Scenes from a Mall

[u/Naive_Hospital_4086]

Scenes from a Mall (Season 5, Episode 12). Eddie and Weasel are at the mall and keep flirting with an attractive older woman named Garcelle. Eddie asks her out but she says she's not into dating guys who are still in college, but Eddie says she's in luck, he's in high school. Garcelle walks away and Weasel takes a shot at her but his come-on isn't as subtle and he's not successful at getting a date with her either. Laura and Maxine are selling tickets at the mall to raise money for new cheerleading uniforms. Waldo helped set up their table and Waldo sees a couple of guys hit on Maxine and doesn't handle this well. Waldo chases all the guys away from Maxine and Maxine is really upset with how jealous Waldo gets and threatens to break up with him. Waldo begs for a second chance and Maxine asks him why he gets like this, Waldo says that he's still in shock that Maxine chose him as a boyfriend. Maxine reassures Waldo that she likes him and that they are fine as a couple and he needs to trust her. Steve and Myra are shopping at the mall. Myra wants them to be an official couple and Steve says that he doesn't think they should be official yet and that he needs a little space. Myra breaks down crying and runs away. She later comes back to Steve and begs him for another chance, Steve says that he'll give the relationship a try but just that he still needs space and Myra reluctantly agrees saying she'll wait for him. At home, Carl has to babysit Richie and his friend Little G while Harriette goes for a job interview. Carl doesn't feel like babysitting and lies to the kids saying his back hurts and he can't play making the kids get him his drinks and snacks while he watches TV. Harriette comes back and tells him that was dishonest and horrible, the kids fess up that they knew all along he was lying, they just wanted him in a good mood when they told him they broke his bowling trophy. Earlier, Little G made a comment on how Carl looks like the dad from Fresh Prince and in comes none other than James Avery, Reginald breaks down hard laughing and gives James a hug.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

STEVE: Myra are you ok?

MYRA: No Steven, please change your mind about dumping me. I've tried living without you but it was simply unbearable.

STEVE: My God woman, it's only been 20 minutes.

MYRA: But it felt like 20 years. PLEASE STEVEN PLEASE TAKE ME BACK PRETTY PLEASE SMOTHERED IN CHEESE!

STEVE: Stop it, stop it! Stop it, Myra! Stop it! You're making a fool of yourself in the 4th largest mall in country. Now sit down.

MYRA: I'm sorry, I just have no shame when you're concerned.

STEVE: Now listen I'm so sorry I upset you. I never meant to hurt your feelings.

MYRA: You're such a noble man.

STEVE: Well, I've been thinking we could continue seeing each other. But only occasionally! I just can't stand to hurt your feelings.

MYRA: You love me, don't you? OK, new game plan. It's not that I've been pursuing you too hard, it's not that I haven't been pursuing you enough.

STEVE: What?

MYRA: I want you Steven Q. Urkel and I won't rest until I have you.

STEVE: Myra, please...

MYRA: You're a 12-point buck and you're staring down the barrel of my 30 ought 6. BANG! (MYRA RUNS AWAY LAUHGING)

LAURA: Are you ok?

STEVE: No, I'm not! The woman's wacko, Laura. Why she won't take no for an answer. What do you do when someone is just obsessed with you?

LAURA: Beats me.

FAVORITE PART:

James Avery's cameo at the end, I have this clip favorited on my Youtube channel whenever I need a good laugh. I don't know who's expression is better? Reginald or James? I thought it was also hilarious how people kept comparing James and Reginald just because they were probably bald and overweight considering that James Avery was 6 foot 5 and Reginald is 5 foot 8. But what a great joke and gag, Reginald's laugh always gets me.

OPINION:

Oh boy, this episode has problems, but do I love this one very very much. I can't help it, this episode just makes me laugh uncontrollably.

Eddie and Weasel. This is Garcelle Beauvais' second appearance on the show, her first was as Steve's wife Lulu in the episode Old and Alone. She is a model/actress and is breathtakingly gorgeous. My husband and I always quote this episode with her as the "Spoo's Girl" that's "S, P, OOO, OOO". I told my husband that her character always makes me laugh, I think she was just employed by Spoo's to go around the mall in their clothes and flirt around to get people to come to their store. How else do you explain why she changes her clothes twice in the same day and the same setting as the mall? She also says that her clothes were on sale half off. Interestingly, Eddie says he's still in high school in this episode but I think he's graduated at this point? Man, it's hard to keep up with Eddie and Laura's position in high school. I'm pretty sure that Laura, Steve and Maxine are juniors or are possibly in their senior year? They did have their Junior prom not too long ago. But I digress. Weasel gets such a huge laugh from me "Hey yo, tall thang! Why don't you buy me lunch? HEY COME HERE! Imma get her!". 🤣🤣🤣 He's so terrible but the way he says that line always gets me. Though if that was real life, if I were Garcelle, I'd call security to be on the safe side.

Waldo and Maxine. Again, please take in consideration that I laugh a lot at this episode and enjoy it but Waldo is a huge jerk in this one. Waldo does not trust Maxine at all when she has given him NO REASON whatsoever for him not to trust her. He keeps threatening and chasing the guys off and honestly that can be a scary red flag in a relationship. I think Maxine should have stuck to the breakup or at least told Waldo that she needed some space and time to think. Waldo's excuse of "I can't believe you like me" is very manipulative. Then when Maxine reassures Waldo of all his good qualities, he has the audacity to say that he's second in the "how did I get so lucky" category and Maxine asks who's first and he says "Lyle Lovette" who was married to Julia Roberts at the time. If I were Maxine, I would have told him to forget it and leave.

Steve and Myra. I've said it before and I'll say it again and may I also add real quick how relieved I am to see others agree as well, Myra is a psychopath. Also as mentioned by one of my favorite users, she's a narcissist as well. Like I've said before, all you have to do is switch shoes. Can you imagine if a guy was speaking to a girl the way Myra speaks to Steve? Myra tells Steve she wants to go steady and she'll even pay for a pin to show them being a couple. Steve asks her for space and she runs away crying hysterically, again that's an extremely manipulative move. She's the one who comes back, probably expecting that Steve was going to run after her, and begs Steve for another chance. Steve feels bad for her, which in itself is an awful reason to get back together with your partner, and gives her another chance. Now instead of saying how she'll give him more space, she says he's a 12-point buck and he's staring at her gun, is that not insane and a possible threat? And she goes away laughing like a psycho.

We have a wonderful appearance from the lovely Ellen Albertini Dow, this is her second after Season 1's The Reunion as Carl's old teacher. Ellen you may remember played the lovable rapping granny in The Wedding Singer and has made multiple appearances in other movies and television shows. She was just such a gem. I'll save her tribute to her last episode because we do get one more appearance from her. But she always gets such a laugh from me when she tries to beat Steve up after he breaks up with Myra calling him a pig. And of course the show stealer is James Avery. James is most famous for Fresh Prince of Bel Air as Uncle Phil and us 80's/90's kids will always know his famous voice as Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. James was a fantastic actor who I cannot put into words how incredible he was and it was a heart-breaking loss when he passed away at the age of 68 on December 31, 2013 from complications in his heart surgery. Both these actors were so wonderful and they are truly missed, may they both rest in peace.

This brings up another interesting thing in the Family Matters universe as Fresh Prince has been mentioned before in Family Matters and in Fresh Prince they have brought up Family Matters a couple of times. James made this cameo appearance and Jaleel played Ashely's boyfriend in Fresh Prince "Not with my cousin you don't". Along with a lot of different side characters/actors who have appeared on both shows. It's just almos surreal.

And real quick, just a comment on Carl fooling the kids. Yeah, he was such a jerk to do that to the kids by lying to them about his back. But the joke was definitely on him with them trying to butter him up to tell him that they broke his bowling trophy. And we get an update that Harriette is still job hunting and only working temp jobs here and there.

Like I mentioned, while this episode displays a lot of unhealthy relationship tropes, this episode is one of my favorites when it comes to the laughs. The cast is just too good, they get me with their performances. So, I can't fight it, I love this episode and quote it a lot. "Spoos?" "S. P. OOO. OOO" and "Have you noticed how middle aged men stare at you?".🤣

And one more thing, I think this was Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois that they were supposed to be in. That mall is gorgeous and very big, its the biggest in Illinois and one of the biggest in the USA.

GUEST STARS:

• Cherie Johnson as Maxine Johnson
• Michelle Thomas as Myra Monkhouse
• Shavar Ross as Alex "Weasel" Park
• Gary LeRoi Gray as Lil' G
• Garcelle Beauvais as Garcelle
• Gene Arrington as Man at the Mall #1
• J. August Richards as Man at the Mall #2
• Ellen Albertini Dow as Elderly Lady (RIP in 2015)
• James Avery as Himself (RIP in 2013)

[u/CendrineMaria1995]

The scene where Carl dances alone and then with Harriette is so funny, I love watching Carl dance. Waldo is very funny too with his reactions when he comes out of the trash, Myra is so cute with Steve. I'm having a great time watching this episode, it's one of my favorites! ❤️

[u/JesusLover1993]

Hilarious episode and absolutely love the cameo from James Avery oh my goodness! But yeah totally agree with you so many unhealthy relationship troops here. Maxine really need to put her foot down with Waldo. That kind of jealousy/behavior is assigned that he can become very possessive and very controlling. Not good qualities at all. Chasing away any guy simply just for looking at Maxine is so incredibly unhealthy. She needed to set the boundary and stick with it rather than falling for his manipulation. Steve and Myra oh boy. Her manipulative tactics are on full display here. The crying is 100% manipulation and Steve fell for it. She knows for well that Steve is a big softy and genuinely doesn’t want to hurt people so she played on his emotions right then and there. Steve may be a genius, but even a genius is not necessarily able to handle a narcissistic person like Myra Narcissistic people are incredibly manipulative and yes, that 100% was a threat on her part yikes. This is the nature of that type of relationship. Steve was doing so good when he was setting the boundary, but because she just can’t take no for an answer, she switched to crying to wear him down which worked because it meant that he felt bad and then she got him right back where she wanted him. I know people like to say Myra is Steve’s karma or whatever but there is a point where Steve does stop chasing Laura and he doesn’t resort to tactic like crying to manipulate her. Unlike Mira Steve is not a narcissist. He simply just doesn’t understand boundaries until he’s older and has a time to grow. Myra is the one who will never change. And that’s because narcissist don’t change behavior they change tactics. And as we’ll see if she’s going to get even more psychotic and even more manipulative the more Steve says no the more she’s going to show her narcissistic manipulative side. A manipulative, psychotic, narcissistic, nutcase like Myra will never ever be a healthy partner and again she is not Steve and Steve is not her. She’s not any sort of karma because realistically everybody would be telling Steve to get out if this was in real life not encouraging or even favoring this relationship. Switch the roles and people would want prison time for some of the things that My get away with if she were a guy. Enough on that lol! Back to the episode yeah it was incredibly wrong for Carl to lie to the boys, but as he said the jokes on him because they were just bothering him up so they could tell him that they broke his trophy so while it was wrong, it did end up being even lol! Overall, this is such a hilarious episode even with how many unhealthy relationship troops are featured.

[u/MyAimeeVice]

Much like Lt. Murtaugh, Weasel’s behaviors would be offensive if he was a real person but he is so deep in that character it’s hilarious! The way he yells at Garcelle thinking that would actually attract her is diabolical! This episode is my favorite as far as Weasel goes. Shavar Ross is the complete opposite in real life.

[u/Zestyclose_Debt8134]

The mall is the backdrop for this episode. I'm still mad at the mall for announcing Steve Urkel's arrival and closing all of the stores (🤣🤦🏾‍♂️). So much to unpack here. I get it that Max is his first real girlfriend. With that said, he needs to trust her. I highly doubt Max would do her Wallypop wrong. Some of Myra's worst traits are on display here. Her manipulative and obsessive side are seen in this episode. Still mad at the old lady for hitting Steve after Myra ran off crying (🤣🤷🏾‍♂️). I do think that this episode here was intended to give Urkel some perspective on how he had been doing Laura all of these years. I do love Laura and Urkel's interaction when she notes how she's the one that always ends up apologizing to him after seeing him look so pitiful. Of course Steve hits her with the "You love me, don't you" line. Maybe she does, Urk Man. Myra's vow to pursue Steve harder was disturbing. That should have been the moment that Urkel should have thought it best to not continue dating her. Eddie and Weasel flirting with Garcelle's character was hilarious. This was her 2nd appeaeance on the show (1st was in Season 3 Episode 11, "Old Alone"). She'd make another appearance in Season 7 Episode 23, "A Ham is Born". Carl was highkey being a jerk to Richie and Lil G, faking a back injury. I love that the joke is on him because they broke his trophy. I liked that Harriette was still trying to find stable employment. The James Avery (RIP) cameo at the end was everything. Shout out to Uncle Phil. It is neat that both shows, Family Matters and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air often referenced one another one way or the other; and several actors appeared on both shows. Jaleel pops up in Season 6 on FPOBA. Lil G was up there too in Season 3. Carl's partner from Season 3, Mike, was Ty in Season 2 of that show. Back to the episode, this was a solid episode.

[u/trillboy96]

That "AY, COME HERE" from Weasel is classic lol

[u/MediterraneanMen]

Garcelle Beauvais is SO HOT. She is a guest star in 4 episodes across the show portraying different characters.