"There's A (Pity?) Party Goin' On Right Here"

It's been confirmed (via ABC's schedule grids) that there will be repeats on April 20th and April 27th ("The More You Ignore Me" and "Phil's Sexy, Sexy House").  Which means barring something crazy happening 22 will be the "magic" number.  It's a good thing we already know Season 8 is coming or I'd be sweating bullets the next few weeks  (remember how I felt that only having 22 episodes this season might have put the show's future in doubt?)

It still means that the chances of one last big Alex story are a lot slimmer than they were a few days ago - unless her being ignored by her family in the season finale blows up into something big the best chance would appear to be whatever shows up on May 4th.

(One more troubling thought I've come up with for that finale - what if the reason they don't realize Alex is back home is because she comes back before the semester is over?  Is there a potential cliffhanger about her changing plans for next season?)

Anyway, back to tonight's "The Party" - will there be any reason to celebrate?  Er....

Anticipation Level: Low.  There is one reason why there is no "Very" in front of that - we are down to the final five episodes so anything looks better than the four months of summer reruns looming in the now not-so-distant future (especially this summer where there may only be a couple of reruns worth watching).  Otherwise, with no sign of Alex so far there's little reason to expect much tonight, unless you want to hold out the hope they're hiding a small story for her away from home.

Emotional Moment Potential Level: Very Low.  No need to unqualify this one because of time running out - unless there is that hidden story lurking I see no need for Kleenex.

Potential Of An Alex-less Episode: Low To Medium.  Again the threat of her not being not being on at all exists because we haven't heard or seen her in anything (of course, now that I've said something watch something pop up later today invalidating this whole section).  I don't think it's likely, but...