Secret Life: Four Weddings and a Confession

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Doesn't George work anymore? You never hear about the furniture store and never see him anywhere but his house or Kathleen's. That's a minor nitpick, though. Surely Adrian will have more to say as things start going crazy... between her old boytoy faking a wedding and her ex-husband going on trial for arson, I kinda think the girl is gonna lose it. I'm not sure what she's going to do, but I'm thinking that drug addiction could suit her well. Plus, it'll give recommitted Grace quite a bit to work with, in the event that she has time left from all of the work she's trying to do with Jack. And, of course, the time she'll be at church, since I imagine that will be the main place we see her in the future - except, of course, lecturing Kathleen and George. Back on the main storyline (well, I see Ben's as bigger than Ricky's and Amy's, you might disagree), I'm surprised that Ben didn't talk to Alice before jetting off to Ruben. Then again, I can't believe that he gave in and started talking, either... 

The Secret Life of the American Teenager "Lies and Byes" (S05E04): Ricky doesn't want to keep up the charade that he and Amy are married, but she is convinced that it's the only choice. She manages to win him over by allowing him to choose when and where they get married "next time." [why not just run down to the courthouse and finalize things?] It's only a matter of time, however, until things begin to unravel... especially because there are no fewer than FOUR receptions in the works!

Madison and Lauren want to throw a party for Amy and Ricky, but wanted Anne's blessing before making arrangements. [that's probably about as thoughtful as we've ever seen Madison!] But, Anne tells them that she and George want that honor, even though George kinda paid for the first "wedding" and doesn't plan on giving them another. When Anne talks to her daughter, however, Amy shoots down the offer, claiming that Ricky does not want a celebration. Anne decides to confront Ricky directly, so she heads to the butcher shop. Imagine her surprise when, after giving a spiel about how she still regrets her own mother missing her nuptials, Ricky tells her to plan anything she wants. Then, the truth comes out: Amy doesn't want a party because she doesn't want her newly-gay mother at the event. [hopefully we address this soon, because I'm getting really irritated with the level of homophobia this show contains.] Well, even if Amy manages to talk Anne out of it, it won't matter much... three other parties are in the works. Madison and Lauren (who are dressed like it's 1993 for some reason) still want to throw a party. Margaret and Shaker want to throw something, too... she was thinking a 50-person dinner party but Shaker has a 500-person extravaganza, complete with driving out Margaret's family from New York, and maybe even his own from India. [I'm not sure WHY this show feels the need to emphasize the fact that people elope, but we learn that Shaker's mother wasn't at his wedding, either.] Oh, and Nora is looking to have something very small, like a dozen people in a restaurant with salad and cake. [poor Nora. woman wants to try but has nothing to work with. hopefully she'll team up with someone, LoL!] 

Grace shows up at Jack's football practice... to witness to him. [oh geez.] She tells him that she's talked to his coach and there's no problem with Jack being more "Christian," though Jack claims that he's not (a) Christian. [something tells me that his dad (the minister) is going to get involved pretty quickly...] Then, Grace then shows up at the college bookstore to talk to Adrian, apologizing for their last interaction and suggesting that she accompany her to church. [Grace has no qualms about waltzing around a college campus? where is she parking?] Grace then fills in Adrian about Omar's pending case, so Adrian heads over to the school with tacos. Omar doesn't want to talk to her, especially as Adrian begins to crack and suggest some lies. [Kaitlin was weird here, I thought.]

Ben goes to talk to Ruben about the fire situation, but Ruben wants to focus on the Omar thing instead. Ruben wants Leo there but Ben pushes the fact that he's supposed to handle this on his own. [who wants to bet that this is about to go south??] Ruben tells him not to confess, but Ben starts talking, so Ruben has to call for a detective... and Ben has to get a public defender because Ruben can't represent him. Well, she's young and he doesn't trust her, so they have trouble right off the bat. While they're in the office, Adrian shows up to have tacos with Ruben, and is shocked to learn about the fire situation. [I guess Ruben didn't think it was wrong to tell Adrian because the kids usually know everything about everything?]

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That night, Dylan's friends learn about her possible connection to the fire. [well, I guess there's no more trying to keep this under-wraps at all!] And, over at Leo's, Camille wants him to help Ben, but when Ben comes in to talk about his day, Leo just gets angry that in Ben's retelling of that fateful evening's events, he left out Dylan. [these are moments where I hate Ben. LoL.]

Elsewhere, across town, Ashley left letters for George, Anne, and Toby, saying that she left for Italy, so they spend the better part of a day trying to figure out how she got the money to get there. Turns out, Mimzi sent her $10,000. George wants to jet off after her but Anne isn't worried and thinks that there is no point. Also, Mimzi sent a small package to Amy, but she doesn't want to open it, fearing another strange gift of socks. [...and that's about to be the mistake of a lifetime...]