S5E16 "Eight Cats and the Hat Show"
Bonnie is new to empathy, a word she hilariously had trouble remembering. She is trying to be understanding after Adam's dog has died, but it's been three weeks, and she feels that he should be over it by now. She also believes she is practicing empathy when she comforts Christy, worried that Patrick is going to break up with her, and Wendy, who is also worried about this break-up. This episode makes it clear from early on that there will be a lot of Allison Janney, which is definitely a good thing.
Bonnie gets excited when it seems that Adam is moving on from his dog's death, but then a commercial comes onto the TV that shows a person and his dog spending time together, which makes Adam get emotional. When Bonnie returns home she hopes to escape the crying, but discovers that Christy and Patrick have broken up. It is very funny when Bonnie tries to avoid conversation with Christy once she discovers that Christy is crying. It turns out that they broke up because Patrick asked Christy to move to Santa Cruz, and she didn't want to.
In an attempt to get Adam to move on after his loss, Bonnie gets Adam a puppy. It's something we've seen before on sitcoms, but it is still very enjoyable, and I especially loved when Bonnie got upset at the puppy for being unable to convince Adam to take him. "You had one job!" After unsuccessfully trying to get Wendy (whose living situation, with four other nurses, Bonnie describes as like a sitcom) and Marjorie (trying to turn her from a "crazy cat lady" to someone who "just loves animals") to take the puppy, Adam comes around, and decides to keep him. The episode also has a hilarious ending, where Christy gets mad at Bonnie when she sees her being motherly toward the dog, shouting "You had it in you all along!"
Meanwhile, Jill takes Christy on a shopping trip to cheer her up. There are some funny moments here, such as when Jill tries to get Christy to talk about why she turned Patrick's offer down, practicing her listening skills, and when Christy tries to find out how Jill's ex-husband's wife's life is going. Anna Farris is wonderful at the adorable awkwardness it takes for Christy to discover that this woman's life is going very well. On the drive home Jill cries, talking about how she moved all the way across the country for her ex-husband because she loved him. This causes Christy to realize that, even though Patrick is much better than other guys she has dated, she doesn't love him. I'm glad that the show is moving on from this romance, as it didn't work very well, and it told a strong story with the break-up.
This was one of Mom's stronger installments, with two stories that both provided many funny moments, and put Allison Janney at the center, while giving the other ladies their moments to do what they do best as well. Also, everything tied together quite neatly in this episode, with how the two stories were introduced together, and some of Jill's backstory was woven in with Christy's story.
Score: 9.5/10
What did you think of "Eight Cats and the Hat Show"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!