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Original Air Date: November 4, 1987 Review completed June 11, 2007 "Divorce Anderson Style" Allen has been coming to Punky's house an awful lot lately, staying for meals and almost entire days. The reason proves to be an unhappy home life, where his parents fight almost constantly and divorce may be a possibility. Punky (and a reluctant Henry) decides to have a barbecue as a way to figure out the situation. Things go normally for a while, but Allen states that they're only bluffing. Sure enough, things devolve into a fight between the elder Andersons, leading up to the shocking official announcement of the divorce. Allen is devestated, and Punky finds him living in the treehouse the next day. Allen has run away because his mom is moving to Kansas, aiming to bring him too. Punky convinces him that he has to stay with his family, and he decides that she's right. Allen then departs for the airport and his new life in a tearful farewell. Why the departure? Apparently, part of it was for professional reasons, as Casey Ellison had secured other jobs during Punky's hiatus and decided to favour them over the series he wasn't even sure was going to come back in the first place. However, it is possible that the show's formula may not have accommodated the part of Allen for much longer. From what reports are available from the time, the part of Punky was definitely going to age and eventually take on stories aiming more to the young teenager. (Having actually Season Three now, though, this could be just conjecture, as none of the stories yet strongly strike me as aiming to an older audience than before.) That would mean re-writing Allen's part somewhat, adapting him to a show that was going to cater to younger teenage girls. I know that I would not particularly want that job. Maybe the Punky writers didn't want to go for it either. At any rate, this unusual tangent for an episode review actually does have a point. Really, it's the whole point for the episode. Amidst the feuding parents and outdoor displays, this is Casey's send-off, and knowing this going in makes everything that happens very clear. The story is a framework for an on-screen farewall party, with no other major agenda. The funny part is that even with this in mind, "Divorce Anderson Style" ends up being one of the best episodes of the season. If you remember your site history (all two of you that were reading back then...), you'll remember that the first review ever written for the site was for "Just Say No" and came about as a challenge to write about my least favourite episode of the series. One of the things I pounced on was that the episode even started off badly, with a dialogue sequence between the four regulars riddled with noticeable mistimings. The reverse principle can be applied to good episodes too: The dialogue is sharp right from the beginning, digging up Henry's less mature side without being annoying. Also, there's very subtle way to build up to Allen's appearance that, ha, called the wisdom of Punky's permanently open bedroom window into question. To be fair, I should note that Allen's initial appearance is the other characters feeding him straight lines for his jokes. The better stuff will come. Still, that part actually some pretty smooth exposition, as it manages to build a good sense of the ongoing situation despite the audience's view of it being a two-minute vignette. Also, good pacing in mixing the humour back in. "No, my mom can take him," was pretty sweet. Even the framing went up a notch, see the pan out to Henry waving frantically. Now for one of those embarrassing, "How did he qualify for this job again?" moments that I get occasionally: I just noticed that "Mock apple pie" is meant to be a metaphor for the mock cheerfulness. Yes, the episode states it flat-out in a couple of minutes. Yes, I am dumb. Then again, there's actually a lot I didn't get in the scene. No, I don't know why there's a running gag of Allen being hit on the head. No, I don't know why Betty gets a seperate entrance a little later in the scene. No, I don't know the difference between butter and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and hey, how come Margaux comes to the barbecue and her parents don't? At least I'm an inquistive little dimplebuns. Actually, that brings another series-wide point of comparison in this episode's favour. Ever notice that the best runs of the series are where the writers sneak a little blue humour in? You have scenes like Mrs. Carnie alluding to a very unfaithful husband in "I Love You Brandon", and Punky getting Henry to admit to Maggie popping his cork in "Henry Falls In Love, Part 1". Now, we get "Mock whoopie!" to add to the list. Setting aside a "Mock American Pie" joke, I've still got to wonder how THAT one got past the censors. Maybe it's the way the reaction came out; the audience's surprised hooting marks the only major time I can think of where the crowd really helps a segment out. Okay, that's the silly side, but the episode starts to go a little more serious at this point, and so shall I. One good point is that at least the divorce talk doesn't feel like an old script about divorce was hastily re-written to give Allen a farewell. If that IS the case, I don't really see the seams myself. There's also a bit of luck on cultural relevance as well. The divorce parts of the plot still have their resonance when viewed twenty years later. That's quite a social comment, as you wouldn't think the divorce rates in North America (and the world?) would have stayed that high for this long. On the flip side, I'll pass on critiquing Henry and Punky's talk about divorce. Suffice to say, your view on Henry's comments is going to depend a lot on your own views on divorce. What the scene does do is leave an unusual amount of room to let the viewer think of their own thoughts; however, because the non-answer has a bit more of an "I don't want to talk about this" kind of feel to it, though, I'm not going to put it in the same league as other such moments. "I Love You Brandon" still has nothing to fear. The final scene with Punky and Allen in the treehouse is interesting for a couple of reasons, one more serious than the other. First, I'm kind of impressed by using the Titanic as an analogy for the situation, as it's a very timeless analogy that isn't going to date itself in quite the same way as, say, DeBarge or the new VCR. That's actually not the serious one: The serious reason has to do with Internet rumour swirling around before Season Three was actually released on DVD. One of the most persistent rumours was that Punky's origins were significantly downplayed in the new season, and some sources even said that there was no direct references to Punky's past at all after Season Two! This scene is quite enough to prove them wrong, wrong, wrong, very wrong. Remember kids, don't trust the Internet, 'cause they're a bunch of bold-faces liars. [Paragraph break: The show can get away with one long scene at the end, but I'm not writing a single paragraph longer than some of my school essays.] This leads right into the final goodbye. Of all the moments on Punky Brewster, this one may be the hardest to tell between scripted and actual reactions. Susie Garret, in particular, seems to be having trouble keeping character and looks to be on the verge of going on about off-camera moments. I'm willing to believe that there was some blurring of fact and fiction here myself, because even with the long hiatus we have a group that's worked long, long days together for a couple of years and pulled some decent success out of it. Reality television (as much as I loathe it) seems to be on to something: EVERYTHING gets a little better when generated by actual, non-scripted events. I'd imagine that by the end of the shooting schedule for this episode, Soleil, George, and Casey felt as bittersweet about the parting as Punky, Henry, and Allen did. In a season that will try harder and harder to present itself as a series of oh-so-socially relevant teleplays, this character-driven, reality-blurring piece is positively startling. It's a wonderful relief to see one of the series' best get a good send-off. - Jimmy Vibes |