SEASON 2

EPISODE 5: THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

An attractive woman, forty-something, is contentedly listening to the radio and doing crossword puzzles, her way of unwinding after a day at work. She takes a bite of food and ends up choking to death.

Brenda's next project in her attempt to validate her own existence is a fiction novel, only she has no idea how to start.

Claire and her friend Parker are supposed to be studying, but Parker is more sex-crazed then the boys of Porky's. When Parker mentions how "fuckable" Counselor Gary is, Claire is suddenly very unnerved.

David is still playing the field, and ends up dating a cute lawyer named Ben. David, afraid to lose any more opportunities to have someone in his life, lies to Ben about his career category.

The deceased has no family or friends that can be reached, and her landlord isn't interested in attending any funerals. When Ruth hears about this, she displays a very interesting interest in the dead woman. I for one loved Claire's comments about how some people may choose not to conform to what is called "normal". Some people may choose to live without being constantly surrounded by fake friends and noise and BS. Perhaps some people just enjoy being alone. Ruth hates what Claire says, believing Claire to be cynical beyond hope, but I'd rather be a quiet, hardened cynicist than a hysterical banshee like Ruth ends up being. Even David, who hates being alone, is a little off the hook as he entertains the idea that perhaps the deceased was a highly functioning autistic. Again, Claire retorted with stuff I agree with.

Keith is trying to handle Taylor's defiant, troubled attitude, with not much help from boyfriend Eddie. Keith begins to believe he's turning into his own father, and all it took was to be in the presence of a troublesome kid.

The body of the deceased is bloated and discolored, and Rico hopes he can restore her enough for an open casket funeral.

Brenda subconsciously seeks inspiration in her massage client, Melissa. They end up having lunch, and Brenda confides that she feels different about her relationship with Nate than she used to. Is she taking his love and presence for granted? Or is she still suffering from depression and/or distracted from him by her own neurotic self? Melissa refuses to mysticize her professional choices, and it's unclear whether Brenda wanted her to or not.

Ruth, unable to shake her sorrow for the friendless woman who died, helps Nate pick out clothing at the woman's house. At first glance you want to say, "Ruth, the woman is dead now, so if she was lonely before, she's not now, so quit worrying." But if you look deeper, you see Ruth is putting herself in the place of this dead woman, believing that she may die alone as well. Only Ruth doesn't like being alone the way this woman did.

Keith witnesses a domestic dispute between two drug-thugs and ends up having to shoot one in self defense. David has hit it off with lawyer Ben, and is ecstatic, until Keith comes calling, shattered by the fact that he has killed another human being. Somehow Keith knows David is the one to turn to for comfort (yes, I realize I'm using the word "comfort" in place of the word "sex" a lot lately.) Next morning, Keith, riddled with 2 kinds of guilt now, blows David off.

Claire has a falling out with Parker over Parker cheating on the SATs, and ends up in a particularly strained session with the counselor. I didn't think this storyline went anywhere interesting. Luckily, there's not much of it.

Melissa the hooker finds herself in a "bind" as Brenda calls it, and at Brenda's insistence, hires Brenda to be her "watcher". When Brenda returns home from "helping" her friend, she is exhilirated, and begins a new chapter in both her book and her life.

At the "funeral" of the deceased loner, Nate has a Springsteen fantasy, David has a headache, Rico is overly defensive about his inability to fully restore the body, and Ruth has a need to gather everyone together and force them to attend this funeral. Afterward, she tries desperately to incite some kind of response from her children about her own loneliness and her fear that one day, she will be that woman. Claire cuts her eyes up, as usual. David is too busy suffering a headache and resentment toward Keith, and Nate is not impressed by Ruth's tirades, or is he? Later, he asks Brenda if they have the kind of intimacy they should have with each other. And ever the clever Brenda respondes by presenting Nate with a ring and asking him to marry her.

What the heck? A ring? A proposal? What's behind this? True love or guilt over having become a hooker of sorts that afternoon? Are there deeper issues? Has Brenda become fearful of losing Nate and the sense of security and solidity she has? Has Brenda come to depend on Nate the way Billy once depended on her?

This episode got off to kind of a slow start, but it quickly picks up the normal pace. There are lots of intriguing emotional issues going on, and a good amount of the story concerns the deceased, so this episode gets an A.