My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 8: "Strangers in the House"

Season 1, Episode 9: “Strangers in the Night”
Grade: 9.6

Television does not get better than this. This would have to take the award for favorite episode of the series thus far; yes even more so than the pilot. While I do not like Sharon I also very much like her I also really like her. I love her character; its just the actress who bugs me. Her mannerisms and speech patterns and constant bitchiness get to me. Despite this I love what she brings to the show and this episode completely delves into Sharon and Angela’s issues and also allows for Graham to have what I would call a near breakdown which ends with him getting fired by his own wife. Harsh. Everything in this episode was perfect. The episode had a slightly different tone to it due to the seriousness of the situation. The way Angela dealt with Sharon staying over was so absurdly the way I would have handled it and while it came off as coldness from Sharon’s point of view, it’s really the only way Angela know how to deal with things. There is a moment when Angela comes in to ask Sharon something and she says it lightly and jokingly at first but Sharon does not hear her and says “What?”. Angela then reverts to saying it more seriously and its such a small moment of perfection and unmatchable authenticity. I loved everything involving Sharon’s mother and the way she handles the situation as well. I honestly do not know what to say about the episode except that everything was perfect. Brian’s connection to Sharon. The scenes with Sharon and Angela. Sharon hugging Brian. Everything involving Graham. Rayanne cutting school to drive Sharon to the hospital. The last scene with Brian and Angela. The underwhelming reactions of Sharon and her mother about their father/husband and the overwhelming ones from Patty and especially Graham. This episode really shows the potential that television has.

Quotes:
Angela: There are so many different ways to be connected to people. There are the people you feel this unspoken connection to, even though there's not even a word for it. There's the people who you've known forever who know you in this way that other people can't because they've seen you change. They've let you change