way, Nate's primary concern is that the ground is covered with horseshit, which could mess up Brenda's white dress. Snerk. Brenda thinks otherwise, and claims that "if [they] exchange vows surrounded by horseshit, it would be kind of fitting." No, Brenda. "Fitting" would be if you exchanged vows with another man's hand in your crotch. She snarks on her mother a bit, but Nate, much like this season's writing staff, just can't let go of the brain tumor thing. "Are you sure you want to marry me?" he asks. "We're all going to die, I know. But the chances of it happening are significantly higher for me. That's just a fucking fact." (Fk = 9) Brenda steps over to pull him close, and explains her thoughts on the impending marriage: "I'm marrying you because I love you. Because you're the first man that I thought I could actually stand to spend the rest of my life with. Or the rest of your life, if it's tragically cut short or whatever." There's some psychobabble, which culminates in Brenda describing the future as "just a concept." "All we have is this moment," she says. "Right here. Right now." Shut up, Jesus (Jones). She finishes by tenderly placing a hand on Nate's face, and telling him in solemn tones that he should "Be here. Now." Shout-out? As they head off the beach, Nate calls out that he knows "a really cool Rabbi" who could perform the ceremony.
Aaron: Be here? Now? Aww. I didn't know you cared.
Alan Ball: What the fuck are you talking about?