The Walkers say good-bye to Rebecca in this week’s episode, “A Righteous Kiss.” Holly has a breakdown over her continuing battle to remember her own daughter, while Sarah takes on the equivalent of a high school popular in-crowd for the sake of her son’s education.
Since last week left off with Holly missing, we find out this week that she frantically went to Nora’s…in search of William. That episode also ended with vulnerable Justin and Rebecca sharing a passionate kiss, and so this week we find out they spent the night together. Rebecca thinks it was a mistake, but she’s distracted when she has to go stay with her mother at the hospital after Holly’s breakdown at Nora’s. Holly is devastated that she can’t remember her daughter, and the frustration is worsening her amnesia. Rebecca tries to connect with her mother at the hospital by telling her all about their lives. But after all that, Holly still doesn’t see Rebecca as anything more than a stranger. Since the doctor said Rebecca’s presence could hinder Holly’s recovery, she takes it as her cue to accept a photography job in New York. As expected, Justin is upset, but finally realizes that he and Rebecca aren’t meant to be. The two say how they saved each others’ lives in a heartfelt good-bye.
…Yeah, heartfelt, gag-inducing good-bye. The Romeo and Juliet reference, courtesy of Cooper’s play, was so corny I could barely stand it. Good riddance, Rebecca, thrilled she’s finally gone. Now that she is though, I’m really curious about what Justin’s storyline will be for the season. Hopefully writers give him a chance to be happy for once.
On the other hand, my heart breaks a little whenever Holly is on screen this season. I hate to see her this way, but I do love her scene with Nora. Even though Holly doesn’t know it, Nora hysterically pounding on the door is a testament to how far the two had come in their friendship before the accident. My real concern right now though is, what in the world are the writers going to do with Holly? They keep insisting that her condition is almost permanent, so any amount of miraculous recovery would be totally unrealistic. Along with Justin, Holly is another character where I’m really eager to see what happens in upcoming episodes.
On the other hand, I’m much less interested in Kitty’s new romance. Kitty’s not my favorite character to begin with, so watching her fend off the advances of a hunky handyman doesn’t exactly keep me riveted (even though he is very hunky). Actually, I’m really surprised I haven’t read that story in a Nora Roberts novel. Unless there’s an unexpected twist to the new romance, Kitty staying in the country away from her family is going to get old real fast.
Meanwhile, Sarah has to put up with the Wicked Bitches of the West in order to get Cooper a spot in an exclusive school. The two wives with rich husbands who made donations to the school make it very clear with syrupy sweet backhanded “compliments” that they disapprove of how Sarah’s steamy relationship with Luc must be influencing Paige and Cooper. They also criticize her “cozy, chaotic” house. Despite this attitude, Sarah puts on a smile and does her best to impress them by recruiting Kevin, Scotty, Saul, and Saul’s friend Charlie to help her make costumes for Cooper’s school play, Romeo and Juliet.
The situation gets even more problematic when embarrassed Cooper doesn’t want to kiss “Juliet,” and then Luc’s advice prompts Cooper to plant a kiss the young actress won’t soon forget. The parents Sarah was trying to impress are outraged and blame Cooper’s kiss on Sarah’s relationship, which finally makes her snap. Her voice dripping with sarcasm, she points out the flaws in each of the women’s way of thinking, then happily walks off with her underwear model boyfriend. In the end she realizes that the school was never a good fit for Cooper.
Since I personally want to smack the evil wives throughout the entire episode, I cheer when Sarah finally gives them a taste of their own medicine. True, it’s a little redundant after Nora’s shining moment last episode, but I think Sarah’s outburst is my favorite of the two. All along you can just tell that she’s dying to fight back, so it’s more rewarding when she finally does.
Last but not least, Saul is having feelings for his old friend, Charlie (Stephen Collins, aka “Reverand Eric Camden” from 7th Heaven!). Charlie is definitely interested, but Saul doesn’t think it will work out because he’s HIV positive. After some prodding from Kevin and Scotty, he finally goes for it. Sadly, while Charlie does want to be with Saul, he can’t go through losing another partner to the disease.
While maybe not one of my favorite episodes this season, A Righteous Kiss is a nice transition from the last episode’s comedy overload. Call Mom airs October 24th – hopefully this means what I think it means, and we finally get to see radio host Nora!
