"The Blond Leading The Blind" is an episode in the fifth season of Reba.
Reba's poor eyesight is brought to everyone's focus after she wrecks Van's car while driving it. After she gets a laser eye surgery, Van, who's still bitter about Reba wrecking his car, secretly calls Barbra Jean and informs her of Reba's temporary blind condition, resulting in Barbra Jean trying to help Reba with her daily routines.
Tropes in this episode:
- Blind Mistake: Reba tries to take care of herself while still recovering from an eye surgery ("tries" being the operative word here, as drinking water out of a potted plant and spreading peanut butter on a sponge don't count as proof of the ability to successfully take care of oneself), with Barbra Jean attempting to help Reba without Reba knowing.
- Bookends: Reba's interaction with Van both starts and ends with Reba waking Van up and offering her homemade cookies to him.note
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Van calling Barbra Jean in secret about Reba's temporary blind condition is his application of this trope in revenge for Reba wrecking his car, as he knows as much as anyone in the Hart family that Reba can't stand Barbra Jean's presence and that Barbra Jean will try to help Reba when Reba is in need whether Reba likes it or not.
- Delayed "Oh, Crap!": Van initially doesn't find it suspicious about Reba treating him with a plate of homemade cookies... until he gives a recount of him lending his car to Reba and seeing Reba's guilty expression.Van: We're nice to each other. She made me cookies; I lent her my car. *sees Reba's guilty facial expression* My car! *runs to his car*note
- Dramatic Pause: Jake's opinion regarding Van's poem toward his car is spoken this way.It's great... to a second grader!
- Irony: Reba wrecks Van's car in an accident while driving it. The place where said accident took place is at the parking lot of an eye doctor's office.
- Laxative Prank: The last scene of the episode has Reba baking cookies for Van to show him that she forgives him for telling Barbra Jean to check up on her after her her laser eye surgery left her temporarily blind, despite her making it very clear that she wants to be left alone. Jake walks through the front door and a suspicious Van insist that he have a cookie, which he does, convincing Van that they're safe. Jake arrives in the kitchen where he tells Reba that he took the cookie she told him to. Van is then shown holding his stomach and walking quickly out of the living room.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Early in the episode, Cheyenne finds it suspicious that Reba is treating Van with a plate of homemade cookies (not to mention Reba waking Van up with said cookies instead of whacking him with a spoon). Van, on the other hand, sees nothing suspicious about Reba's unusual treatment... until he recounts lending his car to Reba, at which point he starts panicking.
- Reactive Continuous Scream: As the series of Barbra Jean's attempts to help Reba incognito are nearing the end, Reba, mistaking a sponge she sprayed peanut butter on as a slice of bread, is about to shove the sponge into her mouth, only for Barbra Jean, who had sprayed some peanut butter on a slice of bread herself manually (using her own hands due to not having a spare knife in hand at the moment), to shove a slice of bread into Reba's mouth instead. The sudden realization of Barbra Jean's presence causes Reba to scream in shock, which, in turn, causes Barbra Jean to scream in reaction.
- Right Behind Me: After Reba accidentally badmouths Barbra Jean due to mistaking her for Cheyenne, she goes to Brock and Barbra Jean's house and finds Brock greeting her, while Barbra Jean, who is still sulking over Reba's insults, privately tells Brock to speak to Reba without tipping Reba off about her presence, resulting in Reba, in the process of justifying herself about being annoyed with Barbra Jean, reminding Brock his own words that he said to Reba about how annoying Barbra Jean is, which causes Barbra Jean to cast a Death Glare at Brock.
- Right in Front of Me: Late in the episode, Barbra Jean reads to Reba while Reba is still recovering from her eye surgery. Reba doesn't enjoy it much, especially when Barbra Jean tries to imitate speaking in British accent while reading a Charles Dickens novelnote ("Were you still reading or did you just pass gas?", asks Reba). When Cheyenne arrives to take over care for Reba, Reba, thinking she's talking to Cheyenne (when, in truth, Cheyenne is going back to her car to retrieve things and Barbra Jean pretends to be Cheyenne), promptly badmouths Barbra Jean — especially on her attempt at accent — without realizing whom she's talking to (Reba is still recovering from her eye surgery at the moment, so her eyes are covered) until Barbra Jean runs off crying just as Cheyenne walks in.Cheyenne: Mom, what did you say to make Barbra Jean cry?Reba: Barbra Jean?! Oh, Crap!!
- Tempting Fate: Jake expresses excitement when Cheyenne states that Van writes poetry when he's extremely sad about something, hoping that he can use Van's dedication poem to "Wanda", Van's Mustang, for his homework. Unfortunately for Jake, Van's poetry-writing skill is so bad that, after listening to Van compose his poem, Jake finds it beneath him to even consider using Van's poem.
- Unreliable Narrator: In-Universe. Barbra Jean's version of Reba's eventual apology to her that she's recording in her diary is this, according to her spoken account near the end of the episode.And then she turned to me. She said: "Barbra Jean, I apologize. You have made my life a garden of orchids."
