least fave scene

[Brett Ferino]

what is it?

[Shindigger]

Least Favorite scene? Right away I can think of one that was handled rather shabbily. It occurs in the episode where Cathy decides to test her friend's (?) assertion that Cathy is only a visitor in the Lane household and not a true member of the family. The statement is that after a few days fish and visitors start to spoil. Cathy decides to prove that she is, indeed, as much a member of the family as Patty or Ross. She informs the Lanes of an opportunity to go Argentina on a "scholarship," believing that they wouldn't think of allowing her to go any more than they would allow Patty to do so. Wise, all-knowing Martin instructs the family that they are selfish for wanting to deny Cathy such an opportunity, and that she's conflicted enough about having to make such a decision without the family's mind-beclouding sentimentallity holding her back. (Don't you hate it when TV dads are such psycological know-it-alls?) At any rate, Cathy tries her hardest to elicit some show of how much the family cares about her and a sign that she hasn't been "in the way" the past few years. The show is fine so far, but then when Natalie catches on that the family has been going in the wrong direction, the scene where the crisis is rectified is handled, I think, in a hokey, rush, rush sitcom way. Martin announces at the dinner table that Cathy won't be going to Argentina after all, because she is part of the family and everyone would miss her. To my way of thinking, it was such an about face, out-of-the-blue statement. Why not a scene where Martin takes Cathy aside and has a heart-to-heart talk with her laying to rest all her fears that she's nothing more than a guest on extended stay? Or, since Patty and Cathy are close, why couldn't Patty be the one to figure out how Cathy really felt, and then brought it to the attention of Martin? I know it sounds like nit-picking, but I just feel the whole ending was a bit too trite. After all, in one of the 1st season's episodes (Aunt Pauline Arrives-fave episode), I remember a scene where Natalie says to Cathy, "I not only love you, I like you." It was a very realistic moment on the show that I think anyone could relate to. Sure, we love our family and relatives but to like them, actually enjoy their company, well, that's another thing entirely. When Natalie made that statement to Cathy, she was telling her she wasn't a visitor, she was family; she belonged. That statement made the show a cut above the routine sitcom. This later episode merely took the easy by-the-numbers way out. Too bad.