Episode Report Card Aaron: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Zed's Dead, Baby. Zed's Dead.
By Aaron | Season 2 | Episode 8 | Aired on 04.20.2002
Over at the Apartment That There's No Way Keith Can Afford On His Own Salary Now That Eddie Is Gone, he, David, and Taylor are returning from dinner. Taylor tries several different methods to convince them to let her stay up, including offering to make them something in her E-Z Bake oven. Before they can get inside, however, we get our second surprise return of the episode. It's Keith's sister, and Taylor is ecstatic that her mom is back. Keith and David look exactly like Nate and Brenda did when they first saw Billy: a potent combination of shock and nervousness.
And speaking of Billy, that's exactly what Nate and Brenda are doing. They're speaking of Billy, and the fact that Brenda is upset that her brother didn't call or e-mail even once on Christmas Day. Nate, however, is even more upset when Brenda reveals that Billy and Claire have been chatting since he went away. In case you're curious, I'm the most upset of them all, and it's largely because I can't figure out what the hell Brenda is wearing on her feet. They look like moccasins, only they're knee-high and lined with fur. Whatever they are, they're damn ugly. Nate chases Brenda into the kitchen, and demands that Billy and Claire stop speaking to each other right away. "Why?" she asks. "You said he seemed okay." "Yeah," Nate shouts back. "He's okay enough to walk down the street without a leash, but not okay enough to be anywhere near my sister, who we both know just has this fucked-up attraction to sociopaths." And yet, we're not married yet. Go figure. The whole thing quickly degenerates into a shouting match, so you know what's coming next: cut to them, having make-up sex. Props to whoever it was on the forums, by the way, who noted that for a couple as experienced and adventurous as Nate and Brenda are supposed to be, they do tend to stick to the missionary position pretty often. Suddenly, Nate's grunting and rhythmic breathing is interrupted as he starts stuttering, "Oh shit! Oh shit!" and going into a seizure. There's no way for me to really describe what he says or does here in words, but it's a very effective portrayal of a guy having a seizure at the worst possible time. I give the boy a lot of shit for his hair, but Krause can definitely act, and he proves it again here.
Later on, Brenda sits on her bed, with Nate's head cradled in her lap. He explains the seizures and discusses his medication, but we never actually hear him say the word AVM. Or even "anvilitis," for that matter. I mention that only because the preview for tonight's episode (and isn't kinda sad that I'm referring to it as "tonight's" episode and not "next week's" episode) mentions something about Nate holding back a big secret. Brenda gently strokes his hair as she listens, and as we fade to white, she promises that he'll never be a burden to her.