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

My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 7: "Why Jordan Can't Read"

Season 1, Episode 7: “Why Jordan Can’t Read”
Grade: 8.6

I hate that I cannot remember a ton about this one. I fell in love with the beginning with everyone in the museum. I don’ hate Jordan anymore. I still don’t really care for him I find that I enjoy his presence because it is fun to make fun of him. I figured the song was not written about Angela and I am excited to see if Angela finds out about that. The scenes with Jordan when Angela goes to his band (the hilariously named Frozen Embryos) are so delightfully awkward and true. I love how Angela takes the fact that she knows about Jordan’s reading problem to mean that they have a special connection. Its true but the essence she builds around it in her head was pitch-perfect. I wish I remembered more about this episode. Again, its’ been a while. Patty and Graham deal with the fact that Patty might be pregnant again. I freaking love Patty and Graham. I’ve fallen in love with the both of them. They are the coolest people of all time. Angela deals with a lack of enthusiasm and awkwardness with Jordan and I love how he tries to show interest but he can’t show too much and I love how she tries not to be awkward about things but fails miserably. Wow. Jordan ditches on the first date. Angela looks stunning and Brian and Angela have a scene where they flip on each other which is an awesome scene. Brian is so ridiculously awkward; he speaks his mind too much, butts in on stuff that is not his business and yet I feel bad for him because well he’s so awesome and nobody can see the awesomeness of Brian Krakow. I’m only half kidding on that by the way. So yeah, Jordan does not show because he does not want to meet the parents yet. I sort of understand but seriously that was way harsh of him. I love love love love love the last scene with Brian and Angela playing catch. There are so many groups of two whose interactions I absolutely relish and eat up; Angela and Brian, Brian and Ricky, Brian and Sharon, Sharon and Rayanne, Sharon and Angela and more. Oh and we get to see in this episode that Danielle is a sketchy creepy annoying little girl who wants saxophone lessons from Brian.

Quotes:
Angela: Love is when you look into someone's eyes and suddenly you go all the way inside, to their soul, and you both know instantly. I always imagined I'd fall in love nursing a blind soldier who was wounded in battle. Or maybe while rescuing someone in the middle of a blizzard, seconds before the avalanche hits. I thought at least by the age of fifteen I'd have a love life. But I don't even have a like life.

My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 6: "The Substitute"

Season 1, Episode 6: “The Substitute”
Grade: 8.5

This show is becoming an obsession of mine. I find myself thinking about it weeks after watching an episode. I find myself being depressed like everyone else that has seen it that it never lasted. I marvel at the amount of care and time and effort that is put into every single episode. Every single thing about every single episode is so perfect and specifically so. The writing is impeccable, the characters so unique and specific and special and the performances are incredible across the board with Claire Danes quite possibly giving the most impressive performance for a television series I have ever seen. I am not sure I’ve seen a more accurate, naturalistic or true to life portrayal of a teenager in TV or film. The stories are so unpredictable and they never turn out quite the way you think they are going to. They take you by surprise and have little twists that you do not expect which makes the storytelling feel so fresh and original 15 years later. What an amazing show this is.

So this episode has a substitute teacher coming to the school that takes everyone by surprise with his own rebellious way of teaching. It begins as a sort of Dead Poets Society sort of thing and ends with the teacher not being quite the amazing person we thought he was. The best moment of the episode was when Angela who was very inspired by him to fight for free speech goes to talk to him about his leaving and he calls her Amanda. But it does not end there as the episode really just shows how Angela makes a choice to pick her battle by handing out the student literature packet that had been banned from the school.

It has been almost 2 months since I’ve seen this so I really cannot remember a ton of specifics from the episode. I do remember loving the scene with Rayanne and Sharon when they discuss the banned racy poem that Sharon wrote which we had been led to believe had been Rayanne’s poem. The thing I love most about the show are the scenes with 2 characters interacting that you don’t expect to. All of the random relationships and interactions are explored and I look forward to those scenes possibly the most.

Quotes:
Brian (about Angela getting a ride from Mr. Racine): So, is there, like, anyone's car you won't get into?

Angela: Right. I live my life to annoy you, Krakow. You're, like, my world.

Brian: Shut up. I mean, he's old. He's a teacher.

Angela: What? You think I, like, did something with him?

Brian: I don't know. How do I know?

Angela: Are you demented? Do you just view everything in terms of sex?

Brian: Not everything.

Patty: So what is this substitute person like? Is Brian Krakow right? Is he mentally ill?

Graham: Ah, possibly. I mean, he, um, didn't give me any Kool-Aid to drink, or anything like that. No, actually, he's a pretty cool guy.

Patty: Cool? Cool is not what substitutes are. Substitutes have hard to pronounce last names and bad haircuts.

Graham: Well, this substitute is cool.

Patty: He's not a substitute. Maybe he's a narc.

Graham: Maybe you're a narc

Sharon: Oh god, do you know how over my life will be when people find out ..I..wrote it?Rayanne: Do you know how over mine's gonna be when they find out I ...didn't...?

Rickie (reading Angela's poem): There once lived a girl. She lived in a house made of gingerbread and candy. She was always asleep. One day she woke up, and found that the candy had mold on it. Her father blew her a kiss, and the house came crashing down. She walked down the street. Only the people were made of paper. She blew them all a kiss, and watched as they all floated away...

My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 5: "The Zit"

Season 1, Episode 5: “The Zit”
Grade: 8.7

This is my favorite episode outside of the pilot so far. See, while I hate Sharon, as I’ve said before I totally understand where she is coming from and am actually on her side in the whole Angela/Sharon breakup. But I still hate Sharon. She grates on me. But the scenes between Sharon and Angela are my favorites on the show. So this was essentially a gold mine for me with two incredible scenes with the two of them. The first is when Angela asks Sharon if she is participating in the mother/daughter fashion show and Sharon is just not ready to pretend she did not basically dump her. So Sharon calls Angela out on the zit in the title which was really very harsh and uncalled for. Then Angela comes back with a doozy by calling her out on being named Best Hooters on a list that had been made in the episode. Ohh snap. Fucking classic. The second is when they do actually bond a bit but then Rayanne comes in and they stop talking. Rayanne tells Angela she can be friends with Sharon if she wants but Angela says she does not want to be. Really harsh.
So yeah, said list. Rayanne is named most Slut Potential which she is really proud of. Angela states that she does not like it because she does not want people saying things about her.

Rayanne calls Angela out on not wanting people talking about her because Angela is associated with her. Wow. Good call. I like that Rayanne is made to be a lot more intuitive about things than you would think.

So Angela is not on the list which makes her think she is ugly and that she does not matter. I related to this so much because about 4 years of my life was basically what Angela went through in this episode.

Patty wants to be in the mother/daughter fashion show and basically pretends that Angela is interested. I enjoyed this storyline as well.

I love love love love love love love the randomness of the interactions between Ricky and Brian. They are not two character you would expect to get time together and the show constantly surprises me with the people they put in scenes together. This was some of the best stuff of the episode.

Sharon deals with her boyfriend who is a nimrod. He’s nice. He’s just a nimrod though.
Something else I’ve really liked about the last 2 episodes though is that Jordan is in little of them. This will all change soon though. : (

Best moments:
- The last scene
- Jordan saying to Angela about the Metamorphoses: “So it’s not a true story right?” Ahahahaha. What a dumbass.
- Rickie: What? Who's in there?Brian: Sharon and that guy.Rickie: Oh, so what? Were they kissing?... More than kissing?Brian: He was, like, making her beg for her shoe.Rickie: Wow! I never heard of that.

My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 4: "Father Figures"

Season 1, Episode 4: “Father Issues”
Grade: 8.4
Have I mentioned I love Graham? Seriously he’s the best dad ever. But Angela does not seem to think so. She suspects he is having an affair because, well, he almost did. She resents him for it. Something that surprised me about the episode was the fact that Angela and Graham do not have a scene together that confronts the issue. The episode ends pretty happily but they still never confront that. I kept waiting for it but it never came. Graham senses that Angela hates him so he tries to win her over by giving her and Rayanne Grateful Dead tickets. Rayanne is really really pumped while Angela could really care less.
My favorite aspect of the episode was the interaction between Rayanne and Graham and everything involving Rayanne in the episode. Rayanne really appreciates Graham, clings to her interaction with him because she does not have a father like that. So when Angela sells the has Jordan scalp the Grateful Dead tickets literally because she just wanted something to say to Jordan, she gets very angry with her and chastises her for not appreciating her father. I thought I was going to hate Rayanne. I actually love Rayanne. I know she is going to do some things to piss me off because I already know a decent amount about what happens on the show, but right now I love her and I love the way they handled this issue because I figured she would just get pissed because she wanted to go to the concert. This is an example of writers taking something a step further than one usually would and really getting some great characterization, interaction and scenes out of it.
Patty is also dealing with father issues with her dad when their business gets audited. I was not a huge fan of this story but I did like it enough and I liked the scene at the end with her and her father. I also liked how Patty comforted Graham because Angela was having issues with him because she is always the one in that position.
We also got a very nice scene between Angela and Brian in his car. Brian always finds a way to mess everything up. Even though Angela has a ridiculously short tolerance for Brian.
Favorite Moment: The end when Graham sees Brian and wants him to help him with the roof and Brian just waves and keeps riding his bike around in circles.
So yeah I guess that wraps it up.

My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 3: "Guns and Gossip"

My So Called Life:
Season 1, Episode 3: “Guns and Gossip”
Grade: 8.0

These are hard to do because unlike Buffy I cannot find satisfactory recaps of the episodes and it has been a long time since I watched this one. But here I go. I’ll do it by character:
Angela: A gun goes off at school and all Angela cares about is a note that is being passed around about her having to do with the rumor going around that her and Jordan had sex. As I’ve said before I like how they make Angela quite flawed but in the way all 15 year olds are. An example of this is how Angela does not really care about the gun going off and is way more concerned about the gossip about her. Then Jordan suggests they have sex and then when she turns him down he later apologizes in an unintentionally harsh way by telling her that he has no interest in her and it was wrong to suggest that. He has no idea the way she feels about him. Danes is of course perfection in every episode and she really shows the audience what she is going through in her head in that scene while Jordan cannot see what we do.
Brian: It turns out Brian is the one who started the rumor about Angela and not Jordan. Correction; Brian told Sharon because he felt used by Angela and then she in turn told everyone. I cannot wait for “Life of Brian” because I am just utterly fascinated by him and how he drifts in and out of the other characters lives and is essentially an observer. He’s so weird and in such a unique way. Brian Krakow rules. Also Brian is pressured by the principal and police to tell them what he knows about the gun show because he witnessed it. I thought he would say what he knew but he did not. Good for Brian. Even though…
Ricky: …Ricky wanted Brian to tell the police what he saw so that everyone would be afraid to mess with him. Her we see just how tormented Ricky is at school and it’s very sad. And the worst thing about it is that the issue is just as prevalent then as it is now. We’ve made no progress. I love the scene between Ricky and Angela in the car. It was very touching.
Patty: Patty goes to a school meeting to discuss the gun incident and meets Rayanne’s mom. Rayanne’s mom is exactly who you would think she’d be. It’s great. Then Patty thinks that Angela is sleeping with Jordan and tries to talk to her about it which does not go well. It’s absurd how long it takes Angela to tell her mom she is not having sex.
That’s all I can think of for this episode. Overall a very good one.