The Man With The Bag

I cannot adequately express how much I adored this ep… Simply fabulous! It made me look at Santa, Christmas & LOVE in a totally different way… Before, Santa was just Santa, something I had grown too old to believe in but something my parents still used as bait for good behaviour – somewhere around the end of December, they’d start saying things like “If you don’t behave, Santa won’t come…” (See, we Russians don’t celebrate the Catholic Christmas Dec. 25th, so *our* Santa – called Grandfather Frost – brings presents on New Year’s Eve, and then again Jan. 7th, which is the Orthodox Christmas)… But this ep just turned my whole view on Santa upside down (or, to be more exact, “right side up”) – Santa really DOES stand for love & generosity & faith & kindness… And, accordingly, Nelle’s father in this ep really *was* “Santa”… Cage asked a wonderful question – “How can you *not* believe in Santa?” This was also very serious for Nelle – she felt she loved her dad but was also (as the scene with them bumping into Ally proved) somewhat ashamed of his behaviour… The end was really sweet, though… Although Nelle seems to be very strong on her own, she really does need her parents’ love & support, just as they need hers…

Okay, on to the second storyline here – I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating – Ally & Larry are simply WONDERFUL together! (Loved Renee’s response to Ally’s “Well, what was I supposed to do?” - “Put that bitch on a plane back to Detroit!”) I know by experience – confessions are twice as sweet when you’re chosen over someone else (in this case, an ex) :) So anyway, I hafta admit I adore Larry. He *could* quite possibly be Ally’s BEST guy! (Umm, let’s see… Cheanie was ugly, Butters turned out to be a dweeb, Glenn the model was a liar, Billy was… married (and towards the end – a dork), the car wash guy was a liar AND a cheater, the coffee shop/judge guy was bi (which, again, is fine for me, as long as he’s just a friend - I wouldn’t date him), Brian was nice in all ways except the bed, and….)… and that brings us here. We have Larry, who’s unbelievably CUTE, a great litigator, sharp, witty, sweet… the list can go on. (Now we just hafta hope he won’t turn out to be Brian No. 2… )… The only thing is… The show’s ultimate end would be Ally finding The One (and I really hope it’ll be Larry!), and I think DEK rushed them into this just a tad… He could’ve put it off for just a few more eps (which might’ve somehow lengthened the storyline), though I really do admit that the way everything worked out – before Christmas, in the holiday spirit of it all – was really sweet. Their exchange in Ally's office (the "I didn't think there *was* any way since I'm so totally in love with someone else...") was one of the best scenes in the history of television! AUGH :o) They are just too cute :o)

Great great GREAT ep!