Melissa & Joey: Being a Bad Example

Because this comedy has such a habit of pushing the adults' storylines at the forefront and keeping Ryder and Lennox around purely to maintain a wider audience, it is nice to see the plots interact like in "Bad Influence." Mel and Joe often have issues of maturity when it comes to raising and setting good examples for the teenagers, but sometimes the audience is reminded of how far each has come from their own wild days. In this episode, Mel, now a potential senator, is hoping that her young, sexual self will stay below the radar when some intimate acts might go public. Joe, always the saving grace, is bound and determined to help her, and not just because he has been harboring a fierce fondness for his boss. However, he is more known in the circles of white collar crime, so breaking and entering is not his strong suit. Enter Devon, Lennox's recently sprung jailbird pen pal, of whom the adults are initially fearful. However, when they decide to casually ask his advice on deactivating alarms, everyone is surprised to learn that Devon is more of the wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time crook. And, while the duo is able to recover the tape, Lennox and Ryder learn what the fuss was about, once again demonstrating poor examples to follow.

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Melissa & Joey "Bad Influence" (S03E12): Joe and Ryder have a garage sale, unknowingly selling off the special contents of one of Mel's old nightstands. Inside was a sex "love" tape, now in the possession of a neighbor named Andrew. Well, as Mel was approached about running for state senate, she is now very careful about her image and wants it back immediately. [this means that "Family Feud" takes place after this...] She asks nicely, but once Andrew realizes that she is the reason there are now speed bumps where he used to rev up his Porsche, he refuses. [not surprised.] Joe learns from Ryder that the nightstand is in Andrew's garage, so he and Mel plan a heist.

However, the time for the caper conflicts with the dinner for Lennox's prison pen pal, Devon, who has just been released. [can't blame Joe for wanting to stop all communication! I thought that prison pen pal stuff all went through a third party organization for protection reasons?] After Mel realizes that Andrew has an alarm system, she and Joe try to ask Devon for advice, only to learn that he doesn't know anything. Fortunately, the window is open, so it's a simple break-in. [having Andrew almost come home led to a forced tension-filled scene between Mel and Joe.] When they return with the video, their bragging about their success causes Devon to leave immediately, afraid that he's running with the wrong crowd yet again. [haha!] Lennox figures out the contents of the videocassette, then Joe destroys the evidence so this cannot happen again. [I found it awkward that Mel wanted to keep it as a memento!]