Cougar Town – Gimme that damned bear head!

It’s certain that our personal experiences influence our reactions to entertainment. A combination of Halloween and Jules’ Daddy had me giddy and touched. Cougar Town brought it all.  To be honest, I wouldn’t have guessed that Jules wouldn’t be a fan of Halloween. She seems to dig all things fun, always creating a drinking game or throwing a party; but she doesn’t like Halloween. Go figure.

Everyone participated in Halloween, and Grayson threw a party a the bar. Laurie’s brilliant costume as Ellie was matched by Ellie’s equally brilliant Laurie. Watching them “be” each other and then laugh at their similar ideas was just another brick in the foundation of their reluctant friendship.

The prevailing theme of the episode was Jules’ dad coming to visit and how much their relationship had changed since her mother died. Ken Jenkins, who spent nine years as Dr. Kelso on Scrubs was a brilliant choice to play her father. He has such a unique charm and immediately fit in with the cast. It was as if he had been on every episode.  Jules so wanted her dad to spend time with her, but being so close didn’t realize the pain in his eyes when he looked at her was due to her similarity to mother.  It was not only an obvious reason for their relationship to change after her mom died, but it Jenkins had the look of love and loss for his lost wife down pat.

Hating Halloween and loving her father, Jules dressed up for the party to show her father how deserving she was of his love. Except he dressed as a bear because, as he told Travis as a child, when you’re dressed up as a bear, you can pretty much do anything and no one knows who you are. So, of course, Jules freely discussed with anyone who would listen about the love lost between them.

When Jules runs from the party in tears because her father isn’t going to show, the bear follows and the emotions flow. He confessed everything to her, adding if he started to cry, he was putting back on the head. Well, like Jules, I needed the head. It’s been over 13 years since I lost my daddy, and hearing Jules say, “you’re my daddy, and I love you'” was a tearjerker. The simplest of sentiments mean so much when you no longer have the opportunity to share them. He told her what a wonderful family she had built for herself, how much love they all share, and I admit I felt a bit vindicated in my earlier assessment that Cougar Town is just as much of a family show as Modern Family.

The fun stuff:

• “You have to apply to preschool? I thought you just showed up on the first day, like college.” – Bobby
• “You know what? I think I’m just going to wait until dinner.” – Laurie, turning down a glass of wine
  “I have no response to that.”  – Jules
• “I became Hall. Or was it Oates? I don’t know, but I had a beautiful mustache.” – Bobby reminiscing about a past Halloween costume
• Does anyone NOT have pictures of a friend dressed as Windy Guy? Bobby did do some great “blown away” by the wind maneuvers, though.
• “You’re Dom DeLuise dressed as Burt Reynolds. It’s genius.” – Grayson, commenting on Andy’s costume
• Barb dressed as a bail of hay in the front, asking if anyone wanted a roll in the hay, was classic. Especially when she turned around and the back half of her costume was open to lingerie.
• Titles Are Hard….Cougar Town (This week’s homage to the regret of choosing the title) AND, the song they were playing “Family Jules,” which was one of the many titles we all bandied around to replace Cougar Town.

Clacked by Carissa Pavlica
on Oct 27, 2010 @ 23:09 EST5EDT