Sorry that I’m a day late and a dollar short this week loyal readers (aka, my mom, when she has time), but that’s what happens when you’re busy getting
educated, kids. You know who wasn’t a dollar short this week? Marcus, because he decided to print all the money he needed for mini-society. (Solid segue,
Kim, keep up the good work).
The episode this past week was all about money, as Will gets his royalty check for “Runaway Sleigh” and spends that money willy-nilly on anything and
everything. Including, of course, some Mylar balloon sharks, margarita mixer, and even a night off for his crush, Dr. Sam. That’s right, he bought
time with her. Hopefully Will will start to understand that literally buying time with people is not a particularly attractive habit, and realize that Sam
is not impressed by the careless abandon with which he throws his fortune at problems. Maybe a future episode will even deal with Will trying to write
songs again, and finally confront his fears that he can’t do anything beyond his one silly holiday hit song. The combination of his nearly endless funds
and his creative stagnation have led him to the emotionally stunted man that he is today, unable to try and do more with his life for fear that he won’t be
able to, and enough money to ensure he never has to try. If he can start to confront his fear of failing, maybe he can start to use money as a crutch less
and less.
Although Will clearly doesn’t know how to deal with unrequited crushes, his grand plan to throw a party just to hang out with Sam is sweet, and very
reminiscent of an early episode of the late How I Met Your Mother (may it rest in peace).
Will’s unhealthy attitude toward money rubs off on Marcus who wants to buy things like Will does. Although Fiona tries to tame his desire by setting him up
to be the Slopmaster in the school’s model society, Marcus counterfeits (read: prints) the model society currency. Although I disagree with Marcus’
methods, I understand his reasoning - as a kid (and adult, let’s be honest), nothing is cooler than trading in some sort of fake currency or tickets for a
real life prize. And Marcus goes for the thing that he usually can’t get at home - sugary desserts. Fiona sets a trap at mini-society to catch the
counterfeiter and is obviously upset to find that it’s her own sweet son, especially because she’s worried about his newfound desire for expensive things
that she can’t afford. Luckily Marcus seems to learn his lesson in the end as he decides he’d rather clean gum off the chairs than have Will pay the
janitor to do it.
Scene of the week: Will got stoned by cardboard boxes from the mini-society citizens. Middle school kids are vicious - kill ya soon as look at ya. I mean,
that was a Bible quote for goodness sake!
Sorry for the short review this week, but I’ll tell you what - how about I make it up to you with some teases for next week’s episode, “About a Boy’s Dad”?
Sound good? Great, look for those to appear later tomorrow.
What did you think of “About a Slopmaster”? Do you think Marcus learned his lesson about wealth and cheating? Do you think Will will ever learn
that lesson? Let us know below!