1600 Penn: Finishing School, Fake Identity, Date Nights

I actually found a commonality with Skip! We both clean when we procrastinate!We also both have a wide variety of interests and will take classes in anything - his Bachelor's in General Studies features minors in critical film theory, Latin dance, political cartooning, landscape architecture, math, and Judaic studies. I don't have tons of minors, but I did take classes in wheel-throwing, multicultural film, piano, music history, art history, Signed English, clothing and textile history, astronomy, and, of course, the variety of courses required for my Bachelor's degrees in Theatre and Religion, and my minor in Child Development. But, enough about me. Can we notice that Neither Dale nor Skip go by their given name of "Standrich" ?? I am not one to be stringent about using one's given name, but if you don't use yours, why would you pass on the same name to your offspring? So they don't use it either? What's the point? Still, I liked these two episodes, but I'm not sad that NBC is seeming to burn off this series by airing the final two next week. Hey, at least we were treated to something pretty funny - Marshall putting a name on a door and winding up with a secret identity!

Byron Cohen/NBC

1600 Penn "The Short Happy Life of Reba Cadbury" (S01E10): After seven years at the University of Nevada - Reno, Skip is missing just a single paper from a single class before he can graduate. Emily makes it her business to get Skip to write a 25-page sociology paper, but it's Marigold who inspires Skip to actually sit down and finish the assignment. [and because he convinced her to read Dune, he realizes that he wants to be a teacher. love his spirit.]

Becca is put on a task force but is largely ignored, so she takes on a persona Marshall created (to give himself free time) to make her points heard. [I love that she had Xander make up a Wikipedia page for the woman!] But, when the Senator in charge of the committee likes the ideas AND Dale wants to meet with the woman, Becca needs to come clean. Marshall writes a press release that Reba has died, but Dale knows the truth and covers for his daughter so that her voice will be heard. [touching but not too sappy - I like it.] 

1600 Penn "Dinner, Bath, Puzzle" (S01E11): Skip interrupts Dale's meeting with the Postmaster General when his boots are late arriving. Turns out, Xander intercepted them and won't give them back. [why Dale or Emily don't enforce the respect for the property of others is beyond me.] Skip's got bigger things to deal with, however, when his parents ask him to watch the younger kids for an evening so they can have some private time. He manages to get out of fielding Xander's questions about Cosmo but does have a short heart-to-heart with Marigold upon learning of his sister's sexuality.

Dale and Emily are supposed to see a play for a date night, but he manages to get out of it by suggesting they take the advice of a visiting French dignitary and his wife: have an intimate dinner, take a bath, and put together a puzzle. [the French don't mean a jigsaw puzzle, but the First Family does not know that.] The evening starts out poorly but ends with fireworks so all is well. [they made excellent time on a 1500-piece puzzle!]

DB brings over a buddy comedy to watch with Becca, but she'd rather watch a French film with Marshall. [what was with him speaking French in a press conference?] She doesn't want to hide anything, so she awkwardly tells DB that she and Marshall were an item at one point. [eek!] The guys bond over what they dislike about Becca, but then slug one another. [haha!] Marshall leaves and Becca realizes that she is into DB, even if he wasn't what she was looking for.