Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Secret Life: Family Dinner

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

We manage to have another episode about school without actually seeing the kids in class. And, apparently, a few weeks have passed because Kathleen is heading back to California already. How have Ben and Dylan been communicating in the meantime? No idea. How is Ben allowed to go run errands alone all of a sudden? Not sure. Why aren't the parents more upset about Madison sleeping around? I guess because they've just accepted how promiscuous these kids are? Plus, once again, they've had to write a ton of characters to be "off elsewhere," like Tom having dinner with Rachel's family, Anne and Ashley being off with Robbie, and Omar just being talked about. It was nice to see Adrian's parents again, though I'm not sure what good it did. I guess the main thing I take away from this episode is the surprise that ALL of the parents (skipping over Henry and Alice, as their families have never been big players on the show) bought in to the "have dinner with your child" thing. Nobody thought it was a waste of time or put it off. Of course, the one-on-one things was odd in a few scenarios (Madison, Lauren, and Amy all have mother figures as well), too. What did you think - one of the least-believable episode ever? (not that the series as a whole is all that realistic, mind you...)

The Secret Life of the American Teenager "They Gotta Eat" (S04E16): Madison wants her friends back, but Amy won't forgive her until Lauren does. [why does Amy side with Lauren on this? I don't see what the difference is to her...] Lauren complains to Amy about Madison's cheating, but when her dad overhears, she pretends it was about Madison stealing her paper idea for sociology class. [her dad was smart enough to suspect it wasn't true, but he ended up believing it.] Lauren's dad heads to have a session with Leo, who doesn't know what to do with Ben anymore. While that isn't really resolved, Leo does let it slip that Madison slept with Lauren's boyfriend. So, now a few adults know what's going on, while others are completely out of the loop - Madison's dad thinks that the girls' fight is about having the same backpack! [seriously? they're not ten years old!]

The principal sent letters to all of the parents of the students in summer school to encourage them to have dinner with their children as a bonding experience. Ricky and Amy plan to have dinner with his mother and her father, but when Amy admits that she'd rather see Nora than Margaret anyway, Ricky gets upset and decides to eat with Nora alone, giving Amy (and John) a chance to eat with George. [though we don't actually see John eat - he must be taking a nap during the actual meal...] Well, George was planning for more people anyway, so when Madison's dad calls Lauren's dad and George and says that they should all get together to make their daughters talk it out, that becomes the plan. [in the day and age where kids have cell phones, do parents still have one another's house numbers?] Soon enough, the truth is out there for the fathers, but they all say the same thing - the girls will eventually get over this, so why not forgive now and make the most of the summer? [really? they don't think that this could be a lasting concern at all? Ricky agreeing with this sentiment was the most real way of putting it, though.] Madison's dad is worried that his daughter is starting a habit, especially after she admits how weak she becomes when a guy finds her attractive. [well, yeah, Madison is an insecure kid. I wonder what daddy is going to do at this point to change that...] Lauren's dad sticks with the fact that Lauren already lost a boyfriend over this - there's no reason to lose a best friend, too. [again, easy to say when your kid isn't the slutty one.]  

Across town, Grace isn't able to eat with her parents, but she does decide to call her mom and confess, as she wants to get her misbehavior out in the open before Kathleen returns. Turns out, Tom filled her in on everything when it first happened, so Grace and Kathleen just mutually apologize. [she never thought that Kathleen and Tom might talk??] There's something bigger going on, though - Kathleen shares that Grace's father had a girlfriend in Africa, whom he saw every year when he traveled. [awww. sadness.] Things are complicated further by the fact that we see Kathleen with Jacob, a product of that relationship, and he wants to move to America for high school. [just what this show needs - MORE drama and ANOTHER character!]

Elsewhere, Leo invites Dylan's family over and talks to them about Ben's history. It takes some prodding, but Dylan comes clean about the pot, and then their family leaves, just as Ben is arriving. Someone sends Leo photos of him looking at Camille. [Betty, wanting money?]
http://abcfamily.go.com
Oh, and Adrian? Ruben wants to learn all about Omar (specifically because of the age difference), but Cindy is more interested in what's going on with Ben. [adults gossiping with teens is odd, don't you think?]
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