0509  -  "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy"


"According to my book Keep Him Down, Keep Him Down, Keep Him Down - A
Woman's Guide to Happiness..." (Marcy)

The ultimate in dealing with the issue of Al's self-confidence, this
episode slowly brings the series towards normal grounds after some
wildly surreal instalments. From the beginning when Al steps into the
living-room on his day off, through to the scene in the shoe-store when
he is suave, smooth and confident, this episode expresses what we have
known for some time; that the only thing holding Al back is Al himself.
Once he tries, pushed into it by a few women expressing admiration, he
experiences amazing success and the family can only gawp. As with The
Razor's Edge two years ago, Peg finds this insufferable and does her
best to hold him back, only to find she can't. So why does Al revert to
his messy self? It's a difficult one to pinpoint.

"Well, this beautiful woman came into the shoe store & asked me to go to
the Greek Islands with her." (Al)
"Did you go, Daddy?" (Kelly)

Probably the worst scene in this episode is the one with Bud and Kelly
at the door-bell. It's so obviously a filler scene, put in to make up
the timing, that it becomes an irritation which only gets in the way of
the interesting main plot. David Faustino in particular doesn't look too
comfortable with what he's doing or saying, being content to stand in
the background and do nothing more than say his lines, leaving Christina
Applegate to rather overdo the dumb-Kelly routine. When she explains
that it's all attitude, using Bud as a crushing example, he just sits
there and lets her say everything - not too convincing, methinks.
However, it's not very interesting to concentrate on what is, after all,
a minor part of the episode.

"Well, they said you had the arms of a blacksmith and the legs of a
god." (Kelly)
"Did they say anything about my butt? I was bending down an awful lot
out there, did they notice, did they, did they?" (Al)
"They liked it, Daddy."
"YES!!!!"

And so to the romantic part of this episode. As with so many other MWC
stories that push the issue to breaking point, we finally realise that
Al and Peg have been together so long that they genuinely can't imagine
life without one another ever happening. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy pulls this
off rather more subtly than some stories, with a heartfelt comment from
Peg that she really doesn't know what she'll do if Al leaves, and Al's
own bewilderment about refusing the offer. Eventually he makes a speech
which the audience applauds because they too recognise the truth; Al is
settled for life and can be whatever he likes within that, because it's
all attitude. Kelly was right after all. It's rare you can say that!

Rating : 7.