Trying to regain some semblance of control of a life that's increasingly without definition.
Death and Taxes
This episode shows the swift beginning and downfall of a relationship between Leon and Claire, who is portrayed by guest star Michaela Conlin (Bones). This starts when she picks him up while he's admiring the Seurat Painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".
Claire: Makes me think of "Ferris Bueller".
Leon: I've never seen it.
Claire: You've never seen "Ferris Bueller"?
Leon: Nope.
Claire: Are you Amish?
Leon: British.
Claire: I always get those two confused.
After that we see them spend time together, in very romantic places and quickly become close and even comfortable but before even five minutes of the episode have gone by he finds out she's seeing other men and she's fast out the door. It really surprised me: first, to see Leon on his own almost completely away from Alex's story line and second, the fact that they have such an amazing guest star and use her for only a few scenes. I don't see the point to this yet, unless she makes an appearance in upcoming episodes. Also it made me glad for a few seconds that they gave Leon a love interest and was very disappointed when I saw it wasn't going to last.
The only connection of Leon's introduction to Alex is the amount of times we see his name on Leo's phone screen while he ignores his calls, only to answer them once his short love story is over. When he shows up to Alex's house he finds him obsessed over Sarah's "creepy eyebrows" comment so he tells him to get professional help. For a second I thought Alex would take this as a joke and see a beauty expert but he goes to see Jennifer instead. She refers him to a friend who tells him he's maybe focusing on his eyebrows to deviate from a different problem. This only makes him go to Jennifer again to interrupt her lunch and he begs her to talk to him. She asks him if anyone ever tells him no, but caves and after listening to him for a while she says maybe the unique relationship he has with Valerie could be the cause of their problems with each other and that their anger is probably misplaced.
On Laura's end we see Aubrey has disappeared from the scene, she doesn't even show up to school, and I have to say it's a bit of a bummer they got rid of her so easily since she was a very interesting addition to the show. In the meantime we see Laura's relationship with Spencer advance as they go casket hunting and he starts talking about how Laura could maintain his social media once he's gone, but in that moment Laura realizes she doesn't want him to die.
Valerie is a bit depressed as she goes to a meeting with Drew about their taxes to finalize their divorce, while they're talking she realizes he's frustrated since baby making is apparently not so much fun when fertility doctors have to get involved. There's a funny scene where he says he feels like a factory worker and she starts singing "Trouble in Paradise". When they go out Valerie sees Anthony and his wife and uses Drew as a human shield to follow them without getting caught, so they get inside the same restaurant and sit on a table where she can spy on them but Drew wants to leave.
Valerie: No, I just want to know.
Drew: What do you have to know?
Valerie: Why he left me for her.
Drew: Were you f*king him?
Valerie: Of course not.
Drew: There you go. Best therapy in the world won't trump good sex.
Valerie: That stupid. No matter how good the sex is, eventually it becomes pat. Repetition breeds predictability. Remember?
Drew: That's not what happened to us.
He asks her if she thinks they became familiar, she says it was unavoidable after seventeen years but it never made her cheat, not that she didn't think about it, she just decided not to. He asks her if any guy had sick, she says intimacy was fleeting and asks him about Mae-Yi.
Drew: In bed?
Valerie: Sure.
Drew: It was better at first.
Valerie: Wen it was illicit.
Drew: See? That's the paradox, right? When you get the intimate you lose the illicit.
Valerie: And the illicit can't sustain by itself.
Drew: Seems like we're destined to be unsatisfied.
Valerie: Unless... you find a way to cheat intimately. Have illicit sex with someone who knows you.
Drew: If only.
After that they realize Anthony and his girlfriend left and they do the same but when they're saying goodbye, since their divorce is finally over, they kiss, leaving this open to a very dangerous path.
Alex, on the other hand, goes to visit his father, but he decides against going inside. When he's about to leave, a homeless man tells him out of nowhere that it's all his fault, that he's the problem and everyone ends up in the same place. He's baffled but he doesn't know what to do with that so he leaves. On his way he crosses paths with an ambulance that was actually bringing his father home from hospital.
40
Valerie begins her birthday in Drew's bed since Mae-Yi is out of town, then she goes home for breakfast so Laura doesn't know she spent the night away, but ignores Alex's attempts of making peace. He asks Laura why her mom doesn't forgive him, she asks him if he has told her he was sorry but he says actions speaks louder than words and sets off to throw her a surprise party. So he goes to see Jennifer and ask her for her game-night friends to invite them over.
He calls Jack, who is not so sure about going but when Alex says it's a barbecue he decides to go over early to help and they bond over meat and their philosophies, Alex says the way to find a perfect match would be to cross reference Spotify, Amazon, Postmates and p0rn, so Jack tells him he can connect hi to a friend that could help. All this while Laura and Spencer strengthen their bond by choosing tattoos for each other, she gives him a stapler and he chooses the first emoticons they ever shared.
Valerie, on the other hand, spends her lunch reminiscing with Drew and they end up in bed again but after that Drew seems to be a little cofused about the meaning of it all.
Drew: What are we doing?
Valerie: I'm sleeping with my ex-husband. And trying to regain some semblance of control of a life increasingly without definition. You, I have no f*king idea.
He says he wants her back, that he misses their life together and made a mistake by cheating, but she says they were just having fun and that was it. And after that she leaves only to get to her surprise party with people she barely sees including Leon, Jennifer and some of her friends that Valerie doesn't even know. The first thing she does is scolding Alex for inviting Jack, so trying to fix his mistake, Alex tells him that Valerie's mad about finding out about Jennifer and asks him to leave. Jack says it was three years ago but he's willing to comply, until Valerie asks him to stay.
There is a very uncomfortable moment when Leia reads a poem about love after love that only Leon appreciates, and it makes me think they could be awesome together. In that moment, Laura receives a call from Spencer who tells her the treatment worked and his tumor is shrinking, so she tells her mom and goes to his house. They sleep together in celebration, but after that Spencer starts talking about the future and Laura freaks out realizing for the first time, that their relationship is not doomed enough for her to be comfortable with it.
During dinner, Valerie realizes Jack has slept with other women in Jennifer's group, and that the people at her party, like Jennifer, are there because of Alex and not her. In that moment she decides to go home, to Drew. But the doorbell rings and they receive a paramedic who says he's bringing their father to stay.
Paramedic: We have your father outside. Just need to find a way to bring him in. Maybe through the garage.
Alex: Lock all the doors, Val.
So what did you think about these episodes? I would love to read your thoughts.
Note: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.
