Dive

Joan wheels a book truck through the bookstore. There's a ridiculously precarious stack of books on it -- Professor Frink calls it "Joan's tower of babble." She's quietly shelving a book when she hears Judith's voice: "Hey, girlfriend." Joan turns and sees Judith sitting on the nearby sofa with her back to her, reading a magazine. Judith turns around on the couch, allowing us to see that she's reading something called Living Times. Har. I announce that I usually hate it when people come back from the dead on TV, but Frink and I agree that it's better if it's in a dream or flashback than if they appear as a ghost or some other paranormal whatever. Really hate the ghost thing. I had a root canal the day before this episode, so I'm in no mood for stuff I hate. Judith smiles at Joan and says, "I'm so bored. When can we get out of here?" Joan asks: "Judithwhat are you doingalive?" Judith says she's waiting for Joan: "Come on. Joanith can be together all day. You know you want to." There's some wonky dream music and Joan sighs, looking back at her tower of babble, which is now at least twice the height it was. She looks up at the stack, and the camera angle makes it seem even taller. Judith grabs her hand, telling her, "Don't be scared, JoJo. Come on!" Judith pulls her through the bookstore, and they knock similar stacks of books off the tops of bookcases as they go. They run slo-mo through the avalanche of books, giggling as they try to avoid the falling volumes.

Cut to Joan stirring in bed, smiling, as she wakes up from the dream. Her smile fades as she realizes she was dreaming.

Adam, Joan, Grace, and Luke arrive at school to find the hallway filled with sports equipment and trophies, and a bunch of jocks recruiting people. Adam's excited: "Aw, great. Another chance for us to feel like a subdefective." Luke mutters, "Fighting over balls, adding muscle mass for no socially productive useit's an evolutionary anomaly." Joan: "Friedman tried gymnastics." Grace: "Yeah, and almost lost his jewels on the vault." Grace laughs at the memory and asks where he is. Since when does she care? No, seriously. Of these four, she's the least likely to give a crap. Luke says he's on a cruise with his family celebrating his grandmother's new kidney. That is an incredibly specific piece of information regarding his whereabouts. What's that about? I mean, it's not like most viewers would have thought anything of his absence from this scene. Perhaps that's going to figure into a later episode? Helen crosses their path and tells them that Judith's mother called to let her know that Judith's headstone is finished, and she wondered if any of them wanted to come along to the cemetery. Joan giggles, which I totally don't understand. Adam: "Sure." Helen gives Joan a questioning look, and Adam looks at her, too. Joan: "I'm sorry. Judith would just think that's lame." Helen doesn't know what to say, nor does anyone else. Joan: "What, going to look at a rock?" Helen says it's up to her, and offers to drive anyone who's interested to the cemetery on Thursday after school. The other kids mutter their thanks and Joan turns and faces all of them with a bored, irritated look: "Oh, come on, don't you think that's dumb?" Adam decides to avoid the whole thing: "Meet you after school?" Joan says he'd better as he kisses her quickly and walks off as the bell rings. Luke tells Grace he'll see her later, moving in close enough to try to kiss her, but when Grace realizes what he's up to, she quickly moves out of range and tells him, "Oh, yeah, later." Frink: "Come on! You tore up the contract!" Luke looks disappointed but not particularly surprised. He sure is tenacious. Tenacious G.

Joan wanders through the hall and runs into Cute Guy God. I just found out this past weekend that Kris Lemche is a friend of a friend. Who knew? As he says hi to Joan, we can hear two giggling blonde cheerleaders in the background noticing how cute he is. Joan: "Do girls always hit on you with that look? Oh, they do. Hitting on God. That's gross." Umthey could do worse? Cute Guy God wants Joan to do something that scares her. Joan: "Lots of things scare me. You, actually -- you scare me." (Insert your own joke about doing God here.) Joan asks if he could be a little more specific. Cute Guy God: "For me, that's pretty specific." Joan: "And I still can't ask why?" He replies, "You can ask..." He walks off with a Godwave. One of the jocks catches Joan's attention and introduces himself: "Tommy Belkin." He looks really familiar to both of us, but neither of us can place him. He's played by Sam Horrigan, and the only thing I could have ever seen him in is Grace Under Fire, playing "Quentin #2." I don't know if I even watched that show long enough for there to be a second Quentin. Anyway, I guess they cast him for his ability to play the big smug jock who's really pleased with himself, because he sure is: "I'm captain of the diving team. You can call me Captain Tommy." "Captain Tommy"? And that doesn't get you beat up on a regular basis? If you cubed the look of disdain on Joan's face, you might approximate my expression. He asks if she's interested in diving. Joan figures this is what God wants her to do, so she says, "Well, Captain Tommy, I was watching the Olympics -- you know, as I flipped my way to MTV Cribs -- um, so tell me: is the high board still reallyhigh?" Joan gestures with her hand. Captain Tommy laughs: "Are you kidding me? Really high?" He laughs at Joan as the theme song plays.

Breakfast in the Girardi kitchen begins with an odd overhead shot of Helen, Will, and Luke laughingly jockeying for space over the stove. Kevin wheels in and Helen says he looks nice: "Is that a new sweater?" Luke: "And a litre of cologne?" Will: "Oh, I smell romance." Romance? Is that what they're calling it? I think of it as a migraine in a bottle. Kevin says, "Someone's in a disturbingly good mood." Will: "Gotta enjoy the good days!" Joan comes down the kitchen stairs, sniffs, and asks, "Who bathed in Drakkar?" Ugh. That stuff is revolting. Kevin: "Said, 'Apply liberally.' Pardon me for following directions." No, pardon you for paying money for that putrid stuff. With obvious delight, Helen announces that Kevin has a date with Beth tonight. Joan smacks Kevin amiably on the arm as he says, "Spokeswoman. Cool. Makes it so much easier than talking for myself." Helen wants to know what's with Joan and the diving team. Apparently Coach Keady told Helen she saw Joan's name on the tryout list. Luke is surprised to hear it, too. Helen reminds Joan of her acrophobia. Joan wonders if her mother wants her to be scared for the rest of her life. Helen: "If you have vertigo, you can lose your balance, fall, hit your head." Will: "Helen" Helen complains that the school shouldn't allow things that dangerous. Will tells Joan, "Good for you, sweetheart." He tells Luke he should try out, too: "You loved diving when we used to go to that pool in Farrington." Helen: "Will" Will shrugs at her, wondering what her problem is. Joan: "Luke in a Speedo. They don't make enough blindfolds." Kevin helpfully pipes up: "Dad, you're thinking of me. Luke was terrified." Luke replies, "No, no, actually I was just afraid I'd never be as good as you." Will says Luke should get back into it. Helen insists he's not interested. Frink: "What's wrong with her today?" Me: "She's afraid she's going to have three children in wheelchairs." Will: "We're just talking." Helen: "Haven't we all had enough to deal with lately? Jumping a thousand feet into a puddle is ridiculous." Kevin: "Actually, Mom, they replaced the puddle with a swimming pool because kids were getting muddy." Joan giggles. Helen's not amused: "You of all people should understand caution." Yeah, gotta enjoy the good days. Joan tells her mother it's just diving: "See ya! Don't want to be late for mylion tamers' club." Frink mumbles something about a Monty Python sketch, but I don't ask for clarification, becauseyou know, I'd probably get it.

Beth smiles like she's happy to be there, but maybe not as happy as Kevin is. He takes her hand, but she gently withdraws it after a moment, and says, "Uh, Kevin" He decides to grab the bull by the horns: "Is ituh" He gestures to his wheelchair. Beth: "Of course not. How could you even go there?" Frink: "How could he not?" Kevin shrugs and says it's the one big thing that's changed since they were together: "I mean, I'd -- I'd understand" Beth: "Kevin, it's been two years. I can't just pick up like it was yesterday." Two years, hmm? Well, I guess that's what we're going with. Given how central Kevin's accident is to this show, I wish Barbara Hall had pinned down a date from the start and tattooed it on all the writers' hands. Also: you cheated on her and basically blew her off when she confronted you about it. The accident doesn't give you a pass on that. And we also know you haven't exactly changed your ways, either, though Beth doesn't know that. Kevin apologizes, saying she's right, and that maybe he thought this was a date. Beth shrugs: "Maybe I thought it was a date, too. I just need time." Frink doesn't find Kimberly McCullough convincing in this role. I tell him he's not alone, thinking of comments in the forums, but I personally think her role is a little underwritten. I wish we could get more of a sense of why they were into each other. I mean, she's nice, and she's pretty, and maybe that's enough for Kevin, but usually there's a little more than that going on between couples on this show. ["She looks a little too old for Kevin. She's pretty and everything; I just don't buy her as a college student." -- Could Sars interrupt Deborah any more today? Let's find out!]

Joan's standing on the diving board, looking apprehensive. She's wearing a red one-piece bathing suit. Coach Keady drones, "Before the water evaporates, Miss Girardi." Then some wacky-scary dream music starts playing, as Joan bleats, "I can't!" We see the rest of the diving team pointing at her and laughing. Joan stares down at the water. Frink notes that there's a cruciform shape in the pattern of the tiles. She hears Judith's voice saying, "It's okay, JoJo. So are you gonna dive or what?" She looks down at the deck of the pool and Judith is casually standing there in her street clothes, smiling up at her. Joan doesn't seem happy to see her: "Great. Now you're gonna get on me about this, too?" Judith advises her, "Just let yourself go. You can do it." Joan looks doubtfully at the water. Suddenly, behind Joan, Captain Washboard's there, wearing a pair of paints, no shirt, and dark swimming gogglesbrandishing a circular saw. Joan turns and looks horrified. He starts sawing the diving board and cackling maniacally as Joan pleads with him to stop, shrieking that she can't do it. Frink: "That's so Wile E. Coyote."

Joan wakes up to the shrill sound of her alarm clock, disoriented and panting slightly.

Will says to Chewy, "Who knew I'd love the narcs?" Chewy: "They found our guy." Will says they found their guy's supplier, Vladimir Karpovich, and that they were waiting to take him down to see if he'd hand them a bigger fish. Chewy exposits, "But we're taking him now because he'll lead us to where Edwards is." Will says there are a couple of narcs waiting outside Karpovich's for them. He advises Chewy to put on a bulletproof vest: "Guy's got company. Does small arms on the side."

Pool. Captain Washboard and Luke emerge from the boys' locker room. In Speedos. Yes, there's Luke all but naked. Joan emerges from the girls' locker room just after them, and Coach Keady starts bellowing at them: "Okay, tadpoles, swan dives, off the low board. Keep 'em simple and straight. Line up!" The first guy does his, and it doesn't look that bad to me, but some of the team members giggle. I really don't know squat about diving. I think Glynis is up or it might be Clara Bow. Seriously, she's wearing a dark blue bathing suit with red trim and a little red hip belt detail, and on its own it wouldn't be especially weird, but coupled with what she's wearing on her head, which is a beige or pale pink bathing cap with big jaunty pink flowers on the side, the effect is very 1920s-flapper-out-to-shock-her-father-at-the-beach. Or something. She makes her way carefully to the end of the board, and seems to start the dive well, but then kinds of twists sideways and concludes very clumsily on her back. Coach Keady instructs the rest of the team: "Don'tdo that." We get a shot of Luke, and I think he's looking sad for Glynis, actually. Keady blows her whistle and summons "female Girardi" to the board. Joan scampers onto the board and runs to the end of the board, bounces once, and confidently does a belly flop into the pool. Ow! Oh my God. That's just brutal. I find that hard to watch in the way other people don't care to view, say, colorectal surgery. Nonetheless, I replayed it about ten times, trying to determine whether Amber Tamblyn did the jump herself or not. I think she did, but if it was a stunt double, it was a damn good one. Of course the teams yuks it up at her expense, while Joan comes up spluttering and gasping. Coach Keady instructs Luke: "Male Girardi: don't emulate." Luke approaches the board and takes his glasses off, leaving them at the back of the board. Seems like a good place for them to get stepped on. He walks to the end of the board slowly as Joan climbs out of the pool, grunting and ow-ing. He pauses there while the camera drifts from his feet up to his head, giving us all a damn good look at his body. I'd tell you all about it except I'm afraid I have to refrain from commentary until at least July 25, 2005. Let me just say this: Merry Christmas, Michael Welch fans. He stands there, anxiously contemplating the water. Joan's clutching Glynis now as they watch him. Keady blows her whistle: "Mr. Girardi" Luke still stands there. Keady prods him, pointing out, "I'm not known for my patience." Luke finally bolts, grabbing his glasses on the way, and saying he doesn't feel well. He runs past his teammates into the locker room, as they mock him: "Don't forget to adjust your bra, Girardi!" Much guffawing. Joan and Glynis look concerned.

Will and Chewy are getting their 12-gauge pump-action shotguns out of the trunk outside Karpovich's place. Chewy offers Will some gum. Will declines, so Chewy puts it in his mouth along with the wad he's already ruminating. Will tells him, "Hey, take it easy: guy actually has to understand his Miranda rights." Heh. Will's cell phone rings, and it's Lucyfer calling to tell him that it turns out there are five guys inside Karpovich's. She's calling them off because she's decided to send in the SWAT team. She wants him to come back to the station. Will doesn't take this too well: "You want SWAT, fine. But this is my case, I'm making the arrest." Lucyfer replies calmly but firmly, "No, you're following orders. I want you to come on back to the station. Do you copy that?" Will balks: "Yeah, but we're already here! I'm running the scene now. You signed off on it!" Lucyfer loses a little patience: "I am your commanding officer, Detective Girardi, and I am telling you to get your ass back to the station right now or I will suspend you. Do you copy that?" I dunno, maybe her ex-husband went in for that sorta talk, but I don't think it does much for Will. He replies, "Yeah. I copy." He hangs up and walks back to the car, ignoring Chewy's question about what's going on. We cut back to Lucyfer sitting in her office, with her hand on her chest, as if she found that kind of difficult.

A custodian is in the hallway, putting away one of the folding tables used for the team recruiting effort, when she suddenly starts laughing a deep belly laugh to herself. Joan comes walking stiffly along the hallway, holding her arms away from her body and trying not to let her legs touch each other. The custodian comments, "Great dive, Joan." Joan stops and looks at her, as God continues to laugh in her face. Since there are so many janitorial avatars, I guess I'll have to use the official title for this God, which is Female Custodian God, even though I think I've made my views on such modifiers fairly clear. Despite that, I really like this God, who is played by HITG! Sonya Eddy. Something about a black female God enjoying an irresistible laugh at human expense is quite appealing. She's my favourite new God. Joan, whose skin is looking somewhat more pink than normal, complains, "God mocking humans? That's nice." Female Custodian God: "Belly flop. Eternally funny. Nothin' I can do about it." Joan: "Funny? Look at me. I'm a beet!" God: "Yeah. Ha ha ha! But the low board doesn't scare you. You didn't dream about the low board." Joan: "If I did a belly flop from the high board, I could have exploded! I take physics! I know these things. And don't mess with my dreams. Using Judith to get me to do this" Joan sighs: "If there was someone over you, you'd be in a lot of trouble." Way to threaten God, Joan. Female Custodian God just walks off with a Godwave, laughing to herself. Joan trudges off in her pained, awkward fashion. I like thinking about God, hours later, still laughing her ass off every time she remembers it. Maybe God and Satan IM each other sometimes:

TheTerminator: Did you see her? SPLAT! Man, she smote that water like I did the Egyptians. ROFLMAO!!
Beelzebubba: HA HA!! LOL!!!!!!!! Fo'shizzle, my nizzle. That was so freaking kewl, dude!!! Gotta hand it to yathe belly flop is something I wish I invented. Okay, got a meeting with a cute li'l redhead. CUL8R!
TheTerminator: Don't do anything I wouldn't do.
Beelzebubba: BWAH!!!!! ROFLMAO!!!!! You kill me, dude.

Helen and Will are getting ready for bed as he complains about Lucyfer's decision. Helen says that Will still gets to interview the guy who was arrested. Will: "Yeah. When he lawyers up." Helen wonders what difference it makes who physically apprehended the guy. Will: "It's my case, Helen." Helen: "So? In a dangerous situation your boss chose caution over putting you at risk? I don't even like her and that sounds like a good call to me." Will: "You don't understand. I shouldn't have said anything." Helen's pissed all of a sudden: "OhsoI don't get to have an opinion? You're just gonna keep running around busting down doors without a thought that you have a family that might actually want you to stay alive?" Will's a little bewildered: "Helenwhat just happened?" She looks at him with a mixture of hurt and anger on her face, and then sits on the bed with her back to him: "I'm scared. Okay? I'm scared." Will says he'll be careful. She says it's not just that: "It's Kevin, the lawsuit, Joan goingnuts from Lyme disease, it's Juditheverything. Every time the phone rings -- " Will: "I know we've been hit with a lot" Helen: "I can't talk about this with you." Will: "Helen!" She turns to face him: "I can't. You won't understand." He agrees: "No, I won't -- not if you shut me out." She tells him: "It's God. I'mscared of God. Okay? I'm afraid of what he'll do ." Indeed, Will does not know what to make of this. I agree that God can be scary and all, but what's really scary in this scene is how much makeup Helen's wearing to bed. Lady, wash your face. Helen turns her back to Will again and broods at the edge of the bed. Hmm. One's involved with God, the other's involved with Satan. Can this marriage be saved?

After the commercials, Helen comes down to the kitchen in her robe to find Kevin sitting at the table with four open containers of ice cream and a very large bowl full of it. Man, the Girardis sure like their ice cream, especially when they're depressed. Helen says she didn't think she'd find anyone still conscious. Kevin: "Beth on the brain. She isn't sure about us. She needs time." Helen looks sympathetic and says she's sorry. Kevin: "What do you think of thatneeding time?" Helen says it's normal: "Means she really cares about you." She sits down at the table with a bowl of her own. Kevin wonders, "So what exactly happens during this'time'?" Well, apparently you eat one heck of a lot of ice cream. Helen helps herself to some ice cream as says thoughtfully, "She searches her heartand shethinks about her life, andwhat the future would look like with you and without you." Kevin: "Girls really think about all that, huh?" Helen: "We can spend two hours thinking about shoes." Kevin replies, "Man, guys are just, like, either into a girl, or not." They chuckle about that. He adds, "It's justwhen I'm thinking about her, Iget this dull ache in my gut, and it only goes away when I'm with her." Helen calls this "the wound that can only be healed with the sword that inflicted it." Kevin doesn't know what the hell she's on about, so she elaborates, "It's the troubadours. They wrote that the only person who can heal that wound is the one who caused it." They eat ice cream in thoughtful silence. Apparently, those with HDTV could see a crew guy off to one side in this scene. I like to imagine it was God hanging around, waiting for Helen and Kevin to extract their faces from their ice cream bowls long enough to notice.

Joan's standing at the edge of a high diving board in plaid pyjamas, so we know this is a dream. From the back of the board, Judith calls, "You know you have to do it, JoJo." Joan replies, "Why? Have you been talking to God?" Cute Guy God walks up and stands to Judith: "We know you can do it, Joan." Joan mutters, "I should have known." Judith tells her to "just let go" and seems to move toward Joan. But the camera angles go all screwy so it's hard to be sure. Joan lets herself fall backward off the board and screeches all the way down. When she hits the water, she awakens and sits bolt upright in bed, panting slightly.

She gets out of bed, and in the hallway, we hear the sound of a young male voice grunting and straining. Hard to tell at first whether it's Luke or Kevin. Joan hesitantly opens the door to Luke's room in the attic and asks, "Luke, you're not naked, are you?" Boy, that is a door I so would not have opened and a question I so would not have asked. I would have gone directly to the laundry room to pour bleach in my ears. Anyway, Luke says he's not, and as Joan comes up the stairs, we see him lying on his floor doing situps in his undershirt and pyjama pants. Frink's the first to notice: "What are those on his pyjamas -- dinosaurs?" I think they are. We're all chuffed about that. As Joan shuffles in, she remarks, "Wow. Dedication. You feeling better?" Luke grunts that he wasn't sick. Lying on his bed, Joan ventures, "Look, if you're still trying to prove yourself against Kevin" Luke tells her Grace called him a coward. Joan: "Grace rags on everybody." Luke: "She's right." He admits, "I couldn't dive because I was afraid I'd look stupid." Joan: "Hey, if I let that stop me, I'd never do anything." Indeed. We wouldn't even have enough material for two episodes. Luke: "You know, I've structured my whole life to be risk-free -- never allowing for a situation where I might fail." Frink: "And this is badwhy?" Luke: "So I've cut out whole realms of experiences I want to be a part of." He starts to choke up. "I justI just don't want to live half a life anymore." He sniffles and starts crying a little bit, quickly turning his back to Joan. She says softly, "Hey" Luke: "Forget it." Joan: "Luke, it's not like it's over for you" Luke: "Just go, okay?" He starts doing leg lifts, grunting and sniffling, as Joan leaves. Near the door, she decides to stay and do leg lifts with him. Luke seems a little surprised but doesn't shoo her away.

Will enters a coffee shop, the natural habitat of the UnNun. He walks up to her at the counter and asks, "Lily Waters?" She asks, "Yeah. Am I all you expected?" He tells her she's hard to miss. As is her coffee mug, which is the size of my cereal bowls, if not larger. As he sits down, she says, "You guys are four for four." Will doesn't know what she's talking about. She explains, "Good-looking family. I met Kevin, too. He could be a model. Well, you know: for handicapped crap." I wonder what her verdict will be when she meets Luke. Will tries to cut to the chase, but Lily urges him to take his time: "You saved me from spin class. Talk about hell on earth." Will just wants to get to it. He says he doesn't believe in God, and tells her what Helen said about being afraid of God: "It's big for her, not something that's gonna go away on its own. And she seems so sadI don't know to help her." Lily: "Bummer." Constance Zimmer has beautiful eyes. Will says he was hoping Lily could help her through this. Lily: "Me?" Will: "Well, you're her spiritual advisor, right? I mean, you're the one who's leading her down this road to this God who seems to be making her miserable." I'll bet Will wanted to say "garden path" instead of "road" there. Lily says they talk about stuff. Will: "So talk to her! Tell her not to be scared of your God anymore!" Lily: "There's no magic switch." Will: "Then what the hell good is a religion if she's scared of it? Isn't the whole point of God to provide comfort?" Well, in a word, no. That's not the whole point. It's part of the point. I don't think Will probably wants to hear about the rest of it, though. Lily says he raises some good questions. Will interrupts: "I'm not here for a panel discussion. I want to help my wife!" Lily: "Questions about faith and God -- they're backbreakers, man! I mean, they're filled with contradictions. Like a cop who doesn't believe in God, asking for spiritual help. Blows my mind. I meanit must mean something, right?" Will sees he's not going to get any satisfaction here: "So that's it, that's all you've got?" Lily: "Pretty much. Yeah."

Captain Washboard's doing exercises for the "edification" of various girls on the diving team. Joan's lying beside him, completely zonked out. Glynis is wearing yet another curious bathing costume, this one with even more of an anachronistic flavour than the one. And another beige swim cap, with blue flowers this time that coordinate with this suit. Just as I've had to hand it to Aaron Himelstein, I also have to give Mageina Tovah props for her willingness to play the gawky geek so thoroughly. Glynis is kneeling to the Captain's abs and commenting, "Amazing. Transcript value." He pats his abdomen and boasts, "Hardest substance on earth, ladies! You can touch it if you want." Coach Keady arrives: "You'd better be wearing a bathing suit, Mr. Belkin." Hee! They all scurry to their feet. Captain Washboard: "Hey, Coach!" She asks, "What'd I tell you, Tommy?" He replies, "Uhno situps in front of the girls. Won't happen again." Coach Keady's all excited because they're going to dive from the high board today. Somehow Joan's woken up and joined the land of the living. The team members line up; Luke's first. This time he's wearing boxer-style swim trunks. Frink thinks they're bound to come off when he dives in. As he's about to go up the ladder, Joan grabs his arm and whispers, "HeyI remember you in Farrington. You were awesome!" He doesn't say anything. The coach comments, "Glad to see you're feeling better, Mr. Girardi." He makes his way to the end and stares down at the water, as the Coach barks at him to dive. He bounces slightly, hesitating. Coach Keady tells him that if he still doesn't feel well, maybe he'd feel better on the bowling team. Everyone laughs. Well, Joan doesn't. She looks fretful. Finally Luke bolts again, running out of there as fast as he can. Frink: "Oh, dude" One big yob calls after him, "Don't forget to change your panties!" Joan pushes the yob in the pool. Keady tells her she's outta there, but Joan insists, "No, no, I have to do this!" Keady threatens her with suspension if she doesn't move her ass. Joan begs for one dive and promises that the coach will never have to see her again, but Keady barks her out of the pool area.

Someone knocks at Luke's door. Staring at his computer screen, but obviously not working, he mutters quietly, "I'm working." Grace sticks her head in, and enters slowly, saying casually, "I was in the neighbourhood." Luke seems doubtful: "Really?" Grace: "No, butmakes this easier so go with it." Luke agrees. Grace: "Look, justforget that stupid diving team. That whole rant, that was -- that was -- I mean, I --" Luke just looks at her sadly, without much in the way of expectation. She asks, "Are you gonna make me go on?" Frink: "I would." Me: "Damn straight." Frink: "Do it, Luke!" Luke just barely smiles and says, "No." She quietly says okay, and steps down to leave, but turns to say, "I talked to my mom." Luke seems surprised, and like he wants to comment, but is reluctant to. Grace smiles a little bit and says, "Finish your homework." Luke smiles a bit to himself once she's gone. Well, that wasnot especially satisfying. Frink: "They have an odd relationship." Me: "I'll say."