"Valentino", Episode #106.



Cast: Matthew Long, Logan Lerman, Christine Lahti, Edwin Hodge, Jessica Par‚, John Slattery.
Director(s): John Coles.
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Vanessa Taylor, Mickey Liddell, Thomas Schlamme.
Writer(s): Steven Cohen, Brad Meltzer.

Original Airdate: October 27, 2004.
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*That's right - this show's new timeslot is Wednesday @ 9/8 P.M. Central.

First time on its new night!

I didn't think THE WB had shows on at 10/9 central.

I believe it's on at 9/8 central.

Yeah, I just checked TV Guide's website.

Doh! That's what I meant.

My local WB affiliate isn't showing this until Saturday night. The channel is weird in that it's also a UPN affiliate, so it is broadcasting those shows tonight.

"Valentino"

An episode featuring parallel stories of parents trying to help situations where their child could be placed in harm's way when perceived "undesirables" hit on Bobby and Courtney.

Peter overreacts and causes Courtney to be ridiculed in the college newspaper cartoon, and of course news travels to her high school where she get harassing emails and more ridicule from the cartoon that gets taped to her locker. Courtney just wants Peter to trust her judgment and to let her have some space.

Grace tries to have a sit-down with Dex's parents, and Bobby finally stands up for his relationship with Dex, surprising Grace and Dex's parents. Jack warns Dex to stay away from Bobby, and cut to her own insecurities and Dex gives in by staging a scene (where she'd be caught kissing another guy by Bobby) that would push Bobby away. Bobby is heartbroken.

Grace also rips apart her grad student's thesis on graphical literature, but he stands his ground, and later when Grace suggest they not work together, he wants her guidance even more because she challenges him. If they are knocking boots by the end of the season, I guess I missed on all the academic sexual tension that's been building these past weeks.

On the future history front, it's reveal that Bobby and Courtney had 4 boys, and the white house usher volunteered that Bobby's first born, Jack(AKA Valentino by the secret service), was his favorite. The story of Valentino wanting to take a girl on a date without secret service detail was told, and Bobby allows it for one date (though Courtney was against it) at a skating rink. The secret service was there, just hidden away. Valentino's date's knee gives way on the ice, and the secret service swooped into action, and Valentino was mortified by the illusion of it all. Valentino would not talk to his parents for a month, but Bobby knew the risks of a dangerous world and had to allow secret service to do its job, no matter how much Valentino hated his parents for the coverage.

So, the stories all involved how much protection do parents afford their children while allowing them the freedom to make their choices and live with the consequences.

Man, Grace is really fuckin crazy.

I've given up on this show...it started out good, but now it seems like a low-rent version of THE WONDER YEARS with a presidential twist. Just not enough interesting things going on with the characters to keep me tuned in. I suppose I'll give it another shot if and when Season 1 comes to DVD. I think the four or five shows I watched seemed interchangable.

Any comic readers watching this? I swear I saw a poster with the word 'Crisis' adorned on Jack's wall, but I'm not sure what the picture was, and I thought I heard 'Winick' (Meltzer's writing the 'Identity Crisis' mini and his friend Judd Winick is dealing with a few DC titles). This was on top of the whole 'graphical literature's relevance to life' theme too.

I thought that the "crisis" poster on the wall was an "Identity Crisis" poster also. I missed the Winick reference, though.

This ep was kind of blah, imo.

I really only liked the part where Bradley Cooper's character stood up to Grace.