Cougar Town – Where are Travis and Laurie going?

Cougar Town‘s hurricane signals a possible shakeup in Travis and Laure’s relationship, but where exactly are the writers going with this? Travis seems to have been crushing on Laurie forever, and past episodes have established that she is not unaware of this. So why does she flirt with him and rely on him so much in the crisis with Wade? It almost seems cruel, but maybe she assumes it’s clear that she has put him in the Friend Zone.

I don’t know how much longer the show will tease the possibility of these two. Maybe it’s just a way to show Travis growing up into someone selfless … unlike his mom, who, at first, makes it all about her, as usual, wondering how Travis and Laurie hooking up would affect her. Bobby makes her see that it’s best to put their son’s  happiness first, showing how much he has grown since the first season. Maybe this all IS about Jules, and it is time for her to grow up a bit, too.

In the meantime, the hurricane also provides a fun excuse to drink lots of wine and play games — which includes a cameo from our beloved Penny Can, and the debut of Butt Ball! Even though this episode was more emotional then straight-out funny, the sight of Ellie and Jules sucking wine out  of the corks kept things from getting too serious. The wine shortage was treated almost as seriously as the Travis/Laurie thing. Which is good, because I need some silliness with my weekly dose of Cougar Town.

Notes and Quotes:

• So is baby mama Holly an official part of the gang after last week? It wasn’t too subtle that she was inside with everyone while Tom was outside in the hurricane. She is smart enough to note that “Once anyone in our pack of friends hooks up with a dude, he is pack property.” She is not as dumb as she seems, since this happened before with Grayson and Jules. It’s all kind of incestuous now isn’t it? Watch out, Game of Thrones!
• I am surprised the show took this long to reveal that Grayson quotes “Closing Time” at the end of each night at the bar. He is just the kind of doofus who would find that reference to still  be cool. His c-plot with Ellie trying to help him act more his age (and more curmudgeonly, like her) added a nice grace note to the episode.
• Bobby, on Travis’ crush on Laurie: ” I can tell from the way you stare at her breasts. Different from the way you stare at other breasts. More respectful.”
• Andy: “Dear god, we’re out of wine.”
  Jules: “For the first time in this storm, I’m scared.”
• Did the three girls stumbling into the bar in wet dresses seem like the start of a porn movie to anyone else?
• This week’s title card gag: “I didn’t know it was back on either.” -Abed

Clacked by Christina Furtado
on May 09, 2012 @ 08:40 EST5EDT