Episode Recap and Discussion - 1x10 - To Serge With Love
This episode was freaking fantastic. So many adorable M/M moments. Was it as subtexty as last week? Not really, but the important part is that we got a ton of scenes where Mary and Marshall were being the wonderful partners that they are. Oh, how I adore their partnership.
- Russian con man named Serge gets conned by a frisky cop. He's not too broken up about it, to be honest.
- Serge gives the sex eyes to Mary, just like Eps did last week.
But... Serge didn't get quite the same result as Eps. In fact, Mary calls him a steaming pile.
Poop.
Doody.
Notice Marshall's glee at Mary being completely turned off by Serge. Plus, he got to say poop, and who doesn't experience glee when saying poop? POOP! Hehehehe. Anyway, Marshall is very quick to change the subject, trying to stop all the nauseating, one-sided flirting going on, because even though Mary has no interest in Serge, Serge is sexualizing his woman, and he's having none of that.
NONE! But Mary's having fun playing with Serge's head.
And Marshall reiterates how out of Serge's league Mary is by telling him that she'll use him like a swizzle stick, which... is kind of hot, at least Serge thinks so. And really, Marshall was basically pointing out how Mary is out of everyone's league, because no one will ever be good enough for Mary in his eyes. No one. And this may actually be another reason why he's resistant to telling Mary how he feels (he probably thinks she's way out of his league, but he's wrong. So very wrong. Oh, Marshall. Do you know what she'd think? She'd think she wasn't good enough for you).
Anyway, I love how we get territorial Marshall again. He really doesn't like seeing other men looking at Mary in a sexual way. He doesn't seem to have a problem with Raph, but we've never actually seen what his initial reaction to Raph was, and I doubt that Marshall was in the vicinity of Mary and Raph when Raph was giving Mary the sex eyes, so... for all we know, he could be harboring some repressed aggression against Raph. Or not. Maybe I'm the one harboring a repressed aggression against Raph. It really wouldn't surprise me.
- Brandi almost has a heart attack looking for Biscuit (her teddy bear). She's packing. Jinx is absent and therefore not stuck with a sucky B or C plot (hallelujah!). Mary drives Squish to the airport and...
OMG! ISN'T THAT MARSHALL'S TRUCK? WHAT THE HELL? So... I guess that isn't actually Marshall's truck, but a WITSEC vehicle, which is just plain confusing, because Mary usually likes to drive her little purple car, and we've never seen Marshall in anything but that truck, but in "Iris Doesn't Live Here Anymore" we saw multiple trucks looking exactly like that, so... yeah, I don't think that's actually Marshall's truck. But if it was? I'd be all "OMG SHE BORROWED HIS TRUCK! IT'S LOOOOOOVE!" because I am ridiculous, but, sadly, that's not Marshall's truck. At least I don't think it is. And this completely screws up my car OTP. :'( Anyway, they have some adorable sister banter in Not Marshall's Truck, and then they have a lovely heart-to-heart at the airport wherein Brandi tells Mary that she won't do better than Raph, which... well, Brandi meant that Raph is the greatest guy she's ever met and that Mary deserves someone that wonderful, but it came out like, "Sure, he cheated on you, but he's nice, and I don't think you can do any better than that." And so this got Mary all doe-eyed and lovey about Raph later which is just... ew. Remember that repressed aggression I talked about earlier?
- Brandi actually comes back out of the airport and hails a taxi, and we get some music that says, "Hey, Brandi, don't be stupid. Oh, what is she doing? Sigh." Speaking of the music, can I just proclaim my love for Jeff Beal right now? I love him. I fell in love with his Monk scores, then his scores for Ugly Betty, and now In Plain Sight. I particularly love all of his piano-heavy scores. He always manages to elicit so much emotion out of a scene, or he captures the fun feel of banter, or confusion, or mystery, or... well, pretty much anything. And his music is always so unique compared to other shows. I love him. I always seem to know it's him before I even read his name on the credits. He's awesome.
- MARY AND MARSHALL! MARSHALL IS DRIVING! MARY IS BABBLING!
And dudes, look, profile shot, they are making the same faces, sitting in the same way. Even just riding together, they are totally in sync. And I love how Mary is talking about Tasha the way that a proud mother would. She thinks it's adorable that Tasha wants her to meet her new boyfriend. And she says she doesn't know why she's always late with Tasha, and Marshall launches into his psychoanalysis of her and completely nails her (sadly, not in the way we all want him to) and once again shows us just how well he knows Mary.
And Mary wants to strangle him, because he's such a freaking know-it-all (but an adorable one, which is probably why she never actually strangles him). But she does make him spill coffee on himself and look all orgasmic:
But she did that by taking the wheel and forcing him to pull over, not by... other means. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE ALL THINKING! Pervs. So, they pull over and steam up the windows and... no, they didn't. I was just building on your fantasy from the picture above. They pull over and see Tasha really, really making out with her new boyfriend, and Mary thinks it's sweet:
And Marshall is very uncomfortable:
And Mary calls him Pruse (that's... a new one. I would have called him Prudence or something like that. Pruse? That's so... Mary). Anyway, it looks like Marshall isn't big on PDA, which makes me love him even more, because he thinks sexy time is something that should be saved for the bedroom... or the kitchen, or the shower, but not the front porch. Also, he's in the car with Mary, watching something arousing, and he already has to fight down lusty feelings that he has for her, and the Tasha/New Boyfriend peep show isn't helping matters. And this scene shows how Mary thinks of Marshall as just Partner rather than Man, while Marshall tries to think of Mary as just Partner, but he fails miserably, because she smells good and she has that shiny, flowing blond hair and those lips and that body and man it's really hard for him to not think of her as Hot Sexy Woman. And then Mary is all arrogant over how not prudish she is, and how she doesn't have to control everything, and then Marshall realizes that New Boyfriend is actually his new witness Serge. And that wipes the arrogant grin right off of Mary's face.
- Mary and Marshall try to play it cool and act like they don't know Serge, but Marshall's compulsive need to share his knowledge with everyone prevents him from playing it cool.
Luckily Tasha has no clue what's going on, or else she's just completely ignoring Marshall. Then Mary asks her where she met Serge.
And she tells Marshall to shut up. And he is shocked. Shocked!
And Tasha tells them about the dating service, and about her new job at Headlights, and how her new brrrrrrreasts helped her achieve the American dream.
"You must be so proud." Hee, I love it when Marshall gloats. He's so damn adorable when he does that. And it makes Mary remember that she really can't control everything.
- Mary's witness is sweet and innocent, and Marshall's is an eeeeeeevil convict. I love how both Marshall and Mary defend their witnesses like crazy. Also? Mary has a kickass Russian accent, and she won the argument because Marshall wanted to laugh (you know he was laughing on the inside. And I bet he was a Rocky and Bullwinkle fan when he was a kid, and the Russian accent reminded him of Natasha Fatale, which just made him have a nerdgasm. Come on, you know it's true. I bet Natasha was his very first childhood crush. He was totally jealous of Boris).
- Brandi gets stuck in a sucky B-plot that makes no sense. At all. But then a baby shows up and we get all gooey inside because babies are cute little cuddly things, and the suckiness of the B-plot is forgiven, because, well, cute baby = the fix for everything.
- Mary and Marshall go to Serge's place, and he has a whole lot of expensive stuff. And he tells Mary that she should try the dating service, and she's all, "Psh, whatever," but you know she was seriously thinking about it. And that's where crazy, cliche fic pops into my head where Mary and Marshall sign up with the same dating service and somehow end up on a date with each other and much awkwardness ensues. Don't ask me how it's possible, because it's cliche fic, and in cliche fic plot holes are a necessity. Anyway, Marshall nerds out over all of Serge's stuff being wireless:
Which is completely understandable, because I'd be nerding out too. Especially over that big screen TV. And Serge offers to get Marshall a discount at the store and hook everything up for him and Marshall is all excited, but then he sees the look of disapproval on Mary's face:
And he automatically says no, because she's his wife and he's gotta keep her happy. Or... because he knew it was wrong and Mary was his moralistic guiding light, which is just... weird. Really, he just can't stand her disapproving glare. He much prefers pleasing her.
Then Tasha shows up, and Mary and Marshall have to hide.
"It would be weird for us to take a shower right?"
"...For so many reasons."
OMG OMG OMG!!!! MARY, MUST YOU TORTURE US LIKE THAT? OMG! I love Marshall's face here. It pretty much doesn't move at all, like he's numb, even as he utters his line that is filled with so much meaning. He leans in though as she turns away from him and he just kind of lingers there for a second. But oooooh, how I love the way that Fred said this line. You could really hear Marshall attempting sarcasm, but his voice was softer than usual, a little taken aback, a little yearning. This was probably the most subtexty part of the episode, and it's another brilliant moment where Marshall is telling her he's attracted to her without actually telling her, and she's completely oblivious, as usual. But his voice!!! OMG!
- Tasha and Serge figure out that they are both witnesses and proceed to makeout.
Marshall and Mary watch on in envy. Because Marshall wants to be kissing Mary like that, and Mary... well, actually, she's not looking on in envy, more like she's looking at them curiously, because she has no idea what love is supposed to look like. But Marshall? He's so wishing he had the guts to just swoop Mary up in his arms and kiss the hell out of her and take a shower with her.
But instead he shows her how dorky he really is by laughing and mentioning Schaupenhauer, which... went completely over my head, but I guess that was the point.
Marshall was enjoying himself at Mary's expense, and being completely adorable while doing so, and that's all that really matters. And we all know that Mary loves the dorky side of Marshall. It's what makes him so Marshally. Also, he was totally checking out Mary's butt when she walked by:
Still thinking about the shower, apparently.
- Mary and Marshall get reprimanded by Daddy. I love Stan. Love him. I also love the tension between Mary and Marshall whenever they're competing with each other.
-MARSHALL'S PLAYING SCARFACE ON THE WII!
- Tasha makes the decision for Stan by saying she refuses to testify if she can't stay with Serge. It's love!
- HAND TOUCHING!!!!!!!!
CLOSE PROXIMITY!!!!!!!
And Stan has to break them apart. Because they bring out the 5-year-olds in each other. And then Mary's computer gets destroyed, because she tried to hack into Serge's files.
And Marshall laughs because she got what she deserved.
And she gives him an "I'm going to shoot you in 2 seconds," glare.
And so he gloats silently. But he's pretty full of glee. Like... even more than when he said, "Poop," so... that's a lot of glee.
- Brandi uses shampoo to make her hair so shiny.
- Mary goes to the dating service and gets some dirt on Serge, but naturally Serge talks his way out of it with Tasha, because Tasha is very desperate to love someone. She's desperate to have that connection with someone, much like Mary (only, Tasha finds it easy to love and to let herself be loved, while Mary finds it extremely difficult).
- Mary is super bummed, but naturally Marshall makes her day better without even trying, because that's what he does. He sent the drive to IT and had the files decrypted. Which is exactly what she wanted, and she didn't even have to ask. Despite all their fighting over the ethics of it and the power struggle between them, Marshall still ultimately sacrificed for her happiness, and he betrayed the trust of his own witness for the safety of her witness.
"You sent the drive to IT."
"Eh, I didn't have anything better to do."
"I LOVE YOU like an eight dollar whore."
*MANNSQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!*
See? Just putting a smile on her face made his entire day. He loves surprising her and subtly showing her what friendship is all about, and I love him for that. He does it because he genuinely cares for her, doesn't expect anything in return. And I suppose getting praise from her is SO RARE that it's one of the greatest gifts that she gives him.
- CUTE BABY!!!!!!!
Oh, Baby, you made me smile so hard that I cried.
Dude, stop it, seriously. I'm weeping now. You're so tiny and innocent and toothless and smiley and cuddly and I can't believe they got you on camera that long without crying.
OH GOD! BABY+ TEDDY BEAR = DOUBLE THE CUTENESS! STOP IT! I'M BAWLING NOW! ARE YOU HAPPY? I love you, Baby, never stop being cute. I know you're just an innocent child star right now, but next thing you know, you'll be auditioning for a show on Disney and then become the new role model for tweens everywhere, but then you'll cave under the good girl image and marry Kevin Federline and shave your head and beat paparazzi with umbrellas and show your underpants to the whole world. Please, don't go down this road, Baby. You are too precious.
Okay, I need to comment on Brandi and the baby and the teddy bear. This scene reduced me to a puddle of tears. It was partly the baby, partly the teddy bear, but mostly it was Brandi loving that teddy bear SO MUCH because Mary gave it to her to scare away all the monsters, and to this day she still believes that the bear protects her purely because it's like Mary is always with her, and I think I got so broken up over this because such a small thing said so much about the Brandi/Mary relationship and how much Brandi looks to Mary for comfort and love and guidance. It was just an incredibly sweet moment, and Brandi giving up the teddy bear was an attempt at taking care of herself for once in her life. She doesn't need to be protected anymore, she can face the monsters head on. So basically, this scene was Brandi gaining a sense of self-worth. But the teddy bear was definitely a testament to how much she depends on Mary to protect her from everything in the world that's scary.
- Serge is a dickweed.
- Tasha is heartbroken, and when she's heartbroken, she's quite poetic (or maybe it's just the way the actress delivers her lines, along with the music). "And how safe I will be when I die of broken heart?" "How can someone say those things. I love you? And make you believe? How is possible? How can anyone ever trust anyone with their heart?" Mary doesn't know, but she wishes she did. MARY! YOU FOOL! YOU CAN TRUST MARSHALL WITH YOUR HEART! NOT RAPH! DON'T GO TO RAPH'S! DON'T... damn, she went to Raph's. And she freaks out when she sees Brandi sleeping on his leg. And Raph doesn't make much of an attempt to stop her from running away. Do you see what happens when you trust anyone but Marshall, Mary? Do you see? Although, come on, your freak out was quite unnecessary, but if this is the end of you and Raph, then I'm perfectly fine with that.
Final thoughts:
Marshall loves Mary.
The baby was cute.
Serge is a dickweed.
The actress who plays Tasha is absolutely wonderful.
Mary is a fool.
Marshall is a nerd.
Stan rules.
Scarface.
- Russian con man named Serge gets conned by a frisky cop. He's not too broken up about it, to be honest.
- Serge gives the sex eyes to Mary, just like Eps did last week.
But... Serge didn't get quite the same result as Eps. In fact, Mary calls him a steaming pile.
Poop.
Doody.
Notice Marshall's glee at Mary being completely turned off by Serge. Plus, he got to say poop, and who doesn't experience glee when saying poop? POOP! Hehehehe. Anyway, Marshall is very quick to change the subject, trying to stop all the nauseating, one-sided flirting going on, because even though Mary has no interest in Serge, Serge is sexualizing his woman, and he's having none of that.
NONE! But Mary's having fun playing with Serge's head.
And Marshall reiterates how out of Serge's league Mary is by telling him that she'll use him like a swizzle stick, which... is kind of hot, at least Serge thinks so. And really, Marshall was basically pointing out how Mary is out of everyone's league, because no one will ever be good enough for Mary in his eyes. No one. And this may actually be another reason why he's resistant to telling Mary how he feels (he probably thinks she's way out of his league, but he's wrong. So very wrong. Oh, Marshall. Do you know what she'd think? She'd think she wasn't good enough for you).
Anyway, I love how we get territorial Marshall again. He really doesn't like seeing other men looking at Mary in a sexual way. He doesn't seem to have a problem with Raph, but we've never actually seen what his initial reaction to Raph was, and I doubt that Marshall was in the vicinity of Mary and Raph when Raph was giving Mary the sex eyes, so... for all we know, he could be harboring some repressed aggression against Raph. Or not. Maybe I'm the one harboring a repressed aggression against Raph. It really wouldn't surprise me.
- Brandi almost has a heart attack looking for Biscuit (her teddy bear). She's packing. Jinx is absent and therefore not stuck with a sucky B or C plot (hallelujah!). Mary drives Squish to the airport and...
OMG! ISN'T THAT MARSHALL'S TRUCK? WHAT THE HELL? So... I guess that isn't actually Marshall's truck, but a WITSEC vehicle, which is just plain confusing, because Mary usually likes to drive her little purple car, and we've never seen Marshall in anything but that truck, but in "Iris Doesn't Live Here Anymore" we saw multiple trucks looking exactly like that, so... yeah, I don't think that's actually Marshall's truck. But if it was? I'd be all "OMG SHE BORROWED HIS TRUCK! IT'S LOOOOOOVE!" because I am ridiculous, but, sadly, that's not Marshall's truck. At least I don't think it is. And this completely screws up my car OTP. :'( Anyway, they have some adorable sister banter in Not Marshall's Truck, and then they have a lovely heart-to-heart at the airport wherein Brandi tells Mary that she won't do better than Raph, which... well, Brandi meant that Raph is the greatest guy she's ever met and that Mary deserves someone that wonderful, but it came out like, "Sure, he cheated on you, but he's nice, and I don't think you can do any better than that." And so this got Mary all doe-eyed and lovey about Raph later which is just... ew. Remember that repressed aggression I talked about earlier?
- Brandi actually comes back out of the airport and hails a taxi, and we get some music that says, "Hey, Brandi, don't be stupid. Oh, what is she doing? Sigh." Speaking of the music, can I just proclaim my love for Jeff Beal right now? I love him. I fell in love with his Monk scores, then his scores for Ugly Betty, and now In Plain Sight. I particularly love all of his piano-heavy scores. He always manages to elicit so much emotion out of a scene, or he captures the fun feel of banter, or confusion, or mystery, or... well, pretty much anything. And his music is always so unique compared to other shows. I love him. I always seem to know it's him before I even read his name on the credits. He's awesome.
- MARY AND MARSHALL! MARSHALL IS DRIVING! MARY IS BABBLING!
And dudes, look, profile shot, they are making the same faces, sitting in the same way. Even just riding together, they are totally in sync. And I love how Mary is talking about Tasha the way that a proud mother would. She thinks it's adorable that Tasha wants her to meet her new boyfriend. And she says she doesn't know why she's always late with Tasha, and Marshall launches into his psychoanalysis of her and completely nails her (sadly, not in the way we all want him to) and once again shows us just how well he knows Mary.
And Mary wants to strangle him, because he's such a freaking know-it-all (but an adorable one, which is probably why she never actually strangles him). But she does make him spill coffee on himself and look all orgasmic:
But she did that by taking the wheel and forcing him to pull over, not by... other means. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE ALL THINKING! Pervs. So, they pull over and steam up the windows and... no, they didn't. I was just building on your fantasy from the picture above. They pull over and see Tasha really, really making out with her new boyfriend, and Mary thinks it's sweet:
And Marshall is very uncomfortable:
And Mary calls him Pruse (that's... a new one. I would have called him Prudence or something like that. Pruse? That's so... Mary). Anyway, it looks like Marshall isn't big on PDA, which makes me love him even more, because he thinks sexy time is something that should be saved for the bedroom... or the kitchen, or the shower, but not the front porch. Also, he's in the car with Mary, watching something arousing, and he already has to fight down lusty feelings that he has for her, and the Tasha/New Boyfriend peep show isn't helping matters. And this scene shows how Mary thinks of Marshall as just Partner rather than Man, while Marshall tries to think of Mary as just Partner, but he fails miserably, because she smells good and she has that shiny, flowing blond hair and those lips and that body and man it's really hard for him to not think of her as Hot Sexy Woman. And then Mary is all arrogant over how not prudish she is, and how she doesn't have to control everything, and then Marshall realizes that New Boyfriend is actually his new witness Serge. And that wipes the arrogant grin right off of Mary's face.
- Mary and Marshall try to play it cool and act like they don't know Serge, but Marshall's compulsive need to share his knowledge with everyone prevents him from playing it cool.
Luckily Tasha has no clue what's going on, or else she's just completely ignoring Marshall. Then Mary asks her where she met Serge.
And she tells Marshall to shut up. And he is shocked. Shocked!
And Tasha tells them about the dating service, and about her new job at Headlights, and how her new brrrrrrreasts helped her achieve the American dream.
"You must be so proud." Hee, I love it when Marshall gloats. He's so damn adorable when he does that. And it makes Mary remember that she really can't control everything.
- Mary's witness is sweet and innocent, and Marshall's is an eeeeeeevil convict. I love how both Marshall and Mary defend their witnesses like crazy. Also? Mary has a kickass Russian accent, and she won the argument because Marshall wanted to laugh (you know he was laughing on the inside. And I bet he was a Rocky and Bullwinkle fan when he was a kid, and the Russian accent reminded him of Natasha Fatale, which just made him have a nerdgasm. Come on, you know it's true. I bet Natasha was his very first childhood crush. He was totally jealous of Boris).
- Brandi gets stuck in a sucky B-plot that makes no sense. At all. But then a baby shows up and we get all gooey inside because babies are cute little cuddly things, and the suckiness of the B-plot is forgiven, because, well, cute baby = the fix for everything.
- Mary and Marshall go to Serge's place, and he has a whole lot of expensive stuff. And he tells Mary that she should try the dating service, and she's all, "Psh, whatever," but you know she was seriously thinking about it. And that's where crazy, cliche fic pops into my head where Mary and Marshall sign up with the same dating service and somehow end up on a date with each other and much awkwardness ensues. Don't ask me how it's possible, because it's cliche fic, and in cliche fic plot holes are a necessity. Anyway, Marshall nerds out over all of Serge's stuff being wireless:
Which is completely understandable, because I'd be nerding out too. Especially over that big screen TV. And Serge offers to get Marshall a discount at the store and hook everything up for him and Marshall is all excited, but then he sees the look of disapproval on Mary's face:
And he automatically says no, because she's his wife and he's gotta keep her happy. Or... because he knew it was wrong and Mary was his moralistic guiding light, which is just... weird. Really, he just can't stand her disapproving glare. He much prefers pleasing her.
Then Tasha shows up, and Mary and Marshall have to hide.
"It would be weird for us to take a shower right?"
"...For so many reasons."
OMG OMG OMG!!!! MARY, MUST YOU TORTURE US LIKE THAT? OMG! I love Marshall's face here. It pretty much doesn't move at all, like he's numb, even as he utters his line that is filled with so much meaning. He leans in though as she turns away from him and he just kind of lingers there for a second. But oooooh, how I love the way that Fred said this line. You could really hear Marshall attempting sarcasm, but his voice was softer than usual, a little taken aback, a little yearning. This was probably the most subtexty part of the episode, and it's another brilliant moment where Marshall is telling her he's attracted to her without actually telling her, and she's completely oblivious, as usual. But his voice!!! OMG!
- Tasha and Serge figure out that they are both witnesses and proceed to makeout.
Marshall and Mary watch on in envy. Because Marshall wants to be kissing Mary like that, and Mary... well, actually, she's not looking on in envy, more like she's looking at them curiously, because she has no idea what love is supposed to look like. But Marshall? He's so wishing he had the guts to just swoop Mary up in his arms and kiss the hell out of her and take a shower with her.
But instead he shows her how dorky he really is by laughing and mentioning Schaupenhauer, which... went completely over my head, but I guess that was the point.
Marshall was enjoying himself at Mary's expense, and being completely adorable while doing so, and that's all that really matters. And we all know that Mary loves the dorky side of Marshall. It's what makes him so Marshally. Also, he was totally checking out Mary's butt when she walked by:
Still thinking about the shower, apparently.
- Mary and Marshall get reprimanded by Daddy. I love Stan. Love him. I also love the tension between Mary and Marshall whenever they're competing with each other.
-MARSHALL'S PLAYING SCARFACE ON THE WII!
- Tasha makes the decision for Stan by saying she refuses to testify if she can't stay with Serge. It's love!
- HAND TOUCHING!!!!!!!!
CLOSE PROXIMITY!!!!!!!
And Stan has to break them apart. Because they bring out the 5-year-olds in each other. And then Mary's computer gets destroyed, because she tried to hack into Serge's files.
And Marshall laughs because she got what she deserved.
And she gives him an "I'm going to shoot you in 2 seconds," glare.
And so he gloats silently. But he's pretty full of glee. Like... even more than when he said, "Poop," so... that's a lot of glee.
- Brandi uses shampoo to make her hair so shiny.
- Mary goes to the dating service and gets some dirt on Serge, but naturally Serge talks his way out of it with Tasha, because Tasha is very desperate to love someone. She's desperate to have that connection with someone, much like Mary (only, Tasha finds it easy to love and to let herself be loved, while Mary finds it extremely difficult).
- Mary is super bummed, but naturally Marshall makes her day better without even trying, because that's what he does. He sent the drive to IT and had the files decrypted. Which is exactly what she wanted, and she didn't even have to ask. Despite all their fighting over the ethics of it and the power struggle between them, Marshall still ultimately sacrificed for her happiness, and he betrayed the trust of his own witness for the safety of her witness.
"You sent the drive to IT."
"Eh, I didn't have anything better to do."
"I LOVE YOU like an eight dollar whore."
*MANNSQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!*
See? Just putting a smile on her face made his entire day. He loves surprising her and subtly showing her what friendship is all about, and I love him for that. He does it because he genuinely cares for her, doesn't expect anything in return. And I suppose getting praise from her is SO RARE that it's one of the greatest gifts that she gives him.
- CUTE BABY!!!!!!!
Oh, Baby, you made me smile so hard that I cried.
Dude, stop it, seriously. I'm weeping now. You're so tiny and innocent and toothless and smiley and cuddly and I can't believe they got you on camera that long without crying.
OH GOD! BABY+ TEDDY BEAR = DOUBLE THE CUTENESS! STOP IT! I'M BAWLING NOW! ARE YOU HAPPY? I love you, Baby, never stop being cute. I know you're just an innocent child star right now, but next thing you know, you'll be auditioning for a show on Disney and then become the new role model for tweens everywhere, but then you'll cave under the good girl image and marry Kevin Federline and shave your head and beat paparazzi with umbrellas and show your underpants to the whole world. Please, don't go down this road, Baby. You are too precious.
Okay, I need to comment on Brandi and the baby and the teddy bear. This scene reduced me to a puddle of tears. It was partly the baby, partly the teddy bear, but mostly it was Brandi loving that teddy bear SO MUCH because Mary gave it to her to scare away all the monsters, and to this day she still believes that the bear protects her purely because it's like Mary is always with her, and I think I got so broken up over this because such a small thing said so much about the Brandi/Mary relationship and how much Brandi looks to Mary for comfort and love and guidance. It was just an incredibly sweet moment, and Brandi giving up the teddy bear was an attempt at taking care of herself for once in her life. She doesn't need to be protected anymore, she can face the monsters head on. So basically, this scene was Brandi gaining a sense of self-worth. But the teddy bear was definitely a testament to how much she depends on Mary to protect her from everything in the world that's scary.
- Serge is a dickweed.
- Tasha is heartbroken, and when she's heartbroken, she's quite poetic (or maybe it's just the way the actress delivers her lines, along with the music). "And how safe I will be when I die of broken heart?" "How can someone say those things. I love you? And make you believe? How is possible? How can anyone ever trust anyone with their heart?" Mary doesn't know, but she wishes she did. MARY! YOU FOOL! YOU CAN TRUST MARSHALL WITH YOUR HEART! NOT RAPH! DON'T GO TO RAPH'S! DON'T... damn, she went to Raph's. And she freaks out when she sees Brandi sleeping on his leg. And Raph doesn't make much of an attempt to stop her from running away. Do you see what happens when you trust anyone but Marshall, Mary? Do you see? Although, come on, your freak out was quite unnecessary, but if this is the end of you and Raph, then I'm perfectly fine with that.
Final thoughts:
Marshall loves Mary.
The baby was cute.
Serge is a dickweed.
The actress who plays Tasha is absolutely wonderful.
Mary is a fool.
Marshall is a nerd.
Stan rules.
Scarface.