#1) Visualize this! - Every episode has a favorite moment for me, and this one was really just that: a moment. If you blinked too long, you missed these two black&white scenes with Judy, surrounded by eggshells. As she attempts to make her idea of a bookstore/café come to fruition, she’s been like walking on eggshells, while working alongside her surly ex-brother-in-law Jake. He has attempted to flex his muscles of authority, but when we saw Judy stomping and jumping up and down on these shells, we saw her take a stand, and act like an owner. Jake’s bruised ego will recover, but Judy can’t wait on that.

#2) Clammy or more? - Throughout the show, we watched Jake deteriorate before our eyes. Tiffany has seen it for some time, now Lily has begun to worry, but it was Judy that sent him to her doctor. He’s kind, has great hair, and collects early-american silver. With those great qualifications, I’m not surprised Jake went to see him! Unfortunately, this doctor has a way of alarming the hell out of you. He asks about any history of heart disease in Jake’s family, and forces him to take a stress-test immediately. Plus a chest x-ray and blood work. Is it any wonder that Jake began to fear his demise was anything but immanent? In the end, it turned out he’s in perfect health. He seems to be suffering from panic attacks. Personally, I felt that the writers dropped the ball on this scene, since we were built up for more throughout the episode.

#3) Supergirl - Tiffany grows on me with each episode. This week, she continues to show such empathy, while enduring difficult moments with the man she loves. In the beginning, we saw her tell Jake about a stroller that is 80% off, because all four wheels are bad. You have to smile sadly at this, because she deserves so much more. Jake seems to only give her the bare minimum. When he began to suffer another crisis in the attic while searching for baby items, she offered to hold him, to help him settle down. “It doesn’t mean we’re together,” so he yielded to her comforting bosom. On some level, that statement had to hurt, no matter how altruistic she portrays herself.

#4) Brown with Green Flecks - It seems fitting that an artist would be inspired by music. Sam’s favorite song is Suite Judy Blue Eyes, by Crosby, Stills, & Nash. He tells Judy this as their tenuous relationship seems to hit a speed bump. “But my eyes are brown.” With a twinkle in his eye, he replies with a smile, “Details.”

#5) The 8^th Dwarf - Rick’s being mostly unemployed must make him feel like his Snow White will never truly be happy with him. So while the world continues to move on, he still suffers in the wake of the Atlantor debacle. His sleep interrupted, he checks his laptop for any positive email at 5:45am. Besides Amber [the Hot College Vixen]’s obvious interest (grin), nothing is panning out. During the day time, he sends out promotional material, and tries following up on any leads over the phone. When Sam arrives with a work offer, Rick accepts out of desperation. Don’t believe me? Listen to his words: “We are about to lose this job, if we haven’t lost it already.... The stakes are high for me Sam. Not for you maybe, but they are for me. I don’t even like to admit how much I need this job. You know I lost the past 18 months of my life, and I don’t get them back. I need this job.... And I don’t like sitting in my wife’s car at 10 o’clock at night saying that.”

#6) Visual Effects - I love a good story line, but when photography is used in an artistic way, it just enhances the whole presentation. We had some wonderful black&whites, such as the one where Judy holds a flower yet leaves it on the soliloquy stool as she walks off camera. I already mentioned the eggshells. A funny moment was when Rick and Sam played ping pong, and Sam belatedly held up his paddle long after Rick pinged one past him moments before. Judy held a vase of blossoms near her face, painting a beautiful portrait, and the stop-motion time-lapse footage kept the plot advancing nicely. The scene with Judy and Sam in the rain was very moving, with Judy showing good method acting, something I’ve been wanting to see more of. Watching Rick’s laptop boot up with the wedding portrait as a background was a nice effect as well. I would be remiss if I didn’t include the entire bedroom sequence that Rick and Lily shared, as they moved from discussion to playful, from arousal to culmination, and then again back to further discussion. Thank you for that, H&Z.

#7) What’s Death Cooking up? - Sam discuss the concept of time with Rick: “One night about 3am, I hear this creak. And I’m thinking ‘Don’t get up! You’re not being robbed. It’s uh...it’s death standing in the kitchen - he’s making a sandwich.’ I’m gonna tell Ricky. Ricky will understand more than anybody.” Rick smiles, as he does understand. “At my house, he made soup.” Both of these men are trying very hard to accomplish something great, and time won’t stop for either of them.

#8) Moral what? -or- What morals?? - Sam asked Rick if they could form a partnership for a hotel restoration job. Rick asks Lily how she feels about it, and she tries to be supportive. Rick presses her, feeling she must have more to say. Finally she reminds him that Sam had an affair with her sister while married. Rick tries to dissuade her: “ Which means I can’t trust him, because he was unfaithful to his wife, so that makes him immoral across the board? Come on, who knows the secrets to someone else’s marriage….Maybe it was this highly moral act for Sam to cheat on Janine, maybe, maaaybe he was trying to save the marriage. Making me an extremely lucky person to have this highly moral man as my partner. Right?” A classic Lilyism that is sure to be remembered for a long time: “You’re an idiot.” And she leaves him in the dark to ponder on that.

#9) Colin Fleischer aka Mr. Big - Colin has hired Sam to be his muse for The Dryser hotel. This man has one goal in life, to make money. His desires lead him to treat others with contempt. He’ll use someone for as long as is needed to attain his goal, and then they’re history. In a moment of compassion, Colin asks Rick “Do you want to be big?” but quickly warns “There is no right answer.” “I wouldn’t mind,” is Rick’s reply. We quickly see Colin’s personality by a couple of his statements. “Each chance is your last. You should live that way. I do.” & “Be big, Rick. It’s more fun.” This client will be another thorn for Rick.

#10) A secret unspoken - I heard recently that the only way for three people to keep a secret is if 2 of them are dead. Rick and Lily both made a promise not to reveal secrets spoken to them. Lily had to keep her trust with Judy, in not telling Rick about Judy’s job offer. Rick promised Sam that he wouldn’t say anything to Lily about his separation. Both had good intentions, but both couldn’t hold it in for long. Sure, there were mitigating circumstances, but…. Lily also had to promise not to tell Judy about Sam, but again, circumstances just forced her to blurt out that Sam’s available.

Marc