Been a bit busy this week so did two episodes here to catch up (thank God for Friday)...
6. For your eyes only ***
written by Mitzi McCall & Adrienne Armstrong
Again there's good continuation here. Alf is starting to feel lonely as he's left home alone again (no Psycho on TV this time) so he follows a radio show to get in touch with another person who's like that. A bit premature perhaps cause he certainly had plenty of social contact lately but it does fit ok in the grand scheme of character development.
I have to say I was a bit surprised to see Alf throw an anniversary party for Kate and Willie. He didn't show that much thought and care for some of our (human) customs but it's nice to see him like this. The life on Earth seems to have started to change him. I do not understand why Alf put stuff like toothpaste and playdoh in food. I thought he only ate regular food? Well along with some other oddities, but I didn't think he'd go for industrial polymers.
Jody is a nice character and gets along well with Alf, sharing a similar style of humor. She is more caution than him, understandable I guess due to her handicap. And the writers get a * for the idea to make her blind, I'm sure it's not easy to come up with new people whom Alf can communicate with unrestricted. With Jody we now have a unique situation cause she thinks he's a regular human and not an alien, so she'll treat him as such. A good addition to the show and I look forward to seeing her appear again.
It was also a good call to have Lynn help Alf sneak out of the house and that she came to pick him up and make sure he stayed out of trouble. Of all the Tanners so far she's the one that left the impression of being his "equal" so to speak. While Brian looks up to Alf and Willie and Kate have a sort of parent/child relationship with him, Lynn is the one who's just his good friend.
A big minus here is the fact they cut the Chipmunks song, and they did it in a clumsy and obvious manner that at first I thought my DVD was scratched and skipped a part. I found this on youtube later, such a good scene too. Jody and Alf both seemed to be having a great time there and ironically it's the one scene where I felt they connected the most - and it got cut out of the uncut show
Best jokes:
Alf: "I also eat when I'm not nervous"
Jody: "I eat when I'm depressed"
Alf: "I eat when I'm bored"
Jody: "I eat when I'm lonely"
Alf: "I eat all the time"
Jody: "I'm a little overweight"
Alf: "I'm short"
Jody: "I'm blind"
Alf: "You win"
Things broken: gravy boat, a glass, mirror in the laundry room (off screen), a bowl, several items in the bathroom
7. Help me Rhonda *****
written by Tom Patchett & Lloyd Garver
I always considered ALF to be a standalone episode show. Each story seemed self contained and it didn't matter if you missed the previous episode or a dozen of them, you could still just jump right back in. But now I see a very strong and thoughtfully constructed arc and I can only applaud the producers for the way they executed it. It all builds up just right, from the excitement of a new way of life, through boredom of being locked in the house to an emotional breakup when he realizes that he his home is gone forever.
There's a lot more drama and a lot less comedy in this one. There were some funny bits of course. The opening intro with Brian and Alf plotting for birthday presents (a minor complaint from me here is Brian's acting, I think the director could have given him a few more takes to play this scene better, he did the rest of the episode all right). Other Melmacians are hilarious and the scene in the alien diner was a good change from what you normally expect to see in the show. The cats dishes were great
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
.
But most of the show was played very slowly, with a lot of emotion and a discrete soundtrack in the background. The scene in the laundry room was fabulous and Alf answering Willie's question: "What's wrong?", with: "Everything. I wanna go home." was a very strong moment. It was nice too see the Tanners tend to Alf afterwards, even if he did go a bit overboard with the soup and the vacuum cleaner and his other demands, just to tease Kate of course. And the final goodbye scene, with Willie's handshake and thanks for an extraordinary experience my friend was the best scene of the series so far. They really nailed it.
I am curious about one thing here: was this episode put here in case ALF got bad ratings and had to be cancelled? If the previous 6 episodes didn't get a good response from the audience, would Alf had left thus ending the show?
Best joke:
Kate: "Good luck"
Alf: "That's all you have to say?"
Kate: "Well, it's a long trip so if you have to use the bathroom now would be a good time"
Things broken: nothing broken this time but it is mentioned Alf set the shower on fire and buried the couch
On the 82nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me 81 cats a-Broiling, 80 cats a-Baking,
79 cats a-Toasting, 78 cats a-Boiling, 77 cats a-Sizzling, 76 cats a-Poaching...