TV-series: Life Unexpected
Episode: Season 1, episode 4 – “Bong Intercepted”
Air Date: Monday, Feb 08 2010
“It’s got all the qualities you want for a good show: Good story, drama, enough comedy to offset the drama, heart, guts, and it’s got real emotions”
There is always that one chick in high school that rubbed you the wrong way all the time but because you’ve know her for ages, she always spends the night at your house…until finally one day you meet someone a bit cooler, like Lux (Britt Robertson), and invite her to come crash instead. Well the other chick, Casey, is a beeotch and isn’t happy about this new pairing between Bren and Lux. Evil twisted plans are already being planted in that mushy brain of Casey’s waiting to be unleashed.
K-100 Radio Station where Cate (Shiri Appleby) and Ryan (Kerr Smith) are morning radio DJ’s have planned a big event ‘Drink -a- Date’ singles night at a bar conveniently located directly across the street from Baze’s bar which is not a pleasant pill for Baze (Kristoffer Polaha) to swallow.
A social worker brings Lux’s previous files to both Cate and Baze to review. As they peruse through the documents, they realize that Lux has really had a rough go of it throughout her life with the heart condition and never being adopted. They find a beautiful Christmas letter Lux had written about finding the perfect parents in which Cate seems to fit the bill, well at least 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. Baze is not faring so well and begins to feel self-doubt.
While Cate and Ryan go shopping for a killer outfit for Cate to wear to the Drink-a-Date event, they decide to have a little fun in one of the dressing rooms but then are rudely interrupted by a call from Principal Dugan (guest star Merrilyn Gann, “Everwood”). She informs Cate that Lux has been suspended from school for five days due to selling drug paraphernalia (aka the Bong Lamp) to a fellow student. When Cate grills Lux on why she sold the lamp and what she needed the money for, Baze steps up and takes the heat stating that Lux was helping him out by paying the rent on the bar.
Cate goes to the principal to plea her case and shows her the files of how Lux had been shuffled around from foster care and group homes for so long. The principal agrees to take a look at the file to reconsider the suspension. As the receptionist is making copies, our evil little friend Casey takes her moment to set her dubious plans in motion.
Baze’s constant calling interrupts Cate & Ryan’s late night romance and when Cate finally answers, Baze is pestering her to have her next radio event at his bar. They (Baze and Cate) have their usual lover’s quarrel and she hangs up on him telling him ‘If you want help, help yourself’. Baze is less than pleased with that answer and he sets out to sabotage Cate’s event by placing an anonymous call to the local authorities informing them that the bar across the street has underage drinkers. Now this sets the stage for Baze to go to the radio station and ask for them to use his bar as the new venue.
Meanwhile, Lux is getting her façade of boarding schools and trips to San Francisco aired out like dirty laundry by the conniving Casey who made copies of Lux’s file from foster care and posted her sweet holiday letters to Santa all over the school. And Bren is hurt that Lux lied to her about all of it, even the ‘Jerry Garcia Bong’. “We Googled him. He’s dead.”
With Lux super hot under the collar and blaming Cate for this catastrophe, she storms to Baze’s apartment and said she’s done with Cate and moving into his place permanently. Baze is at a loss right now because he is getting the bar ready for the Drink-a-Date event going on in the bar so he leaves Lux to chill in the apartment.
During the event, Ryan asks for a beer from Baze and the hostility edging from Baze is palpable. Ryan calls him on it and said ‘you have no idea what you have here’. Baze realizes he’s got a lot of growing up to do to and more to become a real father to Lux.
In the middle of the event, Cate gets a chance to sneak away and runs up to talk to Lux and the conversation gets heated. “After sixteen years, no one wanted me”…”you don’t know what it feels like”. Lux is so angry and blames Cate for bringing the file to the school and then she runs out onto the stage of the event and announces to all that Cate and Ryan are telling lies – they are engaged – to each other. ‘Ohs’ and ‘Ahs’ ring out from the stunned crowd, especially their station manager.
Lux spends the night with Baze and they have a small heart to heart about the whole situation and Lux decides to go see Cate but the meeting doesn’t go over as smoothly as Lux had hoped. Cate unleashes her bitterness and anxiety at how Lux has built more of a relationship with Baze and she’s hurt that Lux always pushes her away. Cate’s not sure if she can handle this ‘being a mom’ thing and feels Lux doesn’t want to be with her. “I’m doing the best I can” Cate tells Lux.
At school, after being outcast by Casey and Bren, Lux sits alone and Math (Austin Basis) tells Lux how he wanted to ask Cate to the winter formal but someone else beat him to the punch and that guy ended up ditching her at the formal where in the end, she hooked up with Baze and subsequently had Lux. “No one wants to be rejected” Math says to Lux.
Baze drops off a special gift and the money Lux gave him for rent into Lux’s room at Cate’s house. And Cate is happy to find Lux asleep in her bed in the attic when her and Ryan get home.
I just want to hug my TV screen because I love this show! It’s got all the qualities you want for a good show: Good story, drama, enough comedy to offset the drama, heart, guts, and it’s got real emotions. I can feel the ache in the pit of my stomach when her friends confronted Lux at school. I felt the anger and bitterness in Cate’s voice and tears when she asked why Lux pushes her away. The animosity that Baze feels because he thinks he should be more like Ryan when all along Ryan tells him that he has everything any one could want right in front of him.
Lux and Cate and Baze have a long road ahead to loving and trusting each other. It’s going to be a very bumpy and slippery road they will have to travel but in the end, them coming out together as a united family will be worth the hard work. No family is automatically perfect. So many families have dysfunction but sometimes it is within the dysfunction that you find the calm that makes a family a family.
Don’t you want a hug from your TV every week? Watch Life Unexpected – it’s a big hug every Monday!
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