In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
Directed By: Elodie Keene
Written By: Winnie Holzman
Jordan realizes he screwed up when he slept with Rayanne, and tries to get Angela to forgive him, but she doesn't listen to him at first. Reluctantly, Brian helps Jordan win Angela back, first by telling him what to say, then by writing a letter for him. Brian tells this to Rickie, who realizes Brian is in love with Angela. Brian won't admit it to anyone at first, even Angela, though she finally realizes it at the end, right when Jordan is about to go out with her. Rickie, meanwhile, finds out Delia has a crush on him, and while he's grateful to her for that, it makes him confront the fact he's gay.
Graham finds out the investors Hallie has lined up for their restaurant aren't sure about him as a chef, so he decides to cook for them. Patty, meanwhile, decides to call up an old high school boyfriend of hers, Tony, who used to work in the restaurant business, to get some advice. While Tony never shows up because he's sick, the investors end up loving Graham's cooking. While their business relationship is now secure, the personal relationship between Graham and Hallie remains to be seen.
This episode contains examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Patty was apparently like this when she was younger and going out with Tony. She does tell Angela and Danielle, "It's always tempting to lose yourself with someone, who's maybe lost themselves. But eventually, you want reality."
- Call-Back: When Brian asks Sharon about Delia, Sharon curtly tells him that Delia's still upset at how Brian hurt her.
- Coming-Out Story: After Rickie asks Delia if she wants to go to the movies with him:Rickie I think we'd be really good together.
Delia: Okay, but, um, you're gay, right?
Rickie Well, I, you know, I, I-
Delia: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't-
Rickie: No, it, it, it's okay.
Delia: That came out so rude.
Rickie: No, uh, see I, I try not to, um, no I, I don't like, uh...Yeah, I'm gay. I just don't usually say it like that.
Delia: How do you usually say it?
Rickie: I don't usually say it. I mean, I've actually never said it...out loud.
Delia: Wow, I feel so honored. - Dramatic Irony: After Rickie finally admits publicly he's gay (see Coming-Out Story above), Delia confesses she had a crush on him even though she knew this already because she needed to feel something for a guy who felt safe, after being hurt by Brian. She then runs down Brian in front of Rickie, unaware, as Rickie and the viewer know, Brian did this because he's in love with Angela.
- Death Glare: Sharon gives one to Jordan when she sees him wanting to talk to Angela.
- Dream Sequence: Two of them shown, two of them described:
- We see Angela's dream about Jordan, which she admits sometimes gets mixed up with the funeral for her great-aunt Gertrude. It ends (as Angela says it always does) with her yelling at Jordan about how he hurt her, and how he doesn't respond.
- We see Patty's dream about her old boyfriend Tony, which includes Princess Diana for some reason.
- Delia tells Sharon she had a dream about Rickie where they were dancing in a vegetable garden. Sharon, in turn, admits to Angela she had a dream where she and Rayanne were appearing together in a water ballet for charity.
- Friendship Moment: After Sharon denied earlier being friends with Rayanne, she runs into Rayanne in the bathroom:Rayanne: Wanna know something really laughable? I have no friends. I mean, Angela Chase - forget it, we obviously cannot discuss that. Rickie Vasquez - totally not my friend. Tino - not reliable. You're probably thinking, "So what? You, like, deserve to have no friends." I mean, that's what you're thinking, isn't it?
Sharon: I have never met anyone like you, you know? You will say anything, and a person can say anything to you. You're just, like, non-shockable, or something. It's kind of-
Rayanne: It's refreshing, isn't it?
Sharon: Yeah, it is kind of...refreshing.
Rayanne: Refreshing.
Sharon: So you do...have a friend. Maybe not the one you want, but... - Hypocritical Humor: Brian insists Jordan should work on what he should say to Angela on his own, and leave Brian out of it so he can do calculus homework. After a beat, Brian asks him, "What have you got so far?"
- Insult Backfire: When Brian tells Jordan he did an undefendable thing, he created his own prison, and he'll just have to live in it, instead of being bothered, Jordan thinks he can use that when talking to Angela, and asks Brian for more.
- Irony: Discussed and played straight:
- When Jordan admits he's afraid to apologize to Angela, Brian tells him how ironic it is that Jordan can get some random girl's phone number but can't apologize to Angela, and when Jordan wants to know what that means, Brian responds, "When you realize the, like, component weirdness of a situation."
- Later, when Jordan is over at Angela's, Patty tells him Tony, her old boyfriend, who drove so recklessly when she was younger that her parents wanted him dead, couldn't come visit Patty because he had taken flu medicine and was afraid to drive, Jordan responds, "Wow, ironic," which impresses Patty.
- Left Hanging: Because the show was canceled, we never find out (a) what will happen between Angela and Brian now that she finally realizes he's in love with her, or (b) what will happen between Graham and Hallie.
- Literary Allusion Title: The episode title comes from the short story
by Delmore Schwartz. - Meaningful Echo: After their Friendship Moment, and Rayanne admits to Sharon, "I screwed up," Sharon gently grabs two of Rayanne's braids and says, "Duh squared." Rayanne smiles at that.
- Moment Killer: After Brian inadvertently lets it slip how he's in love with Angela (see Wham Line below), she looks at him like she's seeing him for the first time, and there's even a moment when it looks like they might kiss each other...and that's when Jordan comes out of the Chase's house and calls out Angela's name.
- Operation: Jealousy: Though Patty did really want to help Graham with the restaurant by calling Tony, she partly did so to make Graham jealous as well.
- Playing Cyrano: Brian, much to his consternation, ends up doing this for Jordan.
- Shout-Out: When Delia is describing to Sharon the dream she had about Rickie, she says she was wearing a dress she saw on The Nanny.
- Wham Line: When Angela is giving Brian a What the Hell, Hero? speech after she finds out Brian wrote Jordan's letter and lies, claiming he just proofread it:Angela: This is a joke, right? That the, the two of...Oh, God, I can't believe I fell for it. It's obviously a total lie.
Brian: No, I meant every word.
Angela: [completely stunned] Brian?
