SEASON 3

EPISODE 11: DEATH WORKS OVERTIME

It's a busy night for the Grim Reaper in L.A. A cashier is brutally gunned down during her convenience store robbery; a utility worker is electrocuted during a minor quake, and a young jock has the rare but not unheard of heart attack after getting off the treadmill.

With all this approaching revenue for the Fishers, you'd think they'd be pleased as punch, but instead, they're very alarmed. Lisa has never shown up at her sister Barb's house, and she is not answering her cell phone. Anyone who watches CSI knows something is bad wrong, because that's the kind of world we live in.

Ruth, however, refuses to think anything of the sort. Surely Lisa's cell is just low on battery, or she's just forgotten to call, or something.

Vanessa visits a shrink to try to sort through the gazillion and one meds she's on for her depression. I thought Justina Machado did a great job in this scene.

Nate is too screwed up mentally to work, and Arthur offers some "comfort". Poor guy. I kind of felt sorry for him in this episode. Between Ruth's coldness of late and Rico screeching at him to shut up about the time crunch between all these funerals, I'm sure he feels really welcome around here.

In the Chenowith world, Brenda has moved out of Billy's, and has found a "crummy" apartment. Pardon me, but hardwood floors in any setting equal halfway decent quality. It would have been more realistic to have disgusting peeling linoleum. I didn't see a roach one, either. While getting settled in, Bren receives a call from Mad Margaret, who has decided that it is time to scatter Bernard's ashes somewhere. She utilizes her usual bag of manipulative tools to get Brenda to join in the festivities.

The heartbroken Russell continues to try to win Claire back, but she is so disgusted with him and preoccupied with the Lisa situation that she blows him off. She gets her grade of choice from Olivier, and I love how she handled his sleazy ass. She returns home and she and Ruth get into it pretty bad...because Ruth's in denial. The woman is always in denial about something. Now it's the fact that Lisa's probably dead or in the hands of some sadist serial rapist/murderer.

Was it something she ate? Hopefully it's just some bug going around. But the look on Claire's face tells us that she suspects that the last possible thing she desires on earth is happening. As she later quips to David, "The timing couldn't be more perfect."

Brenda calls Nate, needing to reach out and try to smooth over the weirdness of the preceding night, but she gets squawked at for her troubles. Later she trots over to Ma's condo and has a jolly time arguing over what to do with the remains of Pa. Margaret decides where to dump the ashes so suddenly that her children almost miss the ceremony. Immediately following, we're treated to an impromtu tribute concert by our hostess, who sings one Roberta Flack tune 209 times in succession. And if that wasn't just oodles of fun for Brenda, Billy pulls out shocker #3 and tells his sister that he's in love with her! My God, if I were in her shoes, I would have definitely have had to pop a couple of Imitrex and lay down. What an afternoon!!!

But I can't feel too sorry for her...like she didn't know that the whole thing was orchestrated because of what happened with Billy??? Like she didn't know that Ma gets her kicks out of watching the 2 Bs fighting and agonizing over their weird relationship? That woman is a piece of work! Only a complete loon would hear her son say he's in love with the daughter, and NOT be disturbed. A normal mom would have put his twisted, lovesick ass back into Clarendon for some more aggressive treatments, but Ma belongs in Clarendon too, so...

To ease her sister's depression, An-hell-i-ca decides Vanessa needs to go get a cute new pair of shoes. Delighted, Rico hands over the credit card. He's not too delighted later on when he comes home to find a huge TV and a gargantuan refrigerator instead of cute new shoes. As usual, Hell makes it a point to let Rico know that his opinion, his need of respect and communication, his very LIFE, mean nothing to anyone in the house. Ah, Rico, if I had a gun, if I could reach into the screen and hand it to you...

Instead, he heads out to more dancing lessons, which Vanessa has abruptly lost interest in. He and a friend go out for drinks at a strip club, where Rico meets the soon to be famous Infinity.

Nate, who has spent the entire episode worried sick, finally gets a call from the Santa Barbara Sherrif. Lisa's car has been found near a beach in that area. When Nate arrives, he sees several things about the car that seem out of character for his wife. There is still no trace of her, so he gets a motel room nearby.

Ruth is straightening things up after the two busy funerals, and meets a man named George Sibley (James Cromwell). Ruth, in true form, tells George the frightening situation with Lisa and then cries all over him. Welcome to the family, George!

David appreciates Keith for doing all he can to help find Lisa, but he still believes that all the recent tension in their relationship has come to a head, and that it's time for a break. At least a brief one, and Dave and Claire decide to drive to the coast and lend their support to Nate, who is ready to lose his mind. As usual, the three siblings have a beautiful scene.

This episode was very good, with all kinds of twists and monkey-wrenches thrown in to ensure that our characters' lives will continue to be one uproar after another. I give it an A.