Episode 89 Morals

In plain English, these are the morals from Episode 89:

Cassie and friends share their musings about life.

It's pretty obvious when you just throw something in a little girl's unsuspecting face that you're going to get the reaction you did. Two things bug me here--the first is the way Cassie suddenly started to deal with Sharon's place as a prison camp just before all this happened, when she'd been previously dealing with visits to the ranch as exciting adventures.

The little actress played her lines extremely well, but I think the lines were just not believable--no motivation had been given for her transition. It was as if the writers were just trying to hurry her up to be ready to make her attitude at the revelation be plausible, but in the end all they did was shift the point of implausibility because this is a plot that could not be hurried.

The other thing that bothers me is Sharon's insensitivity in just telling Cassie. It's not truly out of character, but she is a pretty loving person and I can't believe she wouldn't know it would be a shock to the little girl. She ought to have made Grace tell the story since it was Grace that made the mess--by telling it herself she made herself the agent of Cassie's grief.

Also, more generally, I think it's sad to have all these kids on the show and not take advantage of the `social commentary' options they provide. The principal business of the parents is to make babies and then principal activity to do with children once had is to cart them off to bed. Seems to me that they could be usefully used to make social commentary on their parents, since they have the unique role as sort of almost-omniscient outside observer, not quite familiar with the social conventions they are observing. Like the doctor on Northern Exposure, or like Spock, Data, and Seven on the various Star Trek series, they stand outside and can offer interesting insights. But instead they are mostly kicked around and tucked out of sight, like so much dirty laundry.

Sarah amuses herself by scaring Nikki to death.

I'm enjoying the `Saronica' plot generally. There's no deep message here. Just some good times exploring the options of how to bring down Nikki. I left it slightly ambiguous as to whether Nikki is really dead here, so you can read it either way, depending on who you're rooting for. (Me? I'm rooting for Sarah.)

Nick is bemused by Sharon's revelation.

I can never resist a chance to poke fun at Nick. No really deep message here either, except that the writers should go light on trying to make him a serious business person. He's so much more fun to write in comic ways.

Cricket plays musical chairs.

I'm pretty sure Cricket's in for a big disappointment with Danny, who these days seems to have mostly violence behind his eyes. I'm never sure whether he's going to beat his kid or kidnap Cricket first. But it's clear now that before he has a chance, she's going to willingly turn herself over to him.

I haven't had a chance to parody a song in quite a while, so I thought this was a fun opportunity. Since Michael is next in line for Cricket now that she's with Danny, he seemed the obvious candidate to serenade her. The funny thing was that when Danny sang the song, I could hear him saying "I'll be stalking you" and I contemplated writing that into the parody--but since it was from Michael instead of Danny, I didn't sense the "stalking" part, and so I left it alone. I really think these two are backward in personality from how their superficially portrayed on the show. I hope the writers actively intend that because I think it will make the characters most interesting in the future.

Cricket and Michael will never be a "happy, loving couple", but I think they'll have a nice "edge"... with Cricket never really being sure she can admit to wanting Michael, but never quite being able to get him out of her system either. That sort of love-hate relationship can be played a lot of different ways. She can try to get back with Paul or Danny, only to find they bore her silly... Well, maybe Danny wouldn't be so boring if he flips out and goes overtly psycho, but then I think Cricket won't want to be with him. It's the reckless/intense side of Michael that attracts her, not the pscyho/crazy side; they should play down the latter in Michael if they're going to keep him for the long run.

That's all for Episode 89's morals. Don't miss Episode 90 and its morals!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.