The show begins with two shots of the Seattle skyline that actually do not include the Space Needle. See? It's possible! At the fish market, we are introduced via the Hip Squiggly Font of Character Introduction (tm Djb) to Justin, one of David's co-workers. Janet is watching the "fish guys" and laughing. Janet asks David if she can give him "a romantic kiss," and David kisses and hugs her. Ew! I bet his hands smell like fish. I bet his whole body reeks of fish. Every time I see David, I just think about what one of his roommates said in the book about this season: one time, David brought home fish to cook, and then he just left the leftover fish in a pan on the stove for like, days. Do you know how bad that must have smelled? In an interview, David says that the people he works with are "spiritual fish guys" and "a different breed." David also think there is "something different about Justin, too." In an interview, Janet says that "he's cute. He's kind of sexy with his raspy voice." Justin comes out to see Janet, who is standing on the sidewalk smoking. She calls him a "big showoff" and he says, "I am. Just for you." Then there is another Seattle skyline shot without the Space Needle. The Space Needle has forsaken me!
Janet is sitting on the Muppet couch at Pier 70, talking to Irene about how sex is like avocados. It's her analogy, not mine. Janet says that she's had sex, and she hasn't had avocados, so maybe it's not accurate. Irene gets all caught up in the wrong part of the analogy, saying, "You haven't had avocados?" Janet says the reason she's never had avocados is because she knows they are bad for her, and she's afraid that once she has them, she'll crave them. Avocados? The green things right? Like guacamole material? Just trying to understand. David pipes up, "You're talking about cocaine?" Hmm, and those rumors of drug use during this season just seem increasingly realistic. Janet tries to explain what they were talking about. David can't believe they're "talking about fucking vegetables." David is also smoking a long, thing, brown cigarette. I don't know what that was about. Irene says Janet's "in the midst of an analogy that [Irene's] not totally following." You and me both, sister. I mean, I understand what Janet is saying but I don't understand fully why sex is bad for her, or why she doesn't have the self-control to avoid it if it is.
The gang is meeting with Phil, the director of the radio station. He asks about a name for their radio show, and they suggest "Dead Air." Like, ha ha. Not. Then again, it's better than "The Real Seven at Seven on Seventy-Seven." In an interview, Lindsay explains that the show will be called "Dead Air," for those of you who missed it. Phil says the first show is "Monday at midnight." Wow, good thing they gave them such a prime spot. Then again, can you blame them? Phil explains that "Tony is the executive producer," and as such will be "the go-to guy for a lot of things." Tony looks kind of like Timmy from Road Rules. Phil suggests that they pre-tape their first show. Tony explains that there is "still pressure" in a taped show, because if they mess up, they have to start over from the beginning. What? They can't just restart from like the last commercial? Good thing I'm not in radio. Phil tells them that he's "given [them] the basic parameters" and now they need to "go out and do."
In an interview, Nathan explains that Rebecca will be running the board during the show, and that the guys will be going out to do interviews with bands and other remotes, and then coming back and editing their own spots. Tony is showing Rebecca and the boys how to use the editing software. In an interview, Rebecca says that Phil told her to learn how to use it, but the boys were giving her a hard time, and she's "not going to slip into submission" for anyone. Back at Pier 70, Rebecca is asking Nathan if the boys thought she was being bossy. Rebecca is wearing a t-shirt that says, "Don't Mess With Texas." I have a giant coffee mug with the same slogan. Shout-out? Of course, this aired before I owned the mug. Still. Nathan denies saying it. Rebecca asks Stephen if he said it, and he also denies it. In an interview, Rebecca says that "these boys have egos and they don't want anyone telling them what to do." Nathan tries to explain why he took umbrage with Rebecca's attitude, but it doesn't really make any sense. Rebecca says that Phil wants her to "make sure things are getting done" and make sure the boys are "on top of things." Stephen and Nathan are incredulous, because they don't think that's what Rebecca's job is. So what is her job? Nathan says it is "to make sure it affiliate [sic] between the guys and the girls." I've never heard the word "affiliate" used in quite that context, but since they are all academians, who am I to question them? Stephen agrees, saying that the boys can get things done. Rebecca says she wasn't saying that they couldn't, and she's not "on a power trip." Nathan is all, "Nobody said you were." Oh, go call Stephanie, Nathan. Janet chimes in that she wishes it weren't such a guy/girl thing. Here's a crazy thought. Maybe they could all get together and ask Phil to clarify Rebecca's role at their meeting? That way they all hear the same thing at the same time. I know, it makes too much sense. Rebecca leaves the room and Janet tells Stephen and Nathan that everyone's job is clear cut, except for Rebecca's, and that it can be "intimidating" standing up to the three guys. Nathan says that Rebecca isn't intimidated. Janet protests that she probably is, "a little bit." Nathan says that Rebecca should tell them. Um, if she is intimidated, how is she supposed to tell you? I know I give Janet a lot of crap, but this was actually a cool thing to do, I thought.
Another skyline shot without the Space Needle. Janet is on the phone with Justin, and they agree to meet up for a drink. In an interview, Janet says that since she's been in Seattle with her roommates, she hasn't "spent any time with anyone [her] own age." Except, of course, her roommates. Stephen, Nathan, David and Justin walk into the house, and Justin gives Janet a grin and a wave. I think Justin is cute. He looks kind of like Dennis Quaid. In an interview, Janet says that Justin is all cleaned up, and wearing cologne, and she wonders if he is "serious about this." Cut to Janet putting on makeup. Janet walks out into the living area, all gussied up her own self. In an interview, David says that Justin is "solid" and "good people." Janet asks Justin what he wants to do, and then starts laughing at him for the way he's dressed. Nice. Justin asks, "What's wrong? Am I being weird?" Aw, I feel bad for him. David says Justin is "a fish guy" and Justin protests that he's "not doing that now." Janet says that her mom, grandmother, and sister are coming to see her on Saturday. In an interview, Janet says she was "flattered that he would take things more seriously" than she would, because usually she is the one who takes things more seriously. The two of them leave the house.
Janet and Justin arrive at a bar. In an interview, Janet says she didn't expect him to open doors for her, and light her cigarettes, and take her to a martini bar. I don't get what she is complaining about. I mean, if she doesn't like the guy after tonight, fine. But why not enjoy it while you've got it? In the bar, Justin asks if Janet is Chinese, and she replies that she's Korean. He starts speaking Korean to her, and says that he knows it from work. He only knows, like, one phrase though. Janet says she's getting as nervous as him, and Justin claims that he's not nervous, and that he doesn't want to be anywhere else in the whole world but right there with her. I think that's really sweet, but I guess I can see where some people might find it creepy. Janet says to him that it's cool.
Ah, the Space Needle. Sighting #53 of the season. Janet is telling Rebecca and Irene about her evening. She explains that they went to a bar and had a few drinks. Irene asks who paid, and Janet says that Justin did, and he bought her a pack of cigarettes. Aw, true romance. Rebecca sings, "It was a da-ate!" Janet continues to deny it, until Irene asks if he kissed her. Janet doesn't reply and Irene and Rebecca are all, "Ooohhhh!" Irene points out that he didn't smell like fish, so it must have been a date. Insert your own fish smell dating joke here. I'm not going to go there. Janet wonders why that means it was romantic, and Irene says that David didn't go with them, so it was a date. Janet doesn't seem convinced. What does she need to be convinced it was a date? The scene concludes with Space Needle shot #54. Making up for lost time, they are.
At the Public Market, Janet and Justin are getting lunch. The counter guy asks if Janet is Justin's girlfriend. Oh, that's always embarrassing when you haven't really defined your relationship, isn't it? Especially if one person says yes and the other says no. I've heard. Justin asks Janet if he can say anything he wants, and she says yes, so he tells her he really wants to kiss her right now. Janet laughs. In an interview, Janet says he's "really sweet" to her and she doesn't know how to handle him. Maybe by being nice to him in return? Justin tells Janet that his boss was giving him a hard time, saying that Janet is going to leave and they'll never see each other again. Justin doesn't think it has to be like that, but he knows that his boss is just trying to protect him. Janet walks Justin back to work, and he says he doesn't want to go in. They wave goodbye, and all of the men in the fish market give a big, disappointed, "Aww!" because of the lack of a kiss. It really sounded like David was leading the pack.
Night has fallen as Will Smith's "Just The Two Of Us" plays. David gives Janet a flower from Justin. In an interview, David says that "Bottom line -- [Justin] is head over heels for [Janet]." Janet shows her flower to the other roommates. Nathan sings, "He just made...an impression on Janet's heart!" What? Is he on drugs? Scratch that. Irene says that Justin is "precious." So the guy tells her he doesn't want to be with anyone but her, and she gets creeped out, but he gives her a flower and all is well? I don't get that. Of course, it couldn't possibly be the crappy editing, right?
Janet is talking to Justin on the phone. He tells her he hasn't "felt like this in a long time." Janet hasn't either, and she thinks it's bad news because she doesn't have very much time left there. Justin says she only has fifty-seven days. That's like three months! ["Well, two." -- Wing Chun] That's a lot of time! Janet says that she's used to chasing after guys that aren't interested in her, so it's "weird" to be interested in someone who is also interested in her. Hey, I know -- push him away! He's interested! Janet tells him she has to "figure some things out," and hangs up.
Nathan talks to Tony on the phone. Tony asks if Rebecca recommended any albums, and Nathan says that she didn't recommend -- she told them which ones to do. Nathan asks Tony if that's how it's supposed to work. Cut to Rebecca at the studio, bitching that it's "typical of our guys to say [she's] bossy." Lindsay eggs her on. Back to Nathan babbling to Tony. Back to Rebecca saying that they think she's being bossy because she has an idea, and then letting out a scream of frustration. I can relate. I've had to work on projects and such with all guys before, and admittedly I am pretty bossy, but I've thrown ideas out and they don't even respond. And then, another guy will throw out a really lame idea, and they're all over that. God, I'm glad I finished graduate school. Anyway, in an interview, Rebecca says that all of the guys have a "ma-cheese-mo persona." I always thought the word "machismo" was pronounced "ma-keys-mo," but according to Merriam Webster Online, both are correct. I know I already made the David = cheese joke earlier this season, but let's just reflect on it again, because it still applies. Back to Nathan, who is telling Tony that it's totally fine if Rebecca suggests something when Tony asks her to. I'm not sure if we're supposed to think that Nathan has had a change of heart or what.
Janet is talking to Lindsay about her family's visit. She says that her family is coming to see if the experience she is going through it worthwhile, so she has to prove that to them. In an interview, Janet says that "the four days have to be perfect."
Janet picks her family up at the airport. She voice-overs about how she cried at the airport when she saw her sister. She takes her family to the fish market. One of the workers speaks Korean (he may be Korean, for all I know) and he talks to Janet's grandmother and mother. Justin yells in Korean from behind the counter, "How are you, Grandma? I love you." Okay, keep in mind that those were the only two phrases he knew in Korean. And he makes a face after the "I love you" part to show that he was kidding around. Janet laughs. In an interview, Janet says that she told her mom that she was "kind of seeing" Justin, and her mom saw problems with the distance. Could they go on two dates before everyone starts telling them reasons why they can't be together? Then there's a minute of footage of Justin catching fish and Janet scratching her nose. Interesting.
Janet takes her family to the radio station to show them where she works. In an interview, Janet says that she needed to show her family what she was doing, because just telling them didn't mean anything to them. They're talking to one of the real DJs, and he says that it became "painfully obvious" to him who would be on the air, because Janet and the other girls were in there working non-stop. Janet looks pleased. It's always nice when people say nice stuff in front of your parents.
Janet is on the phone with Justin (presumably), asking him if he will give her the weekend to be away from him and figure things out. She tells him that she's having strong feelings and she just wants to make sure that they are the "right feelings." What are the right feelings? This whole storyline makes no sense to me. Justin asks her to think about him and call him when she's ready. Janet says she will, and hangs up.
Janet, Rebecca, and Janet's family go to eat at a Korean restaurant. Rebecca asks about the restaurant that Janet's parents run, which is apparently Chinese food, not Korean. In an interview, Janet says that its incredible because she's never been with "just the women" before, and she sees something of herself in each of them, or of them in her. Janet is dropping her family off at their hotel (which is the one right door to their house, by the way.) The Bass Line of Foreboding starts up as Justin walks out of the hotel. They try to make it look like Justin was walking out as Janet's family was walking in, but Janet held the door for her mom, and then had time to get back in her car before Justin walked out. Nice try, editors. Janet asks what he's doing there. Justin is all goofy, clearly drunk. In an interview, Janet says that Justin "had no business being there." Then, they have the most nonsensical conversation. Clearly, the interesting parts were edited out here. Basically, Janet says she is being "cranky and bitchy" and then Justin says, "Don't fucking lie to me," but not in a mean way. Janet gets offended and gets in her car and takes off. She tells Rebecca that Justin has been "nothing but sweet to [her]" but he's "in [her] face all the time," and she can't handle that. Space Needle Close-up! That's #55.
Back at Pier 70, Janet is sitting in the dark by the hot tub, crying and smoking. She voice-overs that it was "really hard on her" having Justin at the hotel, and she "needed [her] time with [her] family." She says that she "made him aware of that and he just, kind of, went too far a little bit." I still don't get what the big deal is. Maybe there was more to that edited conversation than they showed. I mean, I'm sure there was, but maybe Justin was more obnoxious. It was kind of weird of him to show up, but I think he was with Nathan (they cut away really quickly before I could tell who Justin was with), so it's not that weird that he was at the hotel. I know I've certainly done dumber things in order to "accidentally" bump into a guy I liked. The morning, Janet watches the sun rise out on the pier.
The phone rings, and it's Justin. Janet yells out, "I'm not here!" Irene tells Justin that Janet is still sleeping. The Space Needle is hiding between two buildings, but I still see it! That's #56.
David is talking on the phone with Justin, asking him if he was drunk last night. Justin says he doesn't even remember what he did last night. David says he "got the abridged version" from Janet. Justin says he's "been sad all day," and that he wants to cry right now, because he's "been making these decisions in [his] life that are not helping [him] at all." Whoa. Okay, he might have some issues. Justin gets all serious, saying that when he wakes up in the morning and can't remember what he did the night before, he just has to go, "Dude!" Hee! David laughs and says he hates when that happens. Yeah, blackouts suck, man. You might try, I don't know, not drinking so much?
Janet is telling Lindsay about Justin waiting for her at the hotel. Lindsay thinks it was "a little over the edge." Janet says that she told him before her family got there that the weekend was important to her, and it was her "number-one priority." Well, that's true. Lindsay thinks it was "a lot of pressure" to be waiting at the hotel. Janet says that Justin doesn't understand that, and she doesn't know what to do, and "it's not a big priority on [her] list right now." I'm sure if she wrote in to The Vine, Sars would tell her to talk to him, and tell him that she doesn't want to get serious, so she thinks maybe they shouldn't date right now, but that she still wants to be friends. In other words, be honest. I bet that's what Janet will do, right?
Lindsay and Janet are going over their radio show with Tony, planning out the breaks and such. In an interview, Irene says that Lindsay and Janet are the type to plan everything out, and that they "not only take notes -- they highlight their notes." At the meeting, Irene posits that they shouldn't over-rehearse the show. In an interview, Irene says that being too prepared on the radio is not a good thing, because "people like to feel like someone is talking to them." I think that's true -- if you're a radio professional and can improvise. I don't know if this trio is up to that level yet.
In the editing studio, Nathan, David, and Stephen are editing an interview that Stephen did with Afghan Whigs. In the conference room, the boys and Rebecca are meeting. David thinks the concert calendar should have "just one voice," and Rebecca agrees that all three of them can't do it. In an interview, Nathan says that "a lot goes on behind the scenes" and he doesn't think "it's a girl/guy thing at all" and that they'll work together fine. Janet walks into the editing room and hugs all the guys. In an interview, Janet says they are trusting each other, and it's becoming more of a group thing than an individual thing. Whew! Because I thought Nathan and Rebecca were going to have to throw down right there in the studio.
Lindsay opens the first taped show. She starts off by talking about "the Sub Pop Tenth Anniversary Party," and asks, "J, you were there, weren't you?" Janet replies, "No, actually I missed it," and then introduces a tape from Stephen. What a stupid construct. It's so obvious they are reading their lines. In an interview, Janet says they were having a little trouble with "the interaction thing." Lindsay introduces Everclear's "I Will Buy You A New Life" and Janet yells out, "I need one!" I need one? That alone would have made me change the station if I were listening. In an interview, Janet says they did six hours of prep time and three hours of taping, and it's still a struggle. I've never done a professional radio show, but that seems like a lot of prep time.
Space Needle Shot #57. Back in the studio, Lindsay throws it to Irene, who totally stumbles. In an interview, Irene says that the first show was a nightmare. Lindsay closes out the show. Tony says it was fine, "for a first show."
Lindsay and Janet arrive home. They want you to think they just finished the radio show, but they are wearing completely different outfits. Justin is there, playing pool. In an interview, Janet says that it was "a little awkward" because Justin is friends with her guy roommates. Janet and Lindsay listen to their radio show, and they call Nathan over to listen to his part. In an interview, Nathan says that he thinks it's going to take all seven of them for the show to be successful. Janet gets up and walks down the hallway to the bedrooms, walking right by Justin and not saying a word. Aw. Poor Justin. In an interview, Lindsay says that "if Justin laid off a little bit, Janet would be eating that stuff up like no tomorrow." What stuff would Janet be eating, exactly? Janet and Lindsay sit at the computer desk and gossip about Justin while he's sitting across the room. Nice. In an interview, Janet says she just doesn't return Justin's pages anymore, and it's sad. Not to mention kind of heartless. She doesn't want him to think she's a jerk. So maybe she could be honest with him? And then the episode just ends. Weird. I was hoping for sixty Space Needles by the end there.