S02.E06: Audrey Parker's Day Off

[Tabbyclaw]

Audrey finds herself repeating the same tragic day over and over, but the more she intervenes, the more a deadly accident draws closer to her.

 

[Carrie Ann]

Oh man, I love this episode so much. Audrey's reaction to each death, her increasing desperation and exhaustion, her sadness and feeling of failure at the end. I love Audrey, and this ep is a great showcase for all the things that make her her. This is why I had a hard time

with Lexie, and I anticipate a hard time with Mara, and why I'm hoping against hope that somehow whenever the personalities integrate or whatever happens, that the Real Her is just like Audrey.

[dargosmydaddy]

One of my favorite episodes... for some reason the Audrey/ Nathan shipper in me loves Nathan's death scene...

[Snarkette]

I hated this episode so much. Chris you moron.

 

On the bright side? Nathan. Duke. Taco Tuesday. And maple syrup. Light. And dark.

[MarkHB]

I love how the Taco Tuesday board shows up in later episodes as well.

[KatWay]

I love this episode both for the Audrey/Nathan scenes as well as the Nathan/Duke scenes (while Duke was dying and especially the end - these two actors work so well together when the writers let them). Since season 2 felt rather low on good Nate/Duke scenes (I didn't know then that S3 was still to come), it stood out to me for that. 

[Tabbyclaw]

Skipping "Roots" in my rewatch because I haven't done anything bad enough to deserve that episode lately.

 

This episode is one of my favorites, despite how badly it disappointed me the first time around. You tell me you're doing a Groundhog Day episode, I am waiting with bated breath for the "character gradually stops giving even a little bit of a damn about potential consequences" comedy montage. It's one of my holy trinity of favorite concept episodes, and it still saddens me that we didn't get that. But what we actually got was an excellent episode crammed with character. Emily Rose brought her A-game in showing Audrey's mounting distress and exhaustion, and the way all the other characters react to her is wonderful. I love Nathan's unwavering faith in her throughout all this weirdness that only she's experiencing, and even Chris has some moments of genuine tenderness towards her when he's not being a dick. The way he tries to comfort her at the end feels like a sincere attempt by someone who's just not very good at it. And major props to whoever picked "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" for that scene. I also love the gentle care Audrey shows for Anson even before she knows he's involved, when all she knows is that there's a person in front of her who seems lost and scared and needs someone's help.

 

I would be remiss in acting like there's no comedy in this episode, though, because every second of interaction between Duke and Chris has me on the floor. Chris's put-upon "I hear you make a mean waffle" is gold. And on behalf of everyone who's ever made a Duke/Nathan Fanvid, I would like to thank this episode from the bottom of my heart for that last scene in the bar. The chin touch, the nod, the look of dawning shock... it's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Elsinore]

Best one liner was definitely "Don't you break his heart."

And the waffle one too.

[Shanna Marie]

This is one of my all-time favorites of the series. I think I even nominated it for a Hugo.

 

Although I do love it in Groundhog Day stories when the main character just quits caring for a while, I don't think that would have worked in this scenario without Audrey looking like a real jerk, since it started with a child dying and in each iteration someone close to her died. They also showed that anything that happened to her stayed with her, so she couldn't have done something like dye her hair purple and get a tattoo because she didn't reset. So I don't see her just sitting around and getting drunk or doing something wild and crazy because she knew someone was going to die and she'd probably still be drunk or at least hung over in the next iteration.

 

The scene where Audrey comes into the police station after Nathan's death and she's overcome while he's normal and he asks her to test his coffee is one of my favorite scenes of those two. It says so much about their relationship.

 

The Trouble was interesting because it kind of made the metaphor of what it's like to be OCD into literal truth, which I thought was a good handling of the situation. He wasn't at fault for the deaths, but he kept trying to go back and do all the little things right to make them not happen -- and meanwhile Audrey was also trying to tick off her checklist of things to do to keep things from happening.