Maybe Jules Would Be Better Without Therapy

Cougar Town, S03E09

Grayson and Jules discussed combining their finances and homes and made little progress with how they wanted to handle the changes and decisions they would have to make when they got married.  Jules consulted with her therapist to the point that she was overstepping the boundaries that a therapist and patient should have.  Laurie struggled to keep up with her cake business while doing her job at Jules'.  She hired some unpaid workers to help her, but the staff quickly quit.  Travis convinced her to quit her real estate job and go 100% into her cake business.  Ellie teased Andy that Bobby was too sensitive to handle one of his pranks, so Andy made Bobby go hiking with an empty water bottle that he believed would fill itself on its own.

As much as I would hope that therapy would help Jules, it only seems to be making her crazier.  It is funny, though, that she can threaten her friends and family with therapy sessions if they upset her.  This even works on Ellie, who was forced to go after stealing Jules' "thunder"" twice in the episode.  I started to feel bad for the therapist who was allowing Jules to come in any time she felt like, even when she was interrupting other patients' sessions (who seemed more than happy to let Jules take their time).  However, the therapist was an enabler herself--since Jules' bills were affording her boats, she was happy to throw empty advice to her (which Grayson and Jules gladly lapped up).  I think therapy is only letting Jules feel like she can control people even more and rationalize her actions that make no sense to others around her.

As for their discussion about which house they are going to keep, I'm pretty sure that it's going to be Jules'.  Or either they might get another house (which I doubt with their finances).  I liked that Ellie was in favor of the two staying at Jules' house because it was across from her own and she didn't have the energy for the 30 steps to Grayson's.  It's funny how Ellie can be as lazy as I sometimes.

I wasn't too interested in the Laurie story because I knew what was going to happen from the beginning.  Obviously, she couldn't balance having both jobs, and Jules had mentioned that she couldn't afford to pay Laurie anymore.  I just thought it was stupid that Travis didn't tell her sooner that it would have been best for her to just take a leap of faith and go for her cake business for real.  Then again, I could see how she would be afraid that Jules would refuse to let her quit (or just dramatically refuse to speak to her again if she did).  Thankfully, Jules wanted to fire her, so Laurie's quitting was good for both sides.

There also wasn't much to say about the Andy and Bobby story either.  There were two things, however, I liked concerning Ellie in that story.  One was that she challenged Andy to make Bobby believe he had a "magical" self-replenishing water bottle, but when Andy was worried that Bobby could really get into trouble on his hiking trip, Ellie told him she was amazed he could send his friend off to such place where he could die of dehydration.  What a delightfully bitchy thing to say!  Bobby was taken off in an ambulance when Andy and Ellie found him, but he wasn't angry at all his friend had included him in one of his jokes.  However, the second thing that I liked was a conversation a ranger (I guess) and Ellie had while Bobby and Andy hugged:

[Guy] You married to one of those guys?

[Ellie] No.  They're lovers.

Sometimes I wonder if she wouldn't be happy if Andy just ran off with Bobby.

At the end, Ellie tried to get back at Little Stan with a demon mask, but he just thought that she wasn't wearing makeup.  Andy tried to congratulate his burn, but Stan told him to go away.  Ellie also walked away defeated.  That kid is really made of the most evil parts of both his parents.  He's going to be a terror as teenager.

I think that Ellie saved this episode again.  It was a little funny that Jules was abusing her therapist's role in her life, but not so much that it was funnier each time she did it.  If her therapist is smart, she should realize that Jules' psychological problems have increased since she started having the sessions and cut her lose.  No number of boats can possibly compensate being at Jules' beck and call for any unimportant matter that comes along.