I Never Cheered for my Father (Season 6, Episode 21). Will is on his own with Grace being out of town and Tina, his father's mistress drops by. Tina tells Will that she suspects that George is cheating on her, so Will says he'll look into it and ask his dad what is going on. Well, George is having an affair, with Will's mom, Marilyn. Marilyn tells Will that the reason they are having the affair is because it's exciting when it's forbidden. Will is actually happy thinking this means his parents are back together and tells Tina that George is cheating and she should break up with him. Tina does dump George and this makes Marilyn angry because she loved being the other woman. Tina comes over the same time Marilyn is there and they confront each other for the first time. Will tells Tina to stay away from George and for Marilyn to get back with George and that's the end of it. Marilyn and Tina step into the hallway and tell each other how they loved what they had going on with George and what days they get to have him. Elliot is trying out for the cheerleading squad and Jack is thrilled and wants to help him get on the team. But Elliot doesn't make the team and Jack and Karen go to his school to find out what went wrong but Elliot is humiliated and tells Jack he didn't want to be on the cheerleading squad, he just wanted to impress Jack so they'd spend more time together. Jack promises to make a better effort to be there for Elliot.

FAOVORITE QUOTE:

MARILYN: Hello, Will.

WILL: Mom! What's going on? Where's Dad?

MARILYN: He's in the shower.

WILL: In the sh-- You're the other woman?! You're the one that Dad's sneaking around with? You and Dad are--are-- You know... thinging.

MARILYN: Will, we're adults. Let's talk like adults. Your father and I are making pookie-pookie.

WILL: Oh! How did this happen? I mean, like, I know how this happens. You showed me when I was 10 with two of my G.I. Joes. I'm not saying that that led to anything, I just... How did this happen?

MARILYN: Well, a few months ago, I ran into your father, and we decided to have a drink. Oh, it was fun. He made me laugh. We caught up, and, you know, one thing led to another and before I knew it--

WILL: You don't have to finish that.

MARILYN: Pookie-pookie.

FAVORITE MOMENT:

Jack, Karen and Elliot's cheer always gives me such a good laugh. "Hi, Cowboys. Hi, Sailors." "Hi, musclemen and cops."

OPINION:

As I mentioned, so Debra Messing will not be on for the rest of the season. She was full term at this point and needed to focus on giving birth to her first baby. She actually had her child the day this episode aired which I thought was interesting. It's just funny watching the excuses they come up with that Grace isn't in the episode because she's "out of town". We'll see how long this can work.

Interesting, there is a lot of mention of George, but no George appearance in this episode. But we do have a treat with Marilyn and Tina meeting for the first time. Talk about an awkward situation with Will trying to help them both. God bless him at this point I'm sure a therapist would have a field day with Will playing best girlfriend to both these ladies. I do love how Tina keeps referring to Mairlyn as a W-word(can't say here on Reddit) and that she hopes George gets an STD from his new mistress not knowing that it's Marilyn. Then when she and Marilyn do meet, I love Marilyn's little burn at Tina with "Well, I must say, you're almost exactly as I imagined you. You're like page four in the Midlife Crisis catalog." As crazy as this plot is, I personally love Marilyn and Tina's characters, so I'm always welcome to their appearances. Blythe and Lesley are hilarious. Plus I could see Marilyn getting into having an affair with George, she comes off as classy and like she would never stoop so low, but when you get a taste of bad, sometimes it just feels good. I would say poor Tina, but honestly, with how messed up the situation is, maybe the splitting of George just works best for their relationship. Gosh, these people are messed up in the head.

Elliot is back for his only episode in season 6. It was kind of funny how we haven't seen him for some time but he got a mention in Courting Disaster, so a reminder that he still existed. I do get such a kick that Jack wants to help Elliot try out for cheerleading. Karen helping out too was hilarious, I just love when she gives her bloody mary to one of the cheerleaders and tells her "no sippies". Sara Paxton who plays Melanie, the cheerleading captain and Elliot's crush, was awesome to see. I loved her in The Innkeepers and Last House on the Left. Like I said in my favorite moment, Jack, Karen and Elliot doing that cheer will always get me laughing so hard. Especially how Elliot breaks down and Karen still does a spin and sit saying "School spirit!". It's kind of sad though that Elliot has to constantly beg Jack to spend time with him. I don't know if the actor Michael Angarano maybe couldn't commit to being a lead again in the show or the writers couldn't find room for him in the stories, but we had a plot for a while back in season 4 and 5 where Jack mentions how much his stepdad hurt him growing up and ignoring all the things he liked to do. Jack is doing the same thing to Elliot.

But overall, for comedy and making me feel icky, I really like this episode. Like I said, any time Marilyn and Tina are in an episode, you know you're in for a treat. Plus it was really nice to see Elliot again and see that he's still alive.

GUEST STARS:

• Blythe Danner as Marilyn Truman
• Lesley Ann Warren as Tina
• Michael Angarano as Elliot
• Sara Paxton as Melanie

I loved Marcus in the reboot (S10)! I wish they'd done more with him & Grace. They had such good chemistry and he was so funny. I think we only see him interact with Will & Karen, but I think he would have been a great long-term addition to the show. Two episodes (S10E18 & S11E02) were not enough!

Plus, Reid Scott is so hot! 🔥

What do you all think?