Episode 4x11 "An Affair to Forget"

Our pal Shawn just got dumped. Way dumped. By a girl with the "popular" look named Jennifer Bassett. I checked the spelling because I thought they'd try to make a joke with Basset hounds, but no dice. She's played by Kristanna Loken who, aside from having a totally bitchin last name, has done a whole lot of everything since this role. At least one bad movie per year, almost, as well as a bunch of short-lived TV shows. My personal pick is her appearance in the Key & Peele sketch "Power Falcons". It's on youtube on the official Comedy Central channel, so it's guilt free in addition to being funny. Brenda Song is in that sketch too. (I love Key & Peele).

Anyway Shawn's taking it pretty hard. We haven't seen him like this since Dana.

Cory convinces his best buddy that Jennifer is all fake, from her personality to her nose. This inspires Shawn to go tell her off, saying that he thinks she's conceited and that he's over her. Jennifer wants to know where these insults came from. Shawn initially resists, but after a big long kiss, he admits it was Cory. I don't fully understand what happens next, but either out of spite toward Cory or revitalized attraction to Shawn's new assertiveness, or both, she decides she wants to date Shawn again. He agrees, because he's fifteen and she's pretty.

At Chubbie's, Cory explains why this is a bad idea. He lists some choice adjectives for Jennifer, or "Zathrak the Undead" as he's taken to calling her, but because this is television she's standing right behind him. As a result, Jennifer pulls Shawn aside and does a him-or-me thing. Again, Shawn initially resists, but, again, fifteen.

Cory's expression is priceless.

I dunno guys, this just doesn't seem possible. She's not even that pretty, and it's not like there's a shortage of girls who want to make out with Shawn.

At home, Amy and Alan return from the theatre and regale Eric with the details. They saw a one woman show, where she "sat on a stool and told the remarkable story of her life" to a sold out theatre. Naturally, Eric decides to write his own.

This is great. We've jumpstarted Eric's quest for meaning and fulfillment. He's been on the back-burner since he started working in his father's new store, but now he's on the... back-in-action-burner.

That was a joke. Thanks for coming.


It's even right there in the title of the play. Eric wants to feel validated.

The phone rings, and we get an adorable split-screen conversation between Shawn and Cory. They say a bunch of hilariously romantic stuff, like "I was just listening to the sound of your voice" and "you can't let her come between what we have". The delivery in particular is spot on. Ultimately they agree to meet in the library the next morning.

In the library, Jennifer shows up unannounced, causing problems for the boys' plan. It seems that Shawn has brought a cinnabun as a gift for Cory, but has to give it to Jennifer to avoid suspicion. Topanga comes by and tells Shawn there's something he might be interested in over in the Classics section. It is there that our heroes converse in cautious tones through a tall bookshelf, in the same romantic style as the stuff they said on the phone. Fun fact, the banner at the top of this blog is from this scene. Although, it was either cut footage or a publicity picture, since that exact shot never occurs. It's a great picture on its own, but in context it's magnificent. As is the scene itself, it's one of my favorites.

I love how completely unafraid they were of writing this. Bromance to the max.

Jennifer comes up expecting to find Cory, but he manages to dodge out of the way. The scene ends with Jenny dragging Shawn off to class. It's halfway through the show now and I feel like I haven't done much reviewing. There really isn't much to say. Almost everything so far has been for the sake of humor on top of a basic premise. And while the humor has been fantastic, there just isn't much to talk about story-wise.

Later that night, Eric needs some help from the only person capable of giving it.

I plan on having every Feeny Call in a gif by the end of this.

Eric wants Feeny to read through his play and give him advice, but the old man claims to want no part in this. I'm just impressed that Eric managed to write that much in less than 24 hours. Feeny relents and reads a few sentences, and they suck, and then he reluctantly agrees to try to sell some tickets for Eric's show.

Inside, Cory's maintaining a lavishly prepared dinner for a late and unnamed dinner guest, whom his parents assume is Topanga. She arrives with a pie, and we learn that the dinner was in fact for Shawn. Sad to say, it doesn't seem like he's coming, but Topizzatopping insists that he will show up eventually.

I like everything about that. The writing, movements, body language, and tone are all amazing.

Just then, the phone rings and Shawn is on the other end in a hilarious country club tennis outfit with a sweater draped around his shoulders. It's the same sort of bit as before, as well as the revelation that Jennifer found Shawn's "box of cinnabun receipts", so she's been on extra high alert lately. Shawn apologizes and Cory insists that he's not hurt.

Again, I'm not sure what to talk about here. This is the third time they've done this bit, and while it's still completely hilarious, there's nothing to say that hasn't been said.

Topanga gets an idea and tells Cory to be at Chubbie's in an hour. Some sort of surfer rock guitar riff plays us into Eric's premiere of Look At Me, Look At Me. There's a shot of the sign outside, and because I paused it to write this I noticed that this is taking place at a bowling alley, but it's really easy to miss otherwise since there's no indication of it inside. The shot only lasts a few seconds, it's definitely one of the more subtle jokes I've seen on this show.

The moment Eric begins, a baby in the audience starts wailing, which is a fantastic touch.

It's not going well. The woman sitting behind Feeny is trying torturously to hide her laughter. And I can't blame her.

At Chubbie's, Topanga brings Shawn into the back room with the pool table for a secret meeting with Cory. WOW, TOPANGA. THAT WAS YOUR PLAN? Your plan for getting Cory and Shawn to meet is to bring them both to the same place, you are basically Tesla.

The boys decide to shoot some pool, but before they can start, Jennifer arrives to find them fraternizing. Apparently she received an anonymous tip to come here. Now Topanga re-enters, I guess she only left before so that she could make a dramatic re-entrance, so that's kinda vain.

Topanga explains that she set this up like it was some great feat, I don't even know where she got Jennifer's cell number, and then Jennifer gives Shawn another deep-kiss-ultimatum. So what was the point of the first ultimatum that started all this? I don't think she understands how these things work. Shawn chooses Cory this time, even though nothing has changed from last time, not even the location. And... that's it. It's really not clear why she wanted to get back together with Shawn in the first place. Or why she dumped him in the first place. I don't think it's out of spite because, in her defense, she does manage to show up only when Cory is talking shit about her. I don't think the dumping+undumping was really even necessary. That brought nothing new to the table.

During the credits, we see the ending to Eric's play and it is hysterical. Amy and Alan are asleep in their chairs and everyone else has left by the time he finishes. Eric sits down and finds that Mr. Feeny has joined him on stage to talk things out. Feeny explains that Eric still has many great years to make something out of himself, that his best moments lie ahead of him, and that a college education is a good place to start.

You're damn right they are.

Plot: 0.75 - There really wasn't anything special going on with Cory and Shawn, but Eric writing and performing a one man show? That's uniquely original and it was fun to watch. If we'd seen more if, I would have gone for the full point.

Character Development: 0.75 - As much as the writers may have intended it, Shawn did not earn most of that .75. In this episode, he thinks with his dick until he gets frustrated. There isn't any great moral ascension here. Similar to the plot, we have Eric to thank, as he has worked through an extremely common crisis for recent high school (and college) graduates. Again, full point if he had been the center of attention.

Humor: 1.0 - Eaaaaaaaasy full point. The bromance between Cory and Shawn is legendary, and it's in full force today. Eric and Feeny were also very funny.

Life Lesson: 0.75 - Bros before hoes, but only after you have enough content for an episode. More importantly, the time to regret your lack of achievement is not your early 20s. That is the time to start achieving.

3.25 out of 4.0. Eric's story deserves a lot of the credit, but even so, the entire thing was outrageously funny. Even without Eric it would still be worth watching, but he makes it considerably better. That pretty much describes the entire series.

Thanks for reading, see you Monday.

All images used under Fair Use.