'Life Unexpected': Here comes the bride

You know what makes a breakup even more awkward? Having to work with the other person after the relationship has ended. That's the awkward situation Cate (Shiri Appleby) and Ryan (Kerr Smith) find themselves in during their morning radio show. Their banter is now filled with thinly veiled attacks at each other involving a “give up” vs. “move on” sweatpants debate. The two have to put on a happy face and pretend because, as Alice (Erin Karpluk) explains, the show can't keep changing to match Cate's latest crisis. Maybe the gimmick of the show shouldn't hinge on Cate and Ryan's relationship status? Someone at the station didn't plan ahead and poor Alice, who's dubbed herself the janitor, has to clean up the mess every time. So Cate and Ryan are essentially back to lying about their relationship status at a bridal expo that the radio station committed them to a while ago. The event happens to tie in with the launch of the morning show's new marketing campaign, which features a cartoon-y, wedding cake topper-like image of Cate and Ryan.

First though upon seeing the bridal expo: That's a lot of ugly wedding dresses. I thought the bridesmaids were the ones who were so supposed to look bad, not the bride. And what was with the boa that Alice told Cate to wear later on? Naturally, being at the bridal expo forces Cate and Ryan to reminisce about his proposal and her proposal to him. There's even a moment between the two when Ryan sees Cate in a wedding dress and says she looks just as he imagined she would on their wedding day. Cate asks him if they could just pretend between the two of them like nothing happened like they do with their listeners. But Alice walks in, interrupting the moment and she comes bearing bad news for Cate.

Baze (Kristoffer Polaha) still feels like Ryan is encroaching on his dad turf by texting Lux (Brittany Robertson) about boys and new cars, so he decides to confront Ryan at the bridal expo. You think he would have learned his lesson about crashing a radio station event last week. That way only leads to pain. Baze and Ryan get into an an argument during a game of Nearly Wed on stage, which turned into a twisted truth session. Math (Austin Basis), who tagged along with Baze, also participates in the game, showing off his more stalkerish side from high school. But it's Baze and Ryan who make a scene, with Ryan declaring that Baze is his relationship deal breaker in front of the entire audience. Things only get worse backstage, where Baze tells Ryan to stop blaming him. The only thing he did wrong was listen to Cate and agree to keep her secret. And with that, Ryan turns on Cate, saying she just likes to pretend. If she slept with Baze and doesn't even know why she did something like that and risked ruining their relationship, then she's more screwed up than Ryan thought. He then tells her to go fix herself, which almost sounds like a kinder version of another phrase.

Meanwhile, Lux is moping around Baze's place. He thought it would be fun to have her live with him, but “she's so depressing.” Having a teenager isn't all a barrel of fun, Baze. Math points out that Lux has no friends in Portland anymore, but lucky for her, Jones' (Austin Butler) car has broken down right in front of her place. Baze offers to fix Jones' car if he'll take her out and cheer her up. I'm with Ryan on this. Arranging your daughter's dates is not a good idea. Much to Lux's surprise, after picking her up at the ungodly hour of 9 a.m., Jones takes her to Tasha's (Ksenia Solo) new foster home three hours away. It was a really sweet gesture that warmed my heart. Too bad it was Baze's idea. Jones, foolish boy, fesses up to the fact that the date was set up by Baze. It really did seem like he had good intentions by being forthright with Lux, but there was no scenario where she wasn't going to be angry.

Leave it to Saint Ryan to fix this whole mess. He comes by Baze's bar to apologize for overstepping, but he didn't want to be another person in Lux's life who'd let her down. I find it incredibly sweet and wonderful of him to stay involved in her life even though he and Cate are over. It even seems like he's more involved than Cate at this point. The two didn't even share a single text message or a phone call during the episode. I guess joint custody means you can ignore one parent entirely if you want to. Ryan agrees to step off Baze's dad turf if he'll stop coming to radio events. This sounds like a good deal to me! Baze is becoming like the “Where's Waldo?” of the morning show. After he and Baze patch things up, Ryan heads upstairs to work his magic on Lux, who's angry at Baze and Jones now too. He points out that she's got three guys who really care about her and want to make her happy, so maybe what Baze and Jones did is not such a bad thing. She needs to cut people some slack if she wants them to stick around long enough to get to know her like Bug (Rafi Gavron) and Tasha do. So Lux makes amends with Jones, but not before she calls Bug, whose real name we learn is Bobby (he so doesn't seem like one), and leaves him a message telling him to come home.

Readers, are you looking forward to a more friendly vibe between Ryan and Baze? Are you missing the interaction between Lux and Cate? What did you think of Jones and Lux's first date that wasn't so much a date? Are you hoping Bug will come home soon?

-- Vlada Gelman (Follow my TV musings on Twitter: @stayingin)

Related:

'Life Unexpected': It's a rocky road

'Life Unexpected': So many boys, so little time

Complete 'Life Unexpected' coverage on Showtracker

Photo: Lux (Brittany Robertson) and Ryan (Kerr Smith) have a heart-to-heart. Credit: Jack Rowand / The CW

Comments

[gerritv]

I am so tired of this show. Each episode seems derived from the same blueprint and the characters never learn, grow or mature. The device of using the 'radio show' to announce the week's plot lesson is reminding me of how much better 'Men in Trees' was.

What started out with such great promise has turned into a one trick pony.

[Jenny]

I disagree, the show is actually gotten a lot better. The pilot started off a little shaky, but now the show seems to be finding it's footing as the season progresses. I watch this show with my mother, sister, and best friend. We all love it.

[CWLUX]

I don't know how about feel about the friendly Ryan & Baze relationship. I would imagine that down the road, after Cate has made a choice and things settle a bit they might be more friendly, but right in the middle of all this drama and heartbreak for Ryan? Hard to believe.
I do love Lux with all of the adults in her life. I prefer seeing her with Cate, Baze, or Ryan, although feeling love for Tasha!
I do feel the "heat" between Lux and Jones, but she and Bug share a solid common ground. I am willing to bet he'll be as hard to get out of her life as Baze is for Cate. It's almost like a parallel life... Lux and Cate, with the two lovers (angel and devil) that are both trying to win their affection.

[P. Fragile]

When did Jones break up with the asian girl? How can he ask Lux out when he has a girlfirned?

[Cassie]

Just watched the two latest episodes back to back (the one where Tasha leaves and then the Bridal Expo one) - this show just keeps following the same storyline over and over again. Circumstances cause Baze, Cate and Ryan to all be at the same event (usually because Baze shows up), fighting ensues, and Lux is off in her own world. For a kid who's grown up in foster care, Lux sure is spoiled - expecting Cate to just take in Tasha? She's only moving 3 hours away - not 3000 miles away.

Besides, once they both turn 18, they can run off together.

Maybe things will be a bit better, now that Ryan has moved on. At least he and Baze won't be at each other's throats anymore.