Melissa: "It's not healthy or unhealthy. It just is."How sad. Having a perfect stranger pick out what you'll wear for eternity in a box.
The death of a woman with no family or friends to notice or care had a serious effect on Ruth, who could easily see it happening to her. (Ruth, you have three adult children who all love you. I doubt that you'll die alone.) The Fishers spent some serious time trying to figure out what Emily Previn was doing with her life and why she had no one. Interesting that Brenda's new friend Melissa seemed to be much like Emily Previn: no romantic relationships, and no real friends other than the shallow ones who wanted to pump her for juicy details about her life. Like Brenda just did.
Brenda was still on a voyage of self-discovery. In one of those wonderful fantasy scenes, her computer said to her, "All you do is observe yourself. You are incapable of anything real." Which was beautifully illustrated by Brenda volunteering to do a non-participatory three-way with Melissa and a client, doing what she does best: observing. And Brenda loved it, didn't she? She came home with a big smile on her face and — wait for it — immediately proposed to Nate. That made absolutely no sense to me.
It was SAT time for Claire, and it frightened her. Was she afraid of succeeding? Failing? Conforming? All three? Gary the school counselor wanted to acknowledge the sexual tension between himself and Claire. That was sort of hilarious, because Claire looked like she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. At least Gary got points with me for being more interested in Claire than in Parker, who was actively pursuing him. Claire finally fell out with Parker. (Had to happen.) I found it interesting that they fell out about cheating on the SATs, not Parker's pursuit of Gary. Claire couldn't handle Parker cheating on something so important. I don't think Claire sees Gary as important.
Upset about killing someone in the line of duty, whose shoulder did Keith cry on? He went to David, and they fell into each other's arms. Yes, Keith said it was all over and wouldn't happen again, but I don't believe it. The situation with his niece Taylor was wearing on Keith, and Eddie didn't seem to get that, either. You can just feel that Eddie won't be around much longer. And then David can make his move.
Bits:
— Ruth was alone in the final scene in exactly the same way that Emily was in the beginning.
— Brenda: "You know, it's just so sad that you can love somebody so much, and have absolutely no idea what's going on in their head." Nate really had no idea what was going on in Brenda's head. Brenda didn't know what was going on in Nate's head, either, pun intended. Every day that Nate doesn't tell Brenda the truth about what's happening with him just doesn't feel right.
And pieces:
— "Emily Previn, 1954-2001."
— Brenda wanted to write fiction. But why not Charlotte Speaks? It would almost certainly get published, it would allow her to tell her side of what happened, and it would give her a ready-made market for anything else she wanted to write.
— David had coffee and a date with Ben, a rather cute public defender. Give it up, Ben. David still loves Keith.
— Ruth was still wrapped up in Plan-speak. And it was still annoying everyone.
— David had already filled out a pre-need. Not a surprise, when he sees death every day. When I became a mother, I went to a lawyer and made a will. When you die without a will, you have no control over what happens to your children and, less importantly, your assets. It's not morbid. It just makes sense.
— Federico was still touchy about being "just" an employee.
Quotes:
Nate: "I hope I'm going to be in it. I've always wanted to be thinly veiled."
Brenda: "You might be in it. If you ever do anything interesting."
Now, see, this made me want to bop her one. What a nasty thing to say.
Parker: "Every fall, I rate the male teachers' fuckability. I've been doing it since the sixth grade."
Taylor: "What if I never get tired?"
Keith: "Then you'll lay awake for hours and hours wondering why life is so hard. That's what the rest of us do."
Nate: (on phone) "Yeah. Hi. I left a message there for Father Martin Farrell. (pause) Well, he was requested by the deceased to officiate at her funeral. (pause) Great. Well, I'm fucked. (pause) Sorry, Sister."
Brenda: "Nate Fisher. Would you be my wife?"
The usual good SFU episode. Three stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
This is a great episode. Makes you think about how meaningful your life if there is no one else to see it or be influenced by it. A human version of: If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it still make a sound?
ReplyDeleteNobody grieved over her loss. The Fishers were glad they made money off her death. The neighbors were bothered by the smell of her decaying corpse. I can see myself dying like she did, alone, except I have pets.
ReplyDelete“Emily Previn” sounds vaguely like “Elinor Rigby,” whose funeral is also unattended.
ReplyDelete