Wed, Nov 17, 2004
The brothers are understandably suspicious when culinarily hopeless ma announces she's going to cook a Thanksgiving turkey for their guests. Jack's longstanding friend Matt Kramer has committed suicide, his class goes trough grief counseling. After seeing Tom hold hands with Leslie, an ex his age, Grace tells him no romantic involvement between them is possible and gets a surprise visit from her equally flippant, erudite, openly gay kid brother Jimmy, who is great with Bobby and can tell the boys more about their dad, which Grace avoids since he left them, but also has his own problems, especially with alcoholism... Only Jack knows Matt didn't break up with him and the team because of Missy, but was a closet-gay afraid to tell his bigot Missouri family and had a desperate crush on Jack, who is asked by the family to speak at the funeral.
Wed, Nov 10, 2004
Bobby is determined to repay chancellor Peter Benedict for 'saving his life' by doing chores, even if it turns out harmful for him or the home, till Benedict discovers him as talented chess partner and promising pupil instead- until he's caught losing on too respectful purpose, but Bobby is soon back bursting with belligerent confidence. While Tom persists in asking Grace's pointless 'academic advice', Jack is furious to desperate when she insist to make his social nightmare come true: meeting girlfriend Missy's non-revolutionary parents reverend and Evelyn Belknap at their dinner table, a recipe for religious war, while disloyal Marcus asks Courtney to a frat party, only to be ignored there. Afterward Jack tells his high, haughty ma what an inept, inconsiderate cow she was, as always, and tells her to but out; next morning she asks him to help her stop smoking weed for real. When she tells Tom to take another tutor because she's romantically attracted, he replies he therefore already took another, they kiss.
Wed, Apr 27, 2005
It's not bad enough that Grace ignores Bobby's warning not to volunteer as chaperon for his class trip, she pedantically takes over from the admiring female history teacher and turns the weekend in Philadelphia into such a teenager hell that all his classmates blame the poor boy, who cleverly gives her exactly what she deserves: their own declaration of independence, providing she may never play any part in any class activity. Yet Bobby grants her some time together, without third parties... Jack scolds Missy for attending a party with Randy, only to hear startled that's just to make him jealous. When the kids drive home, drunk Marcus and a passing deer cause them to have an accident in which pregnant Missy dies.
Wed, Feb 16, 2005
Because his mate Warren feels they're ignored by the cool crowd, Bobby decides to organize a sleep-over for them and show a porn DVD on his PC, which he must steal from the video-store- of course the disk itself is missing unless you pay; only a snow storm keeps the cool kids in, but Tom tempts them to indoor 'catch the flag' by promising the winning team a beer each, without telling it's non-alcoholic, still great fun and a feather on Tom's cap. Married but flirtatious professor Roger Hennessy accidentally catches his old flame Grace kissing student Tom, which he insists is against department policy. She's trapped by the storm at Peter's as he wanted female advice about now 'dubious' student-boyfriend Nate since the campus doctor reported Courtney got the morning after-pill, they get drunk and dance. Meanwhile the suspects, Jack, Randy, Missy and Katie, trapped in JR's bar, play truth or dare; Nate eagerly accepts stripping on Courtney's lap, but only has to show his boxers.
Wed, Feb 9, 2005
Bobby wants substitute-father figure Peter Benedict to teach him deer-hunting, badly enough to blackmail hypocrite pacifist meat-eating ma Grace to permit it by threatening to tell Jack about her affair with Tom, who stops her wining about the 'bloody killing' by stripping for love-making- till they see Jack, still on crutches, staring at them in their underwear, most unamused, doubting she can love any more then be honest, disgusted Bobby had to hide it for her, worried he'll be left with the pieces when the age-difference explodes in her face. Courtney uses her dad's absence that Saturday to invite Nate at home, sweetly kissing on the couch till she insists it's time to go further- then unable to stop because they have no condom... Bobby enjoys the nature - and hunting lesson as well as the bonding, but is unable to kill, even as a mercy-shot, even Peter and Jack fail to console his bruised male ego.
Wed, Nov 3, 2004
Feminist fury Grace manages to blame Tom and his 'apathic generation' for signing up 180 girls in a Democrat election party she could only interest 20 students in, next pours her invariably useless haughty advice over Bobby, who is crushed by Dex's rejection, causing him to publicly embarrass himself and finds out Jack talked to the Goth girl, trying to save kid brother from social suicide. When Bobby retaliates by telling Missy about Jack and Courtney's kiss, ma finds them fighting and proves the pointlessness of her 'conflict resolution'. Fortunately the boys' good nature naturally reemerges before Bobby's asthma strikes at election night, luckily the chancellor can help...
Wed, Jan 26, 2005
After his cowardly roughing-up by a gang while putting out the trash at his restaurant job, Jack decides to return to daily athletic team training, leaving Bobby without a jogging partner, but refuses to involve the police just for suddenly pseudo-maternal Grace's sense of 'civic duty'. Courtney meets charming Sig frat pledge Nate Edmonds by freeing him from the tree in the chancellor's home front lawn which he was tied to naked by way of hazing, albeit cupping. When Nate invites her to a frat party, she lies to be a Sig(ma), but the real problems are the age-gap and his girl-friend back home... Bobby notices Jack's knee is killing big brother, and takes the chancellor's chessboard-advice to courageously do what's best at the risk of being despised for it, but Grace isn't nearly so brave; Bobby still gets her to drag Jack to the doctor before the match, but even knowing he risks permanent damage seems less pressing to Jack then 'conquering his fear'... After Grace's lame patronage was probably he last straw for the colleagues assessing Tom's graphic novels thesis progress, she realizes to have given their romance game away to a student, and unlike him feels like giving in to subtle threats by sparing her a failing grade...
Wed, May 11, 2005
When Grace drags poor Bobby along to Huntsville, the clever kid works out it's for the only notable institution there, a jail. He learns their Mexican dad, Juan Roberto Alba, is doing time there, she claims it's a mistake. Jack is furious that she took his kid brother there, and decides to come along to protect him. When Bobby, who first thanks Peter for being his de factor substitute father, wants to finally meet his biological pa, ma confesses she lied again: Juan may never be released as he was convicted for homicide. Now Bobby is disgusted and refuses to come, but Jack can't resist doing the brave thing and actually finds they see eye to eye.
Sun, Oct 10, 2004
Eternal social activist Grace decides when Vietnam veteran Jonah Babbage, who since 15 years drifts on the Plains State campus writing obscene Hippie 'poetry', looses his shack to construction of sports accommodation paid for by a major donation, to take him in as 'house guest' till she finds him a permanent home -nothing Christian!-, despite both brothers' strong protest- Jack is furious, Bobby initially terrified by the dirty, ugly, grumpy nut-case. Meanwhile Goth girl Dex decides to shamelessly abuse the boys toilet at school as her dirty 'office' and scares Bobby and his mate Warren into silence even there, yet the bitch's gang blames them wrongly when she gets expelled and demands they turn up at night 'for a beating', luckily her filthy mouth proves larger then her bite and cup... Grace's young friend Tom Wexler Graham's tycoon father Henry 'Huck' Graham obliges her by finding Jonah a spot, so she must accept to attend the party in his honor for the Graham Sports and Recreation Center at the president's new official residence; Jack attends, to Missy's anger, at lonely Courtney's plea, she makes a public spectacle of herself, is sent to her room and tells Jack she has her ma's crazy gene. At home, Bobby catches Jonah stealing the TV to move to a hotel from the thieving shelter- and covers for him -Jack guesses- and goes to Ellen "Dex"'s 'boring bourgeois' home, her only frustration, and bravely makes friends with the freak rebel.