“Like A Rollin' Thunder Chasing The Wind” (“The Storm” Recap)

Well, no rain fade, so I was able to see the whole show.

It's a good thing, because Alex and Maisie were both in “blink and you'll miss them” mode for much of the night. It wasn't quite as limited as I feared, but it really wasn't all that spectacular either, including no real conversations between them (just discussion about their project) except for a small bit about Maisie having eyes (sort of) for Luke. Hopefully there will be a “next time” for Alex and Maisie to have a more in-depth story.

I know it was a possibility from the beginning, but just why were Alex and Maisie at the Dunphy house in the first place (i.e. if it was school work why not at the dorm back at CalTech)? Maybe they have become best friends after all and Alex wanted to introduce Maisie to her family, but why no buildup if that's the case?

My best guess otherwise? Maybe Alex really has moved back home, but the two of them were assigned that project together (the one that Phil all but ruined and Luke all but saved) and Maisie had to come over to help.

I am a bit disappointed if that's the case – I was hoping Alex jumping in the pool a few weeks ago was a sign she was going to continue to live on campus.

(Oh, BTW, a little off-topic, but don't get me started about 8 year old kids jumping into a pool during a raging electrical storm, even if one of them [Phil] was only acting like an 8 year old.)

Don't get me wrong – I'm glad having Alex spend more time at home than expected has saved us from having more than 2 Alex-less episodes (or at least a slew of episodes with one Skype conversation and nothing else). I just wish they'd give her life away from her family some focus, even if it breaks a little bit the mold of keeping the family together – what's wrong with making Maisie and Sanjay (or other students or faculty) parts of a new family (or two) of sorts for her?

Maybe Phil did save the day for Jay, but why does he keep making Alex's life difficult (the robotics lab incident a few weeks ago, now tonight)?

On the other hand, why would Alex even let Phil (or anyone, for that matter) get within 100 feet of her computer, given how much crucial information is in it? And why doesn't Alex use a thumb drive for backup? (Or, if she did, why didn't she remove it from the computer before it got fried too?) And why wouldn't Maisie have her own computer handy for further backup? Seriously, for two very, very smart kids they didn't exactly do a good job of covering all their bases.

I was actually glad during the credits scene that Luke revealed the truth about how he was able to solve Alex's and Maisie's problem – I was afraid for a second he really was from now on going to be just as smart, if not smarter, than Alex. I'd hate to think that one lucky blow to the head from a rake could have as much effect as twelve-plus years of hard (over)work.

And one more thing we can make official: CalTech's male population must be even more sorely lacking in the looks department than we thought – Maisie's the fourth female freshman we've seen to be attracted to a high school junior (OK, it's not so weird in her case – she is about Luke's age unlike Alex, Brie or Brie's friend).

Alex's Line Of The Night: ”OK, five Newtonian equations down, only seven quantum mechanical proofs to go. We are cooking with CH₄.” Thank goodness again for Google - unlike Alex I didn't remember that that was the chemical formula for methane gas. Unfortunately that was pretty much her only memorable line of the night – but at least unlike last week she did have one.

Which may or may not be the case next week – but that's a rant for another day.