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Once & Again Episode Guide
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AprilApril 24, 2000So I'm kind of upset at the writers of Once & Again for this 9 Flush episode, because I wanted the show to be about twice as long. I don't think that any more content could have been included in this very dense hour, but it was wrong to leave me hanging out, waiting to see what will happen next season. The episode begins with music playing. We see Zoe looking out of the window at her mother's house, Lily is folding something, some picture is being taped. We then see Rick, Eli, and Jessie getting out of a car. They're headed towards Lily's house. Back into Lily's house, we see Lily, Grace, and Zoe congregate by the door. Finally, we see Rick ring the doorbell to Lily's house. We are then taken twenty hours back in time. Lily is on the phone with Rick, and she announces that their children should get together. Rick isn't sure if the time is right, but Lily says, "People postpone things and they shouldn't." The plan is set for pizza at Lily's house the next day.That next morning rolls around and both parents tell their children about dinner. Lily then goes to drop the kids off at school. Grace is dropped off at the high school before Zoe is taken to elementary school. At the same time, Rick drops Eli off at the school. Eli goes over to talk to Grace and see how she is doing. While they talk, Grace wraps a sweater around her waist. The sweater belonged to her grandfather, but Grace doesn't know this. The point is that both Zoe and Jessie were looking at Grace and Eli interacting with each other. While this was happening, Lily sees Naomi. Lily goes over to say hi to Naomi, but interrupts a conversation that Naomi is having with another woman. The other woman has a book in her hand. Lily discovers that Naomi started a book club, but apparently Lily is not a part of it. Naomi tells Lily that she figured Lily was too busy to join a bookclub. Lily also learns that today is Naomi's birthday. Lily asks Naomi if they can get together in celebration, but Naomi says she has plans with her children. Lily then says that she would be unable to do anything because her kids are getting together with Rick's kids. At the same time, Rick is on his cell phone talking with Miles Drentell about Miles's new office building. We now get to particulars. Grace is hanging out at school. A girl named Jen comes to speak with Grace. Jen is Eli's ex-girlfriend, and Jen tells Grace that Eli's new girlfriend, Cassidy, has been cheating on him. Grace asks Jen why she told her this, and Jen replies that Grace should tell Eli. The story would seem more plausible from Grace, because Eli respects Grace. Two of Cassidy's friends, see Jen and Grace talking. These two friends, Lisa and Rachel, come over to Grace later in the day and tell her that whatever Jen said is a lie. The girls say that Eli knows Grace has a crush on her and knows that he can get her to do anything for them. They call Grace a lesbian and then ask her, "Hey Grace, are you an African-American? so why were you dating one?" Grace responds by calling them "meshugina racist bitch[es]." At the end of the school day, Eli bumps into Grace and asks her for help on a paper he has to write. She tries to avoid talking to him, but says that there's something wrong with Cassidy, and then retracts her statement. He asks what and then guesses that she is cheating on him. Grace just walks away. Later in the day, Eli is driving through town and he sees a girl kissing a guy. I'm not sure if the girl is Cassidy, but Eli definitely doubts his relationship with Cassidy. By the way, Eli does not think that he can use Grace. He really respects her, except for her telling him about Cassidy. We now turn to Naomi. Naomi talks with Karen and says that Lily found out about the book club. Naomi complains that Lily has been too Lily-centric lately. Naomi then mentions that all of the kids are getting together this evening. Karen is surprised. She says that she does not know Lily, that she does not want to know Lily, and that she does not want Lily to be involved with her children. Later in the day, Lily stops by Naomi's house with a birthday present. Lily sees that a party is going on. Lily feels betrayed that she wasn't invited, so Naomi repeats to Lily that Lily has been too self-centered lately and that Lily should care more about her friends. At the party, Lily sees Karen, but we'll get to that in the next paragraph. Karen, having learned about the children's meeting, goes to the bookstore where she thinks Lily works. Karen finds Judy at the bookstore. When Karen enters the bookstore, Judy is on the phone with a man named "Sam." Could Judy still be seeing Sam? who knows? Anyway, Karen explains who she is, and after Judy gets past the shock of meeting Karen, she begins to bond with Karen. Karen tells Judy that she is dating a much younger man, and Judy tells Karen that she is dating a man who is "seeing someone else." Judy tries to revitalize Karen's spirits about her relationship with a younger man, but says that Lily is better at giving advice. Anyway, Karen is now at Naomi's party when Lily walks in. Karen had been reading part of a book. She reads the book which says that a new woman had come into some man's life and this woman changed everyone's lives in every way possible. Had this woman noticed that she changed things? And had these changes been any greater than the changes that we all experience every day? Lily is at her office trying to plan the perfect evening with Rick and children, but Rick wants something simple. Lily talks with Christie, her boss, for a little bit. Lily complains about Tiffany watching over her children. She says that she does not know Tiffany, does not want to know Tiffany, and does now want Tiffany involved with her children. Christie says that a stepmom can never replace a real mom, because "stepmothers [by nature] try to hard and are despised for it." Lily realizes that she should take this advice to heart and be simple with Rick's kids. Rick is at work trying to calm down Miles Drentell. Miles tells Rick that he needs to change the design for the office. Miles also insults David, Rick's business partner. David gets upset at Rick for working with Miles. Anyway, Miles sends Rick a bottle of scotch and asks him to work late. Miles tells Rick that he wants the building fixed now and that sometimes "people postpone things, and they shouldn't." Rick drinks some of the scotch and then calls Lily to cancel their evening. Lily says OK. Lily tells her children the change in plans and Zoe is upset, because she had drawn a picture of Jessie playing tae kwon doe. Zoe likes the idea of having a choice of sisters. Before Rick tells his children about the plans, Jessie tries on a sweater and wraps it around her waist as she had seen Grace do earlier in the morning, but then decides that she does not like this look. When the cancellation plans come through, everyone is relieved except Zoe who tears the picture she made for Jessie in half. However, Lily soon notices the sweater that Grace had been wearing. In the sweater is a note that her father (Lily's father) had written. The note read "Gifts 4 kids." Lily looks at the "4 kids" as meaning that she now has four children. She tells this to Rick. She says that the time is prime for the children to meet. He agrees. He calls Miles and cancels work for the evening. The show closes out with the same scene that we saw in the beginning. Zoe is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jessie. Grace is taping up the picture that Zoe made. Lily is folding her father's sweater. Eli gets out of the car and dreads seeing Grace who he perceives as the bearer of bad news. Rick gets out of the car which he let Eli drive due to Rick being a little drunk. Jessie is just unsure of what to expect. Rick rings the doorbell. The door opens and everyone smiles. What a great ending to a great show. This particular episode really bonded issues and weaved themes together. If you missed it tonight, be sure to catch it in summer reruns.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE: I've been enjoying the kids, you know, not being part of it [our relationship]. --Rick on his fear that all four children meeting may alter the dynamic of Rick and Lily.
April 17, 2000Mali, a woman who works in Judy's book store, summed up my reaction to the past few months of Once and Again in this week's 8 Flush episode when she says to Lily, "Who cares about you. I want to know about you and Rick." My sentiments exactly...sure, other characters can be interesting, but the show is about the love life of two divorced/separated people, and we do not get to see enough of them. Also, I will say here that ABC broke my thirty minute rule by showing two scenes that took place in the second half of the show during previews...one of the scenes was at 45 minutes and one was at 55 minutes...come on ABC, you should know better than to do that.Now let's get to the episode. We all of a sudden learn this week that Judy is still seeing Sam Blue (played by Steven Weber). The last time we saw these two together was on February 7, but apparently their relationship was a secret. It was a secret until Rick runs into Sam buying condoms at a drug store. Judy then walks into the drug store and runs into Sam's arms. The secret is out. Judy tells Rick that she'll tell Lily, but she doesn't. Rick, however, thinks that Judy has told Lily so he asks her about it. Now Lily knows. Lily feels a little betrayed that Judy is the "other woman" in a relationship and that Judy is dating a married man, especially given Lily's own relations with Jake. Well, Judy is sad and what not. Soul-searching and everything. Judy, however, loves her relationship with Sam. She says cute lines like "Most men find my desperation charming" and then she discusses her relationship with a married man and her self-described title as a mistress: "So I'm a terrible feminist and a self-destructive slut." However, by the end of the episode, Judy has a realization. She talks with Grace and gives a speech about: "The hardest thing about growing up is finding out that people are just people." Judy realizes that Sam is just a person and that as long as he stays married that he cannot be with her. They're over. She also has some sort of revelation that she should sell the bookstore. Lily does not like this idea, but Judy wants to do it. Also this week, Grace is still coping with her father cheating on her mother. Jake sits Grace down and asks her if she wants to talk about what happened. Grace is happy to hear Jake say this and thinks he is apologetic, but then when she sees Tiffany again she says to herself: "I thought that when he wanted to talk, it was because he knew he did something wrong, but he just wanted me to say it [his cheating] was okay so he could keep on doing it." She gets gradually more upset, so much so that she even sort of breaks up with Jared. By the end of the episode, Grace tells her father that he "didn't only cheat on mom. Everyone got betrayed." She begins to wonder if everytime that Jake was late for something, he was having sex with some woman or another. Finally this week, Rick has the flu. Toward the end of the episode (just before the 45 minute commercial), Lily gets a phone call from Eli that Rick is in the hospital. Rick has pneumonia and will be in the hospital for a day or two. She says that she is horrible and should have seen that Rick was getting sick. He says that there was no way for her to know. She says that she should have been there for him just as he has been there for him for the past year. She says, "I want to say I'll make it up to you, but somehow that never seems to happen in life." At the end of the episode, Judy tells Lily that Lily has never seemed so happy. Lily says that she would marry Rick at this point, but I think we're jumping the gun here given the fact that they haven't even admitted their love for each other.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE: We're all so sensitive. You know, every human being. Every act causes these ripples. --Judy.
April 10, 2000Good acting but a bothersome story allowed this show to earn 7 Flushes. I'll start with the simple. Grace and Jared go out on their first date. At the end of the date, the two even kiss. Tiffany (Jake's girlfriend) and Zoey see the kiss, but that is of no consequence. Grace is happy with Jared, and Jake even likes Jared. But before Jake meets Jared, Grace shares that Jared is black. Jake says that is fine with him and so far the race issue is moot. Now that this is out of the way we move to Lily. Lily begins her job working for the youthful Christie Parker. Lily tries to make an immediate good impression with her boss but gets stuck doing mindless tasks like walking dogs and filling out mailing labels. Christie gets annoyed at Lily, because Lily's personal life is cluttering up the office. In one great scene, Christie announces to Lily that she is claustrophobic and that she feels that Lily's life is overwhelming Christie. Lily responds that now is a bad time for her, because of children, an ex-husband, and a boyfriend. Christie responds that she does not care about the specifics of Lily's problems so long as Christie does not have to think about them. Anyway, Lily talks with Rick one night (by the way, when will this relationship recapture the limelight of the show?), and he tells her that for an assistant to make a good impression she has to do something extra. As a result Lily volunteers to do some editing for Christie. Lily works hard one night, but Christie thinks Lily's editing could use some new styling. Anyway, an emergency comes up (you'll know the emergency in the next paragraph), and Lily tells Christie that she has to leave the office even if it means getting fired. Christie says that Lily is not fired, that Lily is a good worker and just needs to get into the swing of things. There is no way that Lily is ready to take over Christie's job overnight, which is what Lily has been trying to do. Christie even says that Lily has blown a breath of fresh air into the office because Lily is the only employee who has a life outside of work. How sweet! As a matter of fact, just before Lily leaves work, Christie gets her period and enters a bathroom stall and asks Lily for a tampon. Lily slides one under the stall's door. The scene was reminiscent of either a high school experience or a mom and her daughter. Interesting.Going back a little, Lily had been so busy at work that she could not effectively take care of her children. Jake volunteers to take care of Grace and Zoey for a week. Everything is going well with them. Tiffany and Zoey bond immediately and even Grace warms up to Tiffany. Grace brags to Jared that she can get her father to do anything for her and that she is her father's favorite child. Well, one day Tiffany is teaching Grace how to apply make-up. Tiffany begins to recount the story of how she met Jake. They met at a Halloween party when Tiffany was dressed as ice cream and Jake was dressed as Bill Clinton. Jake said he wanted to eat Tiffany all up. Grace remembers that her dad dressed up as Clinton two years ago which means that Tiffany and Jake were going out before Lily and Jake split up. Big fight. Grace leaves the restaurant and cannot be found. (This is the emergency for which Lily left work). Lily finds Grace at her house. Grace refuses to talk to Jake. Lily says that Grace should not be mad at Jake, because Jake's actions were only about Lily and Jake. Grace will not forgive Jake. In the meantime Tiffany and Jake discuss their relationship. Tiffany says that it is ironic that their relationship has lasted given the fact that it was only supposed to be a fling. Jake says that their relationship is more than a fling. The end. NEXT WEEK: Rick is in the hospital. Grace refuses to forgive Jake. Sam (Steven Webber) and Judy's relationship is back in action. April 4, 2000Once and Again looks at the other side of family life, meaning the Samler family, in this 8 Flush episode. Remember Karen? well, she is still dating that young doctor Leo. But he is too straight forward and spontaneous for her. For example, Leo shows up at Karen's house one night just before dinner. Her children have no idea that their mother is dating someone, yet Leo sits down and joins the dinner. He swallows his food like a ten year-old, and then when he discovers that Jessie is a tae kwon doe student, he lifts his shirt and tells her to punch him as hard as she can. He further demonstrates his maturity by challenging Eli to a game of basketball, and when Eli begins to beat Leo, Leo starts cheating. Anyway, while Eli and Leo are playing basketball, Rick and Lily show up at the house to drop off a book that Jessie left at his house. Rick meets Leo and does not say anything, but when Rick gets back in the car, we notice that Rick is a bit jealous. Lily, on the other hand, thinks it's great that Karen has a boyfriend. To bring this storyline to a close, let me say that Karen realizes Leo is too young for her, but then realizes that she is attracted to his youth and spontaneity. They will stay together for now.Also this week, Jessie has a tae kwon doe meeting at which she can receive a black belt; however, a few classes before her black belt test, she has to fight a boy named Paul. Jessie has a little crush on Paul, but when she beats him in a fight, he stops talking to her. Jessie does not like being ignored so the next time she has to fight him, she loses on purpose. She may not want to take her black belt test now, but after some girl talk with her mom, Jessie decides that she needs to act for herself. She gets her belt. I will also add that Jessie has a friend named Toby. Toby is Naomi's son (Naomi is the girl who is friends with both Karen and Lily.). I'm not sure which yet, but Toby and Jessie are either best friends or Toby has a crush on Jessie. Finally, Eli wants to go see a college friend of his perform on stage at a club in downtown Chicago. (By the way the friend is a student of Northwestern) Eli asks his mom to borrow the car so he can go downtown, but she says that he may not. Eli then asks his dad, and Rick says OK. Eli goes to the club and is enjoying himself until his mom sees him there. Karen went to the club with Leo not knowing that this was the club about which Eli was referring. Suffice it to say, this encounter in her son's world is what caused Karen to reevaluate her relationship with Leo. As for Eli, he has his car privileges taken away for a month because he played his father against his mother. This episode was solid, and we really got to see the emotional strain on Karen of being an employee, a girlfriend, and a mother. Although I missed the ever-lovable Lily Samler, Karen is not bad.
KAREN'S CONFESSION OF THE EPISODE: She rotates her underwear so that they all get worn equally.
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