The Rhapsody of the Flesh - Recap

Justin is cornered in the supply room of Cafe 429 by Kimberly, a server
at the restaurant. She's blond, so she didn't lock the door behind her.
Scotty walks in and right back out again. They are all embarrassed.
Justin says he was in there looking for olives.

Nora arrives at work, unamused. They have a right-wing call-in show, and
she listened to it last night. The host has her infuriated. His whole
show is full of lies, so when she got to work this morning she called
him on it, and he turned out to be just as big a jerk in real life as he
is on the air. Karl tells her not to take it personally, but since the
jerk called her show "Ask Madame Mao", she figures she has a right to
personalize it. She offers Karl some coffee and he refuses, and tells
her to sit down. He then tells her to take a breath. He tells her that
the advertisers for the show in question are for home security and male
potency. That tells him a lot about the man's audience. Nora enjoys
talking to him, he helps her feel better. Karl tells her "that's what
friends are for."

He invites Nora to his home to watch a documentary about Leonard
Bernstein. He has a new big screen TV. She's happy to say yes. She calls
Kevin to touch base. Kevin scoffs because Karl invited her 15 minutes
early. He knows she wants to take this to the next level, but he thinks
this 'date' doesn't even count as a level. This is more like being
trapped in a stalled elevator with someone. She tells him they agreed to
be friends, early on. Kevin says if things don't work out between them,
it will have an adverse affect on their work situation. Nora fears that
he's the man of her dreams, and she's going to miss it.

Kevin tells her to call Sarah. Nora can't, because if this deal goes
through then Sarah will be both Karl and Nora's boss. Anyway, he has to
go. Saul's at a wine convention in Napa, so Scotty's a little stressed
and Justin is going to be pulling double-duty bartending. She tells
Kevin to pretend he has people skills and cuts the call short.

Justin introduces Angie to Kevin. Her hands were cold because they just
did some time getting beer in the walk-in freezer. Kevin understands.
After all, you don't want to startle the beer by moving it too fast.

Luc is working on some art. Sarah noticed several skipped calls from his
mother, so she wants to know what's going on. Luc says Gabriella wants
to come for a visit. He told her now is not a good time for that. He and
his mother are estranged, and he'd like to keep it that way. Sarah
leaves to take a call from Nora, who is wondering if Sarah heard the
show that morning. She felt she did an awesome job taking a call from a
guy who doesn't get along with his mother. Sarah will listen to the show
herself when she goes in to sign some papers. While she's there, Nora
wonders if she can check on their corporate policy re: work
relationships. Sarah ends the call to open the door for the notary. When
she does so, she finds Luc's mother. She wants Sarah to call her momma,
and they exchange two big hugs.

Luc and his mother are fighting in french. She couldn't help herself, so
she had to come. She's going to a hotel, but Sarah invites her to stay
in her daughter's room while the kids are on visitation. Luc adamantly
refuses, and Sarah agrees to take Gabriella to the hotel. First, she
wants to take Gabriella to meet Nora.

Scotty and Kevin are dealing with a huge rush at the restaurant. Kevin
has no idea what Scotty is saying, but he finds it to be a huge turn-on.
Apparently it runs in the family; Justin has the same reaction. Scotty
and Kevin realize that Justin is juggling Angie and Kimberly (who, it
turns out, has a gun collection). Angie is Scotty's sous chef, so Kevin
should tell her she is needed in the kitchen ASAP.

Nora and Gabriella are bonding a bit. Luc's mom is from Portugal, and
Nora has always wanted to go there. Gabriella is from Paris, but she's
never forgotten her home. She wants to repair her relationship with Luc,
but he just keeps pushing her away. Nora gets it, since she gets the
same treatment from Tommy. She thinks maybe if Luc gets a big nudge from
Sarah and Nora, Gabriella and Luc will be able to work this out.
Gabriella tells Nora she's staying at a hotel, so Nora invites her to
stay at her home.

Gabriella notices Karl through the glass and interrupts Nora to ask her
who that adorable man is. When Nora tells her that Karl is who she's
seeing this evening, Gabriella leaps to the conclusion that they are
lovers. She tells Nora that she cannot let the handsome doctor get away.
And don't be silly. women are friends with women, men are friends with
men. Nora tells her that they work together, and mixing business with
pleasure is frowned upon. Luc's mom figures "Only in America!" Nora
shares that when you reach a certain age, it becomes that much more
difficult to stick your wrinkly old neck out there and risk rejection.
Gabriella says it's that fear which tells her that that is exactly what
she should do! Now she wants advice from Nora, who has five children.
How can she get her son back? Nora tells her they will get nowhere until
they can spend some time together and talk. The solution is to invite
Luc and Sarah over for dinner. They can talk on neutral territory, then
she'll slip away for her assignation with Karl. Nora asks what Luc's
favorite dish is, and Gabriella tells her Moroccan food.

Jennifer called twice on the reservation line for Justin. He doesn't
even know which Jennifer it might be. Kevin tries to have a talk with
him, but Justin doesn't know what's happening. He's not even hitting on
these women. It's like he's been cast in a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Or
he's exuding a musk, the army may have altered him. He doesn't know what
happened, but he's loving it. "Captain Happy", according to Justin, is
finally remembering what it's like to be single. Kevin says something
flip about straight men naming, but Justin, thanks to Tommy, knows that
Kevin named his Little Big Man. Kevin says the bottom line is that
Scotty is freaking out. He's afraid some sort of chick fight is going to
erupt, thanks to Justin's free love initiative. Kevin says no worries;
the girls are on separate shifts. By the way: What did Tommy name his?
Justin supplies "The Magnificent Seven" to which Kevin responds "Yeah
right; he wishes."

Nora is on the phone with Sarah, filling her in on the dinner plans. She
asks Sarah what Luc's issue with Gabriella is. Sarah says nothing
specific. She's self-centered, she's overly dramatic; it's nothing we
haven't all been through. Nora pauses and says excuse me? Sarah says
that's not what she meant. Nora tells her about an article Dr. Karl
wrote about how men marry their mothers. Quite fascinating, actually.
Sarah would like to see it. When she fills Luc in on the conversation,
he says he doesn't even like Moroccan food. His mom does. She doesn't
even cook! If he is done with all his work, he will go.

Nora gets home, and Gabriella has done nothing to start dinner. However,
she has decorated the living room romantically. Dr. Karl called while
Nora was gone. His cable is out, so Gabriella invited him to join them.
Nora panics. You can't mix Leonard Bernstein and the queen of the
gypsies! Gabriella tells her to call and cancel if she's that upset.
Nora can't, as that would be rude. It would also be stupid, since Nora
loves him. Gabriella walks out, leaving Nora speechless.

Dinner won't be ready until almost 10:00, and they don't have much in
the way of appetizers to tide people over. Gabriella can't find any
candles, and Nora suggests she look in the pantry. In the pantry,
Gabriella finds some absinthe and volunteers to make her famous absinthe
tea. Does Nora know what makes it so special? There's no tea in it!

The doorbell rings, and it's Karl. Gabriella told him to arrive at 7:00!
Nora is nowhere near ready, and she's quite embarrassed. He is
introduced to Gabriella and he's twitterpated. He knows her movie, "The
Rhapsody of the Flesh". Nora is unhappy about how much attention he is
lavishing on Gabriella.

They're sitting on the floor having their absinthe drinks when Karl says
that 100 years ago, people thought absinthe could drive a person mad.
Gabriella says they shouldn't worry about her. She thinks everybody
should go a little crazy now and then. Sarah arrives without Luc, and
Gabriella is very hurt. Karl and Sarah try to calm her down.

Kevin called Kimberly and Angie and told them to stay away from Justin,
because he's sick. Kevin lost four dinners because a table of women
decided they'd rather eat peanuts at the bar. Justin has no clue what is
going on, but he's loving it. Angie sees what's going on with Kimberly
and the light dawns. Scotty kicks Justin out by the back door, and puts
Kevin on bar duty. As the men head in opposite directions, Kevin yells
"Way to go, Captain Happy!"

Karl gets Gabriella back on track while Nora slaves away in the kitchen.
She shows Sarah the couscous (which remains in the pan, despite being
turned at a 90° angle) as proof that Gabriella is no cook. Sarah says
she thinks Dr. Karl has a crush on Gabriella. Nora says just her luck.
She finally finds a guy she could actually see herself with, and the
"rhapsody of the flesh" shows up. Sarah is happy to hear Nora has taken
an interest, and thinks that she should get back out there and stake her
claim. She can't because she's making this dinner. Sarah takes over on
the basting and shoos Nora out to the guests. She might want to hurry
up, since they appear to have burst into song out there. When Nora
arrives, she finds Karl sitting on the floor and Gabriella dancing on
the table above him, barefoot. Gabriella sees her and announces she's
feeling ever so much better. She wants Nora to join her on the table.
Nora says thanks, but it's time for her to watch the documentary with
Karl. He takes a rain check on the show, so they can continue with the
party. Nora says she's happy to hear it. She was hoping he'd say that!
as she tosses the remote off into a corner. Karl says he'll dance with
her, but Nora excuses herself to check the lamb.

She's feeling very sorry for herself when she arrives in the kitchen.
She's not sexy, or European, or anything that Gabriella is. She figures
she'll stay in here and hope that Karl notices her for her cooking.
Sarah says she'll lure Gabriella away from Dr. Karl and then Nora can go
in there and make her move. Nora cries that she has no move!! Sarah
advises her to buck up.

Gabriella tells Dr. Karl what Nora said about not mixing business with
pleasure, and you can only be friends with a man that you work with.
Isn't that crazy? Karl finds it interesting. Sarah asks Gabriella to mix
up some more absinthe tea but oh look, they still have a full pitcher.
She runs into Justin who figured Nora would be asleep when he came to
pick up her phone charger. Instead, she's in the kitchen, half-sloshed
and looking like someone died. And WHO is that woman doing the dance of
the seven veils on the coffee table!? Sarah asks for his help. She just
wants Justin to go in there and get "her" away from "him". She'll
explain more later. Just distract her. She hits the kitchen where Nora
is mourning over the lamb, and tells her to tell Karl how she feels.
Sure, Nora can do that; she feels like an idiot. The doorbell rings, and
Sarah goes to answer it.

Karl apologizes to Nora. She's been in the kitchen slaving away, while
they're out there kicking up their heels. She figures he was just doing
his job, helping the damsel in distress. So now he's going to help her,
so he puts on an apron. He turns around so she can tie him in, and she
rests her cheek on his back and smiles. She goes to kiss him, and he
pulls away, but only because he didn't see it coming, because he thought
the 'being friends' bit was her idea. She's humiliated and runs from the
room.

Justin and Gabriella are dancing together on the table and they kiss
right when Luc walks in. He promptly tells his mother what he has
against her. He agreed to come here to honor Nora and Sarah's wishes.
She could not give him a real family when he was growing up. And now
that he has one, she comes here and tears it apart. Gabriella tells him
she wanted to be a part of his family as well, but he talks over her.
She has no idea how to be part of a family, or part of anything, really,
that's not completely about her. He doesn't want her in this family! He
leaves, Sarah follows, and Gabriella bursts into tears.

Justin leaves a message on Nora's voice mail. He stuck everybody's keys
in the breakfast nook, because he didn't want them driving. He hopes
she's okay, and he loves her. Scotty catches the tail-end and tells
Justin that Kevin told him what happened. He asks if Justin is okay and
he says yes. He was so relieved to feel like himself again, and be free,
that he didn't stop to think how it might affect other people. People
such as Scotty. Scotty thanks him and says not to be a hypcritical boss,
but he's officially putting a moratorium on workplace hookups. Justin
endorses that 100% and says he will come clean with Angie and Kimberly.
Scotty wonders if Justin is aware of Kimberly's gun collection.

Nora brings a mug of coffee to Dr. Karl, and gives him back his keys. He
wants to talk about what happened last night, but she just wants to
apologize and move on. He asks her to please sit down and listen. He
tells her that he was under the obviously mistaken impression that she
was committed to their relationship being platonic. So when she tried to
kiss him, he was surprised, but when he stopped being surprised, she was
already gone. He was hoping that Leonard Bernstein would give him the
courage to kiss her. So why was he all over Gabriella? He responds that
she's a classic narcissist. They're the life of the party, but they are
also incurable. Working together does complicate things. And she doesn't
want to lose their friendship, regardless of what happens between them.
He says he will always be her friend.

Luc gets home and finds Sarah in bed. He wanted to apologize when he got
home, but it was too late. She's sorry she got in their relationship. He
says that now Sarah understands but she doesn't. He needs to tell her,
what happened that made him so angry at his mother. She asks him about
the film, and he didn't even know about it; that was just another
'something' that was more important to her than he was. When he was six
years old, she left his father for another man, leaving Luc behind. The
other man threw her out, and she returned home. Until the next man. And
the next. She broke Luc's father's heart over and over again. Sarah
tells him he needs to start from here. He's right. Gabriella will never
be the mother she should have been. Luc needs to decide if he can accept
the mother he got.

Gabriella is packed, and Nora tries to prevent her departure. She's not
angry. Gabriella says she did not know Justin was her son. Nora says her
son is an adult and besides, it was all just a huge misunderstanding.
Last night, Nora and Gabriella were both fearing rejection, so they
slipped back into their comfort zones. Gabriella danced, and Nora
cooked. She thinks Luc is like all the men in her life. They love her at
first, but then they get tired of her and send her away. Nora wonders
why that is, but Gabriella knows. They see through her. Nora tells her
she's not supposed to try to dazzle Luc. She is just supposed to be
herself, and hope for the best. Gabriella thinks it's too late.

Justin apologizes to Kevin. Kevin says he has a lot of people to
apologize to first, but Justin already hit them all. Kevin says he was a
little hard on Justin, since he's still a little sensitive about Scotty
and the waiter. When Justin asks how they're doing, Kevin says okay.
Good days, bad days; they're getting there.

Sarah and Luc return to Nora's, and he officially meets Karl. They start
talking in the kitchen, loudly, and soon things are flying and crashing.
Sarah asks Karl about the "men marry their mothers" thing. He says Luc
chose wisely. He found a woman who has all of his mother's best traits,
who can also give him the family he's always wanted. When they notice
things have gone quiet in the other room, Sarah hopes it's not because
they are unconscious. Nora comes flying out to aim Sarah at the kitchen.
She peeks in the kitchen, and Luc is cradling his mom while she cries.

Karl and Nora watch Gabriella's movie.

Kevin and Scotty cuddle while they do the same.

Luck holds his mom while they sit next to Sarah, and they watch it too.

Karl kisses Nora.


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