“The Goode Family” Recap: A Tale Of Two Lesbians

By Stacey Harrison

goode-family_lesbians_1Through a handful of episodes, The Goode Family has already shown us some insufferable characters — the pretentious young filmmaker who champions anarchy while stocking shelves at a grocery store; the animal-rights activists whose methods include bullying and intimidation; the nosy gadfly who schemes her way into the good graces of the local liberal elite — but it may have found a new low with Jen and Sookie, the ultra-chic Manhattan lesbian couple who take up residence in Greenville.

You learn everything you need to know about them by the jar of water on their mantle. It’s from Hurricane Katrina, which is supposed to show how in touch they are with the suffering of humanity. That they can appreciate such a simple statement is good enough for them, in lieu of actually doing anything to help anybody. They surround themselves with like-minded snobs who throw parties, host game nights and treat an opening on the local arts council like it’s the Holy Grail. Needless to say, Helen loves them. Becoming their friends, and thus being a part of the hip arts scene quickly turns into her life focus, so much so that she fails to take the bait when Bliss brings home a beer-swilling, mullet-wearing buffoon who likes to go dynamite fishing in order to tick her off.

After sidling their way into a game night invitation, Helen and a not-so-enthusiastic Gerald trade their everyday clothes for some requisite d-bag attire and begin to hobnob with the snobs. They’re doing quite well until it’s their turn at Charades, when Helen — trying to signify The Color Purple — points at one of their hosts’ outfits, causing Gerald to blurt out “lesbian”! After the party, they go into damage-control mode, immediately trying to seek out a new lesbian couple to befriend and be seen with, in order to stifle growing talks of Gerald’s homophobia. Their ears perk up when Bliss mentions her new god-awful boyfriend has two lesbian mothers. But Mo and Trish are not the hip, sophisticated same-sex couples so often seen in sitcoms. They look like truckers, celebrate Lucy Lawless’ birthday, and indulge in frequent PDAs. Still, for the greater good, Helen and Gerald invite the couple to a hip eatery so they can make their own public display of being lesbian-friendly. The too-cool crowd barely seems to notice, and in fact seem to look down on Mo and Trish, lesbians or not.

Throughout a couple more self-serving encounters, Helen and Gerald find themselves actually starting to care about Mo and Trish, and even accept an invitation to hang out the following Friday. That all goes out the window, though, when they bump into Jen and Sookie — along with the always meddlesome Margo — at the grocery store and are invited to game night once again. Helen impulsively offers to host the get-together, while Gerald’s protest that they already made plans with Mo and Trish are cut off. Helen loses her nerve to tell Mo and Trish the truth, and instead tells them that Gerald is having a cyst removed from his lung that night.

Game night is again going well — Helen is even being mentioned for a coveted seat on the arts council — until Mo and Trish show up unannounced. Helen explains that Gerald’s cyst fell off on its own, and all the people at the house are just a few friends who stopped by to wish him well. It isn’t long before Jen, Sookie and the gang are making fun of the new guests, insulting their wardrobe, upbringing and intelligence. Helen’s first attempt to help her friends is to send them away, but then she finds some backbone and actually stands up for them. Her pronouncement that Jen and Sookie really aren’t all that “cool” draws gasps from the hipster crowd, who make a few more snide comments on their way out.

I would have liked to have seen more of a payoff with Helen laying into Jen and Sookie, but I suppose if she went too far it might be difficult to believe she’d fall so hard for whatever hip crowd she’ll be into next episode. It’s a tricky rhythm to keep up with here, with each week consisting of the main characters starting off as hopeless lemmings before finally seeing the light, but so far so good. And hopefully Mo and Trish will show up now and again to continue beating Gerald at arm wrestling.

Funniest bit: Helen’s dad, who sticks around game night because he was promised “hot lesbian Twister.”

Photo: © 2009 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.