One Man and a Baby

Mark here...tonight it was my turn to cook and I made us Nigella Lawson's roasted duck leg with potatoes and a kale Caesar salad.  The caesar salad recipe is the same just with kale. The duck leg and potatoes were a-mazing! Laurel's not a fan of duck, so in the photo she was having veggie burgers, however she can attest to the duck fat roasted potatoes!

Anyway, this episode is called, "One Man and a Baby"  the man in question is Brandon and the baby is his new girlfriend's...so we know where this is going... In the beginning we see Brandon is into this girl who's apparently a bit of a nerd and trying to get into Harvard... Brandon accidentally ends up with her latin test and after conversing with Kelly and Brenda, Kelly says, "Who would date a girl who takes latin?" I thought this was funny after myself having to take 5 years of latin in high school! Anyway Brandon ends up dating this girl (Melissa) and it turns out she has a baby...who she promptly drops on Brandon to babysit!  Cindy comes through a bit here, although she and Jim are on the way out the door.  Laurel and I both cracked up when she says, "Get Brenda to help you!" We know Brenda would have no part in this!  But the ostensible reason is a subplot with Brenda and Kelly taking sky-diving lessons. In the end, of course said girl has to prioritize and dating is off the menu, so Brandon dodges that bullet... One point of note though is that we see Brandon driving to and fro on his dates...didn't he get a DUI last episode?!?

Laurel here...I never got why the parents had so much screen time in this show when I watched this as a teenager, but now that I'm an old lady I totally get it! I really have a new appreciation for the parents, especially Cindy.  Her son is dating a 16 year old with a kid, but somehow this conservative mom from Minnesota is totally understanding and supportive...not only to Brandon, but to Melissa too. She and Melissa have a heart to heart, and her advice basically boils down to follow your heart...  while I feel like most actual parents in this situation would be screaming for the girl to give the kid up for adoption.  Meanwhile Brenda's babysitting advice for Brandon is to watch "3 men and a baby"  (see diaper photo below).  Also when Brenda confesses to sneaking out to take skydiving lessons, her parents could take this opportunity to bust on her, but instead they choose to appreciate the fact that she faced her fears.  They are actually doing a crossword i n bed when she confesses, and Cindy's response is "6 letter word for patience = PARENT.

One point of note, which is different from the DVD (which we had originally watched), when Brenda and Kelly are skydiving, in the DVD Muzak is playing, in the episode on tv, "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak.

I also feel like I should make a note that Andrea is blissfully absent from this episode, I can only imagine what she would have to say about Brandon dating a teenage single mom.

On to the style awards!  There are no clear winners of this episode, instead a 3 way tie for worth mentioning...

1.  Brenda's mom jeans!  Wow her asshole is really trying hard to eat these jeans...

2.  Brandon's robe!  Actally sort of a serious fashion honor, Mark and I both wish we had this robe now.  Maybe when we win the lottery we will have matching ones made.

3.  Brenda and Kelley's ridiculous skydiving outfits!  I know they are skydiving but still...too crazy not to show you!  Mark here...I will add the instructor to this ridiculous trio!  His crotch was not flattered by this outfit!  But I guess it's cold up there!

Cocktail moments:

Jim and Cindy home playing word games...Scrabble and crossword puzzles...way to reinvigorate the marriage after Cindy's recent flirtation with an old flame

Brenda's response to Kelly beeping from the street to pick her up..."OK!" (Kelly can't hear her and its classic Brenda bitchiness)