Thursday, December 8, 2011

Suburgatory: George Doesn't Get the Girl

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Why does this show have so many commercials? Or is it just me? Anyway, I thought that this was an above-average holiday episode. It had some funny moments (just how many times can you watch your "date" kiss another woman, anyway??) and parts of it totally encapsulated the characters thus far. For instance, Lisa standing outside in the cold in short sleeves until Tessa let her in was pretty classic. And Tessa wanting so badly to get back into her dad's good graces totally seemed like her. I was surprised that there was no Sheila at the party... but I guess that would have only made things more awkward. And, I don't know about you, but I totally thought it was only a matter of time before Dallas went for it with George. I imagine it's going to continue as well...

Suburgatory "The Nutcracker" (S01E09): [I enjoyed the opening with the claymationish setting.] Tessa is still giving George the ice treatment for his secret relationship in Manhattan. But, George breaks up with his NYC girlfriend (via skype), and says that it's not her, it's Tessa... it's not fair to hold her to a double-standard. [though by the tone in George's voice, it certainly seems like he's just pawning off the problem on Tessa to appease Zoe...] Tessa overhears and George tells her that maybe she should think twice before springing the ice treatment. This causes Tessa to try and make it up to George, and she thinks that he's really depressed because he's watching the cooking channel and is taking a class in wreath-making. [wreath-making? really? as an afternoon seminar that's fine, but as a class?] But, it seems that George is really just interested in the art teacher, Aimee. The guidance counselor (who, of course, is also taking the class) tells George not to come on too pushy, since Aimee (whose roommates are Jehovah's Witnesses... not like that matters...) recently went through a break-up. So, George invites her by to trim the tree at an informal gathering he's throwing.

Tessa is on the search to get George a great gift, so she skypes Zoe and invites her to the party, promising not to get in the way this time. [you KNOW this isn't going to end well...] At the party, George is all over Aimee, and Tessa assumes that he's rebounding. So, she gets a coatless Lisa to try and intercept Zoe while she tries to get rid of Aimee. She interrupts George and Aimee to let him know that they're out of eggnog (she conveniently poured it down the drain...), then starts trash-talking George to Aimee. When it's not getting anywhere, she tries to coerce Aimee to leave by pointing out how hard it's snowing. She gives up for a few minutes, then claims that she's sick so George should send everyone home. That doesn't work, either. So Tessa comes clean, and George admits that she wasn't the reason he dumped Zoe. By this point, Zoe shows up and kisses George... in full sight of Aimee. Of course, Aimee feels stupid and runs out, with George following her and trying to explain what happened. Noah takes over dealing with Zoe, and he does a surprisingly good job... right up until he tells her that he's married... so she starts throwing snowballs at him. [hahahahahaha!] Meanwhile, Tessa lets in a frozen Lisa, who mentions that Tessa might harbor guilt because she's come between George and other women in the past. [poor Lisa! I don't get that girl sometimes...] So, Tessa goes to Aimee and tells her that her father really is a nice guy. [that whole "hide in the closet and I'll bring you some milk" thing was really weird, though...]

All of this work starts to go to waste, however, when the Royce family's flight to Colorado is grounded. Dallas opens a gift from George, and thinks that the red mittens inside are reminiscent of a childhood story that she told him. So, she heads over to the party and thanks him... only to find out the red mittens were his "stock gift." She kisses him, blames it on the mistletoe, and leaves. But, of course, Aimee saw the kiss and storms out... George has officially blown his chance with her. [well, yeah.] After everyone leaves, George and Tessa apologize to one another, and the episode ends with a joke of Tessa having a serious significant other before George. [hmmm... foreshadowing Tessa becoming more interested in boys later in the season?]

Other fun things from this episode? Dallas has three pink trees in her living room. [yes, three.] Lisa's family makes their gifts (though we don't hear about or see any examples). The guidance counselor brought pajeon - Korean pancakes - to the party. He competed with a lot of dim sum, brought by the folks from a restaurant that George worked on. The guidance counselor even gets into a tiff with a Chinese family, but eats some of the dim sum in the end.
Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Email This Pin This

No comments: