I like that this episode title refers to several different situations (unlike other episode titles like Why Jordan Can't Read or the Zit). Angela feels pressure to have sex with Jordan. Jordan feels pressure to have sex with Angela. Graham feels pressure to go into business with Hallie & Brad. Hallie (not Brad) is pressuring Graham. Patty feels pressure to be supportive of Graham. I could go on and on with the examples, but you know what I'm talking about.
I love when Angela compares sex to a rash or a Rottweiller! I have had similar conversations about how sex can be something that people do, like bowling.
Interesting that Patty asks if Angela and Jordan are going out, then says, "Well doesn't he drive her home sometimes?" If a ride home after school equals "dating" then Angela is a pretty big ho - as Brian says, "Is there anyone's car you won't get into?"
It just made me laugh because my mom used to think that any boy who called our house more than twice must be a boyfriend. I had to explain to her that I attended a coed school and I was capable of maintaining friendships with boys. It's a different world than when she was in high school!
I find it amusing that Jordan kisses Angela and then immediately starts eating again. Another food analogy?
One of my favorite conversations ever between Jordan and Angela:
Jordan : So, you like me?
Angela : Oh, shut up.
Jordan : I mean, your mother says you like me.
Angela : [laughing] Oh, shut up!
I think that this is the one time that they both seem at ease with each other and joking. Maybe I have different standards, but most of my boyfriends were my friends first and most of my friends have the ability to make me laugh. I realize that there is a lot of Angela and Jordan's relationship that BF has taking place offscreen, but given the moments we have seen between them, this is the one where they seem the most normal and natural (instead of tense or horny or nervous).
Funny to compare that conversation to Guns & Gossip when Patty confronts Angela about having sex with Jordan and Rayanne says, "Do you want my mother to call your mother and tell her you didn't sleep together?"
Angela looks so proud of Sharon when she listens to Sharon explain that she broke up with Kyle because of her "beliefs." Her face falls when Sharon explains that she DID have sex with Kyle "like, constantly."
More recurring phrases - Dr. Skolnik says, "Well don't say hello or anything," to Angela, which is what Angela said to Jordan in Self Esteem.
I find it interesting that Angela asks Dr. Skolnik for statistics. I realize that she just wants some reassurance that she's normal, but what would she have done if Dr. Skolnik had said, "Well 99% of 15 year olds have sex"? Would that have been enough to convince her to have sex with Jordan? Throughout the episode, Angela is looking for someone to tell her not to have sex with Jordan. Instead, Dr. Skolnik tells her to use a condom and a sponge, Sharon brings over a sex tape, and Graham lets her go out with Jordan to the house on Cloverdale. All the signs seem to point to the world tacitly giving approval and encouraging Angela to have sex with Jordan.
Speaking of the sponge, who would have thunk it would be discontinued and then brought back years later? Crazy!
I love seeing that moment when Graham and Jordan are aping each other in the doorway - not the first time that they have unconsciously imitated each other (Life of Brian - "Whatever happens, happens").
Say what you will about Jordan being from a different social class than Angela, but he is very gentlemanly when he helps her through the window at the Cloverdale house.
Rayanne's reaction to seeing Angela at the house is, "That's so cool!" Why is Rayanne so excited at the prospect of Angela having sex with Jordan? Is it because she credits herself with getting them together? Is she glad that Angela is going to be part of the sisterhood having sex? Or is she genuinely happy that Angela's relationship with Jordan is progressing?
Patty's fake happy smile makes an encore appearance when she comes home from work for dinner with Hallie and Brad. She seemed suspicious of Hallie when Graham talked about her before, so why does she decide that she likes her? Possibly that having a fiance (note ONE e, not two because Brad is male) means she is taken and Graham is safe from her clutches? Or is not hating Hallie somehow part of being supportive of Graham? Or does Patty really not suspect anything yet?
Sharon is very amused by Rayanne's ice cube description - catch the smirk on her face as she watches Rayanne telling the gullible girls in the bathroom.
Such a contrast in attitudes - Sharon says, "So -- you're saying she's like, scared? To have sex?" and Rayanne replies, "Who knows? All I know is that she's hot for him." Sharon is concerned about Angela's emotional well being while Rayanne can't understand why Angela is "making this whole big deal over this -- *thing* that's like over in -- like three seconds."
Interestingly, Sharon fast forwards through all of the intimacy and "this whole boring relationship stuff" on the sex tape that she shows to Angela. Is she assuming that Angela already understands that? I think that Sharon chooses to focus on the physical act because that is what Angela is afraid of, BUT I think that part of the problem is that despite what Angela believes about her relationship with Jordan, they have not achieved intimacy or "boring relationship stuff."
Sharon's vehement "Promise me you'll make him wear a condom if you decide to do it" reminds me of Patty's "You did the right thing - you called me. Will you promise me you'll always do that?" in Other People's Mothers, which is fitting since both Sharon and Patty love Angela and want to protect her.
Sharon tells Angela, "The only strange thing is that after that, having sex was, like, expected, because, you can't like, go back. I mean, it kinda stopped mattering if, like, I wanted to." I definitely remember feeling that way, which is sad. I guess the male perspective is that he's won the battle so there's no need to fight it again.
Angela starts to ask Brian for his bike then stops herself by expositioning that she was going to ask to borrow it but that she won't ask him for favors anymore. Then she turns around to walk away and WAITS. She is beginning to recognize her selfish behavior, which is a step towards maturity BUT she still does it anyway.
Jordan later refutes Angela's excuse for leaving the house, saying, "Quit lying. Tino told me. Rayanne Graff has been clean for like weeks. Since the night she almost ODed, right?" I thought that even if Rayanne was still clean, Angela was perfectly justified in saying she was worried about Rayanne. If she was supposed to be on the wagon and Angela thought she seemed "out of it," it would make sense for her to make sure what was going on.
I agree with Jordan on one point - he never lied to Angela. On the other hand, Angela has told all kinds of lies to Jordan (and Rayanne has made stuff up about Angela) - including ridiculous things like the "Dear Jordan" letter was about her boyfriend who DIED. I don't think that being honest justifies Jordan's behavior but he never deliberately led her to believe otherwise. A lot of the things that Angela got upset about was due to what she created in her mind. Case in point - the letter she wrote where she says, "he could have handled things differently, and he really did not know me at all. Even though he acted like he did." She has very little basis for these statements and makes it sound like she and Jordan had a relationship when at that point they had kissed in his car (Dancing in the Dark), talked to him about the sex rumor (Guns & Gossip), and scalped her Dead tickets to pay him for the fake ID (Father Figures). I don't think that those few interactions between them merited the judgement that Angela made.
Back to Pressure - Angela says that "every moment of [her relationship with Jordan] has completely sucked." Is she being melodramatic or is this true? If you look at every instance when they have interacted, one or both of them seem uncomfortable or nervous in most of them. I guess that could be construed as sucking
Cynthia agrees with Rickie's description of sex as "seeing a comet...or seeing the other person's perfectness." Does that mean she had amazing crazy in love sex with Jordan? And why does she think that Angela worked at Big Guy Burger? That red hair would be pretty hard to mistake!
Graham goes from making out on the couch with Patty to taking a nap
Poor Patty - you can see how disappointed she is!
Brian tells Angela, "Don't just take it - yell back at me." He expects her to give as well as she gets, a sign that Brian sees her as an equal in that capacity. Despite their disagreements, he knows that Angela is honest with him when they fight.
In their sex discussion, Angela and Brian both use the word "boys" rather than "guys," which is indicative of the way they view males of their age group. They definitely aren't men yet - they are boys trying to figure out how to be men, to paraphrase Graham.
When Jordan asks, "Is [Angela] home?" why does Brian reply, "I'm not sure"?
Why does Jordan come to the side door as he did during his late night visit? He came to the front door to pick Angela up the night they went to the house on Cloverdale so it seems strange that he would pick the side door. He picks up pictures from the table in the hallway - is it just something to do, something to occup his hands (as many smokers say they need when they aren't smoking)? Or is he genuinely interested in Angela as a child and her family? I'd like to say it's the latter, but that's my Jordan bias
When Jordan says he won't hold it against her if her name comes up, she says "thanks" almost sarcastically, but I think that Jordan means it to be comforting. Angela lives in the kind of world where she and Rayanne write notes about people that are true. She doesn't quite grasp that Jordan is doing a nice thing here - he is promising not to lie to his friends about what happened or talk smack about her.
During this conversation, Jordan keeps wandering farther into the house - a little more and he would have run right into Graham! Although Jordan does seem to have a habit of inviting himself in and making himself comfortable, I think in this instance that Jordan is looking around Angela's house in curiousity since it is different from his own.
I laughed at the emphasis when Angela says, "I've never
seriously thought about killing you."
She steps up so that she is taller than Jordan - a symbol that she is taking the high road in her decision not to sleep with him?
When she tells him that she'll miss his hair, he says, "Yeah?" almost like he doesn't believe her. He seems flattered - considering his previous "um" partners (like Cynthia), it isn't surprising to consider that Angela might be the first girl to tell him something like that.
When Jordan leans against the post to kiss Angela goodbye, the pose is very similar to when he leans against the fence at the World Happiness Dance. The circle of life
Interesting to note that when Angela is talking about being herself, she is riding Brian's bike.
Sorry for my short fragmented comments but I am exhausted!