"Fool for Love"

A review by Jenni:

And I'm once again typing as I watch due to being swamped.  And drinking coffee.  Yum.

What I love about this episode:
Always fun to see someone from a sitcom dating to your childhood looking like a scumbag!  Seriously.  I was impressed with Joey Lawrence in this.  So not what I expected.  And he's still acting.  Good for him!

Jean jackets and big bangs!  Nostalgia trip time!

I'm also impressed with how natural the actress playing Sara looks at both ages.  I'd believe she was 17.

I feel so sad for the mom...  Jesse trashes the birthday plans she has for her daughter and then she doesn't get to spend any time with her on the day.  It really sets up the plot in a way that got me hooked right off.

The doll totally gets me.  First, I remember Raggedy Ann from my childhood.  Second, my favorite doll is a clown doll.  Finally, just the idea of always being someone's lil girl is really touching.  The "forever" added on the back is also very sweet.  I'm a sucker for those kinds of little messages.  Hence, Dyelander stories often feature lil notes scrawled on things.  And I love how the doll keeps appearing.

I like how Sara starts to see the value in her mom's way of doing things.  Like in the cafe when she talks to Jesse about her money concerns and tells him how her mom was always careful with money and made sure they had what they needed.

Having once known someone who opted not to go to a hospital to have a baby cause she didn't want people to know, I'm glad TBAA pointed out how potentially disastrous that could be when you don't know what you're doing.

I love Sam!  He's so upbeat and friendly and helpful!  And he cooks and is hospitable!  I want a Sam.  He could move in with Andrew, too, and be the voice of reason.  Yeah, as much as I daydream about Andrew moving in, I know that would be pretty darn operatic so a calming presence would be good.  Yay Sam.

This is random but I really like the name Abby.  Although in this case... weird name.  It means "joy of the father" or similar.  Doesn't fit with Jesse...  However, it does fit excellently with the Father.  So it does work very well.

"Her name is Abby and I loved her."  Whoever wrote that knows how to pull on people's heart strings.

 It's awesome that Tess gets the antiques dealer out of the room so Monica can do her revelation.  Cause it's just not realistic that every assignment would be alone when the revelation is needed.  I like that they show someone actually having to finesse the situation to make it happen.

It's great to see Sara smile and simply walk away from Jesse.  It's about time someone walked away from him.

I got goosebumps when Sara realized her mom had Abby.  I don't remember getting this emotional.  Although I do recall liking this episode quite a lot for a non-Andrewcentric episode.

What I didn't love about this episode:
I definitely don't agree with Sara that it's not possible for Monica to have never been in love.  Even pretending Monica was human, I think it's possible to hit your 30s having gone through infatuations, crushes, and dysfunction but never actually being in love.  That would be sad if they wanted to be in love but, unfortunately, it seems plausible.  And that's to say nothing about asexuals and aromantics.

I'd be pretty livid if I told someone I was pregnant and their first response was "Oh no."  Yeah, I think Sara gets that it's not good timing.  She probly "Oh no-ed" herself.  So Jesse's reaction is idiotic and hurtful.  Stupid Jesse.

Stupid Jesse is way rude to Sam.  Stupid Jesse.

What sort of idiot just assumes his girlfriend will be okay with *selling* their baby!  He's so freaking nonchalant about it!  I'm trying not to be judgmental but how do you not write someone off right at that moment?  I get that Sara loves Jesse but I can't imagine continuing to give even a little bit of love to someone who sold my kid.  Course, she does say it's NOT love so maybe I just don't get the whole thing.

Lingering questions:
How would Monica know Jesse was a male?  I mean assuming she wasn't an angel.  And as far as Sara knows, she's not.  Yet Monica approaches Sara using "him" for Jesse.  It could have easily been Jessie.

I can't imagine not having nooks and crannies as Tess says she doesn't when talking to the antiques dealer.  I always thought maybe the angels had houses in Heaven.  I guess cause of Jesus' "many rooms" comment.  I wonder if they do?  That kinda makes it seem not but maybe it just meant they don't load a bunch of earth stuff up there. 

How long was Sam on Sara's case?  I assume his "business trips" were other assignments so he might very well have been there for quite some time.

Is that Andrew in the back seat of the car with Sara?  Or Sam?  Or were there 5 people crammed in there? 

Parts that made me feel swoony:
Layered clothing...  beige sweater...  Andrew getting a lil tough talking...  Those few seconds were well worth the wait of 19 minutes to see Andrew.

He looks all cute and concerned when he's pacing outside the room as Sara's in labor.  Gah.  I just took that to a bad mental place.  Well, not bad.  Just me being ridiculously swoony and imagining Andrew pacing around waiting for a baby to be born and then holding the baby and being around to raise the baby and...  Sometimes I seriously wish I hadn't gotten the birds and the bees talk.  Then I could just tell myself Andrew could have the stork bring him a baby. 

Aww.  That little wince as he puts his hand on the door knob...  Hugs to Andrew.  I hate the idea of him having to take a baby Home.  The idea is so sad without adding in an emotional AOD.  And then the exhale...

And then my DVD player froze.  Apparently it was really hung up on that scene, too.

Andrew reminds me of Merlin in this episode.  Ya know, minus the getting seduced by a witch thing.  Just how he takes the baby away to somewhere safe as Merlin did with Arthur.  Or he's like Obi Wan and Jimmy Smits in the last Star Wars prequel.  Yeah, I totally forgot that guy's name other than that it reminds me of oregano.

I heart the "stranger at the market."

Aww!  The way he sets his head on the back of the car seat...

Random thoughts:
The intro made me want chocolate cake... even though I just had a slice on Friday.

I would feel pretty sad sitting alone in a pub with a lit birthday cake...  Or maybe just self-conscious.  Cause envisioning the same at my house just seems goofy, not sad.  Course, then I'd have my dog around to celebrate with.

Jesse's an idiot but I do like his idea of taking back roads during a trip.  I always thought a road trip like that it'd be fun.  Whether or not I'd think that once I was actually on the road... who knows?

Music: "Walkaway Joe"by Trisha Yearwood.
Unknown song as Jessie drives away after dropping Sara off on her birthday night.
Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" in the car as Jesse and Sara flee.
Country song on the radio when Jesse and Sara stop for breakfast.
Classical piece at the end in Tess' car.  Maybe "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Symphony #9?  Or do I just think that cause I just heard it in another episode?

Scenes Hallmark cut:
-In the CBS version, the flashback shows Jesse and Sara in the car when she discovers his gun.  It then goes to a scene between Tess and the antiques dealer in which he complains about the martini she made being weak... cause she didn't approve of him drinking so much so early.  Hallmark cuts the entire Tess scene and starts back where Sara is telling Monica she should have left as soon as she saw the gun.
-Sara and Jesse are in a cafe and she tells him she's pregnant.  The CBS version then shows them in the car.  Jesse seems to be lamenting that it's too late for an abortion and they pass Andrew who is hitch-hiking.  As they pass, Andrew looks troubled.  Then their car breaks down.  Hallmark jumps right from the cafe to the car breaking down.  At least it's not a very substantial Andrew scene that gets cut, he doesn't even speak.
-Before the birth scene, the original version had a scene of Monica bringing Sara chamomile tea.  Sara tells her it reminds her of Peter Rabbit when he ran away from home and his mother tucked him into bed with chamomile afterwards.  Hallmark axes Peter Rabbit entirely there.

And further on down the road...
Could just be me but this episode seems to take longer than usual to show an angel.  Over 2 minutes.  For a bit it seems like a different show!

Glad they didn't have to cut "Walkaway Joe" for the DVD.  It was just too perfect a fit to get left out.

I would sometimes like to stick my brain in a dishwasher like Sara suggests.  But then I remember this quote from Grumpy the dwarf on Once Upon a Time: "I don't want my pain erased. As wretched as it is, I need my pain. It makes me who I am."  Dwarves are wise, man!

It's possible to be Monica's apparent age and never to have been in love...  Just sayin'.

This is one way in which I don't envy boys.  If a teenage (or even older) girl has a doll, it may cause some eye rolls and "That old thing..." but no one thinks much of it.  If a guy the same age was hauling a plush toy around, it probably would draw more than eye rolls.

Ah, they did swap Bruce out, though, with the music.  I bet that's a hefty fee to get rights to.

Sigh...  So woulda picked that hitchhiker up and left Jesse.  Of course, it was Jesse's car so I guess that'd be wrong...

And then his sigh...  Still gets me.  Andrew's, I mean.

"Family's very important."  Short and sweet from Sam.

"His mercy is brand new every morning... It's good to wake up and remember things like that, ya know?  Every morning a new start."  Sam again.

"All you have to do is believe and the sun'll come up."  He's on a roll!

I really wish we knew exactly how long Sam was on this assignment.  His "business trips" were other assignments, I assume.  So maybe it was years.

Shows how different people are.  Sara can't believe she's 27 and living alone.  I'm 30 and can't really wrap my mind around living with someone.

Limerance.  I think that's the "bond I can't break" that Sara is talking about.

"God is waiting for you."  From Monica to Sara.  One could contemplate that one for a while.

"God doesn't waste any time."  Another from Monica.

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