#34: Much Ado About Everything

Just so everyone will know, this is the first installment of Melrose Between the Lines. Why did I choose this episode to start with? It was from this point I started getting hooked on Melrose, so why not? I paid close attention to the surveys last year, and the main conscensus is you folks want more sound and video clips from the show. Unfortunately, this will not yet include any screen captures because my machine is on the fritz and one of my sibs deleted the program from my computer. :-( Oh, well, I'll give him what he deserves later. I can give you a few sound clips though. Hope you like this new addition to the site!

Original air date: September 8, 1993
Production number: 2393033
Written by: Charles Pratt Jr.
Directed by: Nancy Malone
Guest Stars: Marcia Cross, William R. Moses
Co-Stars: Willie Carpenter, Sterling David, Lisa Mitchell, Richard Molner, Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst
Rating: 7*******

Summary: Amanda throws a party to celebrate her purchase of the building, and thus a whole new chapter in Melrose begins. Alison is forced to work late and then gets another call from the stalker. Keith coincidentally shows up at D&D and takes her to the party. Alison and Billy agree to tell both Amanda and Keith that they are an item. Billy tells Amanda in her apartment about him and Alison while Keith attempts to undress Alison for sex. Billy arrives just in time to break it up and throws Keith out. Alison tells Keith the news over a martini and then comes home and makes love to Billy, while Keith calls them. Still upset over being rejected, he bangs his head on the TV and shows up the next morning after Billy leaves for work, whining that the same person who hit Billy hit him as well. Alison and Keith go to the police and she feels a greater sense of security. She comes home and locks the doors and windows and tells Billy what happened. He is suspicious that Keith got hit with a "tire iron just like Billy did" when no one ever confirmed it was a tire iron. While Alison's out with the girls, Billy goes over to Keith's hotel and asks him how he knew it was a tire iron. Keith says it was by assumption, and so Keith doesn't get over-violent, Billy wishes him well and leaves. Keith pays a thug some cash to make a call to Billy and Alison's at 8:00 sharp and pretend to be the stalker. Billy sees Alison that night and voices that he's researched stalkers and in all of the cases, the stalker feels like they were wrongly rejected and they sacrificed something for their victim. They want to do everything they can to make their victim feel helpless and needy. Alison rejected this idea and Keith shows up. Billy vocalizes this to Keith and Keith starts to get into a fight with him. His phone plan goes into effect and Alison tells Billy how wrong he was. She walks Keith home.

Jane is off to work and Michael corners her wondering about the divorce papers. She tells him her mind is made up and Matt tries to intervene, explaining she's the one who got hurt. Jane offers him a "no fault" divorce but Amanda convinces her to go after his future earnings. Michael moves into a beachhouse (in its first appearance on the show) with Kimberly. When the girls go out, Jane sees Michael come in with Kimberly and starts getting knots in her stomach. She excuses herself for the bathroom and slaps Michael with divorce papers the next day, courtesy of a lawyer that Amanda recommended. Michael tells Kim he can't pay his half of the rent and she tells him she'll take care of it, vowing to be with him no matter what the sacrifice.

Jake and Jo agree to move in together and flip to see who moves in with who. Jo loses, but Jake agrees to move in with her anyway because he's a good loser. Jo and Jake start moving in and fuss over the arrangement of their personal goods and the sleeping arrangements. Over dinner, Jo is upset because they seem to have run out of things to talk about. Amanda calls for Jake and the two of them head to apt. 4 to move her TV onto a table. Amanda comments that Jake is a handy guy to have around as they eye each other.

The Stuff You May Have Missed:

  • At the party, Alison is buzzed on vodka tonic.
  • The number of the place to call to rent the beachhouse is 555-7035.
  • The music during Alison and Billy's lovemaking scene I couldn't quite make out (no pun intended). It was a soul song with the words "I'll Be There" or something. Too many possible choices.
  • The restaurant that the girls saw Michael and Kim at was Patrino's.
  • Keith is staying at hotel room #235.
  • Keith looked like he gave the thug about $100. It was several 20s.
  • In the scene where Kimberly vows to do whatever it takes to stay with Michael, she has bangs, which is a rarity.
  • In the scene with Jo and Jake having dinner, that candle sure is old. Wax has been dripping all the way down it. The holder is pretty hideous as well.
  • The time on the clock when Amanda calls Jo and Jake is 7:10. Good job, producers! Very consistent with the timing because the thug was supposed to call Alison and Billy at 8.
  • And for those of you who aren't familiar with literature, the episode's odd title is derived from "Much Ado About Nothing", a Shakesperian play.

    My Vents:

  • Why was Jake trying so hard to tape up Jo's stuff in boxes? He's only moving them down a flight of stairs.
  • Notice how much work Amanda is piling on Alison so she can't take place in any Melrose activities unless they include her.
  • When Keith unzips Alison, she must be wearing a heck of a lot of body make-up under that dress. No red spots or anything.
  • Notice the blue topless truck Matt is driving. It's not anything near the Ford Explorer- looking thing he was driving in the later seasons.
  • Kimberly had to have been saving a lot to have rented that beachhouse. L.A. real estate costs an arm and a leg. You'd have to be a doctor or an actor to afford that beachhouse.
  • WHY did they have so much footage of the waiter pouring and carrying those martinis to Alison and Keith? Very good time filler, y'all!
  • What does it matter what the sleeping arrangements are going to be in Jake and Jo's new apartment? They're gonna in up in bed together every night anyway.
  • How does Amanda know Robert (Jane's lawyer) so well?
  • HOW STUPID IS ALISON??? How could Keith have known about the tire iron? What a nice coincidence he shows up exactly when Billy's venting about stalkers and the thug calls? Hmmmmm.....

    Memorable Quotes:
    ALISON: Amanda in the morning, Amanda at work, Amanda at night, Amanda right above my ceiling....

    AMANDA: You literally caught the bastard with his pants down. (referring to Jane catching Michael's affair)

    And this one is perfect for my summaries:
    AMANDA: I'll read between the lines.