March 11, 2007: B is for Bette
This episode turned into the Bette hour, didn't it? After watching Bette go through her ups and downs over three seasons, I have to say, I'm siding with Jodi in this fight. Bette
is a control freak, and even though she may have had the best intentions in planning the party for Jodi, it turned out to be a bizarre validation device for Bette, and not really at all about Jodi.
It's so ironic. Bette kept trying to interpret for Jodi regardless of Jodi's wishes, and Bette's reason was that she didn't want Jodi to "miss anything." Well, as far as dinner-party banter, sure, Jodi missed some things. However, what Jodi did not miss out on was the one thing that Bette would have wanted her to miss, namely Bette's need to control.
When it comes to reading people, Jodi has a keen sense of character judgment, and that didn't work so well for Bette tonight. Jodi read Bette like a book, but Bette didn't want to
hear anything that Jodi had to say about it. Being deaf has nothing to do with how much one can read other people. Words are just words, and actions truly do speak louder than words... at least, tonight it did for Bette and Jodi.
In my opinion, Jodi is absolutely right: Bette does seem to want a partner who works
for her. I know that she doesn't do it on purpose, but it's just the way she's wired. And I'd never realized until tonight just how controlling Bette is around her friends more than anything. When she's alone with Jodi, it seems like Bette acts more calm and relaxed, but... something about being around that group really gets Bette all wired up and bossy. That party turned out to be almost as awkward as that gay/straight mixer Tina threw in the beginning of the season. Yikes. The only thing that made it a little less awkward was the fact that at least the main women of the group know Bette and love her in spite of her weaknesses. That's family for you.
In the opposite extreme, things with Max going home for his mom's funeral turned out to be a little less horrifying than what I was expecting. One thing that made me smile was when his dad said, "Your mother told me that she thought you should have been a boy." That had to have made Max feel good to know that even his mom knew what he had known about himself for so many years when he felt trapped inside of Moira. I also smiled when his dad called him "son" when they were looking at the car together.
It seems like his dad wants to understand and embrace him, but he just hasn't figured out how. Any reaching out at all is a sign of progress and a sign of acceptance, which was a nice surprise. I hope that some of those signs may have helped Max deal with the loss, and maybe even turned over a new leaf for Max and his dad.
What do you all think of the filmmaker? I can't figure out if I like her. When Page whispered to Shane that her movie was pretentious, I can't say it didn't surprise me. It should be interesting to see how the film progresses, especially since Jenny and the filmmaker both seem to have that diva factor going on.
I felt bad that Papi didn't realize she was enabling Kit, and I wonder if Papi will feel that Kit was lying to her. At first, when Kit had asked for sparkling water, I'd thought "Whew, maybe that was a one-night alcohol stand" (the night Papi took Kit out after she'd confronted Angus), but I guess not. *Sigh*
I'm still quite puzzled over Catherine and Helena. Alice has it right: They are very twisted together. Just how twisted is still what I'm waiting to see.
I was happy to see Page and Shane get back together to "read stories." Too cute.
Two episodes left.
