At Brian's loft, Justin's set the table and asks Brian whether he's hungry. Brian's not, really, but Justin says he has to eat something. Brian sits down at the table and asks what's cooking. It's jambalaya from the night before. Brian takes a mouthful and says that it's "not bad." Justin smiles in relief: "It's always better the second day."

Grade: It's an A, folks. Subtlety and Eric Stoltz in the same episode. It's like old home week. The script was good, the acting was good, and Brian turns out to have a heart and a conscience, after all. I like the way they're setting up Michael for a fall; that's going to be in-te-res-ting. And how is this Brian/Justin thing going to pan out? Randy Harrison totally deserves the Emmy they're probably never going to give him, just for this episode alone.

Next Week on Queer as Folk: Gus is sick, but the ER will let only Lindsay stay with the baby; Brian agrees to turn over legal guardianship to Melanie, but then changes his mind; David invites Mike to a dinner party, and Mike accuses one of the other guests of giving him crabs; David and Mike agree that they're from different worlds, so they may or may not break up.