Once and Again

Episode Report Card
Niki: D | 318 USERS: C+
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Mediation

Previously on O and A: Rick dumps Lily's cheatin' ass after she confesses that she slept with Jake, leaving us to wonder: Is it really over?

After the very emotive theme song, the show begins with a moody interior shot of rain pouring down a windshield. Parents are dropping off their kids at school, and the camera pans to Rick's profile. He's busy staring open-mouthed at an Explorer parked up ahead. Eli's rambling on at him from the passenger seat, but since Rick's tuning him out, we don't get to hear much of what he's talking about either. The woman with the Explorer looks like Lily from the back, but when she turns we see it's not her. "Dad!" Eli's voice cuts through the reverie and brings Rick crashing back to earth. Rick apologizes and asks Eli what he was saying. Eli explains that Jennifer signed him up for tutoring, which he clearly isn't happy about, and Rick says absently, "Oh, that's good."

Cut to Lily sitting inside her truck where the scene basically mirrors the one that just occurred between Rick and Eli. Lily's staring into her rear view mirror, distracted, as Grace blathers on about signing up to tutor, so she'll be late, and she doesn't need a ride. (Can anyone see where this is going yet?) Just like Eli, she too must yank her parent back to reality by snapping "Mom! Who are you looking for?"

Before Lily can supply the painfully obvious answer, however, we cut to black-and-white Grace, who says, "It's obvious she broke up with him. You can tell --" She's interrupted by black-and-white Zoe, who does some odd little deer leap across the screen while exclaiming, "You can tell by her clothes!" Black-and-white Grace disdainfully rolls her eyes and says, "You can tell by her clothes, but it was obvious even before she told us." Black-and-white Zoe pops up to explain: "Because the whole time she was going out with him, she was wearing her prettiest clothes of ever! And then all of a sudden--" Grace cuts in with: "And every time the phone rings, you can see her, like, hoping that it'll be--" "The Dad," Zoe chimes in. Grace, actually looking sympathetic says, "Only it never is."

Back in the Explorer, Grace has a little less patience for her mother. Frustrated, she tells Zoe to repeat everything for Lily and then bolts from the car wearing a hat that looks like it should be covered with beer caps and fishing lures. Hey, whatever grinds your gears.

Once and Again