Monday July 4, 2005
Unknown
David and Keith are anxious for a report from Mary; Vanessa is not pleased by Rico's reaction to their son's misbehavior at school; Ruth discovers another way to relax without George; and Billy invites Claire to dinner.
Write a Recap »Oh Ruth, oh Ruth, when will you grow up? hide show
Another great episode . Season 5 is consistently delivering the goods. But Ruth? I have no words. What a horrible byatch she became. Seriously, I would not even bother if she was killed the next episode. the way she treats George and Claire is horrible. She's so full of herself it's disturbing. Looking back at her storylines, al you find is her finding a boyfriend then dumping them because of her incompetence.
Anyway, as for the rest, great. I almost hated Brenda this episode but then in the last moments she redeemed herself. Loved the David / Keith arc conclusion, it was about time. I enjoyed the Billy scenes. He's batsh*tcrazy, but he's not with Brenda like in the first 2 seasons so he's perfectly torable and actually pretty darn entertaining.
Overall, Ruth is right now my most hated character on the show, which sucks. But other than that, great episode, but unlike the previous episodes, this one didn't have any sort of "DAMN" moments.
The episode had some very funny moments but you can tell still sense how things won't end up good for them.... hide show
I enjoyed this episode more than the previous one. At times it was extremely amusing, Margaret setting up that dinner with Claire, Brenda's comments throughout the episode, Ruth and her friends, plus her antics with Claire. I'll say that again my favourite moment of the episode goes to Ruth and Claire's argument again. It was hilarious when Ruth roared at Claire, telling her to just leave and get a job.
I do hope they sort things out though. Brenda trying to tell Maya about Lisa should have been talked about and I understand Nate's thoughts, but she was trying to be a good mother. I'm glad Nate decided to sort of go along with it in the end. I couldn't believe he invited Maggie over, it was obvious to us viewers why, not last weeks near kiss between the pair. It was extremely funny when Brenda told George and Maggie about the tension in the house, brilliant.
Another highlight was how Brenda called Nate 'an a-hole' instead of the obvious when Maya was present.
Ruth going to her friends was amusing and she ended up telling George about settling down somewhere else. But were left wondering if this is actually the case or is she taking the advice of her knitting pals, moving George somewhere that he can look after himself, I personally hope not but it was enjoyable to see this.
David and Keith were funny, how they handled this picnic, it was nice to see David bond with the young boy, Anthony. That surrogate Mary was crazy, I'm glad she's gone as how could she be trusted. But now they've gotten themselves in for two brothers, Anthony and his older brother .... trouble ahead.
Billy is desperate and I'm glad Claire isn't falling for all his crap. He needs to get better, more than he is, before things go ahead. It was funny to see Margaret help Billy set up the dinner, especially when she asked him to fill her in later in the evening. It showed what he's become as he doesn't even see through Claire's escape from him, she clearly lies by saying she's going to the ladies' room.
Rico is getting worse in his ploy to get Vanessa back and it would seem that he's blown it for good. Maybe he was even too desperate here. His scene in the principals office was humorous none the less. But Vanessa told him the harsh truth, that she was thinking of them reuniting but he ruined it.
I really can't wait to see how things turn out for every character.
This episode was pretty mellow, with not a whole lot going on in between the characters. Right when I thought Rico and Vannessa would possibly be getting back together Rico does the unthinkable and screws everything right back up by telling way too much to the school principal.
Maggie and Nates possible thing kind of got shut out of the window by the end of the episode when Brenda and Nate finnaly revealed Lisa to Mia. David and Keith look to be adopting two boys, one of which we havent met yet. Im going to go with the fact that the other boy isnt going to be so nice.
I like this episode a lot hide show
I really liked this episode. It was filled with great visual moments as well as just some great scenes with the cast.
I loved that Billy had his mother get Claire to the resturant so that he could see her. And could Claire have been more mean. Sure Billy is seriously disturbed, but she like that about him until he became obsessed with her. He cried and everything!
And then Ruth constantly screaming a Claire. I loved it, because Claire is getting on my nerves.
Don't get me wrong, I have been the moody, lazy young adult with no direction, so I completely understand. But I was never such a brat about it.
I wish Ruth would be nicer to George. The fact that she is going to set him up in that apartment and dump him is so cold! I can't really feel pity for her situation because she married him after only know him for 6 weeks. You gets what you paid for so to speak!
Keith and David are so cute with this surrogate mother/adoption process. The surrogate mother is too weird for me. They might want to reconsider using her. I knew she wasn't pregnant, and I kept wondering when they were going to ask her to get tested by a doctor. I guess they learned that lesson. And the little boy was too cute. I'm so glad they decided to take in the brother as well. The next weeks episode has aired already (I missed it since it went back to Sundays, but I have it taped, so I'll watch it this week)and I can't wait to see what happens with Keith and those boys. I remember how rough his father was on him, so it will be interesting to see what kind of father he will be.
Nate and Brenda are getting on my nerves. Does he love her or not? He is so drawn to George's daughter and I just wish he would make up his mind!
And although I think Mia should be told about Lisa, it is way to soon to go down that road. The two of them are just getting on my nerves.
What the HELL! is wrong with Frederico? I could not believe that he said all that to the principal. I would have cussed him out too! He was never this crazy before. And I was hoping that he could get back together with his wife, and he goes and messes it up. I think now he should go it alone for a while. He needs to mature, do things on his own, see how he survives with out someone taking care of him.
It was a great episode, but so far it doesn't feel like a series finale. I can't see how it's going to end. I guess we'll see.
Lineage
Written by Rick Cleveland
Directed by Dan Minihan
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Truth is a very funny thing. While living in ignorance isn’t exactly the most desirable of fates, it does often shield you from potential danger, if only for a while. In tonight’s episode this ideology is used in a different way.
Picture this; you’ve got a two and a half year old blissfully unaware young girl of her original birthright. Do you take a Brenda and decide to reveal her lineage in order to give her a “coherent narrative” or do you take a Nate and decide that stalling the truth is a wiser option? After all, she isn’t at the age where she can fully comprehend everything regarding her family situation.
Although Nate’s reluctance to reveal all to Maya about her mother is understandable, it does take him until three quarters of the episodes to really get his point across, I found myself siding with Brenda much more on the topic than I thought I would have. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see how much she adores Maya but her need to be honest to the little girl is actually remarkable and totally believable for her character both past and present. Also I don’t know if anyone has noticed this but her latest act seems to be in a line of compassion for Lisa. For a woman who irrationally hated Brenda, the latter has a lot of sympathy for her deceased rival. In “The Opening” her behaviour after finding out Lisa used a false alias to spy on her was gracious. It was because of her that Nate and Maya went to Lisa’s memorial so it’s only natural to her that Maya should know where she really came from, but even I’ll admit that she should’ve discussed it with Nate first hand. That being said I loved the final scene with them explaining to Maya about her real mommy in one of the most touching scenes of the series.
Nate may have had a few hostile things to say about Lisa in this episode but at least he gave is daughter the chance to learn about her good aspects too. There was also an interesting dinner conversation where George prodded about Lisa and Hoyt as well as slightly more flirtation between Nate and Maggie. Seriously, don’t hook these two up, pretty please?
Another thing I could seriously do without is Ruth’s knitting circle. It’s great she has a release but why does it have to come in hanging out with a bunch of vindictive, embittered women who feed on her domestic woes? And just when I thought I couldn’t detest them even more, Victoria and company outdo themselves by callously suggesting Ruth sets George up with a place of is own. Where do people get off giving such self destructive advice like this? Worse still is Ruth actually goes with the idea. For a woman usually so nurturing she is giving up on George so easily and what makes it worse is that George is actually making progress. I love Ruth but what she did tonight was rather despicable. If she really loves George and I believe she does, she needs to communicate with him and let him in and drop those flock of vultures she calls friends so I don’t have to listen to them anymore.
Then there’s also the hostility with Claire as well. While I don’t blame her for chastising her about her laziness, does anyone else think she could the situation a lot better? I certainly do as these hysterical outbursts are really having no effect whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, Claire has most definitely not reverted into her more assertive self but Ruth is being far too bitchy with her too.
In the least interesting of plots of the week, Claire’s largely revolves around sitting on her ass and feeling sorry for herself while getting stoned, bonding with George and taking the cowards way out of dumping Billy when maniacal Margaret puts her unwanted two cents in. She knows about their sex life? Hardly a shock to the system but Billy calling your mom in to get the woman you claim you love back, how wimpy is that? It made me momentarily side with Claire and reaffirm why she was smart to break things off but not enough to note the desperate overhaul her character needs right now. Listen to your mother and get a job. Listen to your brother and stop feeling sorry for yourself, especially as your family have bigger shit to deal with.
Ruth and Claire weren’t the only ones out of order this week as Federico for once in a long while irritated me again. How lousy was it of him to reveal all of Vanessa’s personal history to the school principal regarding Julio’s bullying? Very! How bad was it that he used the separation to condone his son’s behaviour? Again, very! More importantly, was he deliberately trying to sully his estranged wife’s abilities as a mother? I don’t think so but Rico’s bending of the truth did just that and really made him look like an asshole. If I had been Vanessa, I think I would’ve clocked him but she didn’t and despite some well deserved words, he got off lightly but like I said, Rico really did stoop low tonight. If he wants Vanessa back, he’s really going the wrong way about it.
Saving the best for last for a change our prayers finally get answered on the David/Keith adoption vs. surrogacy plot when the guy’s hopes for the latter are dashed. Scary Mary (or Jan Brady) delightfully tells them she’s pregnant but then her period confirms she’s not despite the meat cravings. Even more hilarious is that she never took a pregnancy test in the first place so obviously she’s not the sharp knife in the drawer. With the surrogacy plot hopefully scrapped the adoption process is brought forward when David and Keith decide to adopt little Anthony who bonds with David over sandboxes and Keith with teasing David. Sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Except upon getting Anthony the boys also have to take on his older brother Dur(ac)ell, which nicely sets up the inevitable trials these two will have with being parents.
Also in “Eat A Peach”
Death of the week: A diabetic Daniel Holzenchenko dies of eating canned peaches. Hence the episode’s title and quite possibly the second suicide we’ve had this season.
Keith: “Look at us. You know what we look like?”
David: “Homos”.
Anthony (re David): “He could never be an astronaut”.
Interesting thing, Anthony and David’s astronaut conversation reminded me of that astronaut vs. cavemen debate last season on Angel. Looks like David may be a caveman, who would’ve thought?
George: “If the muse isn’t with you, the muse isn’t with you”
Claire: “Exactly George”.
Claire made a painfully ironic comment in this episode given what happened in London recently. What does everyone else think?
Brenda (to Nate): “So I grew up with parents who had no boundaries, you grew up with parents who had nothing but boundaries. Do you really think that was so much better?”
George (to Brenda): “That was a lovely dinner even if it was made under trying circumstances”.
Isn’t there also a song called “Eat A Peach” as well? I’m surprised the writer didn’t use it for here.
Chronology wise it’s January 2005, which screws up the timeline for last episode. At least Brenda’s still pregnant.
Claire (re Billy): “He told you about our sex life?”
Margaret: “Of course, I’m his mother”.
Nate (to Claire): “I just flashed to Maya at your age sitting in front of the TV feeling sorry for herself, not caring about anybody or anything. It just broke my heart”.
Maya’s fave colours are blue and green, which is good for her. Also nice to see the funeral plots stretching to three quarters of the episode so now we really are back to the old days.
Ruth (to Claire): “Get out, go, get a job, leave now”.
Vanessa (to Rico): “There was a time when I was considering us getting back together but I must have been out of my fucking mind. I can’t believe I ever married a fucking embalmer”.
Standout music was Mood Rotation’s “Getting Started” and Herbie Hancock’s “Rock It”. Oh and Simply Red featured but the less said about that the better.
“Eat A Peach” is something of an overdue episode in the sense that many of the familiar situations haven’t been fully utilised and thanks to this wicked instalment, things are beginning to. It’s interesting to see Nate and Brenda trying to define their sense of family as David and Keith begin theirs and Ruth and Federico continue to sabotage theirs. This season’s ever expanding theme of family is greatly used but getting closer to the halfway point, it’s a shame that Claire is almost on the outside of all this. Still though, this is another triumph.
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