“She Turns On TV And Guess Who She Sees?” (“Clash Of Swords” Recap)

Admit it, going into the last part of the episode, you thought just like I did that Alex really wasn't going to show up¹.

And then, from out of nowhere, there she was, if only really for one scene (plus one quick look of her getting busted by Claire faking reading a magazine when she was really reading a library book).

That one small scene with Manny would have made for probably the most interesting Alex story of the season, if they had actually made it a full story and had them go on that road trip (of sorts) and Alex and Manny came to a self-realization or two (e.g. Alex finally is forced to face the “fear” of actually having to relax for a change, because something happens to her laptop along the way).   It still was the most interesting scene of the night².

The one bad news aspect about that scene was that it did confirm that Alex will not be doing that internship at MIT this summer (I had held out the smallest of hopes she'd changed her mind after Phil had talked her out of it and into enjoying her summer).

Alex's Line Of The Night: ”Of course I know you're right. But it's hard - people are out there discovering planets, and I'm in here doing BuzzFeed quizzes like 'if I were to be a Beatle who'd I be' and I'd be Ringo. Who cares, Manny?”   Just who was the smartest Beatle, anyway?

That actually sounded a lot like her Sweet 16 birthday rant (where she feels she's seriously underachieving compared to others), just before she smashed her cake, albeit a lot calmer.

And so, Season 9 finally comes crashing to its disappointing end.  Final thoughts to come this weekend, I guess.
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¹ Luke and Lily were both missing again, which I still can't believe they'd do to two main characters on the final (two) episode(s).  I'll probably speculate about what that might mean for Alex next season as it draws closer.

² Tonight was OK, but it sure didn't have much of a season finale feel to it, save maybe for Jay possibly merging his closet company with that hipster hi-tech one (presumably how that plays out will be one the show's biggest stories of next season).  And maybe Mitch and Cam finally having a "brother" for Lily.