LIFE UNEXPECTED: “Pilot”

Pictured: Kristoffer Polaha as Baze, Britt Robertson as Lux, Shiri Appleby as Cate. Photo Credit: Michael Courtney / The CW.

Read on for my recap and review of the pilot for Life Unexpected, aired January 18th, 2010:

The long-awaited premiere of Life Unexpected has finally aired, and I must say that it did not disappoint.  Since I had such high expectations for the show, I did approach viewing it last night (on Monday) with some trepidation, for fear that it would not live up to the hype.  But fear not, TV addicts, it is addiction-worthy!  There have been a lot of comparisons of LUX (as the show shall hereafter be called, though not to be confused with its adorable main character, Lux) to Juno, and Gilmore Girls, and the classic WB.  While somewhat reductionist, these comparisons do work, in a very broad sense.  It has the family show appeal of classic WB shows such as Gilmore Girls and Everwood, as all three provide touching and honest looks at dysfunctional family relationships, but never get too over-bearing and sentimental.  The offbeat humor and pop culture references also beg a comparison to Gilmore Girls, though the premise and setting are both very different.  Occasionally, a character’s penchant for intellectual speech-making, full of self-reflection, reminds me of Dawson’s Creek.  As for Juno, I guess it is the whole teen pregnancy thing, but other than that, the only similarity is the ability of the writers of both to provide some humor in approaching a challenging life experience—always a good thing in my book.  But LUX is never too funny, and always retains its heart.  And on the other hand, it doesn’t overload on the sentimental, and always retains its humor.  These characters feel like real people, to whom I can relate.  All this after one episode, you say?  I’m thinking big, people.  But enough comparisons, already!  This gem of a show deserves to be looked at on its own merits, and that I will do.  On to the recap.

“Wake up Portland!”  We open the episode on Cate (Roswell’s Liz, Shiri Appleby) & Ryan’s (Kerr Smith, who played Jack McPhee on Dawson’s Creek) “Morning Madness” radio show.  They have a great rapport, and are playing a game of “Sex, Marry Kill” (if this doesn’t sound familiar, change the words to something less PG).  Cate: “Screw marriage.  I like the sex and kill part better.”  I automatically began rooting for Cate at this point.  She is a nonconformist and a cynic when it comes to dating, marriage, and love.  I am all for that, as I do love an angry cynic—especially one with a back story.  The two are clearly dating, but playing it off like they aren’t, for the benefit of the show and Cate’s neuroses.  They have great chemistry, but knowing what happens later, I just feel sorry for poor Jack, I mean Ryan.

Meanwhile, 15 year old Lux (Britt Robertson) is getting ready, when some little kid bursts into the bathroom and leers.  She rushes out to complain to her foster mother: “He did it again.  Your son seriously puts the ‘ew’ in Stewie.”  The foster mother is less than helpful.  However, since this the CW, nothing truly horrible or icky happened, but we can just imagine what Lux may have gone through in her life.  After criticizing Mrs. Foster (seriously, that is her name) and her parenting skills, Lux tells her that in two days, it won’t matter.  She explains: “I’m turning 16, I’m getting emancipated, and I’m getting the hell out of here.”

Cut to our loveable loser Baze (Kristoffer Polaha, who has guest-starred on Dollhouse and Mad Men, amongst other shows), who wakes up to his girlfriend Trace (or Tracey perhaps, but he calls her Trace) searching for her other shoe, so that she can go running.  He has no intention of getting up, and says that he worked until 4:00am.  Trace points out that it’s not really work if you can drunk dial from your job.  Good point.  Though, I guess as long as you get paid, it is work.  And you can get paid for activities you do while drunk … or so I’ve heard.  You can also be fired for such activities … or so I’ve heard.  Trace: “I don’t think opening up a bar and living above it was what your dad had in mind when he gave you the building.”  Well, that is some handy exposition there.  Baze: “Well my dad said to do what I love, and I love to drink for free.”  The man does make a good point.  Baze finds her shoe, and then she forgets about running for a bit and falls into bed with him.  I can’t say that I blame the girl, but since I know what happens later, I can’t help but feel bad for her too.

Then we cut back to Cate and Ryan’s morning show.  A woman calls in to say that she wants to get married and have a million babies, but it just seems impossible.  Cate’s priceless response?  “Well, you know what’s impossible is having a million babies.”  Ha!  I love Cate!  Ryan then harps on the fact that Cate doesn’t have “a maternal bone in her body.”  The implication is that this is a bad thing, and I feel the urge to slap Ryan.  However, this urge is competing with the one to hug Lux, who is listening to this, and clearly has no idea that Cate is her mom.  See, I’m complicated, and so is this show.  Cynical Cate explains: “I learned it really early on that the only person you can depend on in this world is yourself.  I mean, if you expect anything else, you are just setting yourself up for heartbreak.”  Hey, I can’t disagree.  Ryan: “OK.  Well, on that uplifting note, that’s our show for today, people.  I’m Ryan Thomas, alongside my clinically insane, but moderately loveable co-host Cate Cassiday.”  OK, Ryan gets points for that last line, though Cate is not so amused.  She asks: “Why is it on every single talk show across America the guy is always the calm and stable voice of reason, and the woman is the, you know, bitter, unlucky in love crazy sidekick?”  Good question!  The same is true of every romantic comedy, which is why I can’t watch that crap anymore.  So aggravating.  The two joke about Cate throwing a remote at Ryan last night, and they kiss.  They really are adorable.  Heartbreak is coming though, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, Baze and his two friends, Jamie (the cute one who somehow managed to talk a girl into spending the night with him) and Math (the one with glasses—yes, according to IMDB, his name is Math), are beginning their day, downstairs in the bar.  The door buzzer sounds, and Baze thinks that the beer guy is early.  Nope.  Instead, it’s Lux.  She’s looking for Nathaniel Bazile.  When Baze assures her that he is the man in question, she asks, “Are you sure?”  Hehe.  Poor girl.  Lux: “You live in a bar.”  Baze: “I live above a bar.”  An important distinction?  In response to the inundation of cookie orders, Lux explains: “I’m not a girl scout.  I’m kind of comprised of half your gene pool.  I’m your daughter.”  Baze’s reaction is perfection: a mixture of confusion, surprise, and hangover.  Jamie: “Dude, it is not a girl scout.”  Math: “It’s a girl.”  OK, those guys are kind of useless.  Should I just call them Thing 1 and Thing2?  Tweedledee and Tweedledum?  Dumb and Dumber?  Well, I don’t want to confuse anyone too early on, plus maybe I’m being harsh, so I’ll stick to their names.  Cut to a title card, but no opening credits.  However, I read on Twitter that next week will feature opening credits and a title sequence.

Cut to the whole group, a few minutes later, in the bar.  Lux is trying to explain the situation to these grown-up children.  She tells Baze: “You and someone had a kid.  You gave up that kid.  I am that kid.”  Well-stated.  She also explains that no one ever signed a permanent release of rights, so she tells Baze: “Basically, until you sign that piece of paper, you are still, legally, my dad.”  She wants him to sign the piece of paper, of course, because she wants to get emancipated.  At this point Baze’s girlfriend returns, but rushes into the bathroom before Baze can FAIL to explain everything to her properly.  Lux quips, “Mommy?”  Hee.  At this point, Baze tries to rush his daughter out of there, but Lux has spunk and will not be brushed off.   She tells him that her emancipation hearing is the day after tomorrow, that life in the foster homes has sucked, and that he needs to sign that piece of paper.  He does so, and he also tells her who her mom is: Cate Cassidy.  What a small world!  Lux is amazed, and you’ve got to imagine pretty happy, at this news that her mom is semi-famous.  Math pretty quickly reveals himself to have had a major crush on Cate, and he is shocked and upset that his friend Baze managed to hook up with her.  Also, Lux points out the rather hilarious pattern of naming: “Wait, your names are Nate and Cate?”  And don’t forget Trace!  Well, I guess we can leave her out, as she doesn’t seem to be  a lasting fixture on the show.  Math is still in denial that this ever happened and asks Baze, “Did you ruffee her?”  Baze: “No, I didn’t ruffee her!  Who ruffees people?”  Creepy guys on CW shows, that’s who, Math.  Keep up.  Trace pops back in, and asks, “Why are you hiding a teenager behind your back.”

On that cliffhanger of a moment, we cut back to Cate and Ryan, who are back at Cate’s apartment, and continuing their game of “Sex, Marry, Kill,” yearbook edition.  Ryan snoops through Cate’s yearbook and offers examples from her past, including a guy who has been completely defaced, named … you guessed it … Nathaniel Bazile.  While she is freaking out, Ryan makes fun of her hair in high school, and then when she turns away, he takes this awkward opportunity to propose to her, dropping down on one knee.  Apparently he already tried this last night, when he called her “the one,” and got a remote thrown at him.  Jack Ryan has guts, I’ll give him that.  After the remote incident, and … oh, I don’t know … her complete swearing-off of marriage, you’d think he’d take a pause.  A glutton for punishment, perhaps?

Meanwhile, Lux encourages Baze “to rip the bandaid off,” as in just tell Trace what’s up.  He does so, sort of, with help from Lux.  Baze, winner that he is, says “I always assumed that this girl, Cate, took care of it.”  What a prize.  Ugh.  Lux asks for him to give her Cate’s number, and then assures him that then, “I will get out of your obviously thinning hair.”  Ha!  Tracey and the boys encourage him to call Cate, out of the blue.  Oh, that is sure to go well.

Back in Cate’s apartment, Cate tries to convince Ryan that he doesn’t want to marry her.  Oh, you know, one of those conversations.  I am always trying to convince cute boys not to marry me too.  It’s a hard life.  But honestly, I really like that for once the woman is the one that is not so hot on the topic of marriage.  Dear world: not every woman wants to get married and have a million babies.  Cate explains: “We haven’t even lived together yet.  You don’t really know me. […]  I don’t floss.  And I wear these little footie pajamas and a mouth-gard when you’re not around.  Did you know that?”  He knows and he loves her.  He offers a litany of things that he loves about her, but counters, “The only thing I don’t know is what happened to you to make you so screwed up.”  I know, I know!  Darn, I’m not really in this conversation, despite my best efforts.  Cate: “Wow.  That is the sweetest thing that anybody has ever yelled at me before.”  Aawww.  Cate: “Alright, you can do it.  You can propose.”  Ha!  He says that he isn’t asking it again, but she convinces him, he asks, she says yes, and they kiss.  Then Cate’s phone rings.  She runs and answers when she hears the voice.  Baze, obviously, is a total charmer: “Hi, Cate?  It’s Nate Bazile, and we kind of did it that time.  And I  …”  She hangs up on him, and tells Ryan that it was a wrong number.  Lies!  Lies, I tell you.  Poor Jack Ryan.

Meanwhile, Lux tries to talk some sense into her father: “She’s obviously not going to call you back.  So you’re just gonna give up?”  Baze says that he’s just chilling out, and she mocks him.  He offers a list of things that teenagers do to chill: “You text your friends, you post inappropriate pictures of yourself on MySpace, go watch YouTube.”  Dude, no one uses MySpace anymore.  You are old.  And so is your MILF t-shirt.  Lux says that she hates YouTube, and complains: “This is exactly why I want to get emancipated.  Then I won’t have to deal with incompetent grown-ups anymore.”  Math pipes up: “But have you seen the one about that Lion, Christian.”  They look disbelieving, but then we hear the strains of “I will always love you,” and watch as a lion reunites with its former owners.  They are all teary-eyed watching this, and it is beyond adorable.  I must admit that I have been victim to similar YouTube video sentiment, despite my claims to despise such drabble.  A genius little scene.  Lux, in the midst of her emotion, says: “Panda Sneeze!  Have you seen that one?”  Baze: “I thought you hated YouTube?”  Lux: “Maybe hate was a little strong.”  Hee.  Baze looks at his daughter, and you can imagine that at that moment he is thinking that maybe this whole procreating thing is actually pretty cool, especially when you have such a cool daughter, and he asks her: “Do you think we look alike?”  She shakes her head no, and he covers, “Yeah, me neither.”  Adorable.  Sorry, I will try not to overuse that adjective in this recap, but it will be hard.  Baze offers some words of comfort: “If these Australians can find their lion, we can find our Cate.”

The next morning, Lux and Baze are in the parking lot outside Cate’s radio station, and they call into the show.  Lux gets too nervous and hands off the phone to Baze.  I think that exact moment of Lux handing over the phone is my very favorite moment of the episode.  It was just so authentic, and believable, and you could see the bond, however fragile, that Lux had already allowed to attach herself to her father.  Just beautifully done.  Baze dutifully takes the phone, and introduces himself as Nate from high school.  Ryan is all over that, unsuspecting of the larger implications.  Ryan begins questioning Cate about high school, offering a range of possibilities for why she doesn’t want to talk about it.  The last of these hits the mark: “Or were you one of those girls who got knocked up on prom night?  [Long pause.]  Did you get knocked up on prom night?”  Baze: “More like Winter Formal.”  He insists that she come outside and talk to him.

Cate goes outside to the parking lot, and she is pissed.  She yells at Baze: “You haven’t changed a bit … except your hairline.”  She asks, “What is so important that you couldn’t wait until I was off the air?”  Baze’s response?  “Meet Lux, your daughter.”  Shiri Appleby’s expression at this news is gold.  I have to admit, the (irrational) part of me that feels ownership over Roswell and all of its characters felt proud for all-grown-up-Liz.  Really, Shiri is perfectly cast in this role, despite how young she looks.  In reality, she is a couple years older than me, and is just the right age to have gotten pregnant at 15.  Lux’s shy and vulnerable response is also spot on: “Hi!”  So sweet.  OK, now before you all leave to go throw up at my sickening sweetness, just remember that it isn’t all hunky dory; there is still a lot of conflict to come.  Cate asks: “How did you find me?  I mean I am so glad that you did, it’s just that the last time I saw you, you were so tiny.  And now … now you’re so big … no, you’re not big big.  You’re proportional.  How are you?”  Hehe.  Baze pipes in that she has something for her to sign, and the emancipation is brought up.  Cate is confused.  Baze “She’s in the foster care system and has never been adopted.”  You’ve got to imagine that that would be absolutely heartbreaking for a woman to learn, after giving up her child for adoption.  I mean, it’s heartbreaking for me to hear, and I know that they’re fictional characters.  Cate says that she can take her (to the place where the form must be dropped off?  What?  I can’t be expected to pay attention to every expository detail, can I?).  Also, it was at this point of the show that I began to wonder how two such decidedly brunette people had such a decidedly blonde child.  However, all three members of this divided family are absolutely adorable (sorry, there’s that word again), so I’ll let it slide.  Cate offers to take her again, and Lux clearly wants to take her up on the offer.  She turns to Baze: “You wouldn’t mind?”  Baze, who totally does mind, shrugs it off: “Of course not.  I mean, I got stuff to do.”  Sure you do.  They say their goodbyes, and Baze leaves her with this parting invitation: “And we never got around to watching ‘Panda Sneeze,’ so you know where I live, if you want to stop by anytime.”  Aawww.  (I know, I know. The “Aaawww”s have to stop too.  I’m trying.)

In the car, Lux asks: “Are you sure you’re not gonna get in trouble for leaving the show?”  Cate assures her: “No, it’s fine.  It’s actually perfect.  It’s going to be a lot harder for Ryan to ask for the ring back this way.”  Ha!  Lux: “Ryan?  That’s who you’re dating?  I love you guys!”  At this point, Cate totally runs a red light and almost HITS A SEMI-TRUCK, and it is a miracle that they are not both DEAD.   Awesomely, however, Cate is not fazed by this, and seems to be on a totally different mental wavelength—one that is channels away from sanity.  Cate: “So, you listen to the show?”  Lux: “Yeah, every morning.  Well, except when I lived in Salem (shout out, Evan!).  I didn’t get the station.  It’s literally why I asked for a new placement.  Well, that, and my foster parents were like dealing drugs.”  At Cate’s look of dismay, Lux assures her, “Prescription.”  Cate is clearly upset, and confused as to why she never got adopted.  Lux says that she was born with this heart thing,  and she had to have a lot of surgeries, and after everything, she was almost three.  I also had a little hole in my heart when I was born, though nothing as serious as Lux’s, so now I totally feel like we are bonded.  Love.  She continues: “Most people, they want a baby.  [Awkward pause.]  I mean, not everyone, obviously.”  Cate: “No, obviously.”  Um, wow.  Heartbreaking, awkward, and some other emotion that I can’t quite describe.

At this point, they reach their destination, and get out of the car.  Cate: “I just want to be clear. I just want to be clear.  It’s not that I didn’t want a baby, it’s just that I was your age.”  She asks whether Lux wouldn’t like to wait for someone to adopt her, and points out: “It’s just that at 15 I thought I knew everything also.  […]  There’s probably a lot of things that you haven’t considered.  Like, do you know where you’re going to go to school, or even live?  How are you going to make any money?”  Lux: “No offense, but I haven’t had a mom in 15 years.  I don’t need one now.”  Ouch for Cate, but you really can’t blame the girl.

Later that night, Cate and Ryan are at a Singles Booze Cruise (at least that’s what I thought I heard, though there was no boat).  They sign autographs, but Ryan pull Cate aside to talk.  He recaps the insanity of the past couple days to her, and tells her that he just wants her to be honest.  Cate gives a heartfelt speech: “You want me to be honest?  This is who I am.  This is it.  I mean, you can ask anyone in that line, and they can tell you that I’m your bitter unlucky in love sidekick that got knocked up at sixteen.  I don’t trust people.  I don’t want to commit.  This is why I didn’t want you to give this to me in the first place.  [She hands back the ring.]  Here.”  Ryan: “Right.  Because this is what you do.  You push people away.  Me, your daughter.”  Cate interrupts, in tears: “I can’t fix it with her.  I can’t make it right.  She walked away from me.  I don’t know what you want me to do.”  Ryan: “I don’t know, Cate.  I don’t know.  But you probably should have done a little more than whatever it is that you just did.”  Sage advice.  I officially love Ryan, despite his possible relationship-road-kill status.

The next day, Lux stands before a judge at her emancipation hearing.  Judge: “I see you turn 16 tomorrow.”  Lux confirms this, and then the judge makes note of her case officer, who explains that she has only been with Lux a short time, as Lux tends to move around a lot.  Lux: “Well, that’s not really my fault.”  Judge: “And whose is it?  Surely, you’re not saying it’s the seven different families who tried to take you in?”  I’m pretty sure that is exactly what Lux is saying, but the judge doesn’t want to hear that.  In terms of the emancipation, the judge asks Lux a series of questions: “You’re going to afford an apartment?  On what income?”  Lux: “I have $3,000 in the bank.”  The judge explains that no landlord will rent to a minor, and at this point Cate jumps in: “I’ll cosign, your honor!”  Baze whispers: “C’mon you gave her a ride, let me give her money, let me sign the thing.”  The two have been sitting in the back throughout the hearing, and they are literally jumping out of their seats to be the first to help.  The judge asks who they are, and Lux explains that they are her birth parents.  Baze: “Yeah, Lux and I, we go way back, your honor.”  Cate: “To when?  Yesterday?”  Baze: “Yeah, we bonded.”  Cate: “Over what?  A panda sneezing?  You want to bond, try being attached by an umbilical cord.”  Baze: “Like she remembers any of that.”  Cate: “I know, cause if she did, then she’d remember what a jerk you were.”  Baze: “Oh, I’m sorry.  Forgive me that I had some dreams, some goals that I wanted to accomplish.”  Cate: “What dreams?  To own some loser bar?”  Baze: “Did you google me?”  Ha!  These two clearly have amazing chemistry, and I can’t wait to see more scenes between them.  The judge interrupts this squabbling to ask the two some questions about their respective employment and transportation.  Then to Lux:  “OK, I’m going to be very straight with you.  I am not granting you emancipation. You have no income.  You have no permanent residence.  You filed a fee waiver to cover your court costs.  […]  Now, Catherine Cassidy and Nathaniel Baziel are still your parents.  I’m releasing you back into their temporary joint custody.  This case is dismissed.”  While I feel bad that Lux is crushed, I am, of course, thrilled at this outcome, as it necessitates Lux getting to know her parents.  A story about Lux making her way on the big bad streets alone would be much less satisfying.

Outside on the court steps, Lux is angry: “Well, that was the opposite of being emancipated.”  Baze blames Cate, who retorts: “Do you really, want to go there?  Because if you hadn’t just used a condom that had been in your wallet for two years then…”  Awkward look from Lux.  Ouch.  The so-called-adults go off to fight.  Cate sarcastically quips: “Yeah, you have been so helpful.  Like the time that you denied we slept together.  That was so awesome.”  Baze: “You’re pretty indignant for someone who never even told me we had a kid out there.”  Cate: “You wouldn’t even admit that she existed.”  Baze: “Cate, what did you want me to do?  Propose?  Marry you?  Because the last time I saw you, you didn’t exactly want a kid either.”  Cate: “Yeah, I didn’t not want a lot of things when I was 16. […]  And I did not want to have a thing for some … some meathead quarterback that would …”  Baze catches onto this revealing slipup quickly: “What meathead quarterback?  Me, meathead quarterback?  Because the back of my mom’s minivan, I thought that was some kind of fluke.”  Cate, unconvincingly replies: “It was a fluke.  I was just a sucker for wood paneling and multiple cup holders.”  Sure.  Baze: “Then why are you so upset?”  Cate: “Because this is what you do.  You upset me.”

At this point, Lux interrupts, and addresses her mom: “So what?  He let you down?  Like you’ve never let someone down before?  [Shiri’s face is perfection in response to this.]  I mean, did you ever consider keeping me?”  Cate: “No.”  Heartbreaking.  Just heartbreakingly honest.  Lux: “Seriously?  I’m going back to foster care.  You can’t be parents.  You both need parents.”  Cate tries to stop her, but Lux has had it: “Just let me go.  You did it once. It shouldn’t be so hard.”  She runs off.  Cut to Lux arriving at her foster home, where she sees all her stuff packed.  She has been kicked out, and she cries.  Again, just heartbreaking.  But then, I am a sap.

Meanwhile, Cate and Baze are at Baze’s bar commiserating about times-gone-by.  Cate: “God, I should have lied.”  She also admits that her time with Baze in his mom’s mini-van was her first time.  Baze: “Wait, deflowered?  Wait a minute.  Your first time was after the Winter Formal?”  Cate: “It was technically during.”  Goodness, I love these two together.  He asks how they ended up there, and we learn that this happened after Baze’s date got medi-vaced.  Cate explains: “You lured me in with Zima and the Spin Doctors.”  That has to be the best line of the episode.  Hehe.  There are some jokes about the length of time it took to conceive Lux, and really it is again so clear that Shiri and Kristopher have a boatload of chemistry.  Baze then gets serious: “Listen Cate, I’m sorry.  Back then, I was over my head.  And I was afraid that I was going to mess up my life.  We can’t all be as you.  Some of us peak in high school.”  Cate: “She has your eyes.  Lux.  I always really like your eyes.”  And then?  They kiss … and end up in bed together.  Uh oh.  When I first watched this scene, I was sure it was a fake-out—like Baze or Cate’s fantasy or something—but it is decidedly real.  Awesome use of the Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes” too.  So 90s.  Love it.

The next morning, Cate wakes up next to Baze and freaks: “Oh my god.  Tell me this didn’t happen.”  Baze: “Oh, it happened.  Twice.”  Baze: “You’re on the pill, right?”  Cate: “Really?  Well, whatever did happen, it was a fluke.”  Baze: “Just like the van?”  She assures him yes, but I must point out that once is fluke, but twice is a pattern.  Baze wonders: “What is the big deal?  You got a boyfriend?”  Cate: “No, I don’t ‘got’ a boyfriend.  I had a fiancée.”  Hmmm.  Whatever you say, Cate.  He says that he is in the same boat, as he has a girlfriend, but she hasn’t returned his calls.  Cate says that “our boats could not be further apart,” and that she is not a cheater.  Clearly trying to justify this to herself, she says that she and Ryan broke up, and she is not a cheater.  She is not him.  She also says this never happened.

Cate abruptly leaves, and while doing the walk of shame, she trips over Lux.  Lux: “Don’t you people learn?”  She is a wise one, that teen.  Lux explains that she was waiting for Baze to wake up, and notes that she should have waited to ream out her foster mother until after the hearing.  Cate: “Is it really that bad?”  Lux assures her, “Worse.”  We haven’t really seen evidence of that, but I’ll take her word for it.  Cate is sorry: “Look, I know that I should have been there for you.  I mean, now I know that no one else was.”  Lux  interrupts, and says that she was there for her on the radio.  “People are so scared to just tell the truth. … Not you.  You just put it all out there.  You tell the truth.”  Cate asks if she can tell her the truth right now, and continues: “Don’t worry, it’s going to work out.  You’re going to have a family some day.”  Lux: “You don’t know that.”  Cate: “Yeah, I do.”  I hope so, because my heart can’t take Lux sleeping in an alley for another night.

Cut to a little later that morning, and Cate arrives at the radio station to greet Ryan.  She is still in her clothes from yesterday, I might add.  She tells Ryan that she is a mess, but that she wants to change: “I don’t want to push people away anymore. I don’t want to sabotage and screw this up.  I just want to act like an adult, somebody who is actually worthy of you, and Lux.  I’m going to do it Ryan.  I’m going to take care of her.  And I really hope that you’re going to help me.”  Ryan: “What exactly are you proposing?”  Cate: “Marry me.”  Well, nothing like sleeping with the guy who impregnated you in your teen years to bring clarity to your current relationship, right?  No?  Yeah.  Ryan pokes fun at her a little, referring to her as Juno and Jamie Lynn, but then he inevitably says “yes.”  They kiss.  I am worried for Jack’s Ryan’s tender heart.

Later than night, Cate and Lux arrive home to Cate’s apartment, where a surprise birthday party awaits.  Baze is there, along with his friends Jamie and Math.  Lux is very moved: “It’s just that no one’s really ever remembered.”  Aawww.  Math is beyond thrilled to see his high school crush Cate, but his face falls when she introduces Ryan as her fiancée.  Lux awkwardly says congrats, knowing about the whole walk-of-shame thing.  Baze says, “Wow, that’s cool.  Congratulations.”  Um, yeah.  Lux blows out her sixteen candles, all except one.  Math: “You got to get that last one, or it won’t come true.”  Lux: “I think it already has.”  Then she blows out the last candle.

OK, kind of a really cheesy closing scene, but c’mon, this is a great show, right?  I would love to read your thoughts, so please comment below.  P.S. I won’t be doing lengthy recaps like this every week, because time-wise it would just be too much.  However, I do hope to share my thoughts each week, in a briefer format, so come back soon for more LUX reactions.

Related posts:

• LIFE UNEXPECTED: Links to watch the “Pilot” & trailer & clips from “Home Inspected”
• NO ORDINARY FAMILY: Advance screening of the pilot
• THE GATES: Vampires, Werewolves, and Succubi, oh my!
• End of Season Report Card: Part III
• LIFE UNEXPECTED: Sneak Peek of “Father Unfigured”