Old Friends, Old Scooter

Suburgatory, S01E17

Dallas finally opens her crystal store and invites her sorority sisters for the event.  Tessa strives for independence from George "mothering" her and takes up a part-time job at Dallas' store.  Despite that Dallas has to face an old rival, ain't no one stopping her Steve-free express train to happiness.  Tessa has a longer way to go before she's traveling George-free yet, but her scooter is a nice start (once her dad lets her drive it).

The best thing about Dallas' reunion with her girls was the appearance of the "ol' bitch" that she didn't invite in the first place, Tulsa.  She was played aptly by Robin Givens, and I loved their interactions.  Tulsa was trying to steal the spotlight (which she did) with her endless moaning about the death of her ex-husband.  If she didn't clearly enjoy destroying Dallas' happy moment, I might have felt a sliver of sympathy for Tulsa.  You have to give props to Dallas who remains classy and upbeat, even when faced with her nemesis hinting that she may have slept with her ex-husband.  Seriously?  If Steve was doing someone like Tulsa, a woman that Dallas knew personally, then he is a bigger scum than I thought.  You couldn't cheer Dallas on any better for embracing her single life with that tidbit of information.

The best thing about Tessa story was the very first scene where she was arguing with George why she couldn't walk home from the library if he insists that walking "builds character" (Haha!):

[George] Because it's dark out.
[Tessa] You think it's safer for me to sit alone outside a dark, empty building?

She brings up a good point.  After George suggests that if she wants independence then she should get a job and buy her own set of wheels, Tessa manages to achieve that in about a day, thanks to Dallas' pay advance.  Since Tessa didn't even show up for her first assignment, does that mean Dallas will fire her?  Dallas seemed a little displeased with her absence, but it's hard to tell if she is truly mad or not.  It certainly would be a benefit for her to have a girl like Tessa who would probably keep things practical while Dallas is floating on her crystal cloud nine.

It's crazy that she had enough money to buy a used scooter even from Craigslist, but it was even crazier that Tess went to pick it up and chose Lisa to accompany her.  She would have been better alone if the bitch is gonna push her into a probable creeper's home!  I couldn't even be shocked that Lisa did that and ran for the hills.  I was more surprised to see her helping Tessa move it after it turned out the shirtless stranger could be trusted to sell her the scooter without mishap.  Tessa must be hurting for friends because I would have slapped the hell out of Lisa, regardless of her intense "survival instinct."  I like Lisa because she's so ridiculously paranoid and misinformed, but I would trade her for the first better friend I could find in a quick minute.

Now that George has gone to talk to Tessa's grandmother Helen, I wonder if we will finally see her mother.  If she's anything like Helen, we're going to be looking forward to another bitch on the screen.  I guess I forgot or something that Tessa's mother wasn't dead, but rather just not in the picture.  According to the conversation George and Helen had, George sued for full custody and won, which means that the mother had to have had some serious problems going on (I don't know why my first thought is drugs, but a mental instability is likely as well).  George is a good guy, but he's a little clumsy as a parental figure and would only look good in the midst of an obviously incompetent guardian.  He's loving, for sure, but he definitely doesn't have the smoothest parenting skills.

It would be pretty cool to see Tessa getting around on that scooter--it seems to fit her style better than a car.  I think George will cave and let her drive it (probably under some kind of condition).  It would also be interesting to see Dalia express more of her true feelings about the divorce (we almost had a tender moment between she and Dallas, but her texting showed that she is still all about the things she can get out of it).  And as always, let's get back to Dalia versus Tessa.  I'm sure if Tessa keeps working at Dallas' store, Dalia's bound to find a way to disrupt Tessa's life.  Crossing my fingers on that one.