Search thousands of recaps and more

By Couch Baron

Chez Girardi. Will takes a lasagna out of the oven. If this is foreshadowing that Will's going to give up being a cop and open a cooking school or something, it's even more delicious than that lasagna undoubtedly is. All the Girardis but Kevin are in the kitchen. Luke babbles about his presentation and super-string theory and general relativity. Helen patiently indulges him, but Joan fakes like she's dying of boredom. I think Grace is paying her to sub in when she's not around. Once Luke heads into the dining room, Joan asks Helen if she's mad at Adam for the whole S-E-X thing. Helen: "Of course not. He's a seventeen-year-old boy. He can't help the wiring." Hee. But I wonder if Helen's that understanding when she does Luke's laundry. Joan asks why, then, Helen didn't let Adam display his art at the presentation. Helen says she had other reasons, but firmly tells Joan that she would never take a personal matter out on a student. Joan doesn't seem convinced.

Inside the dining room, Luke is still babbling about string theory. You know, Luke and Helen have been in an irresolvable tug-of-war for my favorite Girardi since early in Season One, but at this point, I know he's a science geek. Having him go on incessantly about science at this point provides as much character advancement as Joan joining the basket-weaving club would. Kevin rolls in and announces that he's been offered the chance to do a human-interest story for a local TV station. Everyone's appropriately enthusiastic, and Kevin asks if anyone has an idea he could pitch, as he's going in the day. Joan suggests a story on Stevie battling her mother for the right to work. Kevin: "Local teen argues with parents. Riveting." Shout-out?

School. Joan finds Adam, who's wearing a ski hat. I'd say to thank God for small favors, but that would not be doing justice to just how bad his hair is. Adam's still mad about Joan talking to Helen. Joan tells him that Helen's not angry with him, but the fact that Joan asked Helen about it gets Adam all bent out of shape too. Dude, maybe these are things you should have talked about before you sent all thought processes below the belt. Adam and Joan are distracted from their little tiff when they get to the entrance to a classroom, in which Stevie and her mom are arguing about the work thing and then Joan and Adam come in and Joan butts in again and it's the same scene as before and BORING! Seriously, let's get it in gear, here. Adam says that Stevie's disagreement with her mom is a private thing. "I know that doesn't mean that much to you." Joan only reacts enough to make a mental note about how she'll handle things the time Adam wants a piece of her. She tells Stevie that they can call and get her SSN, but Stevie says that she tried, and since she's adopted, they couldn't find it. She adds that she's never seen her mom freak out like that, and they should just forget about it. She leaves, and Adam starts to apologize, but Joan snaps, "I needed my mom, so I talked to her. This is not my problem, it's yours." She leaves. I know it's unseemly to start death pools on relationships, but there's good money to be made here, and I want in.