"There's Got To Be A Morning After(?)"

There was finally a press release issued for "The Verdict", but there was nothing new about Alex's role nor was there anything eye-catching about the guest star list (although it does say it will air next week so hopefully they're not going to make a last-minute switch).  Also, there are now promo pictures of the episode online (most of the ones with Alex are on the second page*).

Now, getting back to tonight's episode ("She Crazy"):



Anticipation Level: Low.  The only X factor that keeps this from very low is that I have no idea who the "she" is that's going to be "crazy". After last week, there is a small sliver of a chance it could be Alex.  But I think it's unlikely.  In fact, if anything...

Chance Of An Alex-less Episode: Medium to High.  With no mention of any of the Dunphy kids in anything about this episode (and the fact Phil's interacting with Lily and not one of them), I think the potential exists for the first shutout of the season (my best guess is at most we're dealing with a one and done, unless...).  Now by medium to high I mean about a 15-20% chance - that may seem low but historically if you pluck a random episode from the first six seasons out of thin air there's about a 9% chance (13 out of 144) you won't see Alex in it.  This is one of those things I may have to tweak as we go along this season, but 15 to 20% being medium to high seems about right for tonight.

Do You Have Any Questions?

If Alex is there, will there be any mention of the break-up?  And if so, will any trophies be smashed?  (And just what will be my next "The Fault In Our Stars" reference?)

And if she's not there - will there be a recap?  Like last season, officially, no, but I'll probably have a quick comment or two.

BTW, the first question is what inspired this post's title, in case you were wondering (that and the "sinking ship" feeling I've had for the past few weeks...).

*In those photos from next week, she's not wearing the outfit she'll be wearing in "that" scene.  So I guess we can all but forget about the hope that it's next week and it's her doing a favor for Claire.