203/Bedfellows

Show Outline

Paul's father (Burt) is in the hospital after collapsing while at work with a mild episode of angina. He's fine, but everyone is worried nonetheless. The family all comes to visit and Paul's mother (Sylvia) has a field day ripping Paul, Jamie, and Sharon (Paul's other sister). Burt has to stay overnight in the hospital and Jamie offers for her and Paul to stay with Sylvia, who surprisingly accepts. Jamie tries and tries to get along with Sylvia, but it just doesn't seem to work. Paul, meanwhile, is mainly concerned with "getting lucky" in the room he grew up in.

Commentary

This episode wonderfully points up the difficult relationship between Jamie and Sylvia. That's mainly because Sylvia is in peak form in this one. I mean, if you see only one episode to find out, A) how strained the relationship is between Jamie and Sylvia, and B)how pushy/annoying Sylvia is, then this is the one to see. But that's not a bad thing. I found myself laughing frequently during this episode, mainly because of how Sylvia is. Two things to note about this one. The first, is the rare if not only appearance of Sharon in this series. The second, is the touching connection between Burt and Sylvia. It kinda gives you a nice bridge between past and present generations. Overall, it was an amusing and warm episode.