In a show with no shortage of awkward moments, this episode scared up more than its share. And most of them took place well away from sex scenes. Sure Jamie and Nick (I'll stop calling him Boone From Lost since it looks like he's not going to just be passing through) had that round of disappointing sex (another moment when the show justified its graphic-sex-can-move-the-story-forward approach). But it kept getting topped, often by scenes involving Carolyn.
After months of trying to get pregnant with no luck, Carolyn tells Palek she's pregnant and gets, "Okay. Wow" followed by, "I can figure it out." (At least he takes a trip to Dr. May to talk about it, but why do I get the feeling he'll soon be buying another suit soon?) He's being honest with his feelings, but it's as cruel and insensitive in its own way as the response Carolyn gets from her boss: "Shitty timing." Carolyn officially has the worst boss in the world and after initially thinking her character was a bit intolerable, I'm firmly in the Team Carolyn camp. She deserves better than the losers around her.
That includes sister Mason (Kate Towne), who spreads her passive aggression (well, not even that passive) across two storylines, first refusing to be happy for Carolyn ("the last time we talked about a baby you were talking about getting rid of one") then attempting to poison Jamie and Nick's relationship during an uncomfortable dinner date. I didn't buy that scene. Mason's been awful but never that awful. She was practically channeling Amanda Woodward from Melrose Place.
At least Mason stayed away from Katy and David, who seem to be inching toward at least a heated necking session as they (not coincidentally?) talk about having another kid. Theirs is still the most compelling storyline, even if it continues to confound me a bit. At this point they've spent weeks growing comfortable talking about sex, they're committed to therapy (thanks to David's insistence) and they're even joking about his masturbation habits. Couldn't they just do it already? Apparently not. To run with David''s metaphor they must need to finish putting away everything on the floor of the garage. Then sweep out the garage. Then put a new door on the garage. Then give it another good going over. Maybe then they can pull the car into the garage.
The awkwardness continues: Katy had to talk to her daughter about masturbation after watching a movie got the girl hot and bothered. All this was well handled and made Katy seem like a great mom. But still, wow, awkward. Then there was the final scene, the titular scene (to borrow a line from an old Upright Citizens Brigade sketch). Nick asks for something Jamie seeming can't give him yet and we're all left hanging. Hey, at long last: A cliffhanger!
Grade: B
– I'm 99% sure that the move that got Katy's daughter worked up was Swimfan, a 2002 teen thriller starring Erika Christensen as an obsessive high school student. Its original title: Tell Me You Love Me.
– Hey, that guy Mason's dating this week: it's Sticky Fingaz from Onyx
– Please: If you must do more handheld shots aboard a bouncy kiddie tent, warn viewers first.