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Recap / lonelygirl15 S01 "Motel Life"

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Daniel: It's just frustrating. My life's gone.
Bree: And what about my life?
(Daniel turns toward her for several seconds; he starts to speak, but hesitates)
Daniel: I really just... wish things would go back to normal.
—"Silent Treatment"
Dates Posted: (2006) November 9, 11, 13-17, 20-23

After being forced into a life on the run, Bree and Daniel start living in motels on the money Bree's parents left them. But they may not be safe here either...

"Learning Egyptian": Gemma says she wishes she could help Bree and Daniel out and expresses worry about what might've happened to them. She clears up some fan misconceptions about Bree's religion. She talks about adults in their old commune having to learn Egyptian and says she has to do more research.

"Motel Pool": Bree announces that her and Daniel have found a motel to stay at. They decide to go down to the pool, and Bree takes her stuffed animals with her. She talks to them for a bit, then gets Daniel to give her his jacket because she's cold. She comments on how nobody wanted to go swimming because of the cold, then Daniel leaves in annoyance.

"Don't Trust The Authorities": Gemma tells Bree she's right not to trust the authorities. She tells Bree the best idea is to stay put. She talks about an old Olympic sport, the plunge-for-distance, as she thinks Bree's stuffed animals would be really good at it.

"Exploring The Motel": Bree talks about missing her parents because of the motel, explaining her family has spent a lot of time in motels. She says that lifestyle seems fun at first, but that all motels are really pretty much the same. She decides to make sure this motel is properly equipped.

"Someone's Following You": Gemma says she noticed that someone dressed similarly to one of the Order members at the fake Ceremony was near the motel pool when Bree filmed it in the previous episode.

"Man In The Suit": Bree says she and Daniel spent all day looking to see if they were being followed, but couldn't find anything. Bored, she decides to have some fun with the search.

"Breakfast In Bed": Daniel decides to do something nice for Bree, so he takes a trip to the store to make her breakfast in bed.

"My Name Is Jonas": Jonas introduces himself, saying that he was inspired to make a video by watching Bree and Daniel's videos.

"A Watcher": Gemma points out a man in a black suit in the grocery store in the previous episode, similar to the one she pointed out in her last video. She says she went to the library and learned that Order members known as "Watchers" have a special symbol on their body. She points out a dark smudge on the hand of the man in the suit in "Breakfast In Bed" and says that it's the same symbol. She talks briefly about Watchers, and asks Bree to keep her posted.

"Fleeing The Watcher": Bree sees the same guy from "Exploring the Motel" and "Breakfast in Bed" hanging out on the other side of the courtyard outside their room. When he comes up to the balcony, they make a break and flee the motel. Bree wonders if she overreacted and says they'll need to find a new place.

"Survival Skills": Bree decides that if she and Daniel are going to living on the run for a while, they'll need to develop some survival skills. She finds a Boy Scout manual in the motel lobby and starts going through it to hone their survival skills, with mixed results.

"Silent Treatment": Daniel sits at the foot of the bed and tells the camera that he's not talking to Bree because he's tired of her not taking their situation seriously, and rants on the whole situation for a bit.

"An Awkward Silence": Gemma sympathizes with Bree's situation with Daniel. She reminds her of an acronym from their old religion, one that's supposed to help them communicate their beliefs to outsiders.

"Bored At Home": Jonas complains about how bored he was today. The video shows a montage of Jonas doing various things around his house in an attempt to amuse himself.

"Date With P. Monkey": Bree says that she went to the movies with P. Monkey and talks about the experience.


Tropes:

  • Ambiguously Christian: Downplayed in "Exploring The Motel". Daniel spends the entire episode (except for when Bree briefly takes it away from him) reading the Bible on his bed behind Bree, although this may just because he's a Bookworm.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Bree delivers one near the end of "Silent Treatment" that serves as this page's quote, pointing out to Daniel that her life has been wrecked as much if not more than his.
  • The Bad Guys Are Cops: Bree uses this to justify not going to the police in "Motel Pool", as some of them seem to be members of the Order.
    Bree: Whenever I was at my house, there would always be police officers or judges...people high up in the community. I just feel like, maybe they're all a part of it, too.
  • Breakfast in Bed: Made by Daniel for Bree in... "Breakfast In Bed".
  • Brick Joke: In "Exploring The Motel", Bree declares the room cockroach free after she finishes looking around. A few videos later in "Man In The Suit", after sweeping the room for (electronic) bugs with a broom, she says she found a cockroach after all.
    Bree: I must've missed him the other day.
  • Did Not Do the Bloody Research: Gemma calls P. Monkey "kind of a wanker" in "Don't Trust The Authorities", tossing it off as though it's a light tease and not a small step short of "motherfucker" as it would be to a Brit like Gemma.
  • Emergency Food Supply Animal: Parodied in "Man In The Suit":
    Bree: Are you mad that P. Monkey, Owen, and Thor came with us?
    Daniel: No. If we run out of food, we'll eat them.
    Bree: He's telling the truth.
  • Fun with Acronyms: Gemma gives us APHID in "An Awkward Silence", standing for "Acknowledge their Position and Help Initiate a Dialogue."
  • It's Probably Nothing: In "Fleeing The Watcher", Daniel initially dismisses the Watcher across the way as just being a chain smoker, though he quickly gets straightened out when the guy comes up the balcony.
  • Lazy Alias: In "A Watcher", Gemma gives us the fake name she used to sign in at the library: "P. Monkey".
  • Lie Detector: Bree's lie detector in "Man In The Suit" requires someone to draw a straight line while answering a question, and if it's curved, they're lying. Since she's the one guiding the subject's hand and her second subject is a teddy bear, this is obviously Played for Laughs.
  • Literal-Minded: In "Man In The Suit", Bree decides to sweep the room for bugsnote ... using a broom.
  • Lost the TV Remote: Part of Bree's standard motel checklist is that the TV remote is missing. And sure enough, their motel meets that standard after her search in "Exploring The Motel".
  • Not Helping Your Case: Bree insists in "Silent Treatment" that she's taking things seriously:
    Daniel: She thinks this is some sort of game.
    Bree: No I don't. And might I add, the "survival skills" thing was Owen's idea?
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Bree's "disguise" in "Date With P. Monkey" consists of sunglasses and the Australian hat she's worn in several previous videos... and P. Monkey, who is also in disguise, wearing a shirt and tie and Bree's sunglasses. Bree appears to have at least a small degree of self-awareness about her disguise's effectiveness, though.
  • Police Lineup: Parodied in "Man In The Suit" when Bree puts P. Monkey through a lineup consisting of Thor, Owen, and a trash can.
    Bree: Okay, turns out that was a false lead. He thought it was the trash can! Monkeys.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Daniel throws down his comic book and storms off at the end of "Survival Skills", apparently pissed at Bree for doing a goofy skit in a fairly serious situation.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Gemma signs off in "Someone's Following You" with a comment that she has to write a paper on "The Miller's Tale" for school.
    • The title of "My Name Is Jonas" is a reference to the Weezer song of the same name, as Jonas himself says at the start of the video.
    • Jonas says in "My Name Is Jonas" that he's a fan of Max Headroom, insisting that he is "definitely cool".
    • Gemma complains in "An Awkward Silence" that her flatmate keeps wanting to rewatch episodes of Little Britain.
    • Bree says that two of the movies she saw in "Date With P. Monkey" were The Guardian (2006) and Gridiron Gang.
  • Silent Treatment: Invoked by the title of, er, "Silent Treatment", and Daniel says at the beginning that he's "not really talking to Bree right now", and he never directly addresses Bree during the video even though she speaks twice.
  • Stepford Smiler: Daniel's dialogue at the beginning of "Breakfast In Bed" suggests that Bree has turned into this a little, since in her videos she appeared to be her usual dorky self, but:
    Daniel: Bree was pretty down last night. She cried a lot... yelled at me a bit, but, I don't think she even slept too well.

"Unlike my flatmate, Daniel's not a lost cause. You've been through so much together. Now you should make up, go outside, and get some fresh air."

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