So-Called Angels



With a title like that, you know you're gonna get a Christmas episode, which was actually pretty good. Very touching and sad. Angela sure has the knack for talking to...

*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS

Spoiler (hover to show)

...Ghost. Unlike the Halloween episode, this one wasn't bad because we don't know she is talking to a "Ghost" till very close to the end of the episode. I guess it runs in the family now that her Mother Patty can do the same. The episode centers around Rickie who is homeless after being the victim of physical abuse at the hands of his family and refuses to return home to more of the same of the same. The one person that needs to change is Patty. She has a very singular view of life and can't see things around her. Everything isn't always black or white. So, by the end, she kind of "gets it" when she embraces Rickie.

Stay to the very end of the episode to see exactly what this Ghost is.

Resolutions



Resolutions more or less picks up where we left off from So-Called Angels. With Rickie now staying with the Chase Family, he overhears a coversations and misinterprets that they don't want him around anymore. Needless to say this sets off a chain reaction where Rickie finds himself homeless again, refusing to stay at a Shelter. It's revealed that his teacher who has taken an interest in him from a few episodes back because he could see that Rickie was looking for some guidance. The episode ends where Rickie shows up on his doorstep....

The scene with Jordan and Brian was somewhat humorous now that he is tutoring Jordan how to read and he will return the favor by teaching him how to get phone numbers from chicks. Ha. Good luck with that. He probably couldn't even ask a phone operator for a number most likely.

Betrayal



What do you get when you put two drunks in the same place? Drunken sex of course. So, Jordan and Rayanne hook up. Even though Angela is "over" him, there's a line you just don't cross when it comes to your friends and clearly Rayanne stepped over that line and now has to pay the price of the silent treatment from Angela and Rickie.

A.J. Langer who plays Rayanne did a pretty good job and finally gave a performance worth noting in a very understated turn, especially the scene at the end where she shares the stage with Angela during a reading of Our Town. As good as she was, Claire Danes heartbreaking moment is tops here. I'm not entirely sure if it was acting because when she starts to cry, that quivering jaw says it all.

Weekend



For a Danielle-narrated episode, she really didn't factor a whole lot into the story that was taking place. With the parents away up at a ski lodge, the kids have the house to themselves and get into an adventure involving handcuffs, a bedpost and lots of time to kill. There was one particular scene that was funny in which Brain is leaning over Rayanne who has handcuffed herself to the bed and he is trying to pick the lock to get her out of the situation when Kyle, the boyfriend of Sharon walks in on them and sees Angela, Danielle and Rickie watching. He quickly exits the room and then listen to the conversation outside the door. A lot of innuendo, or what is taken out of context comes off as innuendo. It's a page right out of Three's Company.

As for the adults, it was really weird and boring story. Bah!

In Dreams Begin Responsibility



Jordan enlist the help of Brian in trying to win over Angela for "cheating" on her. At first Brian is against feeding words to Jordan that could drive Angela further away from him and closer to Jordan. But in a moment of clarity, he realizes that this may be the only time he will ever be able to express his true feelings for her and proceeds to write the be all, end all of love letters, which he gives to Jordan to transcribe into his own handwriting. Sure, enough, once Angela reads the letter, she falls in love with Jordan all over again.

You can imagine how crushed Brian feels inside having to see the two of them together again...because of his words that he put to paper. But it's Rickie, who mistakenly tells her about who wrote it that brings Angela back to Earth, which leads to a very touching, poignant scene between Brian and Angela at the end. In a roundabout way, Angela is able to get Brian to admit that he wrote the letter and instead of being furious, there is a look of implied devotion on her face, that she could actually fall for him. The moment of course is ruined when Jordan comes into the picture and whisked her off in his car. But as she drives off, that look still remains on her face...

That's the cliffhanger. And that's why it's hard to rationalize the cancellation of this series. So many what-ifs about My So-Called Life. It just sucks it had to end on something like this. It also sucks that Claire Danes herself is more or less the reason why it was cancelled because she had made it known that she didn't want to continue on with the show if it came back for Season 2.

:::sigh:::

Also, Tino reminds me of Buster Bluth in that he is neither seen nor heard.