The Return of Jezebel James: 1.2 ‘Frankenstein Baby’ Recap
Original Air Date: March 14, 2008
On the second episode of this unfunny sitcom from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the main character, SARAH TOMPKINS, lives in an entirely different place than in the preceding pilot episode — and there’s zero explanation why. Before, she lived in a brownstone or house, a fact that was apparent in the pilot’s very first scene, when she opened the front door next to her living room for a neighborhood boy who lived across the street. The street and nearby homes were even partially visible through the door.
Now, Sarah lives in a huge co-op apartment that only an independently wealthy book editor could afford. She gives an unimpressed COCO the grand tour, blabbering the entire time, until their father RONALD shows up unexpectedly and both sister grow anxious — Sarah because she knows her dad hasn’t seen Coco in a while, and Coco because she thinks his arrival indicates a set-up intervention, an event that has happened before apparently.
Ron comes in with the couch he found on the street in the pilot episode, which he’s reupholstered especially for Sarah since her ex took their old couch with him when he left. Ron doesn’t notice Coco during his long monologue about the piece of furniture. Sarah has to point her younger sister out, and even then, it’s no big deal to their father.
Coco soon wonders why their mother TALIA hasn’t come in, and Sarah reveals she won’t unless she’s invited. (And, yes, the similarity to a vampire is duly noted.) Talia arrives after Sarah goes down to the car to get her, and the two sisters reveal the baby development to their parents next.
While both their mother and father are shocked, Talia is most upset that her daughters don’t run anything by her anymore. She thinks they’re in cahoots, and she leaves the apartment when she learns her husband talked to Sarah earlier about his anxiousness to become a grandfather. Since she didn’t know about that either, Talia believes her whole family has a secret club that excludes her.
Incidentally, the closest thing to a somewhat funny comedy scene in the entire episode is this one featuring Dianne Wiest as Talia. Maybe the show should have focused on the older cast members.
Later, Sarah is in her man-friend MARCUS‘ bedroom following a hockey game he took her to see. Sarah bought matching Hello Kitty phones for herself and Coco to use only during emergencies. When the Hello Kitty phone starts ringing distinctively in her purse, Sarah lies to Marcus that a new client, a clown named Bingo, is calling.
Sarah doesn’t want anyone to know about the arrangement with Coco yet, so she sneaks the phone into the bathroom to call Coco back and find out what her sister wants. It turns out that Coco wasn’t intentionally calling her; she just accidentally sat on the phone without realizing it.
A funny incident is supposed to occur when Sarah, who sits on the floor of the shower while talking, mistakenly turns the water on and drenches herself after she grabs the faucet knob to stand up. It’s not funny, though, because you see the end result coming the second she enters the huge stall. This is exactly what people are talking about when they use adjectives like “forced” and “predictable” to describe a TV show, and such moments are everywhere in Jezebel James.
When Sarah arrives home afterwards earlier than expected, she finds Coco reading her old love letters from her ex. This scene is the best one of the entire hourlong broadcast, Posey-wise, because it’s the only one where the actress is serious and not doing her annoying over-the-top, neurotic act.
Coco is snooping through Sarah’s correspondence because she feels she doesn’t know her sister, which is why she can’t figure out the reason that neat, together Sarah would trust sloppy, untogether her for something so important. Sarah replies that she’s actually not hard to figure out — she has a typical life with a job, a home, and credit cards. Instead, Coco is the mysterious sibling; but, Sarah figures Coco will reveal what she wants Sarah to know when she’s ready.
Sarah heads upstairs for the night then, and Coco stops her to tell her about the time she went to Spain and dated a bullfighter. Sarah is surprised to learn about Coco’s travels, but not as much as she is to find that Coco wasn’t joking when she said she doesn’t own a sensible bra. As Sarah sees it, they both have to be careful about the sagging issue, especially given how their mother Talia looks now in a bathing suit.
RESOURCES
- The Return of Jezebel James Episode Guide
- The Return of Jezebel James Summary
- The Return of Jezebel James Website
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