“This Used To Be My Playground” (“Crying Out Loud” Recap)

Well, if nothing else, tonight's episode confirmed that Alex is indeed going to CalTech. And she'll be living with a girl named Alaina from somewhere in North Carolina (at least that's how the closed captioning spelled her name). As for Alex's story itself, I feel weirdly detached about it.


Yes, it was a beautiful ending to Alex and Haley's story, but, for some reason, and I don't know why (perhaps my lowered expectations for this episode clouded my thinking), I just didn't feel that emotional about how they got to that end (even with the reveal of the old footprints behind the screen).  Maybe if the two were allowed to cry a little like some of the others tonight (at least Phil got misty-eyed seeing them together)...

Just a few other random thoughts:

How did Alex fall for the ruse that Luke had collapsed and was at the hospital? Wouldn't she be suspicious that he had gone to school before her?

Was it me, or did Alex's footprints (presumably the ones on the left) look a little big for someone not yet two years old (12/20/1999)?

At least the arrest scenario I envisioned never happened, otherwise Alex would have had a much more troubling roommate selection “problem”.

At the end of the closing credit scene, I wasn't sure if Alex was unhappy with Claire, or with whom she ended up with for a roommate. Or both.

And how often (or at all) will we see Alaina next year (i.e. will there be any stories about her and Alex)?

Alex's Line Of The Night: ”I'm not worried. We'll probably be even closer once we're not actually caged in together – I'll be calling you all the time. Think about it – I'm about to live on a campus full of Alexes. And that's bound to get annoying, and when it does, who better to deal with an Alex than you?”  This actually was the easiest part of this post to write, even though Alex had a few very good and funny lines from which to choose (honorable mention to the “high holiday” comment before the picture frames).

Hopefully I'll feel more emotion next week (I'm taking next Thursday off from work because I don't expect to be fully functional mentally - one way or the other I'm planning on dissolving into a puddle of tears before 9:31 next Wednesday night because of Alex's graduation party, and I'll probably need time to get over it.)