In juggling two women on last night’s episode of Men of a Certain Age, I didn’t really see Joe turning into Terry for a moment. His mistake, however, was in acting like Terry, or at least doing as Terry said. But that’s for later.
As much as I don’t think she’s the right woman for him right now, I’m glad to see that Joe’s relationship with Michelle (Alanna Ubach) is going strong. The fact that they moved the party to his house, and that she spent the night, made me feel a lot cleaner for his sake than last week’s post-sex kick out her hotel room door did.
I think it’s nice that Joe’s trying to kick his gambling addiction by making silly little mind bets with himself. I hope he doesn’t actually suck so much at golf that he costs himself food for a month, or something along those lines, but I like that he’s trying to insure against a backslide by being smart about quitting.
I liked Bonnie (Jessica Tuck) a lot. I thought she and Joe worked well together, and I loved that for once Ray Romano actually seemed comfortable around a woman. He’s an idiot for using Terry’s line on her, and I hope that they straighten things out and try again … I’d hate for Joe to lose what he imagined would lead him to lying, wearing a fake moustache, and having two cell phones. And it was really nice how well he connected with Bonnie’s son Kenneth (Jared Gilmore). I get where she was coming from on that, but I think she overreacted a bit.
Also not acting like himself last night was Terry. I was all for the sales wager, but the way in which Terry tried to get old colleague Dave (Michael Hitchcock) to buy a car he couldn’t afford was totally out-of-character … I really liked that! Terry’s a good guy — unless you’re a woman — and that’s awesome, but everyone gets blinded every once and a while. It was nice to know that we weren’t the only ones. I loved how he went to his little black book for sales leads. And nice move by Marcus tossing the coffee into the tree!
I thought at first that I’d be annoyed by Owen’s continuing struggle with his father, but I think we were really given the impression that he’s still going through a process that will ultimately result in him running a successful business — be that the dealership or something else. I loved that Owen was working with Jesse (Patrick Gallagher) and the service crew right off the bat. After last week it was a step forward that they seemed to have arrived at a workable relationship.
I would have liked to see Owen renegotiate that contract himself. Count me in the camp that wonders whether he’s prepared to run a business. I’m rooting for him, but I still don’t know if he can do it. I’d love some proof that he can.
Meanwhile, Senior’s experience at the Lakers event — nice cameos by former Lakers stars Michael Cooper and James Worthy — was sad but not surprising. I always imagined that his NBA profile was probably larger outsider the NBA spotlight than in it, and his experience at the event proved me right. I wish it hadn’t led him to take it out on Owen, but then again Owen should know his father well enough to not try and pity him.
Other fun moments:
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 21, 2010 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
