(S01E08) "New year, new neighbors, new secrets." That's Trina as she sets up for tonight's game of Puzzlerama, but can pretty much be said about tonight's episode. Everyone has secrets, and they're all coming out.

Before we get started, I just want to mention that I'm filling in for your normal Swingtown host, so if I miss anything, don't blame her. She'll return to give you next week's review.

The kids are back in this week's episode, but they're only making cameo appearances. The focus is really on Susan and Bruce and Janet and Roger and the feelings they have for each other and those around them.


Case in point: we really get to see that Roger's infatuation with Susan is quite mutual, as the episode opens up with a dream sequence involving Susan floating on a raft in Tom and Trina's pool while they offer to oil her up with tanning lotion. Just as they get started, Roger shows up and offers to finish the job. Unfortunately, Susan can't even let go of her guilt while she's asleep, as fully-clothed and angry versions of Bruce and Janet pop out of the pool to ruin her fantasy.

Janet, who very uh, helpfully greets Roger with breakfast and the want-ads, complete with bright red circles around the jobs she thinks he's suited for (executive debt collector?) tries to step out of her comfort zone a little bit and kind of invites herself over to Tom and Trina's for the scavenger hunt. She soon comes to regret that decision, however, when she finds the pictures Trina took last week, including the one of Roger in the infamous swim trunks. She first accuses Trina of trying to seduce her husband, but Roger and Susan quickly step in and come clean. Janet is understandably hurt that her husband decided to confide in another woman about losing his job.

Meanwhile, we aren't kept in suspense about what happened between Bruce and Melinda for very long. I was one of the few people who thought he didn't go through with sleeping with her, and I was right. In fact, she calls him a "perfect gentleman." He doesn't stay that way for long though, as he ends up making out with her up against the train station--a sight that Janet very narrowly misses walking in on, thanks to Tom steering her away. At the end though, Bruce tells Melinda that it can't go any further, as he loves his wife. Something tells me that this probably isn't the end of Bruce and Melinda though.

I have really mixed feelings about what I want to happen to the couples after this episode. I really like the idea of Roger and Susan together, but for some reason I found both Janet and Bruce to be very sympathetic during this episode--which is weird, considering that Bruce made out with Melinda. I can tell he's struggling to do the right thing though. However, if Roger and Susan do get together, I can't help but feel that Janet is kind of an innocent victim in all of this. Sure she's overbearing, but she hasn't really done anything wrong, has she?

Other points of interest

--I loved the dinner scene at Susan and Bruce's house. Julie tells her parents that she's going to go campaign for Carter, prompting Bruce to launch into an impassioned defense of Richard Nixon, saying, "he just kept a secret he shouldn't have." Very smooth, Bruce. That wasn't obvious AT ALL.

--Poor Samantha was put on Stu watch as Gail snuck inside for some loving with Bruce's co-worker. B.J. is back from camp and made Samantha a wish bag. It's kind of adorable--or would be, if I gave a crap about the kids.

--While the infatuation between Susan and Roger is mutual, Susan is definitely more hesitant about actually taking it anywhere. When Puzzlerama finds them paired up alone at Gail's house, she tells Roger how mortified she was when Janet returned the swim trunks to her that morning, thinking they were Bruce's. She makes him promise that there will be no more secrets, to which he pointedly responds, "next time I play hooky, we'll be sure to get both out stories straight."

--Despite all of the sexual tension in this episode, Laurie turns out to be the only one who actually gets any. She finally goes back to Doug's apartment after a busy day at the grocery store campaigning for Carter.