Spoilers for tonight's "United States of Tara" coming up just as soon as I enjoy some peppermint schnapps..."My bitch is fresh." -MaxAfter last week's fairly dark, alter-minimal episode, "Revolution" gives us a heavy dose of T and an equal dose of comedy, highlighted by John Corbett's very funny delivery of the above line.
But amidst all the wacky hijinx -- including T kicking ass at Dance Dance Revolution (geez, Toni Collette is limber), Marshall participating in a student recreation of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, a raging schnapps party at the Gregson house, and Kate and Marshall (and the writers, no doubt) having fun brainstorming increasingly profane nicknames for the new girlfriend of Kate's ex-boyfriend -- are the usual reminders of what a lousy situation this is for the family, and even a hint that T isn't a Satan-spawn all the time.
When Marshall accuses T of depriving him time with his mother -- "I want my real mother, and only my mother, and none of you freaks!" -- it's a jarring turn compared to the tone of the rest of the episode, but it fits, particularly with this alter. Buck and Alice can be disruptive, but not to the degree that T is, and they have some redeeming caretaker qualities that T hasn't displayed before the end of this episode. She does what she wants, screws (and screws over) who she wants(*), and generally doesn't seem to care how the family feels about her.
(*) Though I had a hard time with everybody at the arcade -- the security guard in particular -- believing T was actually a teenager (Toni Collette's in great shape, but come on) -- I found her barely-foiled attempt to have sex with a boy shed even more light on Max and Tara's sexual problems. If you assume that Buck really did catch crabs from the woman at the bowling alley, and that T is out there trying to get laid (and may sometimes be successful), while Max isn't allowed to sleep with T or Alice... well, you can understand his frustration (and his need for Gentleman's Time). And it gave an added charge to Max's interrogation-by-seduction technique, because he seemed angry and frustrated enough to actually break his vow and sleep with T, just to shut her up.
I thought this "Revolution" also did a much better job with the Nate Corddry character than previous episodes. Here, it's clear that Kate isn't in any way attracted to him, and can see right through his game, but she's going to take advantage of his crush when she desperately needs to get away from her real life.
(As a Barenaked Ladies fan, should I be ashamed that a loser like Gene was listening to what sounded like several cuts from "Barenaked Ladies Are Men"?)
Only a couple of real false notes, one of them relatively minor: Toni Collette's American accent has no idea how to say "Kutcher," and so it comes out as some Canadian/Australian hybrid of "Ashton Kootcher." Also, I have a hard time with the idea that the alters -- all of them reluctant to play along with the family rules, and at least two of them (T and Alice) unhappy with their lack of time in the real world -- are also willing to record video diaries. Seemed like an excuse for a few cheap jokes (like Buck lighting his own farts) as the kids tried to figure out who vandalized Tiffany's condo.
What did everybody else think?
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