Previous: Episode 1.4, Continued: Dot drives Kelvin crazy, Keefe refuses a bj, and Gideon and Scotty date. With a Daedalus dick bonusTitle: "Interlude." The interludes, set halfway through each season, are designed to clarify the conflicts and back stories, and to keep you in suspense after a major crisis. Here we flash back to 1989. when Eli and Aimee-Leigh were rich but not mega-rich, Baby Billy was hoping for a come-back, and young Jesse was jealous of his soon-to-be-born brother Kelvin.
A Hot Piece of Tail: This is the golden age of televangelism, with Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and Jerry Falwell eating up the airwaves -- and blaming homa-sekshuls for everything from teen pregnancy to hurricanes/ They were especially eager to proclaim that homa-sekshuls were trying to destroy society by infecting straight people with AIDS. In 1989, the number of new cases peaked at 80,000.
Before the broadcast, Aimee-Leigh walks around, being friendly to the crew. Very diverse crew: -- old and young, black and white, women in jobs traditionally held by men, probably gay people. She compliments Eli as "a hot piece of tail," and he agrees: "I'm sizzling hot."This seems a little gender-transgressive. Men aren't typically referred to in this way. Just before the curtain rises, Aimee-Leigh tells Eli, "I'm pregnant." How playful, and borderline mean!
Family Dinner: Lots of gross closeups of 1980s food. When Aimee-Leigh says that she has news to share, Jesse guesses that Judy has been put up for adoption, and she guesses that he has AIDS.
In 1989 evangelicals -- and most of the general public -- thought that only gay men contracted AIDS, so she is "accusing" him of being gay. No, Aimee-Leigh says without disciplining them, she is actually having a baby. Jesse wishes that she has a miscarriage, again without discipline, then backtracks: : "I will never like them. They will never be my friend." This is a call-back to the Episode 1.1 scene where Jesse is upset with Kelvin because "we used to be friends."
Judy hopes that it's a boy, so she can teach him how to pee standing up. Is she accusing Jesse of being a woman?
The Misbehavin' Tour: At the office, Baby Billy tells the Gemstones about his idea for a Misbehavin' Comeback Tour this spring. But she can't do it: she is pregnant, due in July
(in Season 2, Kelvin says that his birthday is near Christmas, but never mind).Baby Billy insists that they go on the tour anyway, but she insists that she can't. How about waiting until after the birth? Nope.
Billy blames Eli for ruining his come-back: "You're the one who splashed all that sperm all over her." This is a very odd way of describing heterosexual intercourse, more accurate for guys beat ing off. Billy seems very jealous; does he wish that Eli had splashed sperm all over him?
The screenshot shows Baby Billy in pain, behind window slats that look like bars. He is trapped, unable to move beyond his days of performing with Aimee-Leigh, blaming Eli for ruining his life. In Season 3, Eli's other brother-in-law will blame him too, with more violent results.
The Birthday Party: After scenes where Jesse is caught arranging little-kid fights and complains that his parents are never around, a we cut to Judy's birthday party. Guests eating food in disgusting ways (a regular trope in this episode); riding a slip-and-slide; riding ponies.
What Jesse is looking at after the break. Warning: Explicit.