#1) Recipe for Disaster - When Lily decides to make Lasagna from scratch for a family dinner on a weeknight, it provided us with a light-hearted scene we all could chuckle at. Too bad Judy just changed to a dairy-free diet that week!
#2) Weak At The Knees - Jessie's anorexia has reached a dangerous level. After collapsing in the locker room momentarily, her parents adopt a new system Dr Rosenfeld suggests as an alternative. Behavior Modification might help her eat. Even though it is hard, the goal is to help her at any cost.
#3) Skilled At Dodging The Bullet - When Lily asks about Karen being Judy's friend, Judy deflects the topic by minimizing the queries or by parroting back the questions. This also occurred when Lily asked her to assist with finding a wedding location. This led to quite a few posts about being Judy's passive- aggressive behavior toward Rick and Lily's relationship through most of the episode.
#4) Big Sister Program - Judy, a former bulimic, assists Jessie when she meets her at the book fair. On those two occasions, she helped her to realize that all the students had problems they were hiding, and how it was equally hard for her in high school. Judy gave Jessie the book "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" and encouraged her to see what she thought.
#5) Cut! Edit! Paste! - The way the black and white scenes are being produced and then edited into the show deserves high credit, and thus is noted today in the Top 10. Several times recently, as the various characters are sharing their feelings in this media, they will hear something and look off camera, leading us back into the `real' world again. This week, Jessie heard knocking, and looked off camera, leading our eyes to her door, where her mother entered.
#6) Relationship Issues - When Jessie screamed at her mother in the kitchen, she immediately felt for her mother. Her face held hope that her mother might understand her anger, but not hold it against her. Jessie doesn't want her mother to be hurt by her, but what can she do? They both are troubled, and internally seeking answers, but not finding them yet. Later in her room, Jessie filled with frustration, tries to establish some order (cleaning out clothing, reading to find solace), begs her mother to leave her alone, so she can breathe.
#7) Chapel of Sin - Lily and Judy bristle towards one another, hitting on many issues they both hold against the other. Judy indicates her disapproval of Rick, for various reasons, while Lily is hurt over her sister's friendship with Karen, as well as her sister's opposition to the man she is about to marry. Later at Booklovers, they get things resolved, almost shedding a few tears in the process.
#8) Family Feud - Rick takes the bull by the horns, and approaches Judy in her territory, Booklovers. He intentionally brings up the fact that Judy opposes their marriage. A truce is established, based on Judy's statement "I only want [Lily] to be happy, and, to the extent that you can help that, you and I should be fine." They end their meeting with her giving him the card from the photographer. "Thanks." "No problem . . . . . Rick." The way she said his name implied that she accepts him as part of her extended family now.
#9) What would Dr Freud Say? - In Karen and Dr Zwick's meeting, he helps her realize even "microscopic improvement" is Great News. He also helped her look deep to see another part of the problem. He reached her, moved her, and brought to her attention how she needs to resolve her own issues if she will help Jessie.
#10) Letting Go - I get chills just reflecting on the conclusion. Jake and Lily just bid a cheerful goodbye to Grace. When Karen drives up, Rick assists with Jessie's bags while Karen composes herself. Filled with doubt, but summoning more courage to really give Jessie the trust she needs, Karen silently hugs her daughter tightly, and then stands alone as the bus drives away with her child. The music "On Saturday Afternoons in 1963" set the tone of this deeply touching moment.
Marc Levenson - 04/10/01