Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's The End Of The World As We Know It...
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.10.2001
Cut to Rick's apartment, where he's herding Eli and Jessie into the living room to talk. They have no idea what's coming. Watching him grow somber, though, they suspect that it can't be good. Jessie asks whether someone is sick. Rick assures her that "it's nothing like that." He hesitates a few seconds before launching into it: "Something has happened at work, and I don't know that's it's bad yet -- it's too soon to tell. But it might be bad." Yeah, and prison might not be fun. Eli asks if he's "going broke." Rick says that there's an investigation of Atlantor underway. "By the police?" Jessie asks. Eli and Jessie realize how serious it is, and ask if he could be arrested. Lily comes through the front door, ready to call out, but stops herself when she hears Rick assuring the kids that he's not going to be arrested: "There's nothing they'd arrest me for." He starts to say more, but Eli interrupts, "Wait a minute. You mean you could be arrested?" Rick keeps assuring them that he doesn't think anything bad will happen, but that he can't guarantee it. He warns them that they might start hearing stuff at school, and both of them look absolutely miserable. Lily hovers just outside the door, still eavesdropping. Jessie, teary, asks why Rick would be arrested. Rick says that some of the people involved with the project may have done "bad things." Why is he talking to them like they're five? Anyway, Jessie immediately says, "That you didn't know about." "That...I didn't know about," he says. She asks again why he'd be arrested, then. He says that he's just trying to prepare them for things they might hear, but that there's nothing to worry about. "Okay?" he asks Jessie. "Okay," she replies. He looks at Eli. "Okay?" Eli reluctantly nods. Lily's still in the entranceway, fighting back tears as we head to commercials.
I guess Lily's staying at Rick's place, too, now, because she's there when we get back, and she's making the kids breakfast. If pushing the lever on the toaster actually counts as "making breakfast." Jessie rushes around in the background, telling Lily that it's okay, and that she doesn't have time to eat, anyway. Lily insists that it'll only take a minute, and that she just needs to find the syrup for the waffles. There's a knock at the door, and Jessie runs to grab it, saying, "Mom's here." Lily's face clouds a little. She hears Karen and Jessie approaching, leans on the counter, and arranges her face into a smile. Karen stops short when she sees her, trailing off as she asks whether Jessie's ready to go. The ex and the current say hello to one another in their lightest, sweetest voices. Lily says "they're ready," and that she was "just giving Jessie some waffles." Karen says an uncomfortable "okay," and seems relieved when Eli says he'll just grab his stuff. Jessie asks if she has time...should she...and gestures toward the waffles, hoping Karen will say they've got to get going. Karen tells her to take a second and eat something. Jessie sits and makes a turdy face, while Lily complains that she's just trying to figure out where everything is. This gives Karen a jolt, and she forces out a slightly strained "congratulations" on the engagement. Lily thanks her, and Karen stammers out a question about the date. Lily tells her it'll be in May. Neither of them notices that Jessie isn't actually eating; she's just sitting there quietly staring at the waffles and waiting 'til it's time to go. Lily glances at her watch and says that she needs to get going herself. She asks, "You don't need anymore, do you, Jessie?" Jessie looks embarrassed and says no. Lily plunks the syrup on the counter in front of her, and Karen closely watches this woman who thinks she'll be taking care of her daughter. Lily bounds up the stairs and meets Rick coming down. "Hey you," he says affectionately. Lily tries to slip past him, clenched and saying that she just needs a couple of minutes. Karen stands with her hand on Jessie's shoulder, looking mortified. Rick comes down and sees her there, and stares at her wordlessly. He doesn't smile. Neither does she. He pointedly shifts his gaze to Jessie and asks if she's almost ready. Happy for an excuse to escape the waffles, she runs upstairs to grab something. Rick's too busy glowering at Karen and she's too busy meeting his glare for either of them to notice that all Jessie had was orange juice.