Sunday’s episode was another difficult one for me. I’m going to get the little stuff out of the way first ;)

So Mason is Carolyn’s sister?? How did I miss this connection? I actually put it together while reading on the site not from anything in the show. I also am a bit lost as to what is going on with Arthur, May and the ex. I guess I missed something in a previous episode or there are just some assumptions being made here.

I am still having a hard time liking Carolyn. In my eyes she is ruining her relationship and totally degrading and emasculating Palek, all for a kid. Go adopt for christ’s sake. I guess I will never get that whole ‘I MUST have a baby’ thing.

Watching Jamie struggle is rough but I feel like that was her decision ya know? The fact that we never saw Hugo through the entire episode really drove home the fact that he had shut her out. At least the man is honest. Jamie’s couple friends at the bar, well the man, said something that struck a chord with me. He said that monogamy is only good for about 6 years or so.

Back to Dave and Katie…
When Dave and Jeff are talking about the upcoming anniversary and the celebratory sex, Dave just plasters a smile on his face and pretends everything is fine. This seems to be his way of ‘handling’ the problems in his marriage also. Either Dave is in deep denial and truly believes there are no problems in his marriage or he’s afraid to face them. He still acts as if Katie is doing something TO him by going to therapy. At the birthday party Dave and Katie are the happy couple to anyone looking at them but isn’t that always the way? How many happy couples do you know that ended up divorced much to everyone’s surprise? Isabella’s lingerie selection (It’s purple!)seems to unseat Dave on more than one level. First there is just the discomfort of buying lingerie in the first place. Second he is confronted with the idea of buying a gift that is meant for the bedroom and we all know there ain’t NOTHING going on in the bedroom so what message does this send to Katie? But Dave just goes along with it instead of trying to redirect Isabella towards something that is less prickly. The scene in the restaurant is comical but again instead of Dave putting his foot down and telling Isabella that he will give Katie her gift at home, he brings it and then goes along with her opening it. This had to be so uncomfortable for Katie, besides being embarrassed, there in that box lies a symbol of all that is wrong between her and Dave. Later in their bedroom, when Katie says ‘I’m not wearing this, right?’ I really was hoping that Dave would encourage her to put it on at least but maybe that would have just been worse. Dave is so excited over his TiVo that he kisses Katie on the mouth and as he lingers there, that moment heavy with palpable anticipation, I am trying to WILL him to reach out with his hand and just touch her arm or something. They were right at the brink and he let her go. This is repeated when he says “I love you” and Katie says “but?” and he just lets it hang there. One final time she opens the door for him to do something, anything when she picks up her book and he lets her go again. This is so raw and real for me because I am living everything right along with Katie and it breaks my heart to watch. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for Dave to reach out to her. I mean emotionally and physically because he can’t admit there is even a problem at this point.

HBO continues to astound me with their quality of programming. I have not forgiven them for killing off Deadwood a season early but I think I am going to have to go back on my promise to cancel our subscription to HBO after Big Love ends, that is if Tell Me is still being produced. I won’t watch network tv aside from the animated shows I like but I am GLUED to my tv when Sunday night rolls around.

Tonight you can catch up on the first three episodes all back to back on HBO.

Below is the synopsis:

Directed by: Patricia Rozema
Written by: Cynthia Mort

Palek visits the fertility specialist to make a sperm deposit (with a little over-the-phone help from Carolyn), and he passes the test with flying colors. “Beautiful motility, beautiful count,” the lab technician tells him. Later, at another couple’s house for game night, Palek and Carolyn find out one of their friends is pregnant for the third time. “We’re officially trying,” Palek announces, over-exuberant and a little tipsy. Angry, Carolyn follows up by recounting to the group how they just found out about Palek’s superior sperm. At home, the two take a few shots at laying blame on each other but eventually find their way to makeup sex.

Dave and Katie both, dreading their anniversary for the same reason, deal with it in different ways. Katie vents in her session with May that she hates how everyone suggests they spend the night alone. Dave, when his friend Jeff alludes to Katie “taking care of” him, just nods with fake enthusiasm and tells him, “She always does.” The couple’s discomfort reaches new heights when Dave succumbs to Isabella’s insistence on buying Katie lingerie for their anniversary. After presenting the gift at dinner – with the kids in tow – Dave and Katie find themselves sitting on the edge of their bed, feeling awkward. “I love you, honey,” Dave tells Katie, to which she responds, “But?” He doesn’t answer.

Jamie, trapped in a lease for an apartment she won’t be sharing with Hugo, hangs out with Mason, smoking pot. Mason suggests having sex with someone to get over her engagement, “just like a hangover.” Jamie calls a handful of past hookups, eventually ending up at Marcus’s apartment after work. But, after a few minutes of making out, she can’t go through with it and takes off, leaving another angry voicemail for Hugo on her way home. Mason tries one more time to motivate her friend, taking her to a bar then later to a strip club, but Jamie’s not in the mood for a lap dance. “You’re like a human f**king Valium,” Mason tells her.

Arthur drops in on May at her office, agitated. When he tells her he had a “good talk” with John, she becomes angry, saying he had no right to do that. Arthur wants May to meet with John, he tells her. “I want you to see him and then come home to me.”