The House that Lauren Built
Harry and Lauren tour a
large house that Lauren really wants to buy. She visits a local
bank to try to get a loan to buy the house. She is hoping that
having a friend there will help to secure the loan, the
"friend" being her ex-boy friend. He informs her that despite
her trustworthiness and "kind face" he cannot approve the loan
because her debt to income ratio is too high. Lauren later revisits
the bank with Harry along this time. Harry tries to talk the bank
into giving her the loan, but despite Harry's best efforts they will not
approve it. Then, in typical Harry fashion, he goes on a tirade
about the ridiculous rules that won't allow a teacher to own a home.
He finally ends up taking his "$1,900" out of the bank and
leaving. Lauren's ex boyfriend comes to the school to tell Lauren
that her application is once again being reviewed personally by the loan
officer that Harry tore into at the bank. Later that evening Harry
and Lauren discuss the situation together in a bubble bath The frustration
of being teachers is obvious. Lauren returns to the bank, alone this
time, to hear her review, but the answer is still no. Harry tries to
comfort Lauren on the loss of her dream home to little avail. Lauren
spends the end of the episode sitting on the hearth in her dream home
pining for what could have been.
Case of mistaken identity
Kevin and Milton are walking the halls of the school
discussing the possibility of Kevin dating an African-American
woman. Marilyn overhears then talking about Marla and get the wrong
idea. They discuss the hypothetical situation of Marilyn dating a
white man. She says she'd do it it she really liked him. This
is what Kevin wanted to hear. Harvey sees Sheryl Holts website
depicting Kevin asking out Marla. He tells Marla about it, but she
lends no credence to it. Secretly she is interested however.
Marilyn tells Marla about Kevin wanting to date her. Marla seems
quite flattered, but doesn't know what to say. Kevin then walks in
and Marilyn tells him the answer is "yes" and winks at
him. Kevin thinks she means "yes" SHE would date him, but
in reality she is saying "yes" that Marla would date him.
Kevin asks Marilyn out, causing quite a stir. Marilyn was totally
not expecting that. The next day Marla comes in with a funky new
hairdo just for Kevin. Harvey tells her she looks ridiculous, but
she's on cloud nine thinking about Kevin. Marilyn pulls her aside to
tell her that Kevin really wants her instead and Marla is
devastated. Marilyn talks to Kevin and tells him that she is very
flattered and would like to go out with him after Marla feels a little
better about the situation. Harvey tries to console Marla
about the whole incident and even asks her out to
dinner. He
was quite nice about it actually and even gave her a little kiss on the
cheek, (can you imagine!). She then agrees to have supper.
(how nice)
...So let's root, root, root for the home team...
Cheering takes on a whole new look as Guber and Louisa
view the cheering squad's routine for the up coming state
competition. It is definitely sexy and Guber is quite shocked by
it. He approaches Harper about the routine and tries to explain just
how racy it is and demands that Harper see it for himself. Harper
agrees to view the routine and when he does is also very shocked. He
asks Tina, the cheering coach, to see him in his office. He tells
her that there is no way that the school will be represented by a group of
15 year olds showing that kind of sexuality. He refuses to let them
do the routine. Tina is outraged and refuses to tell her
girls. She demands that Harper do it. He tells the squad
his decision and doesn't back down despite griping and complaining from
the team members.
It's a dead issue
Harry's students Jamaal sees a high school student in
the morgue who shot himself. This stirs some emotion in him and talk
of suicide rises in Harry's classroom. Harry tells Jamaal that
talking and thinking about suicide is normal. He starts a
"suicide club" in the class so that students may feel less
stressed and more open to talk about their fears and problems.
Jamaal talks to the class and discusses his feelings about his parents'
divorce. He feels that their problems are all his fault. Harry
later visits Jamaal in the morgue and tries to encourage him to talk to
his mother about what he feels. Guber and Harper meet with Harry to
discuss this "suicide club". Scott obviously feels that it
is a lousy idea and says that Harry is NOT a psychiatrist. Harry
insists that he is just trying to reach some students with problems that
get in the way of their learning. Harper eventually agrees to let
Harry continue as long as he is "careful". Jamaal's mother
stops to see Harry and wants to know just how he manages to get Jamaal to
open up to him so well. Taking this to heart Harry decides to start
a support class for parents to help show them how to reach kids.
Harper agrees to let him do this as well but is beginning to think that
Harry is taking on too much.
The Trials of Milton and Lisa
Kevin sees Lisa and Milton talking in the hall and
approaches Milton about it. He can't believe they're still
together. Milton tells him that they are trying to get a transfer
for Lisa to another school. He still insists that he is willing to
quit his job for her. They get into a big yelling match over it and
Milton tells Kevin to just stay out of it. Kevin then goes to
Lisa
to discuss the affair but she tells him in no uncertain terms to bug
off. Well, Milton and Lisa meet once again at his place for another
round of "nudge, nudge". Milton calls Guber to lie about
his car once again in order to buy them more time. Guber isn't happy about
the phone call to begin with, but then....as they are frolicking on the
bed they roll onto the phone that was carelessly discarded there and hit
redial. The phone calls Guber, naturally, and he hears the obvious
sounds of two people engaged in a romantic interlude, and then hears Milton's name called
out. Guber just about bursts a blood vessel. When Milton
finally arrives Guber presses him about his whereabouts and Milton
lies. Guber sends him off to class with the warning that his days
are numbered and that he should get to class "while he still has
one".
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