Recap: It's Alumni Week at Langley College...and in the absence of Mrs. Garrett (who continues to enjoy her off camera "vacation"), the Facts gals are bustling around the store, baking and serving tarts to their hungry customers. Blair's mom (Monica) arrives, gives her daughter an air kiss, and tells her she'll be in Peekskill all week for the alumni festivities. Blair perks up at the prospect of spending some quality time with her mom this episode and invites her to bunk in Mrs. Garrett's vacant room. Later, an exhausted Jo, Tootie, and Natalie are lounging in the living room while Monica schools Blair on how best to polish her fingernails. A few seconds later, Jo's dad (Charlie) drops by unexpectedly and tells Jo that the territory for his auto parts salesman job has just been expanded to include Peekskill, so he figured he'd stop in and say hello. Monica greets him and reminds him they met during Season 4's graduation two-parter...and he's like, "Oh yeah..", then turns his attention to Jo and offers to treat her to dinner. Jo declines and explains that she and the rest of the Facts gals have too much baking to do for tomorrow's Edna's Edibles pastry rush, so Tootie suggests to Monica and Charlie that they go out and have dinner together. Jo and Blair are all, "Wha-a-a-a-a?" as Charlie mulls that over and decides 'sure, why the hell not?' Monica says she's game and tells Charlie there's plenty of time to change his jacket if he doesn't want to enter a restaurant dressed in his uncouth leather jacket/tie ensemble, and he deadpans, "If it's too dressy I can always take it off." Once they're out of hearing range, Natalie squeals giddily and points out Charlie and Monica are both single and could therefore fall madly in love and leap head-first into a disastrously ill-thought-out marriage - but Blair makes an ew face and reminds her it's just one dinner, and that the two have absolutely nothing in common. Four hours later, Jo and Blair are sitting on the couch, glaring into space as they impatiently wait for Monica and Charlie to return from dinner...and a few seconds later, the two burst through the door, giggling about the amaaaaaazing time they had at dinner. Charlie apologizes to Jo for being out so late, and Monica concurs and says that time slipped by while Charlie regaled her with one hilarious story after another. She blushingly describes him as "vastly amusing", then bids Blair a good night before going upstairs to bed. In the kitchen, Charlie tells Jo he had a great time tonight, and describes Monica as "a classy broad" who treated him to an expensive, multi-course dinner while educating him about the ins and outs of the rich people fingernail polishing process. At bedtime, Tootie and Natalie press Jo and and Blair for all the juicy details about the dinner date...and Blair concedes that while it wasn't technically a date, it did seem to go very well. Natalie giddily points out that the dinner could be the start of something big...and by big, she means a foolhardy rush to get married, which by default would make sisters out of Jo and Blair. The two look intrigued as they mutely contemplate the prospect of adding an exciting new layer to the non-hetero undercurrents that perpetually simmer just beneath the surface of their spicy friendship. Blair and Monica return from a shopping trip, and Monica pulls out a fancy tie and handkerchief set and happily says she bought it for Charlie. She invites Blair to dinner...and when Blair has to decline 'cause she's too busy studying for finals, Monica decides to call up Charlie and see what he's up to tonight. Charlie tells her he has no plans and suggests they go bowling, and Monica chirps, "I'd love to!" and agrees to meet him at 6:30pm. As Jo scowls disapprovingly, Natalie points out that if Charlie and Monica get married she'll likely have access to a lot of dough...and an irked Blair grumps about how unfair it is that the union wouldn't serve to benefit her in any way. She suggests to Jo that they join Monica and Charlie on one of their "dates" so they can more closely examine how the two interact in a social setting, and Jo's like 'since I have nothing better to do with my time during finals week, why the hell not?' After an evening out, Jo bitchily remarks to Blair that Monica is clearly "making a play" for her dad. Blair haughtily denies that and calls Charlie crude, so Jo retorts that Monica is a spoiled airhead whose entire life revolves around getting her hair and nails done. Blair counter-retorts that she bets Charlie would just looooove to get his hands on her mom's money, and Jo snaps back that money is the only way an over-the-hill socialite like Monica is ever going to attract a man. Ouch. And meow, Jo. Later, Jo finds Blair studying in the living room, apologizes for her earlier bitchitude, then says she's beginning to think that Natalie might be right about future wedding bells for Monica and Charlie. Blair concedes that her mother could do a lot worse than hook up with a streetwise boor like Charlie...and after mulling over that disturbing possibility, the two agree to give their parents their blessing to wed after enjoying dinner out together three times. The next evening over coffee and dessert, Blair remarks on the blossoming friendship that has developed between Monica and Charlie, and that it's obvious how much joy they bring to each other. Jo concurs, then stands up so that she and Blair can put their arms around each other and simultaneously declare, "You have our blessing." Monica stares back at them blankly and goes, "For what?" - LOL - and Blair replies, "To get married." Charlie and Monica burst out laughing at the ludicrousness of two middle-aged divorced people leaping into a marriage simply because they've enjoyed hanging out together for the last few days...so Blair reminds them they've practically been inseparable this episode. Monica waves a dismissive hand in the air and says they've merely been having some fun times together, and that neither of them has even entertained the notion of extending the friendship into anything beyond a short-lived Facts subplot. Charlie announces that he has to head back to the city, then jokingly tells Monica to let him know where she wants to go for their honeymoon. Monica lightly chuckles and kisses the top of her daughter's head...then kisses the top of Jo's head while joking, "And for the one who got away." Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
2 Comments
Sean
7/17/2020 06:00:58 am
I love all Monica episodes. She was a lot of fun.
Reply
Jonathan Washington
1/21/2021 12:58:57 am
Er...maybe too much "fun" in her first episode.
Reply
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