Hey, Look Me Over S7E1

Synopsis: Rose uncovers a photo of her husband Charlie in bed with Blanche; Dorothy urges Sophia to have her hearing checked.

90s Flashback

Rose: “I'm talking about this picture.”

Blanche: “Oh my God, where did you find this? Oh, I'm so embarrassed. My hair, it looks like a helmet... It's all bunched up and pointy. Honey, you gotta burn this. I look like The Rocketeer.”

Crazy Continuity

It’s finally revealed that Blanche’s married name initials spell BED (Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux) but in the episode with Blanche’s Mammy she calls her Blanche Marie Hollingsworth.

Also, this entire episode revolves around Sophia not wanting to get her hearing checked but in “The Impotence of Being Ernest” she says she can hear a canary break wind in Lauderdale when her hearing aid is turned up to ten.

Musical Moments

Dorothy: “I'll drop the film off when I pick up our tickets to the Philharmonic today.”

Sophia: “Philharmonic?”

Dorothy: “Yep. Beethoven's Sonata No. 29, one week from tonight, just you and me under the stars. Ma, aren't you excited?”

Sophia: “I'm lactating.”

Rose: “Say, where is old Happy-pants?”

Dorothy: “She and Ma went to the Philharmonic.”

Rose: “I thought you were going to that.”

Dorothy: “Why bother? It's not like I'd be able to enjoy it.”

Rose: “True. On the other hand, Beethoven was also deaf, so you'd be hearing the music the way he wrote it.”

Let’s Get Political

Dorothy: “HI, MA. HOW ARE YOU? ARE YOU HAPPY TODAY?”

Sophia: “Oh, my God, we're being bugged. Who is it? Immigration??”

Dorothy: “Ma what are you talking about?”

Sophia: “Uh, happy? Uh. I'm, uh, I'm happy, all right, happy to be a citizen of the United States of America.”

Dorothy: “Ma, you are a citizen.”

Sophia: “That's right, Dorothy. As far as we know, I am a citizen, a citizen of the US of A, uh home of presidents like, um, Ford, uh Lincoln.. Help me out here, Dorothy.”

Dorothy: “Bush, Ma.”

Sophia [talking into a potted bush]: “Oh, and Reagan.”

Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Stanley

Blanche: “Take it easy, Rose.”

Rose: “How can I? What do you think this makes me feel like?”

Dorothy: “What?”

Sophia [using bullhorn]: “She said, ‘What do you think this makes me feel like?’”

Dorothy: “Ma!”

Sophia: “It's out of the park. Game over. I'm going to Disneyland.”

Rose: “How come she gets to go to Disneyland?”

Shady Pines, Ma

Dorothy: “Listen Ma, I made an appointment for you for 2:00 this afternoon. Either you go and get your hearing checked, or I will make life miserable for you.”

Sophia: Oh come on. You said the exact same things to me before you took me to Shady... I'll go pretty up.”

Lewd Ladies

Rose: “I'd probably end up calling her a slut.”

Dorothy: “Oh, come on. Honey, slut is a little harsh. I mean, Blanche isn't that bad.”

Blanche [enters limping]: “Oh my God, I can barely walk!”

Dorothy: “Although slut does have a documentary feel to it.”

Zbornak Zingers

Rose: “Blanche, you've been under more drunken sailors than... than...”

Dorothy: “Oh now, Rose, don't drag me into this… a nautical toilet.”

Insult Watch

Rose [cleaning her Exercycle]: “What do you think, Blanche? Am I through with my cycle?”

Blache: “Well, I'd say menopause is a pretty good guess. You're about as puffy as the Pillsbury Doughboy.”

[Dorothy has her arms held out in front of the Merry Christmas banner]

Sophia: “Oh, I'm havin’ a vision. A religious vision. Oh God, it's so beautiful!”

Blanche: “Sophia please, our Savior wouldn't be caught dead in that outfit.”

Product Placement

Rose: “All right, that's it. I'm sick of this. I am not puffy. And there's no similarity between me and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Understand? None! [Sophia tickles her stomach] HEHE!”

Sassy Sophia

Sophia: “Now, you listen, Dorothy. I may not have your gift for word jumbles or your ability to float or your way of making small children weep.”

Dorothy: “But?”

Sophia: “Or your butt. Thank you. But there's one thing I do have.”

Dorothy: “Oh what's that, Ma?”

Sophia: “Two thousand shares of Xerox, which I bought at... My health. I've got my health.”

Sophia: “It's not a hearing aid that makes you old. It's what you're becoming by not getting one. Think of what you're missing, all the things I hear. The birds singing, the wind in the trees, the sound of the ticker tape telling you Xerox has gone up to... my health. Did I mention I've got my health?”

Back in St. Olaf

Rose: “Oh, look, my bullhorn! Oh, this is the only thing I have left from my one day as a Mountain Rangerette. Hey, you, get out of the pass. This is avalanche country.”

Best of B.E.D.

Blanche: “You know, I just don't understand it. How could I not remember Charlie? Have I finally turned that corner? Have I finally become so jaded that I can no longer put the name with the face? Oh, listen to me. He was probably just lousy in bed.”

Sweet, Single-Digit-IQ Rose

Rope: “When I'm upset, everything comes out wrong. Face it, Dorothy, I don't have your quick wit, your conversation skills, your... Your way with... with”

Dorothy: “Words?”

Rose: “Words. Thank you.”

Until the Buffalo Pooped…

Dorothy: “Hi, Ma.”

[Dorothy plays tone on bullhorn]

Dorothy: “Aha!”

Sophia: “What, Aha?”

Dorothy: “You didn't hear that.”

Sophia: “Actually, I was just trying to be polite, but since you brought it up, excuse you.”

Dorothy Zbornak is My Spirit Animal

Blanche: “Dorothy, you're the one who's been talkin' about aging with dignity.”

Dorothy: “Not for me. For her. I mean, look at her. The woman is hundreds of years old. She should be carbon-dated.”

Reel References

Dorothy: “Look, Ma, I am concerned. You're my mother. Can't you just check it out, please?” [Sophia laughs]

Dorothy: “What are you laughing at? I'm sorry. I thought you said, ‘I'm Mothra, giant radioactive insect. REE-REE-REE!!”

Dorothy: “I didn't, Ma.”

Sophia: “Too bad. It was a good impression.”

Sophia: “Actually, last night we went to see Dying Young. Terrific. I laughed till I peed. And then I laughed at that.”

The Boob Tube

Blanche: “I never met Charlie.”

Rose: “You not only met him. You slept with him, just like you sleep with everybody.”

Blanche: “I most certainly do not.”

Rose: “Oh, come on, Blanche. You've landed on your back more than… more than…”

Dorothy: “The American Gladiators.”

Golden Quotes

Rose [sorting coins]: “It's so hard to know what to leave here and what to put in storage.”

Sophia: “What are you doing, Rose?”

Rose: “Oh, I was just going through the change.”

Sophia: “Well, that explains the puffiness.”

Dorothy: “I picked up this pamphlet on the four warning signs of hearing loss. I think Ma may be having a problem… Warning sign number one, avoidance of social activities. Number two, people who can't hear act forgetful. Ma forgot about these tickets.”

Blanche: “Oh, that was just an excuse. Sophia's not really getting forgetful.”

Sophia [entering with an empty tray]: “Hot coffee! Coming through!”

Dorothy: “Number three, they act cranky.”

Sophia: “Ah, the hell with you. Get your own coffee.”

Dorothy: “Number four, they usually laugh out of context.”

[Sophia laughs]

Rose: “What are you laughing at?”

Sophia: “I'm sorry. I thought you said, ‘My dog has no nose.’ Well, how does he smell? Awful. Awful!”

Sophia: “Come on, Dorothy, I'm kidding. I read that flyer you brought home. Every time you get a pamphlet, I get that disease. And not just diseases. I thought for a while I was a Jew for Jesus.”

Rose: “Hi, Sophia.”

Sophia: “Shalom.”

Rose: “Why was Charlie with that tramp if he didn't sleep with her?”

Dorothy: “Now, come on. Blanche may be a little loose, but she's not a tramp.”

Blanche: “Okay, here they are. The names of all the men I have dated since my husband died.”

Dorothy: “What do you know? The tramp keeps records.”

Rose: “If you didn't sleep with any of the men in these journals, then how come it says Bed on the cover?”

Blanche: “Oh, that doesn't say Bed.”

Rose: “Right there, it does.”

Blanche: “Oh, silly, those are my initials. Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux.”

Dorothy: “Your initials spell BED??”

Blanche: “Okay, let's see. You said eight years ago, spring? That starts right here. I'm gonna prove to you I am not a sexually indiscriminate person.”

Dorothy: “Or her name isn't BED.”

Rose: “Wait a minute. It says right there you slept with a traveling salesman.”

Dorothy: “Oh, in fairness, it says that on her license plates.”

Blanche: “Rose, you know I said I'm sorry. Can't you put yourself in my position?”

Rose: “Apparently I'm not limber enough.”

[Rose looks at Dorothy for approval]

Dorothy: “THAT was good.”

Dorothy: “It matters because it's a step I don't wanna take. Look, I don't mind being divorced or having to struggle to pay my bills or having to eat my weight in supplements every morning, but I will not do this. I will not become an old person. [grabs shoulder] Ooo, rain's coming.”

Rose: “Charlie was the most important man in my life, but as much as I cared about him, I can't help but care about you too. You're like a sister to me, and I can't throw that away, so, I forgive you for being a moralless, emotionally needy, man-leech with an air bag in her headboard. And I'm sorry I said you were insensitive.”

Dorothy: “Look, here's Blanche in bed with Charlie, but this one's Blanche in bed with a pontoon boat. Here's Blanche in bed with the big orange from the Sunkist building, and here's Blanche in bed with the Country Bear Jamboree. Honey, do you know what this means??”

Rose: “I sure do. My God, you're an animal!”

Dorothy: “Rose, these are double exposures!”

Rose: “Double exposures??”

Dorothy: “Yes, obviously Blanche took pictures with the camera over film that was already in it.”

Blanche: “Well, how strange! And what a great alibi for the future.”

Rose: “But wait a minute. What were you doing taking pictures of yourself in bed?”

Dorothy: “You've seen her Christmas cards.”

Sophia: “Oh, you're beautiful. I told you, to me, you've always had the elegance of a young Lauren Bacall.”

Dorothy: “Oh, thank you, Ma… a young Bacall.”

Sophia “Amazing. Sixty years old and she still falls for that young Bacall bit.”

Dorothy [shouting from the other room]: “I heard that!”

Critique: Welcome to the wild and wacky 7^th season. Arguably one of the most divisive seasons among fans (some think the show got too goofy and jumped the shark, while others prefer the strong wacky, character-driven writing and antics). I do love the seventh season but I admit that the show was obviously much different than it was in its earlier seasons. The show was much more slap-sticky by this point. There certainly weren’t many “important issues” episodes. The writers just wanted to have fun at this point and not make statements. This season opener is a fantastic transition to the show’s final season. “Arrested Development” creator Mitchell Hurwitz, who had joined the show in season 6, is firing on all cylinders in this first episode. He has lots of fun running gags, including the bit with Rose being puffy, great use of the bullhorn prop, and outright clever writing (“Bush, Ma!”). The thing is, this episode, like so many this season, feel like fan service. New viewers can’t really watch these episodes and enjoy them in the same way as someone who’s seen all the previous episodes. But that’s sort of what happens when a sitcom reaches this age: so many of the jokes only work if you’re familiar with the characters (that is especially true with the murder mystery episode coming up next). Having said all that “Hey, Look Me Over,” despite it having inconsistencies (so is Blanche’s middle name Marie or Elizabeth?), is a damn fine episode and offers plenty of really funny moments and endlessly quotable lines (“Or her name isn’t BED!”) GRADE: A-

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