Totem Poles and Grocery Time Zones - Raising Hope "The Sniffles" Review

Any show with a new parent has an episode about the baby's first illness.  I'm just glad that this episode wasn't about Jimmy's hypochondria as much as it was about trust and respect.

I don't think I quite buy that the store would have benefits for a part time evening/weekend bagger. I guess I would have to learn more about the town they live in before I decide. It's in an area where buying cold medicine is like buying prescriptions, which could place it in a smallish town like the place I went to high school, or just a more run down suburb. At any rate, health benefits for Jimmy at that position seems iffy.

You gotta feel for Burt in this episode. He was just being emasculated left and right. Catching Jimmy at the store, crawling back to his old job, and even being caught between a councilman and his teen stripper daughter. He got dealt a rough hand this week. Thank god Virginia was there to remind him of his place. He's a grandpa now. He needs to think of Hope first, Jimmy second. Getting insurance for Jimmy and thus Hope is not his duty. His duty is giving Jimmy the ability to insure Hope. Also, it's to spoil the kid rotten. Which he does. Admirably.

Clearly, Cloris Leachman was absent for this episode, but that's not a problem. I'm actually pretty excited to see the different ways they keep Maw Maw away, and the quarantine was pretty funny. It also gave Martha Plimpton more to do. Yelling at a door for a whole episode must be challenging, but she pulled it off. She and Garret Dillahunt make one of the best couples on TV right now.

Fun Stuff:
-The Grocery Manager was pretty funny. "Selling groceries, saving lives..."
-So they got a computer. Wouldn't that open a door for Virginia to learn about her mother? I guess they're keeping that avenue open.
-The Green Thumb Landscaping boss looked so familiar. I think I saw him in a bit part in an episode of Will & Grace, but I hope he recurs on this show. Nothing better than an old Asian man in Ed Hardy, head to toe.
-Gotta love the cowboy ties as part of the grocery uniform.
-"Cold soup it is!"

GRADE: B
Another solid yet standard outing. I think Martha Plimpton needs a bit more to do.

MVP Garrett Dillahunt. Stealing another episode with Burt's struggle between manliness and reality.
Runner Up Raymond Ma. Douchbags come and go, but only one wears Ed Hardy under a parasol.