Episode Recap and Discussion - 1x07 - Iris Doesn't Live Here Anymore
This episode was absolutely wonderful all around. The plot was well developed, the acting was top-notch, the B-plot was short and entertaining and intertwined with the A-plot, and Marshall got to show his tough side. LOVED IT! Not a whole lot of Mary/Marshall moments, but what we did get was pretty squee-worthy.
- The episode opens with Iris and Lawrence being all teenagery and in love, and some dude mowing his lawn is watching. Then this Hispanic gangbanger shows up and shoots Lawrence and Lawn Mower Dude. It's all very dramatic.
- MARY WAS JEALOUS OF A STEWARDESS HITTING ON MARSHALL! BECAUSE HE'S HERS, DAMN IT! This is more of her possessiveness over him shining through, and Marshall thinks it ridiculous, but you know deep down inside he's having all kinds of mansquees. And this face?
That's an "I'm disgruntled because you refuse to realize that you're in love with me" look.
Marshall continues to defend the flight attendant, because he's all about niceties and whatnot, and Mary is MIFFED that he's not miffed that someone would just assume that they aren't a couple.
Marshall is her traveling companion. For life. YOU KNOW IT! Anyway, she sees Marshall as HERS. He can belong to no one else. And yet she refuses to confront his feelings for her, and she has NO IDEA that she kind of has love feelings for him too. Oh, Mary. You're just going to keep playing with his heart (and ours), aren't you? Do you even know the things you do to us when you express anger at not being mistaken for Marshall's love muffin?
And then Mary pulls out her notebook with the reminders, and Marshall has to point out that Mary's forgotten to take Raph to therapy. Mary put the thing up without even taking a second glance, while Marshall was focused on it the second she pulled it out and he saw Raph's name. Hmm... He gets oddly quiet and just nods to it, waiting for Mary's reaction, and Mary exclaims, "Oh CRAP!" Why? Because Raph is a total hindrance. And... because she's mad at herself for forgetting, but pretty much because Raph is a hindrance to her. Anyway, Marshall can't resist taking a dig at her, because he experiences much joy in her inability to sustain a stable relationship with any man that isn't him:
"You must be the best girlfriend." Dripping with sarcasm. But his stare lingers for a bit, then we get this little smile, because she WOULD be the best girlfriend... for him. He knows that she's crappy at relationships, but he continues to be quietly in love with her and dreaming of their wedding day. It's all there in his eyes, okay? Trust me.
Marshall LOVES that Brandi is slagging off Raph and giving Mary a hard time. She is saying all that Marshall wants to say but can't, because he's too nice to hate someone just for dating Mary. But that doesn't mean he can't take joy in someone else pointing out Raph's faults.
But then he finds out that Brandi really likes Raph and was just trying to fool Mary. And Marshall is kind of bummed that Raph's faults were falsified, but he's intrigued by the idea of Brandi/Raph, as are most of us. Actually, I think he's more intrigued by Mary's reaction, which is calm and accepting as opposed to raving jealousy, while just a minute ago she had been freaking out about someone hitting on her platonic traveling companion. Hmm...
- Brandi calls her boyfriend in Jersey and a woman answers the phone and Brandi cries because her life is just SO MISERABLE, OMG! And she is SO CONFLICTED, OMG! WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO? OMG! That, my friends, is sarcasm through capslock. Sarcapslock!
- Mary and Marshall are STILL arguing about the flight attendant, and Marshall claims there was no "hitting on," just old fashioned common courtesy.
"So you think an invitation to the mile high club is old fashioned?"
"By the way, if the stewardess finds the job title so objectionable, maybe HE should have chosen another line of work."
IT WAS A MAN!!!! MARY IS FLAMING JEALOUS OVER A MAN HITTING ON MARSHALL! Bwahahahahahahaha. Now, I still think she's really only angry about the steward assuming they weren't a couple, because a man hitting on Marshall poses no threat to Mary, but if the steward so easily assumes that the idea of her and Marshall being a couple is far-fetched, then does that mean everyone does? And why can't they be a couple, huh? They'd make a damn good couple. <-- I'm pretty sure that's what's going through Mary's head.
And I had to include this pic because it looks like Marshall is leaning in for a kiss and Mary is seriously pondering his lips. SO CLOSE, MAN! They were all up in each other's grill and the pheromones were flying. You know they wanted to make out. But...
Oh! INTERRUPTED! DAMN IT! It totally looks like they just made out though, doesn't it?
- Mary and Marshall have to tell the family about relocating and whatnot, and the father spazzes out BIG TIME and much drama ensues. Also:
Marshall knows his Bach, and he can't resist showing off his dorkdom.
And Mary is totally worthy of my girl-crush.
And Marshall is emitting hearts again while he looks at Mary (which is totally understandable. Refer to last pic).
- We hear Mary call Raph her boyfriend for the very first time. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOO! HISSSSSS!!!! Interesting that this happens after she realizes that Brandi likes him. Anyway, this exchange with the younger daughter pretty much gave away the fact that she was the reason why Iris and Lawrence were walking in the Latino neighborhood, or it at least made you wonder. They emphasized the Latin thing a little too hard.
- I love love LOVE the exchange between Marshall and Mary where Marshall says, "It's always the innocuous tidbits that get to me. Like archaeological artifacts. We were here, now we're not."
"It's just stuff. It can be replaced," she says, barely looking up from her cell phone.
And Marshall wistfully sighs as he looks at the door with all the measurements of the children's height throughout the years. I love that it's the little things that get under his skin. It explains why he's so fond of Mary, actually, because he seems to live for their little moments of playful banter, and he cherishes the small gestures of well-meaning and friendship, and it makes putting up with Mary's bad side all worth it. Anyway, Marshall is sentimental over the little, intimate stuff that others would overlook, and I love him for that. Mary, on the other hand, doesn't think on that level. She's very into the idea that all she needs is herself, so intimacy is hard for her. She's more practical than sentimental. So I love how Mary and Marshall contrast here, and it probably shows a little difference in their upbringing too. We don't know much about Marshall's family, but this moment leads me to believe that his mother used to measure him every birthday and his father would make a big ordeal about how tall he had gotten and Marshall would stand there with a proud smile, totally drinking in the moment and the happiness around him. So... yeah, I envision a happy childhood for him. I know a lot of people envision a somewhat troubled childhood for him, but for some reason, I keep seeing him as a happy, laid back kid with parents that loved him and siblings that rough housed with him. Was he a geek? Probably. Anyway, that's just my own personal canon. No idea what his childhood was really like. And this is precisely why I'd love an episode where we got to see Marshall's parents. Okay, I got ridiculously off track there. Let's get back to the episode.
- The father continues to be an ass.
- Brandi is freaking ADORABLE when she teases Raph. Oh, I love them together. Raph still has very little emotion, but oh well. Brandi makes him better. And Raph demeans Mary very well. And Raph is the gayest man on the planet.
Marshall enjoyed that one.
- The father has another hissy fit and throws his glass at the wall.
Mary was going to kick his ass for breaking her glass, but Marshall put a calming hand on her wrist and confronted the father himself. I love that Marshall wanted the challenge, and believed that he could get through to this guy. Most of all though? I was just happy that he grabbed Mary's wrist. *dreamy sigh*
- Hey...
WHAT IS THIS? WHERE IS MY CAR OTP? THIS IS A TRAVESTY! A TRAVESTY!!! Mary's car is only allowed to fraternize with Marshall's truck.
- The father continues to be an ass.
- Mary sucks at thinking up cocklemaimy stories on the spot.
Marshall PWNS the father's ass! Booyah! I gotta say, that actor was terrific. Even though his character was such a dick, I still managed to feel for him. And even though he didn't really do anything that was worthy of all the love that his family had for him, I still understood why they loved him. Maybe it's because of personal experience, but I think a lot of it has to do with this guy's portrayal. He was just so pathetic that it was hard to really hate him. I understood his motivations, even though I didn't like what he was doing. And the face he makes here? Brilliant. He's like a child whose hand just got slapped.
- Iris IDs the shooter.
- Lawrence made me cry. OMG, SO SWEET! He deserves a pic:
Oh, I loved how he made Iris feel strong while she was doubting herself. This was just such a beautiful moment, but...
Mary thinks it was corny, and... okay, I agree, but OMG SO SWEET! I CRIED! And it must have affected Mary a little bit, because later she goes to Raph looking for that kind of connection with him that Iris has with Lawrence. Mary. Oh, Mary. You went to the wrong guy, but I'll get to that later.
- First...
I must point out any time they talk in close proximity. I just can't resist.
Also, Marshall gets angry, and Mary is the one that's embarrassed! Oh, role reversals, how I adore you. And dude, that is some of the sexiest finger pointing in existence.
Marshall is still a badass lawman. And he pwns the father again. Also, we get a small mention of Marshall's father. "You're one of those guys that my father used to say demands respect but doesn't command respect." I love that line.
- Mary shows up at Raph's with groceries. BOOOOOOOOO!!!! HISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! Mary is... so not herself around him, and he's... really bad at making jokes. And Mary just wants sex. And Brandi interrupts the sex. Then Raph can't stop talking about Brandi. Then Mary freaks when he criticizes her inability to be supportive and she leaves. YAY!!!! Now, I don't know about you guys, but I was desperately hoping that she'd go to Marshall to vent or hang out or something, but she didn't. And I was bummed. Or maybe she did, but we just didn't see it. *coughFICcough*
- Iris overhears Daddy say that he wants to leave her behind, and she goes off crying, and my heart hurts for her, and I love the mother for saying what she said to Warren. Very beautiful scene. And yeah, I cried.
- EVERYBODY yells at Warren, woohoo! I love Mary SO HARD!
- We find out that Lily was the reason why Iris and Lawrence were in a bad neighborhood, and the father FINALLY has an awakening to how jerky and self-centered he is when Lily tells him that Iris didn't want him hating both of his daughters. Ouch.
- Absolutely beautiful scene between Warren and Iris and I bawled. Now this is drama done right.
- Mary apologizes to Raph. BOOOOOOOO! Brandi throws her cocaine suitcase towards a body of water. YAY! But she completely MISSES THE GIANT STREAM OF WATER! WHAT THE HELL? So it's sitting there on the dirt. Hmm...
- Mary and Marshall look all husband and wifey while getting the door out of Marshall's truck:
And then we're left with a happy, intimate family moment:
Foreshadowing, yes? One day that will be Marshall measuring his and Mary's kids. COME ON! YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!
And that, my friends, is it. How I managed to squeeze that much M&M subtext out of so little M&M is beyond me, but there you go.
- The episode opens with Iris and Lawrence being all teenagery and in love, and some dude mowing his lawn is watching. Then this Hispanic gangbanger shows up and shoots Lawrence and Lawn Mower Dude. It's all very dramatic.
- MARY WAS JEALOUS OF A STEWARDESS HITTING ON MARSHALL! BECAUSE HE'S HERS, DAMN IT! This is more of her possessiveness over him shining through, and Marshall thinks it ridiculous, but you know deep down inside he's having all kinds of mansquees. And this face?
That's an "I'm disgruntled because you refuse to realize that you're in love with me" look.
Marshall continues to defend the flight attendant, because he's all about niceties and whatnot, and Mary is MIFFED that he's not miffed that someone would just assume that they aren't a couple.
Marshall is her traveling companion. For life. YOU KNOW IT! Anyway, she sees Marshall as HERS. He can belong to no one else. And yet she refuses to confront his feelings for her, and she has NO IDEA that she kind of has love feelings for him too. Oh, Mary. You're just going to keep playing with his heart (and ours), aren't you? Do you even know the things you do to us when you express anger at not being mistaken for Marshall's love muffin?
And then Mary pulls out her notebook with the reminders, and Marshall has to point out that Mary's forgotten to take Raph to therapy. Mary put the thing up without even taking a second glance, while Marshall was focused on it the second she pulled it out and he saw Raph's name. Hmm... He gets oddly quiet and just nods to it, waiting for Mary's reaction, and Mary exclaims, "Oh CRAP!" Why? Because Raph is a total hindrance. And... because she's mad at herself for forgetting, but pretty much because Raph is a hindrance to her. Anyway, Marshall can't resist taking a dig at her, because he experiences much joy in her inability to sustain a stable relationship with any man that isn't him:
"You must be the best girlfriend." Dripping with sarcasm. But his stare lingers for a bit, then we get this little smile, because she WOULD be the best girlfriend... for him. He knows that she's crappy at relationships, but he continues to be quietly in love with her and dreaming of their wedding day. It's all there in his eyes, okay? Trust me.
Marshall LOVES that Brandi is slagging off Raph and giving Mary a hard time. She is saying all that Marshall wants to say but can't, because he's too nice to hate someone just for dating Mary. But that doesn't mean he can't take joy in someone else pointing out Raph's faults.
But then he finds out that Brandi really likes Raph and was just trying to fool Mary. And Marshall is kind of bummed that Raph's faults were falsified, but he's intrigued by the idea of Brandi/Raph, as are most of us. Actually, I think he's more intrigued by Mary's reaction, which is calm and accepting as opposed to raving jealousy, while just a minute ago she had been freaking out about someone hitting on her platonic traveling companion. Hmm...
- Brandi calls her boyfriend in Jersey and a woman answers the phone and Brandi cries because her life is just SO MISERABLE, OMG! And she is SO CONFLICTED, OMG! WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO? OMG! That, my friends, is sarcasm through capslock. Sarcapslock!
- Mary and Marshall are STILL arguing about the flight attendant, and Marshall claims there was no "hitting on," just old fashioned common courtesy.
"So you think an invitation to the mile high club is old fashioned?"
"By the way, if the stewardess finds the job title so objectionable, maybe HE should have chosen another line of work."
IT WAS A MAN!!!! MARY IS FLAMING JEALOUS OVER A MAN HITTING ON MARSHALL! Bwahahahahahahaha. Now, I still think she's really only angry about the steward assuming they weren't a couple, because a man hitting on Marshall poses no threat to Mary, but if the steward so easily assumes that the idea of her and Marshall being a couple is far-fetched, then does that mean everyone does? And why can't they be a couple, huh? They'd make a damn good couple. <-- I'm pretty sure that's what's going through Mary's head.
And I had to include this pic because it looks like Marshall is leaning in for a kiss and Mary is seriously pondering his lips. SO CLOSE, MAN! They were all up in each other's grill and the pheromones were flying. You know they wanted to make out. But...
Oh! INTERRUPTED! DAMN IT! It totally looks like they just made out though, doesn't it?
- Mary and Marshall have to tell the family about relocating and whatnot, and the father spazzes out BIG TIME and much drama ensues. Also:
Marshall knows his Bach, and he can't resist showing off his dorkdom.
And Mary is totally worthy of my girl-crush.
And Marshall is emitting hearts again while he looks at Mary (which is totally understandable. Refer to last pic).
- We hear Mary call Raph her boyfriend for the very first time. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOO! HISSSSSS!!!! Interesting that this happens after she realizes that Brandi likes him. Anyway, this exchange with the younger daughter pretty much gave away the fact that she was the reason why Iris and Lawrence were walking in the Latino neighborhood, or it at least made you wonder. They emphasized the Latin thing a little too hard.
- I love love LOVE the exchange between Marshall and Mary where Marshall says, "It's always the innocuous tidbits that get to me. Like archaeological artifacts. We were here, now we're not."
"It's just stuff. It can be replaced," she says, barely looking up from her cell phone.
And Marshall wistfully sighs as he looks at the door with all the measurements of the children's height throughout the years. I love that it's the little things that get under his skin. It explains why he's so fond of Mary, actually, because he seems to live for their little moments of playful banter, and he cherishes the small gestures of well-meaning and friendship, and it makes putting up with Mary's bad side all worth it. Anyway, Marshall is sentimental over the little, intimate stuff that others would overlook, and I love him for that. Mary, on the other hand, doesn't think on that level. She's very into the idea that all she needs is herself, so intimacy is hard for her. She's more practical than sentimental. So I love how Mary and Marshall contrast here, and it probably shows a little difference in their upbringing too. We don't know much about Marshall's family, but this moment leads me to believe that his mother used to measure him every birthday and his father would make a big ordeal about how tall he had gotten and Marshall would stand there with a proud smile, totally drinking in the moment and the happiness around him. So... yeah, I envision a happy childhood for him. I know a lot of people envision a somewhat troubled childhood for him, but for some reason, I keep seeing him as a happy, laid back kid with parents that loved him and siblings that rough housed with him. Was he a geek? Probably. Anyway, that's just my own personal canon. No idea what his childhood was really like. And this is precisely why I'd love an episode where we got to see Marshall's parents. Okay, I got ridiculously off track there. Let's get back to the episode.
- The father continues to be an ass.
- Brandi is freaking ADORABLE when she teases Raph. Oh, I love them together. Raph still has very little emotion, but oh well. Brandi makes him better. And Raph demeans Mary very well. And Raph is the gayest man on the planet.
Marshall enjoyed that one.
- The father has another hissy fit and throws his glass at the wall.
Mary was going to kick his ass for breaking her glass, but Marshall put a calming hand on her wrist and confronted the father himself. I love that Marshall wanted the challenge, and believed that he could get through to this guy. Most of all though? I was just happy that he grabbed Mary's wrist. *dreamy sigh*
- Hey...
WHAT IS THIS? WHERE IS MY CAR OTP? THIS IS A TRAVESTY! A TRAVESTY!!! Mary's car is only allowed to fraternize with Marshall's truck.
- The father continues to be an ass.
- Mary sucks at thinking up cocklemaimy stories on the spot.
Marshall PWNS the father's ass! Booyah! I gotta say, that actor was terrific. Even though his character was such a dick, I still managed to feel for him. And even though he didn't really do anything that was worthy of all the love that his family had for him, I still understood why they loved him. Maybe it's because of personal experience, but I think a lot of it has to do with this guy's portrayal. He was just so pathetic that it was hard to really hate him. I understood his motivations, even though I didn't like what he was doing. And the face he makes here? Brilliant. He's like a child whose hand just got slapped.
- Iris IDs the shooter.
- Lawrence made me cry. OMG, SO SWEET! He deserves a pic:
Oh, I loved how he made Iris feel strong while she was doubting herself. This was just such a beautiful moment, but...
Mary thinks it was corny, and... okay, I agree, but OMG SO SWEET! I CRIED! And it must have affected Mary a little bit, because later she goes to Raph looking for that kind of connection with him that Iris has with Lawrence. Mary. Oh, Mary. You went to the wrong guy, but I'll get to that later.
- First...
I must point out any time they talk in close proximity. I just can't resist.
Also, Marshall gets angry, and Mary is the one that's embarrassed! Oh, role reversals, how I adore you. And dude, that is some of the sexiest finger pointing in existence.
Marshall is still a badass lawman. And he pwns the father again. Also, we get a small mention of Marshall's father. "You're one of those guys that my father used to say demands respect but doesn't command respect." I love that line.
- Mary shows up at Raph's with groceries. BOOOOOOOOO!!!! HISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! Mary is... so not herself around him, and he's... really bad at making jokes. And Mary just wants sex. And Brandi interrupts the sex. Then Raph can't stop talking about Brandi. Then Mary freaks when he criticizes her inability to be supportive and she leaves. YAY!!!! Now, I don't know about you guys, but I was desperately hoping that she'd go to Marshall to vent or hang out or something, but she didn't. And I was bummed. Or maybe she did, but we just didn't see it. *coughFICcough*
- Iris overhears Daddy say that he wants to leave her behind, and she goes off crying, and my heart hurts for her, and I love the mother for saying what she said to Warren. Very beautiful scene. And yeah, I cried.
- EVERYBODY yells at Warren, woohoo! I love Mary SO HARD!
- We find out that Lily was the reason why Iris and Lawrence were in a bad neighborhood, and the father FINALLY has an awakening to how jerky and self-centered he is when Lily tells him that Iris didn't want him hating both of his daughters. Ouch.
- Absolutely beautiful scene between Warren and Iris and I bawled. Now this is drama done right.
- Mary apologizes to Raph. BOOOOOOOO! Brandi throws her cocaine suitcase towards a body of water. YAY! But she completely MISSES THE GIANT STREAM OF WATER! WHAT THE HELL? So it's sitting there on the dirt. Hmm...
- Mary and Marshall look all husband and wifey while getting the door out of Marshall's truck:
And then we're left with a happy, intimate family moment:
Foreshadowing, yes? One day that will be Marshall measuring his and Mary's kids. COME ON! YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!
And that, my friends, is it. How I managed to squeeze that much M&M subtext out of so little M&M is beyond me, but there you go.