Rules of Engagement – Brenda lives!

Obviously I didn’t imagine that anything had happened to Brenda (Sara Rue), but you weren’t alone if you were thinking that maybe Jeff and Audrey weren’t going to be getting a baby after all. Sure they were talking baby-related things when last we saw them, but their surrogate hasn’t been around in quite some time. And one would think that they’d want to at least be checking in with how the pregnancy’s been going.

Well, anyway, Brenda returned to Rules of Engagement last night, to entice Jeff to lie to Audrey and eat foods that he shouldn’t be eating. So, it was dumb enough to have brought her back for that reason (classy of Audrey to be the one to make fun of how much Brenda was eating at the diner). But to take such a silly story so far as to mirror it with a real affair? Come on! Even Jeff opting for saying that the red mark on his collar was lipstick instead of barbeque sauce didn’t sit well with me. His story just rubbed me the wrong way.

But it did win the contest of the plots last night. I mean, what else was there, really? Adam, given a bedtime by Jen because she was waking up early in the morning to exercise, ended up sleeping on the floor in the closet because he’d stayed up late watching porn. Ha ha?

Still, he did better than Timmy and Russell. Timmy got to miss the abusive Russell, who was off trying to be happening and ironic with some moron intern at the office. I honestly saw that story going in an entirely different direction when Timmy introduced the intern; I thought maybe Timmy had hired him to do Timmy’s real work because Russell keeps Timmy so busy with ridiculous nonsense like going to clubs with him, waiting on line for new phones, and retrieving things from one-night stands’ apartments. And did they seriously not mention Russell’s ex-wife Liz even once? What?

Alright, so a super weak episode. Whatever. It’s over. Here’s what I want to know: considering the fact that Brenda clearly is still around, and Jeff and Audrey will presumably be having a baby sometime soon, what then? Is the baby going to become part of the cast? Is the assumption that the show’s coming to an end sometime soon? I mean, I can’t imagine their baby going the way of Jim and Pam’s daughter CeCe on The Office. We’re too in Audrey and Jeff’s personal life for the baby to be spoken of but not seen or heard. But can they remain who they are while toting a baby around? I don’t think even Jeff could manage that.

Then again, Jeff wearing a baby carrier and changing diapers? Could be a whole new side of him to mine for jokes. What do you think?

“You heard what the doctor said about your cholesterol.” – Audrey
“He was impressed.” – Jeff
“That you’re alive.” – Audrey

“Audrey got to you, didn’t she?” – Jeff, after Doreen doesn’t bring him his hamburger
“Yep.” – Doreen the waitress
“Damn it; how’d she do that?” – Jeff
“You wouldn’t understand .. she tips.” – Doreen
“Well I’m not gonna be starting now.” – Jeff

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 09, 2011 @ 14:30 EST5EDT