"My Dinner with Andrew"



A review by Jenni:

What I love about this episode:
I watched this episode again whilst taking a break from a dramatic story I'm writing for JABB.  So it was a really welcome break to see Andrew in such nice clothes (though I remain a fan of his jeans and flannel above all attire) and looking happy.  I got a lil misty-eyed seeing him so.  Not afraid to admit it.

To be honest, most of what I love in this episode gets put in the swoony section.  I do love, however, how nostalgic it makes me.  Even though this isn't my favorite TBAA episode, my first viewing of it has some of my clearest memories of original run TBAA.  I still remember the outfit I was wearing and how I paced around all day because the commercial had made it seem like Andrew might actually have feelings for Kate which just woulda broke my 15 year old heart.  Nowadays, I don't care enough about any show to elicit that sorta reaction.

Even though my first date wasn't near this extravagant, I can totally relate to Andrew.  In fact, I think the two of us should start a club for people whose first dates involved:
 Andrew was luckier than me in at least one respect, though.  I didn't see Monica and Tess suggesting he show a little more cleavage.  Ah, memories...

Anyhow...  It was very sweet that Monica bid on Andrew so he wouldn't feel cheap.  I do like it when they seem like real, equal friends.

Awesome line read of the word "impressive" from Charles Rocket.  I don't know what it is but after seeing this, the man owns that word as far as I'm concerned.

I like how take-charge Adam is in his first scene.  To me, it verifies what many of us have assumed which is that Adam is considerably older than Monica and Andrew.  He seems almost supervisor-like for a time.

I know people who seem to have the "blissful amoeba" view of the afterlife and, like Kate, I never saw much appeal in that, either.  So that dialogue strikes really true with me.  Actually, I think she's one of the more fleshed out guest characters.  (I also think "The Blissful Amoebas" would be a cool name for a rock band.)  Later on, she also mentions how eventually she came to think that the odds of things just falling into place in creation was harder to accept than the idea of someone guiding them.  That's another spiritual concept I've thought about myself.  Even though I've never been atheist, I do find myself relating to Kate's spiritual questions and thoughts.

Andrew totally rocks the "Allegory of the Cave."  And even though I know it was originated by Plato, it always makes me think of C.S. Lewis.  Great scene.  I used to have the entire monologue, complete with uh's and such, on my closet door.

I hope I am or at least one day will be the kinda believer that Andrew is here.  Kate tells him that he's unlike others she met who spoke about God.  He's not pushy or angry.  That's how I wanna be seen and heard.

And back to my thinking Kate's a great character: I love how casual and chatty she is with Andrew even after his revelation.  I'd like to think if I met an angel, I'd be like that.  And not just gawp and stutter.

I love that Andrew, when Kate asks him about her supposedly impending death, answers with "Just think of all the people who will live instead."  Cause while I really liked her character, it seriously bugged me that she talked so much about what the gene sequence would get her as opposed to all the people it would truly benefit.

I didn't see the Kate/Beth twist coming at all!  Go sneaky TBAA writers!

What I didn't love about this episode:
Morgan Fairchild does not age.  This concerns me.  Watch Campus Man, watch this.  John Dye looks different, she does not.  Eek.

I still find the auction concept weird.  Just in general.  Not simply in this episode.  I think if I *had* to arrange something like this, I'd do packages.  Like "Win a date with Dr. Andrew Friend at Insert Name of Bistro.  Afterwards, you'll enjoy a performance of the Broadway hit Insert Name of Show!"  That way if someone got a low bid, he could just blame the rest of the package.  It just seems fraught with ways to become hurtful, I guess.

Veal.  Blech.

Tess' "I am cooking" ditty will now be stuck in my head for days yet again!  Worked great for the character and the scene, not so much for me!

"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a gorgeous song and Della Reese performs it so well.  And I'm so glad I heard it.  But plot-wise...  It's a terrible choice!  Tess was getting all huffy with her "What is it with that boy?" and then she sings THAT???  It's about as subtle as a hotel room key.  I mean that's a really human, really romantic, really sensual song!  But this is from the people that brought you "Fields of Gold" as a good Tess and Monica song...  Talk about a sensual song...

Something about Kate desperately trying to get back into the restaurant when the lights are off and the doors are locked just makes me incredibly sad.  I feel like I've been there before, somehow.

Lingering questions:
So... the question remains: does Andrew have any strange inclinations?  ;-)  I'm sure with enough time I can think of something. 

Would you want to know how you'd die?  Or at least how you'd likely die?  How about when?  And how far in advance would you want to know?  This episode makes me think all those things and I dunno...

And so can we just assume Andrew and Kate did have that dinner a few years down the road?  I hope so.  Woulda been nice to see.  Or just given me another episode to make me feel nutty and slightly unhinged.

Parts that made me feel swoony:
So much to say, so little time.  If I listed everything, it would just be a play by play of this episode so...  First, Andrew looks adorably panicked when he's railroaded by Jackie and led away from Monica and Tess.  It is funny but I'd totally rather rescue him than just watch and giggle.  Oh well.

I do genuinely feel sorry for Andrew here even though this is supposed to be a fun, light episode.  I mean he has to deal with enough of our human crud with out having to go through the nervousness of a first date, too!  But he's so cute...  And yet suave at points, too.  Sigh...

Something about the way Andrew says "humiliating" is super cute.  And that glare when Jackie calls him "Andy."  Ooh!  Would not wanna be on the receiving end of that.  Amusing from the audience viewpoint, though!

Two AODs in one episode!  I'm fond of this episode as the last glimpse of the Adam of my youth.  The dad-like Adam, shall we say.  By "Sign of the Dove" I was thinking he was awfully attractive and the idea was confirmed by "The Root of All Evil."  Sigh...

I think I should maybe be glad, after all, that I don't really know Andrew.  Cause I'd be too easily swayed by his pouts.  He just looks so darn cute sitting in that mess of a restaurant and pouting!

The way he just takes Kate's hand after she talks about dying.  He doesn't say anything... just holds her hand.  I want that.

I am so grateful Adam is in this episode.  He pulls me out of complete sappy dreamville.  Gotta love his jokes about the chandelier (especially fun what with Andrew and Kate dancing beneath one in the next scene) and serving dessert with dinner!

Andrew's face when Kate tells him he looks like love...  He's so touched.  I wish I could make someone feel that magnificent.  Someone like him would be even better...  This episode is seriously bad for me, I'm thinking.

He... kisses... her... hand... twice.  So jealous of Kate.  So impressed by him.  Am wondering if I can now use that in Dyeland stories...  Probly only for major reasons...

He's lovely.  I like that Andrew can be so moved by a human's opinion of him.  I like that he seems to want to be loved and appreciated.  I don't know why but I do.  Okay, I do know.  But now's not the time for what would likely turn into an essay.

Random thoughts:
It wasn't until I saw Waiting for Guffman and Corky St. Clair had My Dinner with Andre action figures that I realized this episode title was a play on a movie title.

I feel for Monica getting so bored and lonely after waiting an hour that she started talking to the bird.  When I had a job like that, I resorted to naming office supplies.

I believe we may need to add "Bachelor Boy" to the Andrew Nicknames Shirt. 

I've always thought Monica looked especially glamorous in this episode.  Yep, that's totally random.

A Word from Travis:
Although I enjoyed seeing more of John Dye in this episode, I wasn’t fond of the plotline.

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