Life Unexpected – Bent or broken is the family tree

“Meeting the parents” is a phrase that strikes fear into the hearts of teenage boys and twenty something women everywhere (truly, most everyone). But meeting the grandparents? Well, Lux was in for it. Throw in the fact that they were caught just as unaware as Cate and Baze were? And the topper? Psycho parents. It’s no doubt Lux didn’t think she was trading up.

I think the definition of family has changed in the last twenty years, and television has been a harbinger of that shift. Life Unexpected showed us that this week. If your family is the people who take care of you, then I, too, would have run far away from the dinner with her grandparents (and aunt) directly back to the friends that have supported me through some really crappy times. (Caveat: my family, especially any of you who are reading this right now … you rock, except for you … and you know who you are). Lux eventually bringing her parents to meet her family was a much better moment for everyone than dinner with the grandparents.

Cate sure did screw the pooch all episode long, didn’t she? She was especially clueless to her daughter’s questioning how she could have transferred Lux without asking. “I’ve got connections” wasn’t necessarily what she was looking for. How will Tosha, who is very important to Lux’s stability, continue to be a part of her life? Every episode, I get this feeling that Cate is going to invite Tosha to live with them, until, seconds later, I realize how stupid that would be.

Neither Cate nor Baze grew up in a stable environment, and they both turned out kinda nutty. Lux grew up in much worse circumstances, and somehow became the most mature, balanced character on the show. One of the main themes of the show is how the parents will learn from the child as much as the other way around. The bar’s rent money is the biggest sign of that yet, and as ridiculous as it was to watch Baze promise to pay Lux back, it felt so right.

Notes & Quotes:

• I don’t care, I think “Open Bar” is a great name for a bar
• That was a great way to meet your grandfather, eh?
• When I was in high school, I would have killed for a door where I could make the handle go away like Lux did with the pull rope
• “The point is to make a good impression, and bringing Bug, it would have just been … an impression.”
• “Yeah, that would be really messy if Baze was my high school crush, your baby daddy, and mom’s fifth husband.”
• The beats with the girls at the new school were a bit confusing, and while I was able to follow what was going on, I thought the whole thing was rather unnecessary

Clacked by Ivey West
on Feb 02, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT