Nate: "Is this party seeming weird to you?"
David: "On a scale of one to ten? Ninety."
This episode beautifully captured that feeling of euphoria you get when you have a really special experience.
Ruth's birthday party was just hilarious as well as touching. (Ruth is a funny drunk. I've been told that I am, too.) Lisa was right about throwing that party, and Ruth's own children were wrong. Lisa knew Ruth better than her own family. Maybe because Lisa is Ruth.
And that was probably why Nate was completely on the outside: he's finally realized that he married his mother. He was secretly smoking and escaping the way his father did. Well, yeah. There was a lot of discussion about infidelity: Bettina's cheating husband, Kevin and Bob, Ruth and Nathaniel. Nate congratulated Lisa on working so hard on their marriage and she was completely taken aback, because she wasn't; she was totally happy. Which revealed that Nate was the one working on his marriage, and finding it difficult.
David thought Kevin and Bob's relationship was pointless because they weren't faithful to each other. But then David was totally moved by Kevin's opera-themed funeral for Bob, and ended up crying in Keith's arms because he wanted their relationship to be just as strong.
Claire also had a euphoric night out with her new professor, his uninhibited artist friend, and her possible new boyfriend, Russell. Claire and Russell just learned not to put their professors – or controversial artists – on a pedestal. The way Scott and Olivier kept talking about shit and art together made me think of toddlers acting out. Can shit on a flag be art? I don't feel that I can answer that question with any level of competence, but I know what I like, and that ain't it.
But it was nice to see Claire so totally happy. For that matter, it was great seeing Ruth and Keith having so much fun, too.
Poor Nate.
Bits:
— Much like Mrs. Perez last season, Bob died quietly, surrounded by other people having a good time. Not the worst way to go, for sure. The last thing he did was look at Kevin. That was sweet.
— Bob had an enlarged heart, and was constantly looking for new lovers.
— The opera Kevin chose was the one Puccini didn't finish. Appropriate for a funeral.
— Why is Lisa always sending Nate to Whole Foods? It must mean something. Maybe it's just that Lisa, like Ruth, relates everything to her control over food.
And pieces:
— "Robert Lamar Giffin, 1955-2003."
— The movie that Kevin and Bob and their friends were MSTy-ing was The Bad Seed.
— Almost everything Kathy Bates says makes me laugh. Probably because Bettina says exactly what she thinks all the time.
— Olivier thought Russell would be a successful artist in a monetary sense, but that Claire's talent was epic and could change the world. He's probably planning to hit on her.
— Rico went from total alienation from opera and outright ridicule to "getting it." At least I thought so, judging by the look on his face.
— Russell took Claire to see the Watts Towers in Los Angeles that were created by Simon Rodia. I keep thinking I should go see them. I may not live in LA forever, after all.
Quotes:
Rico: "It was so completely whack. There was like this magic mirror, you know, and this dead swan, and this, like, bleeding spear..."
David: "Parsifal."
Rico: "Yeah, and they had these flower chicks who were supposed to be hot, you know, but they were all just, like, major wide loads, and these lame-ass knights who were, like, prancing around and singing at the top of their lungs, you know? It was just so, so fucking..."
David: "Gay?"
David: "Do you want to ask me if I shave my balls?"
Rico: "Uh, no. not really."
That whole conversation starting with the Prince Albert was really funny.
Olivier: "Maybe we can do as much damage tonight as we did in Antwerp."
Scott: "I hope you've got better health insurance this time."
Claire: "Okay, I'm officially scared."
Russell: "Don't let them see that."
Scott: "Is there anything more infuriating than the moral vanity of Eurotrash?"
Lisa: "This is an unusually gassy family."
Keith: "You'd better be prepared to build me something like this when I go."
David: "You mean something involving Steve McQueen on a motorcycle?"
Kevin: "It wasn't always easy. It wasn't always fun. But it was always worth it." If their relationship worked and they loved each other, who are we to judge? Kevin and Bob were a lot more honest with their relationship than Margaret and Bern Chenowith and their strange fidelity/infidelity rules.
I really enjoyed this one. Four out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
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