“As Long As Your Father Told You”

For the most part when a new episode comes around, I'm always trying to figure out what will happen to Alex.   Tonight's “Legacy” will be a rare exception, mainly because I am actually more interested in a story that won't really revolve around Alex than in what she does tonight (if in fact she's even there – more on that shortly).

In this case, the story involves Phil and his father (and Alex's grandfather), Frank, who may reveal some terrible news about his health.   I have a feeling I'm going to get very emotional about this story, since I've fretted often throughout my life about losing my own father (thankfully that hasn't happened yet) and any type of fictional story I see like that usually hits a lot closer to home than maybe it should.  Even if Alex isn't a major (or any) part of it.

Having said all of that, the level and potentials you'll see in the next three sections won't totally jibe with those of the episode as a whole – they still will be tied into where I think things go with Alex tonight.

Anticipation Level: Low to Medium.  Since I'm not even sure if Alex will even be there, from that perspective there isn't a lot interesting about tonight.  Unless she has a big hidden role in Phil's story.

Emotional Moment Potential: Medium.  If Alex is around, certainly she'll probably get at least a little emotional if the worst happens.  Not as much as Phil, but remember she took DeDe's death surprisingly hard last season (harder than I would have expected given she had a much closer bond to her other grandmother, Grace), so something happening to Frank could still hit her hard.

And if something does happen, that could lead to...

Game Changing Potential: Low to Medium.  If Frank passes away, now Alex will be down to one grandparent to turn to, Jay.   Since he wants Alex to be the leader of his family someday, will both of those events lead to them bonding even closer?

This is more a game changer for the future - Alex doesn't have to be around tonight for this to possibly happen.  Speaking of which...

Chance Of An Alex-less Episode: Medium.  I'm getting very mixed signals about this.  On one hand, there's been no sign of Alex in any media involving this episode, so that (especially these days) strongly hints that she won't be there.

On the other hand, it seems illogical that she won't be there, given that Phil will want to lean on everyone in his family in his time of need, and I don't think normally Alex wouldn't be there, let alone not want to be there.

Of whatever number of Alex-less episodes we end up having this final season, if this is one of them it will probably rate as the one which will the least chance of happening.  But I'd still put it at around 25 percent.


Are There Any Other Questions?  Tonight is the sixth anniversary of the original airing of “Under Pressure” (and the first January 15th to fall on a Wednesday since that immortal night).   Will I be binge watching that today while waiting for tonight's episode?  Well, I've already watched it three times today before I even got around to posting this, so, um, yep.   I'm not sure how many more times today I'll watch but that number should at least double by midnight.  (I will slow the pace down somewhat - I've yet to sleep this early morning and I might want to do one or two other things on my day off.)