Amy and Ricky Reconcile, Betty & Leo Split

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

The Secret Life of the American Teenager  "4-1-1" (S04E10):  It's been a week, and Amy would like to come back to the apartment. Ricky says that he'll see her at school. [why in the world do Ricky and Amy have such constant drama??] Ricky's foster brother, Ethan, shows up at his apartment... he sent a naked picture of his girlfriend to all of his contacts and the girl's father is already on the warpath. Ethan asks if Ricky will go with him to turn himself in. Ricky calls Nora, who won't talk to him because he wasn't nice to Amy. [way to set a good example, Nora...] Margaret talks to him and tells him that he shouldn't get mixed up in the sexting scandal. Ethan isn't even in high school yet, and he had only been with the girl for three weeks. [I'm starting to be convinced that this crowd really lives in a "fast" area!] Ethan had to leave Margaret and Shaker's because he stole a set of antique scalpels that he sold for $100 and bought sneakers (which were stolen two weeks later). Ethan and the girl's father go to see Ruben, who tells them that it's child pornography. [If the girl is 16 and Ethan's in 8th grade, how do they know one another?] Margaret looks at Ethan's phone. [tsk tsk tsk...]

Ricky and Leo decide to let Adrian live in the condo rent-free until she's out of college. [...why doesn't she move back home? It's close.] Ben lets her keep the ring. Adrian is still trying to be with both Ben and Ricky... and she actually succeeds in seducing Ben enough to get him to make out with her (and maybe more...).

Amy doesn't want to go to school, but George is making her. [these kids want to skip school over nothing. none of them have any drive anymore!] George admits that he checks Amy's emails and texts on her phone, since he pays the bills. [I suppose this is a reason I'm glad cell phones weren't something teens had when I was in HS...] And, speaking of George, Margaret and Shaker are going to let Nora stay at his place. [I don't think this is a good idea... you can never really trust George.]

Lauren and Madison tell Amy that Ricky definitely looks through Amy's phone, and that they do it all the time to others. Amy is shocked, and the only one who feels any guilt about looking at other people's phones. [it's never even occurred to me to look at someone else's phone... what's the point? trust and move on, you guys.] Adrian claims she's never checked Ben's phone.

Bunny tells Nora that she checks her daughters' phones weekly at random. She even has them in private all-girls schools. [hahahahaha!] Betty and Leo are splitting up over Betty wanting to go to college. [not the greatest reasoning, btu he wanted a way out... I wonder how we'll work Camille back in!?!] Leo offers Nora the chance to work in the office again. [I wonder why... she's already proved her inability to handle such things...]

Ashley and Toby are entering a medical trial where they have to act depressed... but the side effects scare them out of the $500 and they leave. [why even bother showing them for three minutes??]

Grace tells Adrian she'll get her a date with one of Daniel's friends, specifically a player. [I like it better when Grace and Adrian aren't friends...] Grace and Adrian are over at Daniel's with one of his friends. Adrian tells the friend that she's in love with Ricky, and she just wants to make Ricky jealous. [I tend to loathe people who go along with this type of obnoxious behavior...] The guy is soon out and about with Adrian, implying he's going to get a much better look at her to see where she might put a tattoo. Daniel offers up his phone to Grace, but she's very hesitant handing over hers. [duh. we all know things aren't over with Jack!]

Amy tells Ricky that "no one emails." [this particularly interests me because my best friend and sister claim the same thing... though I email at least a half-dozen times a day, so maybe it depends on what you do - I'm not really a texter like they are, LoL.] Amy accuses Ricky of looking at her phone. Ricky admits he's looked through Amy's phone, and that it wasn't worth compromising his integrity. [good. so there are a couple people on this show who are mature...] Adrian texts Ricky a photo of where she's going to get a tattoo...which prompts Amy to suggest to Ricky that the two of them get tattoos... but he doesn't go for it. [is it really necessary for Adrian to be able to reach Ricky at all? Why not just block her??] They're all made up now. [can we stop putting Ricky and Amy at the center of this show? I think they're the ones bringing it down. I like the episodes that are ensemble-based much better.]