Ruth Sadelle Alderson

Just catching up after being out of town for a bit. I actually found this episode more interesting than the last one, but also much more unpleasant!

Kodette's life continues to make me depressed. Not only the long-distance thing and the single parent thing but also the one moment Jason had to be supportive (over the death of her...friend? I missed the detail of who it was exactly) and then he pretty much changed the subject. Blech. I have noticed quite a theme of the hockey guys not being great at talking about anything emotional, though I do wonder whether they would be doing a little better if the cameras weren't there. I think it's hard enough for men in a macho sports culture to be emotionally sensitive without worrying about whether they're going to be watched by thousands of people while doing it. (Not that I'm excusing it.)

I liked Emilie less in this episode than I had in the past. On the one hand, moving to Europe would obviously be a huge deal and I don't blame her for thinking carefully about it, but I was turned off by her rah-rah-patriotic "I could never live in a foreign country" bit. Maybe broaden your worldview a little bit? < /avid traveler >

I enjoyed Nicole's storyline a lot other than Dustin coming across as a bit of a douche. (Again, maybe it was the editing, but it didn't look like he was even watching most of the game, much less "coaching." The coaching is actually kind of awkward when it's his wife, but you'd think he'd at least try to be an attentive fan...) It's easier to see her as a person when she's not spending the whole episode chasing screaming kids around.

Mehhh, Maripier. On the one hand, I thought Tiffany was giving her some much-needed tough love (such as "maybe people don't take you seriously because you fight all the time"), but immediately saying "that's stupid" to her wedding fantasy was just rude. And boy, no one rocks a judgy face the way Tiffany does. /o\

"You want your house to be stylish, but at the same time, you don't want your kid to die."

Great line from Tiffany.

I thought her getting snippy over Maripier's bonding comment near the end was kind of a classic case of her taking things personally that really did not need to be taken that way. *sigh* I thought being a little upset that Maripier wasn't considerate of her financial situation was more warranted.