Refocusing on the family, as in ‘Other People's Daughters.’ Sharon is excluded
[Ms Odessa was ill] and Jordan moves to the background temporarily, even
if Angela can't believe he is trying to diagram her sentences. Then again,
she can't even believe Graham and Rickie are bonding. Or that orange juice
doesn't grow on trees.
Brian is too busy picturing Angela naked to be thoughtful. First he pries, then lends her a sweater with the proviso: "Try not to sweat in it." You'd think he'd want her to.
Bess Armstrong beautifully portrays Patty as strong, yet vulnerable. Patty's rules are ‘no going out on school or audit nights.’ Graham sort of defies Patty but, in fact, gets to be strong for her. This is a subtle relationship, as is the one with Patty's dad, Chuck, the one force she can't deal with. Yet, she is more like her dad than she'd admit. [Soon some issues with her mom will be revealed.]
Graham has problems of his own, when suspicions poison his relationship with Angela. He sees the tail end of her suspicious search at a time he already feels violated by the IRS. Then he catches Angela lying to him. As Graham and Chuck realise, raising a daughter is like walking on eggshells, at least half the time.
Angela's rage leads to pissing off her dad and Rayanne, who repays her subsequently (‘Betrayal’). Angela realises that her relationship with Graham is precious. Patty encourages her to restore it without a melodramatic make-up scene, just an awkward confrontation. He's firm with her, then they chat about music.
School is realistically portrayed again. The guidance counselor creates a make-work project— diagramming sentences. Rather pointless and deftly conveyed by episode writer Winnie Holzman, whose husband, Paul Dooley, also appears. Francesa P Roberts ("Frank's Place") is outstanding as the IRS agent.
The music in this episode blends well, even the Dead song. As usual, some points are left ambiguous, like why Angela sold the tickets. Just to erase her silly comment to Jordan? She claims not.
It's not about an IRS audit, it's about respecting relationships. The
series is about relationships, how they evolve, how they differ from one
person to another. And especially, what a struggle it is to build and maintain
them.
MIDPOINT ANNOUNCEMENT - GRAHAM