Episodes #206

"Episodes" doesn’t give titles to their episodes so I am entitling it myself: “Affairs of the Heart and Other Bodily Organs.”

Two pairs of star crossed lovers get their signals crossed which makes them very cross indeed.

Carol demands that Merc recognize the fifth anniversary of their first hook-up. He agrees and suggests a weekend in Cabo. Merc calls his travel agent to arrange the trip. Merc then calls his wife, Jamie, with an excuse about having to go to New York for business over the weekend.

Jaime immediately calls Matt saying that she will be free for the weekend, and how about they go away together. Matt agrees to go to Napa with her. Jaime calls her travel agent to arrange the trip.

Here is where the stars and signals get crossed. Jaime and Merc use the same travel agent. The travel agent does not realize Merc and Jaime are going on different trips.  The travel agent thinks that the trip to Cabo is being cancelled and replaced with a trip to Napa.

Merc must now cover-up and pretend that he had been planning to surprise his wife with a trip to Napa. The result: Merc and Jamie are going to Napa—by the way, Merc hates Napa and Jaime hates Merc— but they each keep up the pretense of a happy marriage. 

Matt tells Sean his history with his stalker, Labia. It began innocently when Labia was a child with cancer and the Make-A-Wish foundation granted her a wish. The young Labia was a big fan of “Friends” and wanted “Joey” to take her t Disneyland. After that trip, the two stay in touch and Labia is cured. After she turns 18, Matt has sex with her, just the once. She has been stalking him every since. Sean is disapproving of all the casual sex in Matt’s life and the complications that ensue from his thoughtless encounters.

But Sean is on his way to his own thoughtless encounter. It is with Morning again.  Morning has had some cosmetic surgery on her cheek that has gone wrong. She refuses to leave her house. Sean goes to her house to try to persuade her to go to the studio for the shooting of the show. He’s shocked by her appearance, but he assures her that they can work around it. 

Morning, maybe because she is so relieved by this news or maybe because she is so depressed by her condition, gets a bit “cheeky,” and initiates a little “afternoon delight” with Sean. Sean is reluctant and tries to back away so Morning has him pinned against a wall. The camera stays on Sean’s face as Mourning’s face slides down Sean’s body until it is out of view. Sean’s face is marvelous to watch—he moves through a series of expressions first showing resistance, then arousal, and finally release. 

The love story this week is Carol and Merc. Carol is feeling newly empowered by the knowledge that she can stand up to Merc and ask for what she wants … and get it. But her disappointment when Merc tells her they can’t go away for the weekend is the last straw for Carol. She breaks it off with Merc.

Hooray for Carol for ending her dead-end affair. But, at the end of the episode, we see that her resolve is already wavering. She loves Merc. If only there had been more love in this episode, I could have entitled this review “What I Did for Love.”