"How Long Has It Been? It Seems Like A Mighty Long Time."

"Thunk In The Trunk" - not exactly the most awe-inspiring or enthusiasm-generating title I've seen.  Well, it is what it is, so let's peer into my not so crystal ball and see what I think will come of it.

Anticipation Level: Low.  There is one wild card in tonight's episode that keeps me from tacking on a "Very" to this: the presence of a "College Dean" in the guest character list.  I'm not getting my hopes up too high for this, though - it could mean a story for Alex (if she's from CalTech), but it's just as likely she's just someone who randomly pops into one of the other stories.  Or, as a longshot, she could be in a unrevealed story involving Luke, who should be thinking about where he might go to college by now (Manny is in Jay's story, so I'm ruling him out of this possibility).

Emotional Moment Potential Level: Very Low.  Unless the answer I have to the question in the "Do You Have Any Questions" section turns out to be yes, I just don't see much chance of emotion.  Of course, I've been badly wrong about that before...

Chance Of An Alex-less Episode: Very Low.  Hello - remember this section? Considering what I thought would happen this season, I'm surprised it has taken this long to make its reappearance.  But, sadly, for the first time in a while, the chance is there we may not even see Alex tonight (there's been no sign of her in the promo pictures nor in the commercial I saw online for this episode), if the college dean is not from CalTech.  I think it's highly unlikely, however I wouldn't be totally surprised either.

Do You Have Any Questions?

If the college dean is from CalTech, does her appearance mean Alex is in trouble?  Maybe.

For all the bad things that have happened to Alex the past couple of seasons, she has managed to dodge a lot of bullets as far as her academic trajectory is concerned (e.g. she didn't get in trouble for her antics at the music festival last season).  I feel like eventually something has to hit.  And we know Alex feels like her life is much harder at CalTech than in high school - she just hasn't been specific about the academic aspect of it.

Now Maisie does appear in next week's episode, so I don't think disaster is imminent (in other words, it's highly unlikely Alex will get kicked out this week, and probably never will).  But the dean could be about to tell her to step up her game or else, so to speak.  Or maybe Alex finally tried to lighten up at school, and went too far (just like at that music festival)?

Tune in tonight to find out, and check back later for my (riveting, as always) recap (unless tonight is Alex-less).