(S02E11) Beneath the surface, there were emotional land mines all around the friends at Fort Marshall in this episode. There were also some interesting revelations. It started with the arrival, out of the blue, of Charlotte, Claudia Joy's mom. Played by Marsha Mason, famous for The Goodbye Girl, Charlotte has always been hard on her daughter.

Fortunately, the way it was written and the way she played it, she wasn't there just to scrutinize her daughter's housekeeping. It was surprising to hear that she hadn't even called Claudia Joy since Amanda's death. Could there be a more clear indication that there's a gap between mother and daughter?

There was a lot of subtext, things unsaid between them, and that made their scenes all the better. Her visit was more about what's wrong in her life and therefore how it'll impact on Claudia Joy and Michael's. Watch for Mother to move in for a while.

(S04E02) Is this our Brenda? So happy, so horny, so friendly and jovial. After last week's heavy duty episode, with the fires and the serial arsonist with the creepy (also very beguiling) smile, this episode found Brenda in a playful mood. Don't you love a well-rounded character?

It was very romantic the way Brenda was awakened by Fritzie, and for a show that tends to show more of the neurotic Brenda than the sexy Brenda, this was a lovely change of pace. And if you can consider a story in which homeless drunks are run over (and over) by cars -- vehicular homicide indeed -- for insurance money a light, comic turn, then this episode qualifies.