0106  -  "Whose Room Is It Anyway?"


"I love you, Steve."  (Marcy)
"I love you, Marcy."  (Steve)
"I hate them, Peg."  (Al)
"They hate you, Al."  (Peg)


One noticeable thing about the first season of MWC is that, without such a 
heavy weight of past continuity on their shoulders, the writers have had a 
little more freedom and manage to produce more character development. Now 
Steve is regularly coming round to the Bundy household, accepting cans of
beer from Al without qualms, and so on. He actively listens to Al rather
than resisting the "wisdom" until the last moment. Things are obviously
developing; Steve is turning into a slightly more intelligent and self-
sufficient version of Jefferson. Marcy and Peg, too, are associating more 
often (though still in the kitchen, rather than anywhere else) and in more
social contexts, like at the gym. It's still odd to see Peg smoking though.


"It's going to be a sitting room. Somewhere where we can escape the
pressures of the living room."  (Marcy)


As in the pilot episode, the comedy is based around Al and Peg corrupting
Steve and Marcy respectively and mutating their marriage into, er, something
else. It is a little more successful, partly due to the characters now being
better-developed and partly due to the actors being more comfortable with
their roles. It's also the first anti-French episode (hurrah!) and also the
first episode to properly draw the conflict along sexual lines. The 'boat in
the basement' is a little odd, but it does serve one important (I think)
purpose. It's the first hint of one of Al's dreams - impractical, unreasonable,
and unlikely ever to be fulfilled. Like the four touchdowns.


"Vive la France!"  (Steve)


In summary, this is an enjoyable episode which shows that the series has
managed quite a rapid improvement since the pilot. Although neither Bud nor
Kelly are used to any great degree at all, the four adult characters are
well-defined and things are moving with a genuine smoothness. Well worth 
watching.


Rating: 8/10