The TV Chick

It was another heart-wrenching episode of Life Unexpected last night, which centered around the Cate/Ryan tension post-breakup. Of course, they still have to host a radio show and act like they are a happy couple. Ryan ends up taking shots at Baze and Cate implies (through a rather amazing sweatpants metaphor) that she is moving on. After the brutal show ends, Alice tells Cate that her and Ryan are signed up to host a bridal expo and they can’t back out of it.

Meanwhile, back at Lux and Baze’s new happy abode, Lux is quite depressed. She is spending hours on the phone with Tasha and moping around because of Bug. She’s also skipping school, which was only alluded to, but it made me think that Cate wouldn’t have stood for that. In any case, Baze runs into Jones outside his bar, who came to give Lux her homework. After he had just talked with Jamie and Math about Lux needing friends, he decides to enlist Jones. Jones agrees to ask Lux out, and one of the best moments of the show is when he does, and she says “Why?” Despite her hesitation, she says yes. He promises her that she will love what he has planned. She doesn’t know how he knows what she loves, but he explains that he has his sources.

Back in bridal hell, Cate and Ryan have to tell their engagement story to an entire audience. However, not before we get a hilarious story from a couple that may or may not have resulted in a green card wedding. When Cate and Ryan tell their story, it actually seems like they might reconnect in some way. Ryan had been very cold and harsh to Cate but it is during these small moments that we see him break. They miss each other, and they want to get back together but there is something (or someone) standing in the way.

But back to Lux and Jones’ “date,” that he picks her up at 9 am for. They are driving somewhere quite far and Lux is skeptical. However, they discover that they both have the same taste in music. (At first I thought that Baze told Jones what Lux likes, but it turns out that isn’t true). While Lux and Jones are on their date, Baze finds a text message from Ryan to Lux (she left her phone at home). Ryan is going to buy Lux a car, and Baze is none too pleased about this fact. Finally, Lux and Jones arrive at their destination and Tasha runs out of the house. Lux and Tasha embrace in an incredibly great moment. Jones is obviously a good guy. I am still wondering about Bug and if he will ever come back, but I like that there is another love interest for Lux. Lux and Tasha spend the whole day catching up, and Jones babysits the other foster kids. (Team Abercrombie?)

Before the conclusion to the bridal expo, Cate has to put on a dress. Of course, being her sassy Cate self she makes fun of all the hideous wedding dresses, and when she finally settles on one, she can’t get the buttons closed. Ryan offers to help, and it looks like they might kiss, reconcile and everything will be good again. But this show is better than that. We can’t get what we want (whether we are on Team Baze or Team Ryan) right away. There has to be these real moments that might be a little painful to watch, where all you want is to see them make up, but it just wouldn’t make sense. Alice catches them backstage (almost kissing) and wrangles them back to the expo for a “newlywed game” called How Well Do You Know Cate? And of course, the game has some interesting contestants: Ryan, Baze and Math. At the end of a couple rounds, Baze is leading the pack. When asked Cate’s favorite song, Math comes up with some lengthy answer about a song Cate sang at a talent show, Baze writes down “Bitchin’ Camaro” and tells Ryan it’s like the one he’s going to buy for Lux, and Ryan writes “The Luckiest.” When Cate’s answer is revealed, it’s clear that she crossed out whatever she had written and wrote down “The Luckiest.” The next question is what is your number one relationship deal breaker. Math says the apocalypse, Baze draws a diagram that essentially says “no car” and Ryan writes Baze down on the card and storms out. Cate runs after Ryan and tells him that Baze is her relationship deal breaker too all while Baze is watching. (Awkward!) Baze confronts Ryan and tells him he gets that he is mad about his relationship falling apart but to back off and stop trying to sabotage his relationship with Lux. He explains that if anyone should be giving her a “clunker” it should be him. They go head to head about Baze sleeping with Cate (which Math was surprised to learn) and Baze tells Ryan he didn’t even know that he existed when Cate showed up at his door and they ended up sleeping together. If he did anything wrong, Baze claims, it’s that he listened to Cate. Math storms out because he’s mad at Baze for sleeping with Cate, but for once, Ryan actually agrees with Baze. He confronts Cate about her lies and tells her they can’t just keep pretending nothing happened. She only told him about Baze accidentally. What would have happened if she didn’t get caught? Ryan asks her why she slept with Baze, why she risked their relationship, but she can’t come up with an answer. Cate says it was a stupid mistake and she’s not sure why she did it. (Keep in mind, all of this is while Baze is watching). And in a moment that made me gasp, Ryan tells Cate she is more screwed up than he thought and to stop trying to fix their relationship, because she needs to fix herself.

After this chilling moment, Lux’s date with Jones ends. Jones comes clean about Baze asking him to ask her out, and she doesn’t take it too well. She confronts Baze about it and he apologizes but explains he was just trying to cheer her up. Ryan then comes to the bar to apologize to Baze but explains that he still wants to be a part of Lux’s life. Ryan goes up to see Lux and they bond over missing Cate. The episode ends with Cate getting a package from the wedding expo: a dress with a card that says “best wishes to the happy couple.” Cate cries (as any normal person would do in this situation) and we feel for her. What’s interesting is that Cate cheated, yet for me at least, I’m not quite sure who I am rooting for. I feel sympathy for Cate. She messed up, and now her life is in shambles. There is not necessarily any sort of justification for what she did, but it makes sense. I’m rooting for Baze, too. He has really pulled his life together post-Lux and I want him to be a good father to prove everyone wrong. And a small part of me wants Baze and Cate to see how they really feel about each other, even if Ryan and Cate are most likely meant to be together. I’d also love to see Cate distance herself from the situation. She has been continually confronting Ryan in an effort to repair their relationship, but I’d like to see her do something for herself. Maybe that involves sleeping with Baze again, maybe it involves convincing Lux to move back to her place…I’m not sure. Whatever the case may be, this show keeps me interested, intrigued, and coming back every week, because I truly care about these characters.

Many shows fall into the habit of having hilarious moments but I don’t care about the characters, or super dramatic moments that don’t really have any meaning behind them. Life Unexpected doesn’t fall into any of those conventions. Nothing is perfect in any of the character’s lives, but that’s how life is in general. It’s not sugar coated and perfect, it is full of unexpected (no pun intended) twists and turns and that’s what makes me want to tune in. I know I’ve said this before but come on CW, you have announced so many future projects, don’t let this one go. It is a show worth hanging on to. I know so many people who truly love it, and it deserves a 2nd season. Mid-season, regular season, I don’t care what happens, just renew it. Please?

Life Unexpected airs on Monday nights on the CW at its new time, 8 pm.