Mel’s fling with George ends sooner than expected in “Going the Distance?” Then she politically competes with her father in “All Politics is Local.”
Starting to get bothered by George’s age, Mel asks Joe to give her boyfriend a corporate makeover. Joe reluctantly agrees, but his advice works a little too well – George gets a business opportunity in Italy, and might have to live there six months to a year. After George gives Mel a beautiful, personal jewelry box (the idea for which he got from Joe) for their first-month-anniversary, she agrees to try to work things out with him. But Joe makes her realize that she can’t plan her life around flying to Europe all the time so she and George could be together. A good-bye kiss at the airport causes both of them to understand that they’re better off letting each other go, until they can be together again.
Meanwhile, Ryder is back with Holly (episodes aired out of order, maybe? What happened to Kirsten?!) and meeting the parents. Lennox tries to give him advice, but in a fun, cute twist, the parents already love him because he’s able to stand dating their admittedly out-of-control daughter.
This episode actually seems funnier than most, as Melissa Joan Hart’s comedic acting is particularly on-point. Her “Want to? Yeah! Going to? Noooo,” is absolutely priceless and made me laugh out loud. Also, “Holly” is better this episode too, as in slightly less annoying.
Mel’s father Senator Burke (again played by perfect-for-the-role Christopher Rich) returns, claiming he’s just in town to visit his family. But Joe quickly discovers that the senator is actually in town to oppose a bill that Mel strongly supports. Joe tells this to Mel, who becomes upset, but he reminds her that to confront him, she has to be in control of her emotions. That doesn’t work, but she wins him over when her speech gets wins over voters, and the bill is passed in her favor.
Meanwhile, after she gets three poems published on a school website, new girl Lennox is asked by incredibly popular Jade Gillis (Lauran Irion) to help the hopeful singer write her songs. Jade is terrible, has no writing ability whatsoever, and gives Lennox only a little credit for “tweaking” her lyrics. But Lennox tries to make it work for the sake of her own newfound popularity. Finally Lennox tells Jade the truth and faces immediate unpopularity again, but when Jade offers to pay for song lyrics, Joe helps Lennox work out a deal.
I love that Mel’s father returns, so this episode is a win for me too. Again, Mel has some good jokes, though I don’t like how gullible she is at the end when she believes Joe’s act. Honestly, I think Senator Burke is being at least a little sincere when he had that talk with Mel, but Joe’s speech is painfully fake. Maybe it’s the acting.
Another strong couple of episodes for Melissa & Joey. “The Other Longo” and “Teacher/Teacher” air August 31.
