“Baby Baby, Always And Forever”

R.I.P. Stella (a/k/a Beatrice in real life).   Given how much Ariel loves dogs in real life, I'm surprised Alex never had much (if any) interaction with her on the show.   Needless to say this was not good news at a time in real life when we could use some.


With only four episodes left - tonight's “Baby Steps”, an episode titled “I'm Going To Miss This” on April 1st (there is press release out which I'll discuss later this week), and the two part finale on April 8th, tonight's episode title seems out of place – I'd hesitate to call anything happening a baby step at this point.  And that really might be true for Alex. 

Ariel was on “Live With Kelly And Ryan” last week, and while she didn't say much of anything about the last few episodes, there was a clip of (presumably) tonight's episode where Alex is talking to Haley about visiting CalTech to talk about (I think) her new job¹.   So I think this is why Arvin is on tonight's episode – it sound like he maybe wants her to speak at one of his classes.  Also, she mentioned her apartment, so maybe she didn't get evicted after all.


Anticipation Level: Very High.  Two things here: 1) we are almost to the end, so I would be looking forward to all of the final four episodes, and 2) could we actually have a story where Alex does not have to share the spotlight with the rest of her family?

Emotional Moment Potential: High.  Just because this starts with Alex and Arvin getting together for a school-related activity doesn't rule out the possibility that being back together could lead to a romatic relationship between the two. Y es, I'd still be a bit leery about the age difference, but at least Alex isn't a student anymore (little chance for a serious backfire in her educational life if things don't work out) and is a couple of years older.

Game Changing Potential: Very High.   There are many ways that things can change for Alex tonight.  Earlier this season one of the storylines rumored for Alex was that at some point she'd have to decide whether she wanted to keep a high paying job or do something which is more helpful to society. Perhaps one of the students asks her something which causes that moment to happen.   And/or maybe she gets offered a job at CalTech?

And who knows where this could lead with any kind of relationship with Arvin, romantically or professionally?

Are There Any Other Questions? Will “Baby Steps” even air tonight?  Who knows – with the coronavirus changing things seemingly every few minutes, don't be surprised if part if not all of tonight's episode gets pre-empted.  Obviously any breaking news is of much higher priority (although hopefully the episode will still be available on iTunes tomorrow morning if it comes to it).  Also, I'm working tonight (staying home to avoid getting sick is not an option for me, even though I'd dearly love to stay out of harms way) so I won't know until later whether or not it aired – one way or another I probably won't have a recap until the morning or later.
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¹ Sorry, I couldn't find this online – the only clips from this show were the first few minutes of it, and  brief parts of Ariel's interview which did not include that clip.