Till Death Do We Volley WORST episode I've ever seen (spoilers)

[Schmoopie]

I don't normally post in forums of shows I can't stand but I just happened to catch this episode tonight and it's been a very long time since a show has made me so angry with the way it was written.

I'm sure everyone here has seen it but in a nutshell, Dorothy's high school girlfriend comes for a reunion and their friendship was based on practical jokes and insults. That alone is enough to make me , but I watched it anyway, hoping it would get better.

Dorothy takes her friend to play tennis and her friend drops dead on the tennis court. They never show what happens after from any other perspective than Dorothy and the other girls, but for the rest of the show, Dorothy is devastated, thinking that she caused her friend's death. They carry this on though the reunion where she's forced to go to her high school friends and tell them that this woman had died and then admits to "killing her".

They could have just stopped there, but they had to ruin it by having her friend return to the reunion after having faked her death. It was written like a very bad sitcom plot, but , made a thousand times worse. It is just SO unbelievable that someone who was so distraught to the point where she upset her roommates as well, would just be so forgiving to her so-called friend who played the most horrible trick imaginable. And not only did Dorothy fake being in bed with her friend's husband but the fact that her friend was so ticked off was like calling the kettle black. I had a friend in high school who lied to me for an entire semester about this boyfriend she had, even going so far as to tell me that the guy had proposed to her, when in fact she didn't have a boyfriend at all. I only believed her because I didn't have any reason not to. But when she told me that she had lied to me, I was furious and I refused to talk to her for months on end. I think at the very least, Dorothy could have broken her friendship with this woman or the woman could have apologized. But instead they laughed it off like it was no big deal. I just have issues with people making death out to be something funny.

Just a horribly written episode all around.

[tlc38tlc38]

I don't find the episode itself that bad but I'm giving the show a rest because I've become sick of it due to stations rerunning it to death. I never thought I could tire of TGG because it's one of my favorite sitcoms but I guess too much of a good thing is never a good thing.

Now, on the other hand, I'd say that "Break-In", "Dorothy's Prized Pupil", "Empty Nest", "Mister Terrific", "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket?", & "Mary Had a Little Lamb" are the absolute worst episodes of the series.

[JR1]

I agree with "Empty Nest" and the "Mary..." show (the later seasons in general were not as good as the early ones, with less sharp writing/humor). The other ones weren't as bad, and had some cute bits in them.

As for the "Volley" episode- it was alright. Not one of my favorites.

[bandonurse]

Not a favorite of mine either. Who would really think someone being "fake dead" was actually funny?

I certainly wouldn't, and I would be quite angry at someone who tried to pull that off as a "joke" in real life.

But then, they actually did an episode where Sophia almost bashed Rose in the head with a cooking pot, under the guise that she was trying to help her get to sleep.

[schmave]

"You Gotta Have Hope" is my least favorite episode of the entire series by a long shot. Stupid, unbelievable premise *and* the awful Nylund/Lindstrom error.
There was a whole batch of episodes right around that time in the series I don't care for. The middle seasons weren't nearly as good as the early ones, and then there were pretty good episodes late.

[BestTVever]

I actually liked this episode. Far fetched, yes. But most sitcom scripts are. I love when Dorothy tells everyone at the party about the death and then the doorbell rings and Rose says Dorothy has to give her speech all over again. Hysterical!

[Meilleur]

"Till Death Do Us Volley" isn't my favorite Golden Girls episode, but it's not my least favorite episode either. The plot point of Trudy faking her death as a practical joke - is a bit macabre, even for a sitcom. It is rather sick. It seems more like a storyline you might encounter on a primetime soap opera like Melrose Place, or a daytime soap opera like Young and the Restless or Days of Our Lives. (Personally, IMO, all soap operas now are sleazy and yucky - especially since the the last 10 to 15 years.)
I did like the other part of the plot, where Dorothy got the truth out of Trudy's husband - and decided to play a trick with him on Trudy back - pretending that they were having an affair with each other. Trudy was shocked and quite beside herself. That was really comical.

Thinking of the worst episodes of Golden Girls, the episodes "Break-In", "Dorothy's Prized Pupil", "Empty Nest", "Mister Terrific", "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket?", and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" are not what I had in mind.
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" was a tender and funny episode - with Dorothy providing emotional support to the pregnant teen and trying to bridge the gap between the girl and her father. The subplot was Blanche writing sexy letters to the convicted prisoner - that she wasn't really interested in - was really nutty - nutty even for the show. If Blanche wasn't really interested in a man - especially an imprisoned criminal, then what sense is there in writing and exchanging racy letters with him! I think Blanche says - after she nearly blows her cover with the ex-con when he first visits the house - "And stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!" (after she argues with Rose saying that Blanche isn't ugly, but gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous) "And stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid" is a fitting description for Blanche's behavior in this episode. This is the most ridiculous that I've seen Blanche. Here she is so very way out. Not Blanche at her best, absolutely not by any means. Overall, thought, I don't think it's such a bad episode. "Dorothy's Prized Pupil" was a good episode - a little poignant, definitely one of the most dramatic episodes of the series - more serious than funny. "Mister Terrific" is a rather nutty episode - not my favorite, but not bad either. "Empty Nest" isn't one of my favorites either, but it's not bad. It's sort of good. Mind you, it isn't one of Paul Dooley's best roles, and the girls hardly appear in this one. This episode ranges from good to ho-hum. "Break-In" is one of my favorite Golden Girls episodes. It's almost like a Norman Lear sitcom from the 1970s - with a balanced mix of serious drama and funny comedy, with the climax being Rose's encounter in the parking garage and her explaining what happened there to the others. And when this episode was funny, it was extremely funny. All the characters had plenty of comical lines - so many gems in this episode's dialogue ("..my mama's jewels!", "Dorothy, I don't think a date's the answer - I meant a psychiatrist, hot pants!", "They were probably looking for drugs. - We have Maalox and estrogen.", "Well do ya, punk?! - Go ahead, make her day!", "You shot my vase! - "I didn't shoot Lester." - "I'd rather you shot Lester!", "She shot my vase! - Thank God, I hated that thing.", "One burp, and Stable Mabel will blow my head off!", "There aren't any holes in it [the sheet for gun target practice] / That's because they're all in your head.", "Surprise, it wasn't hairspray. It was mace!" / "...Well, what do you know, it works!", "they don't make them any more" [the fur stoles.] )
"Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket" is another of my favorites. I found it funny, touching, and uplifting. A good episode with a good message.

BTW, if I had to choose any Golden Girls episodes that I would consider the absolute worst - a different group of episodes comes to mind:

- "Brotherly Love", "The Impotence of Being Ernest", "Grab That Dough", "Zborn Again", "Sophia's Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)", "There Goes The Bride" (Parts 1 and 2), "The Monkey Show (Parts 1 and 2)", "Ebb Tide VI: The Wrath of Stan"(the slumlord episode), "Where's Charlie", "Love Me Tender", and "The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present".

[TVLegend]

Like mentioned earlier, the episode was too soap opera-ish. How is it possible for one to fake their death like that? Also, too many “tricks” and “pranks” and “stunts” to make this episode watchable.

[BestTVever]

Funny this episode was on TV Land yesterday. Yes it would be hard to fake your own death but there are far more far fetched sitcom scripts than this. You would have to hire a bunch of fake ambulance workers that would take you. Her husband was the one that told Dorothy that she died. So its really not that far fetched. If someone tells you their spouse died, why would you not believe them?
I actually like the episode and its one of the few from that season that I really enjoyed. Sophia was on top of her game on this episode. The opening scene around the kitchen table of Sophia spilling the beans about Dorothy's friend coming with her listening on the phone is hysterical. One of the few times she did not need cue cards to remember her lines. Sophia was on fire on this episode and so funny. But the funniest line is after Dorothy breaks down and tells people at the party she killed Trudy and flees the room in despair, the doorbell rings. Rose responds...oh no. Someone's late and Dorothy will have to give her speech all over again