9.5/10. There's some episodes of this show that work like little short stories away and apart from the rest of the series, and this is a great example. Sure, it helps to explain where Clay came from and why he became the way he is, but it's also just an interesting little tale about a how different people deal with the idea of death, how it can drive families apart, and even mess people up for good. Seeing Clay as a coddled, more innocent young man who's adored by his mom and tolerated by his Dad is something of a revelation.
We see that, like Bloberta, Clay didn't have good parents to be role models for him as a husband or a father. Clay is understandably messed up by the fact that it was his own boyish prank, after being upset that his mother had several miscarriages before he was born and thus he was not her "only ever," to play possum that stopped his mom's "weak heart." That part of the story is well set up, with little details about his mom's heart condition and the photobook reveal of his parents drifting further apart with each miscarriage. The follow up, with Clay's dad blaming him for his wife's death, and Clay acting up to get slapped because in his bent and childish way it's the only way to make him "worth it" in his father's eyes is incredibly sad and pathos-ridden. There's even some of the show's great satire in Clay's mom claiming he's a miracle and crediting her prayer for allowing him to be born when so many of his would-be siblings hadn't made it, when she was praying so much that she didn't have time to smoke, drink, or go horseback riding.
Clay is often the show's biggest monster, tormenting Orel, giving him terrible advice, or just generally being neglectful to his wife and children. But in this episode, we get to see a little of what made him that way, and it gives you a little sympathy for that man staring at his own reflection in a glass of whiskey. (And having it backed by one of my favorite Mountain Goats songs, "Love Love Love," doesn't hurt the emotional quotient of the ending either.)
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-09-29T21:56:39Z
9.5/10. There's some episodes of this show that work like little short stories away and apart from the rest of the series, and this is a great example. Sure, it helps to explain where Clay came from and why he became the way he is, but it's also just an interesting little tale about a how different people deal with the idea of death, how it can drive families apart, and even mess people up for good. Seeing Clay as a coddled, more innocent young man who's adored by his mom and tolerated by his Dad is something of a revelation.
We see that, like Bloberta, Clay didn't have good parents to be role models for him as a husband or a father. Clay is understandably messed up by the fact that it was his own boyish prank, after being upset that his mother had several miscarriages before he was born and thus he was not her "only ever," to play possum that stopped his mom's "weak heart." That part of the story is well set up, with little details about his mom's heart condition and the photobook reveal of his parents drifting further apart with each miscarriage. The follow up, with Clay's dad blaming him for his wife's death, and Clay acting up to get slapped because in his bent and childish way it's the only way to make him "worth it" in his father's eyes is incredibly sad and pathos-ridden. There's even some of the show's great satire in Clay's mom claiming he's a miracle and crediting her prayer for allowing him to be born when so many of his would-be siblings hadn't made it, when she was praying so much that she didn't have time to smoke, drink, or go horseback riding.
Clay is often the show's biggest monster, tormenting Orel, giving him terrible advice, or just generally being neglectful to his wife and children. But in this episode, we get to see a little of what made him that way, and it gives you a little sympathy for that man staring at his own reflection in a glass of whiskey. (And having it backed by one of my favorite Mountain Goats songs, "Love Love Love," doesn't hurt the emotional quotient of the ending either.)