719/Paved With Good Intentions

Show Outline

After hearing about the sudden (and mysterious) death of their favorite "Priority Parcel" delivery guy, Paul and Jamie ruminate about the fragility of life and decide to something about it. So they make a list of the important people in their lives and one-by-one tell them they (Paul and Jamie) love them. It's not a bad idea, in theory, but everyone has a different reaction to it, and not always one which gives them the satisfaction they sought.

When it comes time for them to tell Jamie's mother, Paul, who's going to pick her up, accidentally hits her with the car (Mark's car Paul is supposed to be moving). This puts Theresa in the hospital with one broken rib and both arms broken. Jamie wonders if Paul saw the accident and is not happy to learn that Paul caused the accident. It was caused because Paul forgot to score the bottom of a new pair of shoes even after Jamie and Ira warned him about slipping all over the place if he didn't. So his foot slips off the brake and hits the accelerator and he has the accident. Theresa is also just a bit upset with Paul and then thinks both he and Jamie ought to be ashamed of themselves for using such a bad moment to pander to her by saying they love her.

But fortunately for Paul and Jamie, Theresa has bigger problems than their bad timing of revealing their feelings. Like the fact that Theresa's new and much younger boyfriend is upset by the fact that she still wants to keep him a secret from her ex-husband, Gus. Why are both of them at the hospital? Another of Paul's mistakes - calling practically everyone he knows to tell them about the accident.

Finally in a private moment, Gus and Theresa calmly talk over their situation and part on friendly terms. Jamie who is happy about this remembers to tell Paul that she loves him. "Have you learned nothing over the last 7 hours?", Paul asks.

Commentary

This was one of those episodes which was fun to watch. No great big laughs and certainly not much in the way of either depth or surprises (except that I was mildly surprised to find out that Theresa already has another boyfriend), but it was still enjoyable.

I liked the idea of Paul and Jamie deciding to tell everyone they love them. It might be a nicer world to live in if we'd say "I love you" instead of insults. Naive, maybe, but tell me I'm wrong. Yet the way everyone's reactions, both the positive and the negative, was handled made this show better than it should have been. I especially enjoyed Nat's (the Buchman's dogwalker) reaction. His was another character which has taken me some time to get used to, but I really think he's funny now.

This episode wasn't one of the years highlights, but it was good enough, and certainly enjoyable. It was great to see Carol Burnett and Carroll O'Connor reprising their roles as Jamie's parents. I wish they'd had the roles originally, but they've made great substitutions. This episode rates a 6.5 mainly because of it's simplicity. I also didn't care much for Paul's over-emphasizing the sorry routine. Still was fun though.