Writer:  Laurie Parres
Director: Andy Cadiff

Episode Length: 22:18

Guest Stars:

Rating: n/a

Rating:  TV- 14

First Broadcast: March 18, 1998

Storyline #1: Bowling for Indians
At a ceremonial presentation, The Mayor accepts a gift from the Puncie Indians and shows off just how much he has to learn about political correctness.  He calls for a meeting to smooth over feelings which Mike attends.  (See Storyline #2)  Later, while playing around in his office, The Mayor breaks the bowl, which he later finds out is a sacred artifact of the Indians.  He tries to glue it back together with the help of Carter and Stuart, but it doesn't work.  He tries to return the broken bowl to Chief Phil to save face.  The Chief congratulates The Mayor for being honest about accidentally breaking the bowl and says a lesser man would have tried to fix it.  The Mayor responds, "We did that too."

Storyline #2: High on Life, Low on James
Seems that there has been an outbreak of drug use among city employees.  After a couple of visible outbreaks, Mike decides to institute a drug check to make sure that everyone is on record as being clean, except of course for Stuart who is taking steroids.   Everyone gives their sample and that should have been that.  Mike attends a meeting later that day with the Indian tribe and accidentally ingests some peyote.   He returns to the office the next day after spending a delusional night.  But come to find out, his sample was lost and he needs to give again.  Having recently taken a hallucinogen, Mike cannot take the test without turning up positive.  Thanks to Stuart, however, he's able to sneak in someone else's sample.  All is good until Mike finds out who donated his sample:  Nikki.  Seems Nikki's been taking birth control, and Mike doesn't want that showing up on his test.  Mike brings James along to raid the drug lab because James feels he is being overlooked as an integral part of the Staff.  Mike tells James to give a sample, but James freezes up and is unable to deliver in the clutch.  So he resorts to stealing his test.  The nurse comes back the next day, demanding Mike to take a test.  All seems lost, until he opens the stall and finds James hiding.  Having snuck James in, James gives a sample and all is good.

Storyline #3:  Getting Back in the Game
Paul's mom wants to start dating again, but she doesn't feel it's right until Paul gets engaged.  That brings up the interesting dilemma that Paul has not told his mom about his recent engagement to Claudia.  It seems the last time Paul and his mom spoke about Claudia, he told her some nasty stories.  And when Abby finds out, she is much disappointed.  Later though, Paul apologizes and asks for his mom's blessing.   Abby is happy to get it, because she's been wanting to go out with David, someone she's met.  Paul remains skeptical about his mom's date until he says he's a millionaire.  Paul's reply:  "Hi pop."

Review: A River Runs Through Me

Overall, a go-to episode.  James has always been on the short end of the Staff and always seems that he's the lowest in the chain of command.  (Unless of course, you count Janelle.)  It was good to see James come to grips with his role within the administration.  He does a lot more than just write speeches.

The drug aspect of it was handled somewhat well.  There wasn't a lot of unnecessary exposition of Mike's drug taking (although there were probably not enough showing of effects.)  Instead, having Mike chase down tainted samples allowed him to act at his frentic best as he sought to avoid being labeled a drug head.  And is there really enough room in New York City to build an Indian Casino?

Paul's story smacked of weakness.  After all, I find it a little hard to believe that someone that looks like Raquel Welch would voluntarily stop dating for 30+ years just for her son.  But then again, she married a man who resembled Paul, so you never know.  While I have enjoyed Ms. Welch's appearances on the show, certainly we're not going to see her dating too.  One couple per minor character's family dating, please.

So Nikki takes birth control pills, huh?  I have to side with Stuart on this one, sounds like a waste of money to me.

Finally, we get to actual politics.  It's been a while since the show has even tried to frame an issue in the political arena.  Glad they more or less took my side, that political correctness is more work than it's worth.  Again, Carter and Stuart interacting over the issue made for great watching.  I'm beginning to agree with Entertainment Weekly's assessment of the two in their year-end issue.  These two guys would make a great spin-off.

Speaking of spin-off, that's exactly what happened to the bowl.  Yes, our beloved Mayor can be a little clueless at times, but this week he hits a new intellectual low.   However, actually seeing him spinning it would have been cool. 

The whole show was funny and amusing.  But there's something I just can't put my finger on that didn't push it over the top for me.  A good episode sure, but not one of their best ever.

Rating [5 pt. scale]: 4.5

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