Episode Report Card Niki: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Wake Up, Little Susie
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 1 | Aired on 10.23.2000
Cut to the same scene, only this time the pair is bathed in morning light. The plucky little guitars start, so we all know that This Is Funny. Lily's eyes fly open, she looks at her watch in horror, then darts of the couch, furiously gathering clothes. She's trying to rouse Rick, but he's slow to stir. She shoves him off the couch. She's muttering that it's 6:30, 6:30..."How'd it get to be 6:30?" Rick asks. Zoe's voice calls to Lily from the top of the stairs. Lily shoves Rick's clothes into his hand and shepherds him into the dining room as Zoe descends the stairs. Lily's pulling on her dress and wiping at her smeared make-up and tugging at her hair as she rushes to meet Zoe at the bottom of the stairs. Zoe wants to know why Lily is dressed already. Lily says she has early meetings. Zoe points out that it's the same dress Lily was wearing the day before. Lily insists that she really likes it. Zoe wants to know if Lily bought waffles. Aha! An escape route! Lily ushers Zoe into the kitchen to start the waffles, then spins around to Rick. She tries to escort him to the door, which is only twenty short feet away, but Grace comes to the top of the stairs. Rick ducks behind the dining room wall. The plucky guitars keep playing, so we know that This Is Still Funny. Lily races to meet Grace and nudges her away from the dining room. The coast looks clear so Rick makes a move. Grace pops out, so Rick ducks back. The coast is clear, so Rick makes another move. Both kids come out. Lily physically drags them back to the kitchen, and it becomes clear that Three's Company this ain't, and no amount of alcohol is going to convince me otherwise. When the coast is finally clear, Rick makes a dash for freedom. He makes it to the door just as Jake, reigning King of Bad Timing, is about to ring the bell. Since when has Jake been trained to ring before entering? Jake seems pleasantly surprised to see Rick, who's like a deer caught in headlights. Jake traps Rick into some small talk, which of course gives the kids just enough time to come charging from the kitchen. Busted. Wah-wah...
Returning from commercials, we find Lily and the girls in the kitchen, where Zoe's asking if they slept in Lily's bedroom. Lily tells her they "didn't sleep anywhere." Whoa, tiger, I don't think the nine-year-old needs to know all that. Lily's story is that she and Rick accidentally fell asleep on the couch; he didn't mean to sleep over. Attention turns to the Monopoly game spread out on the kitchen table, and the girls engage in a hearty round of bickering. Zoe leaves to brush her teeth, and Lily approaches Grace to try and explain what happened. Lily stammers that Rick would never intentionally stay over without them running it past the girls first, to make sure it was okay. Grace cuts Lily off, giving her the "talk to the hand" gesture (do people still do that?) and saying, "It so doesn't matter." Lily pauses then sits down and adopts a soft tone, telling Grace that it does matter, and that Grace needs to know that Lily understands what it means to them when she brings a man into the house. Grace gets exasperated, saying, "You're going to do what you need to do, and it's really okay with me, but please don't act like you're giving me some big say in it." Grace stands, grabbing her uneaten waffles. Lily looks like Grace just might have pooted before she blew out of the room.