Season 1 | Episode 11 | “Life of Brian” | Aired Nov 10, 1994

In the 11th episode of My So-Called Life, we take a break from the inner musings of Angela Chase to spend some time with another narrator—Brian Krakow. Yes, this episode is all about Brian, and while his voiceovers do not disappoint, his actions are some of the most teenage and cringeworthy of the series thus far, which is a high, high bar.

It begins when Sharon, who is planning a World Happiness Dance at the school, introduces Brian to her friend Delia (Senta Moses). Delia has a crush on Brian, and Sharon encourages him to ask Delia to the dance. Brian, naturally, processes this information by making yet another lame excuse (involving an atlas, of all things) to stop by the Chase household. He ends up helping Graham wallpaper the bedroom and very vaguely asking for his advice via an extended wallpaper metaphor. While he knows he should pursue Delia, who is actually interested, he is still completely hung up on Angela.

Brian isn’t the only one with angst about the dance. Rickie has a new crush on Cory, an artsy student who wears hats and hipster glasses and paints people’s shoes. Rayanne encourages Rickie to ask Cory to the dance, insisting she’ll handle it when Rickie balks. Angela approaches Jordan about the dance under the guise of how stupid it is. He gives the usual, vague Jordan Catalano answer, saying that he hates plans and prefers seeing what happens, giving Angela hope that he might show up if she attends.

Meanwhile, Brian fumbles his way through multiple missed opportunities to ask Delia to the dance—first when he stops by her work, and later when he helps her with a science lab. “Finally, an erection from actual physical contact,” Brian thinks triumphantly after a particularly provocative touch of hands over a microscope. Angela witnesses the moment, which sets Brian’s progress way back. Finally, Delia has to all but beg Brian to finally ask her to the dance, and he does, even though he doesn’t seem too excited about it.

Of course, it’s never that simple. Angela makes plans to go to the dance as friends with Rickie, until Cory informs him that Rayanne invited him to the dance to hang out with her and Rickie as a group of three. Not wanting to mess up the dynamic with Rickie’s potential love interest, Angela is left without anyone to go with—which leads her directly to Brian. She explains the situation, leaving out the part where she really just wants to get to the dance in case Jordan shows up, and Brian agrees to let her tag along with him and Delia. Rickie confronts Rayanne, who informs him she won’t be attending the dance, supposedly because of her recovery (she has been clean and sober for 10 days). “Who cares about your stupid drinking problem? This is my life!” Rickie exclaims, furious.

Brian goes to Delia and revokes his invitation to the dance with a pathetic excuse about another commitment. Delia immediately figures out there’s another girl he’d rather go with and starts crying. It’s really sad. When Brian shows up at Angela’s the night of the dance, she is dismayed to learn Delia will not be joining them, a situation that greatly entertains Patty and Graham. The Chase parents, as usual, have their own mini-drama in this episode—Patty enrolls Graham in cooking classes, which he initially turns his nose up at but ultimately agrees to.

At the dance, Rickie and Cory are having a great chat until Cory asks where Rayanne is. Rickie is disappointed when he sees Cory is disappointed, realizing he was not the reason Cory accepted the invite. Brian and Angela show up, and when Rickie attempts to hang out with them, Brian tells him he can’t because he wants to be alone with Angela. Angela, of course, is horrified to hear this. Frustrated, she asks Brian what he thinks is happening. He insists it wasn’t some big plan to get her alone and that he doesn’t even believe in making plans. When Jordan said this exact thing, Angela loved it, but now it’s the stupidest thing she’s ever heard. She calls Brian “heartless” for what he did to Delia, before spotting Jordan and wandering off.

Delia shows up alone, and Brian apologizes to her. Angela attempts to comfort Rickie, who feels he belongs nowhere with no one. Being the great friend that he is, he releases Angela to go to Jordan. They have their own moment and nearly kiss before Jordan asks Angela why she’s “like, the way she is” and makes a quick exit, leaving her more confused than ever.

In the episode’s cutest scene, Rickie and Delia end up tearing up the dance floor to “What Is Love” together. He even dips her—it’s pretty epic, and they become the center of attention in a good way. Sharon, unhappy with her own boyfriend’s lack of interest in her and the dance, seems envious. Brian watches sadly from the sidelines. Angela eventually joins him and apologizes for her role in ruining his night. She even asks him if he wants to dance, but he claims he doesn’t want to and doesn’t care, so they settle for standing awkwardly together.

Best Brian-ism:“I became yearbook photographer because I liked the idea that I could sort of watch life without having to be part of it. But when you’re yearbook photographer, you’re, like, never in the picture.”

Claire Danes Cry FaceCount: 0.

Most Ignorant Teenage Moment: Um … can I choose this entire episode? If I must narrow it down, it’s Brian un-asking Delia to the dance. So not cool.

Angst-o-Meter: 5/10. Typical high school stuff.

If you’d like to follow along with my recaps, the entire series is available to watch for free on Hulu!

Season 9 | Episode 8 | “The Gauntlet” | Aired Sep 15, 2015

Face Off really outdid itself this week. When the artists meet up with McKenzie, she tells them that season nine has upped the ante. They’re about to begin the most difficult challenge in Face Off history: the gauntlet.

The contestants will participate in a series of three challenges (similar to foundation challenges), each testing a different skill set. Each challenge will be tougher than the last, and be weighted more heavily; after each, the contestants will be ranked from first place to ninth place. Their scores will be combined, and at the end of the gauntlet, whoever is in last place will be eliminated. It’s kind of like Mario Kart for special-effects makeup, but probably more stressful.

Stage #1 Challenge

In the gauntlet’s first challenge, the models come out in outdoor gear. Each contestant has to create an exposure makeup based on the clothes their model is wearing (either a desert or an arctic environment). They have two hours.

The arctic makeups are full of icicles and frostbite, while the desert makeups are full of blisters and sunburns. At the end, the creations are judged by Glenn, Neville, and Ve, and ranked from best to worst.

Winner of Stage 1: Nora

Rankings After Stage #1

1.) Nora
2.) Jordan
3.) Scott
4.) Meg
5.) Ben
6.) Jasmine
7.) Evan
8.) Stevie
9.) Kevon

Stage #2 Challenge

For the gauntlet’s second challenge, the models come out already decked out in prosthetics and costumes. The contestants have to do a paint job that completes the characters. They have two hours.

This paint-heavy challenge isn’t good news for the artists who have been critiqued for their poor paint jobs in the past, including Kevon, who was just ranked last because of his painting during Stage #1. Luckily, he’s a quick study.

Stage #2 Winner: Kevon

Rankings After Stage #2

1.) Kevon
2.) Ben
2.) Nora
2.) Jordan
5.) Meg
6.) Scott
7.) Jasmine
8.) Evan
8.) Stevie

Stage #3 Challenge

The gauntlet’s final challenge takes place the next day, and when the contestants arrive, McKenzie is gathered with basically every model who has ever appeared on the show.

For the last and most important challenge, each contestant has to create one featured character and two background characters, based on a predetermined type of creature. After selecting their model groups, Meg, Jordan, and Ben are creating witches and warlocks; Scott, Stevie, and Nora are creating goblins; and Jasmine, Kevon, and Evan are creating angels.

The contestants have a little longer for this challenge—four hours plus an hour for last looks—but three characters is a lot to do in such a short amount of time.

Jordan wants to make three goofy witches with an old-school Halloween look, so he uses a green skin tone. Meg is worried her witches look too boring, so she gives one a third eye growing out of her forehead. Ben gives his witches a skin abnormality, and goes very subtle, using very few appliances.

Scott is excited to dive into his goblins. Nora chooses to make her shortest model her featured character, and Stevie comes up with a fun concept, making her featured character a pimp goblin with his two “hoblins.”

The two guys who drew angels are not happy about it. Kevon decides to try an unusual beauty makeup, focusing on his featured character’s eyes. Evan is trying to avoid doing a beauty makeup, so he comes up with a concept of a fallen angel and his grunt, who have captured a young angel to try to get back into heaven. Jasmine has a similar idea, creating a fallen angel who has taken two angels with him against their will.

Stage #3 Top Looks:

Nora
Stevie
Evan

Stage #3 Bottom Looks:

Meg
Jordan
Jasmine

The Judges Say …

Nora was successful in her choices, and she created three distinct but related characters.

Stevie’s concept was clear, and she included nice details tying her characters together. The judges thought this was the best paint job she’s done.

Evan spent his time wisely. His background characters weren’t as strong, but his excellent featured character made up for it.

Meg made a mistake in choosing her featured character. The makeup on her male model was stronger and would have worked better as the featured witch. The judges also noticed that she used the same paint job that she’s done for the last couple of challenges.

The judges didn’t see the detail they were looking for with Jordan’s makeup. His group looked good from a distance, but up close, they needed more range.

The makeup on Jasmine’s featured character was too intense, and her work on the background characters was so minimal that it didn’t really complete the challenge.

Stage #3 Winner: Evan

Overall Gauntlet Rankings

1.) Nora
2.) Evan
3.) Scott
4.) Kevon
5.) Jordan
6.) Ben
7.) Meg
8.) Stevie
9.) Jasmine

WINNER OF THE GAUNTLET: Nora

SENT HOME: Jasmine. I’m disappointed (and surprised) by how poorly Jasmine did in the gauntlet. I thought she was going to make the finals.

Do you think the judges would have sent someone else home if this wasn’t a points-based elimination? Were you surprised by the focus the gauntlet had on painting over things like fabrication and sculpting? And was Ben’s featured witch related to Voldemort?

Face Offairs Tuesdays at 9/8C on Syfy.

On Monday, September 14, The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Ridge and Caroline exchanged wedding vows and rings in a private ceremony in Malibu—shot on location at the real-life home of B&B executive producer and head writer Bradley Bell’s brother, Bill Bell Jr., and his wife, former The Young and the Restless executive producer and head writer Maria Arena Bell. Here’s an aerial view of said humble abode.

Of course, without witnesses, someone to officiate, or a marriage license, the ceremony was hardly legal. (Something to keep in mind when what we all suspect is about to happen happens.) But that’s how Ridge and Caroline wanted it. Something totally private, just for themselves.

Then again, also on Monday, September 14, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City, B&B held a “wedding reception” for a few hundred of Ridge and Caroline’s closest friends, aka real-life fans of the fictional couple.

In attendance and sitting at the designated “family table” were the father of the groom (John McCook, who plays Eric), the daughter of the groom (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, who plays Steffy), the son of the groom (Pierson Fode, who plays Thomas), and, uh, the cousin of the groom—whom the daughter of the groom had just fired and had security escort off the property (Ashleigh Brewer, who plays Ivy).

The festivities kicked off in a nontraditional way, with questions for the family from the invited guests before the bride and groom even made their appearance.

“The bitch is back!” Wood crooned, confessing, “Sometimes I want to slap Steffy,” before revealing that yes, she, like her character, also loves to ride motorcycles.

Asked where Eric was while all this drama was happening at the company he’d founded, McCook quipped, “Eric is in the backyard, watering the flowers,” but promised he’d back in the thick of things soon.

Fode let slip a possible storyline spoiler when he predicted, “I have a master plan. I’m an evil genius. Me and Nicole are going to be running the entire company next week.” When fans booed Thomas’ out-of-nowhere onscreen kiss with the aforementioned Nicole, Fode defended, “What can I say? I’m attracted to women.”

After the wedding guests had watched a screening, featuring Ridge and Caroline’s kind-of marriage, actors Thorsten Kaye (Ridge) and Linsey Godfrey (Caroline) made their big entrance, wearing the couple’s wedding attire from the episode. (Fans could cross-reference that thanks to the official photo in a frame that was propped up on each seat as a souvenir to be taken home.)

“How do you feel being my stepmother?” Wood mocked Godfrey, in character.

Fode chimed in, “That’s from both of us!”

Up next on the traditional wedding-reception agenda was the first dance. Not only did Kaye and Godfrey treat the crowd to a few steps, but the rest of the cast joined in, pulling fans out of the audience for a truly up-close-and-personal experience.

Also in character, McCook made a “father of the groom” speech, telling Caroline, “You’re a Forrester. Welcome to my family. I’m so happy you’re a Forrester, finally.”

This prompted fans to remind him that Caroline had already been a Forrester, when she married Eric’s other son, Rick.

“Are you guys happy they’re married?” wondered the event’s master of ceremonies.

“No!” roared the crowd.

“Oooh … most awkward wedding reception ever.”

Quick! Distract them! Time to throw the bouquet! To the tune of Beyoncé’s “All the Single Ladies,” natch. All the single ladies in attendance (and the single men, too) were invited to participate in the fun.

And what’s a wedding reception without a multi-tiered cake? The bride and groom made the first cut and fed each other a piece before it was distributed to the rest of the tables.

Luncheon complete, the wedding guests stood up and headed for … the autograph signing. A bit of a break with tradition, no? How often does a reception conclude with an autograph signing by the bride and groom? Much less the rest of their family?

Then again, how often does reception line conversation cover such topics as, “We shoot three weeks a month, four days a week, 30 weeks a year,” as well as, “What’s Kim Matula [who formerly played Hope] up to now?” (Answer: She recently went to Cabo with Wood and Brewer.)

The guests’ goodie bags further broke with wedding tradition. Included along with the framed photo was a B&B tote bag with a B&B T-shirt, a B&B luggage tag, a B&B portable hairbrush-and-mirror set (my eight-year-old daughter boldly beamed, “Well, I am beautiful!”), a B&B beanbag, and copy of Stormswept, a B&B original novel starring Hope and Oliver. Which, when you think about it on the meta level, is a book about the groom’s sister/ex-stepdaughter stranded on a tropical island with the boyfriend who cheated on Hope with her mother, the groom’s many-times ex-wife. Of course, Oliver did think he was having sex with Hope, not her mother. But, still … interesting choice of wedding memento.

So now that the fans have shared in Ridge and Caroline’s wedding reception, all that’s left is for the May-December couple to get legally married. And live happily ever after.

What do you think the odds of that are? Tell us below!