GCB: Making Friends?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

If you missed the first week and jumped on into this show, it's a darn good thing that Carlene filled you in a little bit! There has been so much going on and a few weeks have already passed within the show that it's pretty easy for people following closely to get a little confused, let alone a newbie! Plus, SO.MANY.CHARACTERS! I'm not in love with this show yet, but I have no ill feelings toward it yet, either. I was surprised how little focus there was on Amanda's family this episode (particularly Will), but I suppose I need to realign my attitude toward this show as being about Heather, Carlene, Amanda, Sharon, and Cricket (and maybe Gigi), with everyone else as more ancillary characters. What do you think so far? Are there too many characters? Is it confusing to you? Would you want more focus on Amanda's family?

GCB "Hell Hath No Fury" (S01E02): Gigi doesn't want Amanda buying the kids' clothes at ArmadilloMart, but Amanda doesn't want Gigi buying the kids' clothes from Neiman Marcus. [pick and choose your battles, ladies.] Amanda struggles with affording her children's school supplies (a saddle, a microscope, and a tablet), though Gigi wants her to just use family money. [a saddle?? a home microscope?? I can get on-board with a tablet, but the other two kinda shock me.] Gigi is planning a luncheon (with Heather's help) to re-introduce Amanda to society. The other girls don't like this idea and immediately begin talking others out of attending, pushing the fact that Amanda is an alcoholic. Gigi is soon forced to cancel the luncheon, due to lack of interest in attending. [the amount of people who sent flowers amused me... wasn't expecting that!]

Zach continues to show interest in Amanda, frustrating Sharon. [to "out-Christian" somebody? I like it!] Sharon thinks she can win her husband back by cooking the same foods that Boobylicious offers, but Zach then claims that he's watching his weight. [so, yeah. not much here.]

Cricket's daughter, Alexandra, has gotten C-cup implants, and Sharon's daughter is envious. [the comment about "Christmas coming" bothered me. What kind of gifts are these??!?] Because Laura is "unattractively smart," the girls plan to slap a scarlet pig "javelina" on her "by recess tomorrow." [recess?? in high school??] They do, but Laura doesn't seem to notice; Heather and Amanda see it and panic. Amanda confronts Carlene, who claims innocence and invites her to lunch. [I wouldn't accept lunch with her alone, but maybe I've overly paranoid.] The eatery winds up being 80 miles from Dallas, and because Carlene needs to bring a pig back with her, there's no room for Amanda, who must ride in the back of a truck back home. [told you not to go anyplace alone with Carlene!] Meanwhile, Laura

(ABC/KAREN NEAL)

goes to the pep rally with Sharon and Cricket's daughters. [how naive is this chick? She doesn't remember to never trust popular girls from her previous school experiences? and that scene with the fire marshal was overly annoying!] When Amanda finally arrives (Heather couldn't even get in, by the way, as Amanda had her blacklisted), she finds Laura covered in glitter rather than mud. The girls have awarded her the role of "fox," and Amanda immediately tells Laura not to hang out with those kids. Of course, Laura thinks that Amanda just wants to spoil her fun. [finally! a teenage behavior I can relate to!] Oh, and, because Alexandra's top is now too small for her breasts, it bursts open during the cheerleading routine. [over-dramatic much?]

Carlene is re-branding her restaurant to be a frumpy, Amish place. None of the waitresses are happy so they call Rip and threaten to quit. He pulls rank and puts things back to normal, as Carlene didn't run any of those changes by him. The episode ends with Gigi hosting that luncheon anyway, at the bar. [I was surprised at how Rip rules Carlene. Feminism be d@mned on this show, apparently.]