Quick Take: Suburgatory, “Driving Miss Dalia”
“Zambia, is that, like, an antidepressant? Is that the one that gives you diarrhea?” – Dalia
Review: Suburgatory, “Driving Miss Dalia”
(S0110) Suburgatory returns from its winter break with a saucy little episode that finally puts the conflicts between Tessa and ditzy Dalia on the front burner again by adding a man to the mix. In the opening minutes of the episode, Tessa handily passes her driver’s test while six-time failure Dalia watches in disdain from the DMV waiting room. The seventh time isn’t the charm for Dalia, but she has no compunction about tracking down Tessa at school and offering her some excessive greenbacks to chauffer her to mysterious location.
Tessa knows better but she can’t help but be curious about where Dalia wants to go so badly. As it turns out, Dalia’s got a secret crush on local hottie, Scott Strauss, and she wants Tessa to drive-by stalk his abode. The whole contrivance sets up some excellent exchanges between two girls who have so far resisted the constant urging of their parents to bond. Yet the weird stalking allows them to actually do just that, in a hilarious way, that climaxes with Tessa accidentally bumper-bopping into Scott’s car.
Scott gets an eyeful of Tessa as they inspect their uninjured cars and he likes what he sees so he’s ready to exchange contact information. Tessa wants no part of any guy Dalia finds worthy and she lets her backseat driver facilitate the next move. Later Tessa is shocked to find out from Lisa that Scott isn’t a vapid boy toy at all, but a rather soulful spirit who supports charities and overseas missions.
Intrigued by Tessa, Scott agrees to go on a date with Dahlia but confesses to her auburn chauffer later that it was only to spend some quality time with her. Obviously Tessa’s a bit smitten as they meet again for some innocent chat time, but she decides to fess up to Dahlia so she can hopefully spare the blonde a broken heart. However that plan backfires mightily when Dahlia takes the admission as not only a betrayal, but an act of war – beyotch.
Elsewhere in Chatswin, George is at the Country Club splurging and networking on Noah’s guest pass until it expires. Disappointed about having to give up the good life, George ponders actually joining the Club but he needs a member’s sponsorship to be considered. It doesn’t take long for George to figure out that Noah doesn’t have any intention of turning in the recommendation paperwork which climaxes with the two angrily wrestling in the sauna (with Alan Tudyk’s naked man bits hilariously blocked). It’s strange and kind of out of nowhere but the absurdity works just from the comedic level. Why they men had to take it there, well, that’s not as clear but it seems to go back to their old college rivalry.
Noah feels guilty and ends up adding George and Tessa to his family account so the Altman’s can move on up in Chatswin’s small social circle and plant some more roots in the suburban landscape. It’s a smart avenue for the show to go as it gives the father/daughter combo some new environments to explore that will hopefully open the town up to them even more and introduce some new characters and conflicts which the show definitely needs. Matter of fact, this episode feels like a good turning point with the Altman’s now settling into their new town, still with baby steps and snark, but moving forward instead of restlessly pining for their old NYC life. It also opens the door to more Tessa and Dalia confrontations (a huge plus) and a romantic triangle to give the cast a chance to play with their chemistry.
