Suburgatory: Tessa "Works" for Dalia

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

So I take it that teenagers can drive other teenagers in New York? Because here in California, you can't do that anymore. As The Secret Life of the American Teenager points out, it's illegal for minors to drive others, eliminating teens carpooling. This is a newer law (because I'm sure you remember the teens of Beverly Hills, 90210 all zipping around LA together), and it's not in Florida or Pennsylvania, but I just found it interesting that it apparently doesn't affect things in Chatswin. But enough of that. How about the strange George-Noah dynamic going on this episode? You think they're all buddy-buddy... Noah gives George unlimited use of his guest pass... but when it comes down to actually sponsoring him for membership, Noah avoids it at nearly all costs. And I really wonder if the reason was the "friends" thing... that seemed like a gimme at the time. At least to me...

Suburgatory "Driving Miss Dalia" (S01E10): In preparation for her DMV test, George gives Tessa advice like "don't be cocky" and "check your mirrors." [there's a fine line between being confident and not being cocky...] Dallas and Dalia are also there... Dalia has apparently failed 5 or 6 times already, and this time has the same outcome. In fact, it seems that she managed to injure someone. [maybe that's what you get for having a servant teach your daughter to drive...] Tessa tried to fake-out George by acting like she didn't pass the test, but he sees through it and congratulates her. George's rules for the road? "No highways, no cell phones, and don't go over 50."

abc.com

Dalia offers Tessa $100 plus gas to drive her around Scott Strauss' block over and over. [do NONE of Dalia's friends have licenses??] Scott, who recently became single, graduated the previous year and deferred Carnegie-Mellon for a year so that he could go help out in Zambia. They circle his block everyday, and Dalia plans to keep paying Tessa to drive her until she sees Scott. Well, Tessa (in a Prius, of all cars), ends up rear-ending him. [cliche, much?] Dalia takes this opportunity to pay Tessa $50 to ask out Scott for her... so she does, after a little flirting of her own. For whatever reason, Tessa chauffeurs Scott and Dalia in Dallas' Bentley. [why doesn't Scott drive? just because "Dalia" asked him out?] Scott tells Tessa that he wants to spend more time with her, and Tessa feels guilty, so she goes to tell Dalia (who, by the way, isn't allowed hard liquor on school nights). As one might imagine, Dalia doesn't believe Tessa, and more or less declares war. [...how do you guys think THIS is gonna go?]

George has been using Noah's guest pass at the country club... buying food on his account, parking in his spot, the whole nine yards. But, the pass expires while George is in the steamroom, and they kick him out at that moment. [awkward!] So, George asks Noah to sponsor him for a real membership. [sensible.] But, there's clearly something that is bothering Noah about letting George join, as he's putting off filling out the paperwork. After digging a bit, George discovers that Noah doesn't want to share his friends. They get into a fight. [thank goodness for the blur mechanism!] After the application, essay, and interview processes, George ends up being denied admittance because of some sort of "ding" on his record. Tessa thinks that a waitress put a "ding" on George to make sure that he'd be available to date - employees can't date members. [could be...] Luckily, Noah adds George to his family membership (as his son, no less), so now he can spend time there anyway.