Air Date: Monday, August 8, 2011 10:30PM E/P
Rating
I wouldn’t have pegged Lee (guest star Hugh Dancy) as a “bear” lover. For those of you unfamiliar with gay lingo, bears are big burly hairy men. There is so much I adore about Lee – his quiet resolve, his outlook on treatments, and his playfulness – but I’m concerned about his reluctance to form a bond with a partner. Yes, he and Cathy (Laura Linney) are “mole-mates,” but it seems he’s avoiding having meaningful relationships with a partner as is evident when he throws Panda Bear’s (Bobby Pestka) number away. “He’s not soul mate material.” I hope his friendship with Cathy and seeing her relationship with Paul (Oliver Platt) will be conducive to Lee finding someone to share his life with. I know he said, “Sick people need sick friends,” but they also need someone who loves and supports them throughout their illness. Or perhaps he does have someone back in New Orleans and is cheating? Interesting.
I couldn’t help laughing at Paul’s reaction to the men fawning over him as “man meat” at the bear bar.
Paul isn’t the most attractive man in the world, but it’s clear how much he loves and adores Cathy. So I find it odd when Cathy dismisses the term “soul mates” as she describes Paul to Lee. There is an obvious connection between Cathy and Lee despite his being gay. Even his acupuncturist (Brynn O’Malley) notices Cathy’s pulse slow down when Lee enters the room. You can have a connection with more than one person. As much as we try to find a perfect match for ourselves, I think having people you’ve bonded with on some level, whether it’s for one day or one year, helps you achieve a sense of perfection in your life. It’s when you start searching for one person to fill all those voids that you end up being severely disappointed.
Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe) is going on a date with Paul’s co-worker Myk (Boyd Holbrook)! Who saw that coming? It’s so funny how nervous she is while getting ready. She always puts on the air that she’s not intimidated by anything, yet she can’t even decide which hairstyle to go with.
Andrea: “Sweet and schoolgirl or straight up hootchie mama; which do you like?”
Cathy: “That’s a tough call. No, I, I, think it’s, it’s always best to start with sweet and save hootchie for dessert.”
Nice dinner with Myk. Check. Having a first kiss with a cute guy. Check. A trunk full of stolen electronics from your employer? Double check! I guess when Myk says, “I want everything super-sized,” he means a prison sentence as well. Is he an idiot or a diabolical Ukrainian criminal? I may have read one too many spy novels but I’m hoping for the latter on this one.
I really enjoyed this episode. Cathy’s little meditation/masturbation in the bathroom while Lee coaches her breathing via speaker phone is delightful…at least until the ghost of Marlene (guest star Phyllis Somerville) shows up in the tub. There’s nothing like the spirit of your dead neighbor to kill the mood. Cathy conversing with Marlene worries me. I’m not sure what Marlene’s presence means. Is Cathy hallucinating which may be a sign of something worse going on with her treatments? Or perhaps Cathy misses her friend so much she’s projecting? Nevertheless, Marlene is still a riot (even in spirit) when she tells Cathy about the afterlife: “You can jack off 24/7 – no judgment.” Wow! What a great perk. So, who’s ready to kick the bucket? I think that’s why they invented locked doors because you can masturbate 24/7 without having to die first; providing you don’t have a job or take the whole day off and can stay up for 24 hours straight. Just saying.
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Judy Manning
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