Episode Report Card Deborah: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy
By Deborah | Season 1 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.08.2004
We see a hand on the wheel of a wheelchair. It taps idly, and the camera moves up to show us Will sitting in Kevin's chair, next to him in the hospital. Kevin's got his clothes back on. He says, "I heard they offered you a job?" Will wonders how he heard that. Kevin reminds him that he works for the newspaper. Will might want to file that away for future reference. Kevin says, "Some kind of sheriff?" Will pulls a voice right out of Gunsmoke and claims, "Always wanted to be a sheriff." Kevin shakes his head and says, "You are so full of it." Will begs his pardon. Kevin says he remembers when Will loved his job and regaled him regularly with tales of police work and excitement. Will shrugs that off: "Kids are pretty easy to impress." Kevin: "The stories changed, Dad, not me." Will sighs and mentions the points in favour of the position: it's a good job, and they can stay in Arcadia and set down roots. Kevin tells him, "Dad, if I find out you took this job because of me, I'll be really mad at you." Will asks, "How is this about you?" Kevin replies, "My intention is to be as much a man as you are. I can't do that if you keep me back, like a child." Will leans forward and says, "Being a man means making decisions based on a lot of different needs, few of which are your own. Family comes first." Kevin says, "I need you to make decisions as though I was standing in front of you, on my own two legs...please...don't take the job -- not for me." Will gets up and kisses him on the forehead, telling him he'll see him when he can come home.
Adam's workshop. He's tossing some of his art into a trash can when Helen comes in. Adam's puzzled, naturally: "Hey...Mrs. Girardi...you're...in my shed." She smiles and says she's come to ask him a favour. She is the only person who makes his face brighten up at all ever since Joan wrecked his sculpture. Adam says, "Sure." Helen says she knows he's mad at Joan but asks him to talk to her; he says he doesn't want to. Helen: "I know, but that's why it's called a favour." He nods slightly, and she says softly, "Good." She walks out. He's standing there thinking when Joan walks in. He's caught off guard: "What, like, did your mom mean this exact second?" Joan: "Why, do you need more time to hide?" Whoa. I don't know if this is the way to start out. He walks around behind his table and sits down, saying, "Listen, I'm doing a really nice woman a favour, so...what do you want to talk about?" She cuts right to the chase: "Are you thinking about killing yourself?" He seems more surprised that that's her specific question than to have been asked at all: "I thought you were going to apologize to me, yo." She says she's apologized lots of times: "We're both bored with that." He wonders why she thought he was going to kill himself. She asks why he's not making art anymore. Adam: "Because it's...it's stupid." He gets up, gesturing vaguely at some of the various detritus lying around, adding, "I -- I used to -- used to make all these things for my mom, and...and...I don't know, when you smashed my best one, maybe it made me realize that...she can't hear me or she's not listening." Joan asks, "Adam, how do you know she's not listening if you won't hear her answer?" Adam exhales a weary little sound of exasperation and says, "I hardly ever know what you're talking about." Joan says softly that she knows about his mother's note. Adam looks at her, sniffles, and says, "Grace told you, huh?" Joan: "Yeah, Grace is in on it, and so is my mother, and so am I." She walks toward him. "It's none of my business, right? Except is is! It is, because here we are, and I am way in this. I am mad absolutely in this. So why haven't you read her note?" Adam says, his voice slightly raw, his eyes watery, "I can't." Joan, gently: "Why? Is it smudged from tears, or...written backwards...or is it..." Adam: "I'm af --" He pauses, and continues quietly, without looking at her: "I'm afraid...that it'll say that what she did was my fault." Then he looks at Joan. I'm just in agony for him. Joan's heart is obviously breaking, too. She says gently, "It seems to me that wondering what it says is worse than knowing for sure." Adam glances at her. She adds, "That's just me." She turns and walks out, but before going, she stops and says: "I am sorry for smashing your art. I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know about your mother. I hope we can still be friends. I really, really want for you to have...good ripples." She's tearful, but gives him a small, hopeful smile as she goes. He probably has no idea what that ripples remark is about, but then, he's used to that. He sits there, letting all this wash over him.
It's early morning in Arcadia. Grace and Luke are still working on their project. They both seem tired, a little irritable, and cold in that way that I always find I am after pulling an all-nighter. It's like my body makes the decision that I can either get blood to my brain or to my body, but not both. Luke's about to attach some leads to the machine, and Grace says, "Careful." Luke gets a little rattled and says, "Say 'careful' before I attach, not during." Grace: "Right -- sorry." Luke admits to being a little edgy: "We've been up all night, it's morning, and if these two leads touch, this entire circuit could blow." While he's blathering on, Grace grabs the leads and attaches them with confidence. Coffee, man, you need coffee. After his stellar performance in the TriMathlon, I'm surprised he didn't think of it himself. Luke seems mildly surprised and says, "Yes, very...um...steady hands. Good." She asks if it's done. He looks at her with a trace of a smile and says he thinks so. Their faces are pretty close. Kiss her! Just kiss her, man. Grace asks, "Aren't we going to test it?" Luke: "Well, according to my calculations, the wiring won't take more than one burst, so..." I guess that's where the "looking like idiots in front of everyone" opportunity presents itself. Grace nods slowly and looks at Luke like she's wondering what he's going to do next. He says, "Remember when you kissed me at the semiformal?" Grace gets uncomfortable, and exhales, "Yeah, forget it." Dude. She doesn't want to discuss things. She just wants to do them. You should have just kissed her. She takes off without another word, and Luke waves to her back as she goes. When she's gone, he says to himself, "Can't unring a bell, baby..." Ha! Frink and I are in stitches. I think he wants them together more than I do. And he's usually not any kind of 'shipper.