Basket Cases - Recap

The scene opens with Puddle browsing through a book of luxury cars for children, and is enthusiastic about getting Emmy’s permission as Steve has promised to buy her one of those cars. However, Emmy is busy with a discovery she has made about oil spills in Peru. Andy comes on a low-speed video message and complains about Steve’s father, who is responsible for the oil spills. He tells Emmy to ask ‘little pig’ to tell “daddy pig” to fix the problem. Emmy checks out Steve’s dad’s commercial on the oil spill, where he says accidents do happen, spilling a milk glass, but nature has a way of solving them, showing a cat that licks up the milk.

Emmy lectures Steve that he should not be engaging in Yoga cramping when there is oil gushing out of the seas and destroying the environment. She wants him to talk to his father. In fact, she wants him to stand up to him, and tell him that he should care about the environment more than his oil profits. When Emmy asks if he ever stood up to his dad, he tells her about the time when he wanted to date her. She blames him that he was he was fifteen then, and then got bought off because his dad gave him a speedboat. If Steve had the two round things girls do not have, he should stand up to his dad. Steve argues that he cannot stand up to a person he does not see. Migo and Lunt take his side, but Emmy convinces him to talk to his father. Finally, Steve orders Lunt to get his father to their home, but Emmy thinks it will be a futile attempt.

Later, Steve is back to Yoga cramping, but gets the news that his dad is arriving any moment. He panics, but Migo tells him do just what Emmy wants – stand up to his dad and tell him what he thinks. As Steve’s father arrives in a convoy, he musters up the guts to ask the policeman on a motorcycle if his father is mad with him. It turns out that the man on the bike is his dad trying to have some fun. He hugs him as if he could not wait to see his son. Steve feels he has had a breakdown, since he is worried about his image in the press, journalists and environmentalists. Steve offers him tea in the living room, but when he gets it, his dad exclaims that he wasn’t expecting tea for real. He though Steve will get him a drink. Although Steve claims he has been off alcohol and cleaning up his life with Emmy’s help, his dad could not bother less and suggests getting drunk together.

Fa’ad comes looking for Steve for company in Yoga sessions, but Lunt is happy to substitute for Steve. Meanwhile, as Steve gets drunk with his dad and two hookers, Migo stands by their table. When Steve’s dad gets up with the hookers to hit the toilet, Migo insists that Steve should tell him about the environmental issue, especially since he will be gone tomorrow. However, when his dad leaves the bar room, Steve quietly tells Migo that he is only behaving drunk to show off his dad. And, he does not need to tell Emmy about his dad, since she still does not know that he is here.

A while later, when Fa’ad returns from a transvestite bar with Lunt, and reveals to a sober Steve that he is not drunk, but only pretending, Steve’s dad walks in ranting about not being able to find his hookers. Migo comes after him, and insists that Steve should at least talk to his dad when he is in a semi-conscious state. When his dad is muttering to himself on the bed, Steve comes in and starts talking. He starts by saying how Emmy’s concern for him has helped him clean up, and be happier than before. It turns out that even Steve’s dad is not drunk – he was just behaving that way to avoid personal conversation with Steve. However, his dad says that Emmy being an environmentalist could work on his clean up committee. Steve gets furious, calls his dad a ‘heartless monster’ and claims that his dad will not be successful in driving a wedge between Emmy and him, especially as they were beginning to start out together.

Next morning, when Steve tells Emmy about the incident, she is elated, but Steve misses out on telling her that his dad was planning to take him into his team. When is dad is about to leave, Steve’s dad sends for Emmy. She finds out that he wants her to join his clean up team, and gets highly elated. When Steve hears about this, he gets depressed. Later, he finds out that his dad and Emmy are enthusiastically planning commercials about improving the oil company’s image. However, Steve soon feels abandoned as everyone is busy with his father’s commercial program in the house.

Steve finds an unlikely ally – Andy. He reveals the real picture at the Peru coastlines where oil spills are killing animals, destroying food and making everyone drip oil off their bodies after they have taken their dip. No real cleanup is actually taking place. Steve wants to stop the shooting of a false propaganda as quickly as possible, but all the vehicles are away. As a result, he gets to the shooting in Puddle’s new mini Chevrolet just on time, and reveals to Emmy that it is all a false message that she is working behind. Emmy takes it as a revelation, and ditches her boss – Steve’s dad. Back home, Emmy, Steve and Puddle get together at a celebration dinner. Puddle gets off the table first and takes to her new mini luxury Chevrolet. Steve realizes that it was the first time she kissed him goodnight. Emmy remarks it was a day of many firsts, and they are about to kiss each other without any intervention, when a clang holds them back – probably Puddle has driven her toy into something!

Written By David Sibert

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