“Ain't Nobody Else To Impress” (“The Long Goodbye” Recap)

Maybe it's just my still being sick, but a lot of Alex's story tonight just didn't make a lot of sense.

We start with the first time we see Alex, where she heads off from home without wearing any pants, the theory of Phil and Claire being that Alex can be scatterbrained at times.

Seriously? Alex, a scatterbrain? Maybe in some parallel universe, but not ours. I know her life has been and continues to be stressful, but I just don't buy she'd be so unfocused not to get completely dressed before going out. That sounds much more like either Luke or Haley than Alex.  I find it insulting that Phil and Claire feel this way.  Sorry - I'm not buying it.

I highly doubt Alex spent her entire summer living in her dorm room – I don't think CalTech even allows it.

I guess a rock, paper, scissors robot isn't smarter than Alex either, at least 80% of the time. Just because Alex could beat it most the time doesn't mean it sucked, IMO – most of us would probably fail most of the time like Phil.

I still think her dorm room being a mess last year was more atypical than her room being neat was tonight.

Another “what in the world” question: why are strangers allowed to just walk into a lab without permission? And not just get told to leave (or be escorted out) as soon as someone saw them?

I think that girl who told Phil and Claire they had to sanitize before entering the “clean room” could have been the girl that Haley said actually was Alex (i.e. you/Yu) back when Alex was choosing her first roommate – she could've almost passed as a twin for Alex, right down to the clothing and biting sarcasm (calling out “You Fool!” to Phil as he was about to get an extra strength blast of air).

What does Claire wondering if Alex ditched that dress as a coping mechanism mean for Alex's relationship with Ben? Are they really going back down the path of Alex not having a steady boyfriend again, or was it just a case of wishful thinking by Claire? For now my money is on the latter.

I do wonder if Alex discovering the answer to that seemingly unsolvable problem and reacting like she did was a case of just being her typical self all these years, or was it a case of her putting a little extra “oomph” into showing off (including oddly wearing a dress to class) because she hasn't had as many opportunities to do so in college as she did in high school.

It was a nice touch at the end to have Alex build up the other girl's spirits at the end and show her more vulnerable side in public.

Alex's Line Of The Night: ”Class dismissed!"

One final note: Season 8 reruns start on USA tomorrow (Thursday) night at 9 with the first four episodes.