Who's the Boss?: Angela's Ex, Part 1
ABC
February 5, 1985
Sitcom
DVD
A-
Sternin & Fraser wrote this story, which is one of the best of the series. Angela's "ex," Michael, well cast and well played by James Naughton, returns and we discover that when, in the pilot, she referred to her husband leaving her, she didn't mean she was divorced. She tried to have him served with papers, but he was in the jungle, working on one of his documentaries, for six months. Obviously, she and even more so the Micellis are surprised to see him. Mona is annoyed but Jonathan is ecstatic, especially since his daddy brought a boa constrictor.
Michael in turn is surprised to find out about Tony's live-in job and Angela's promotion to president of her company. He doesn't want a divorce and when she tells him it's over, he kisses her. Then the next morning, the audience and Tony find out that Mr. and Mrs. Bower spent the night together in her room. Michael gets a desk job in Manhattan and he's moving back in. He even fires Tony, because Tony is "Jonathan's father and Angela's friend," and those should be Michael's roles. Angela objects when Tony tells her, but he, probably thinking of how he can never have a second chance with his late wife Marie, that she needs to put her marriage first. So Tony and Angela share a close hug goodbye.
Part of what's wonderful about this episode is that it's interesting to see how all six characters, even Sam, have their own takes on the events. For instance, Mona thinks Michael is a jerk and she lets out a wail when, watching from outside the kitchen, she spies Angela kissing him. Naughton and Light are completely plausible as a long-term mismatched but attracted couple. Angela's conflict is very believable.
As is Tony's. There are some moments early on where the T/A ship is teased, as when she tells Jonathan, who's been hit with a snowball by 6th-grader Richard Welling (the unseen kid Sam fought with in "Angela's First Fight"), to go upstairs and take off his clothes. Tony jokes as if she's talking to him. And when Michael assumes that Angela is involved with Tony, Tony says nothing is going on, but Angela says they could do something if they wanted. Tony utters a surprised, "We could?", as if he's never seriously considered the possibility but would like to.
Yet I don't think it's just jealousy that makes him worried about Angela getting involved with Michael. Mona knows Michael and clearly doesn't approve of him. (Nor he of her, as with his reaction to her Spring Break outfit.) But Tony has to base his opinion on what's in front of him. He seems amused by Michael when Angela isn't, but he does think she's rushing into things, legally married or not. Still, he does step aside when Michael fires him.
As for Michael, he admits he's jealous of Tony, although not really romantically. He seems to see Angela in a new way, now that he might lose her. It's telling that he says that he never knew she had it in her, to become president, and she says he never looked. He says he is now.
Jonathan's feelings are more straightforward. He's seven and he adores his father. Sam at 12 (we know this is set after her birthday, because she wears the robe Angela bought for her) is starting to perceive adult relationships. But she's too outspoken to keep quiet, as when she points out that Mr. Bower is wearing his clothes from yesterday, as he's pretending to have dropped by for breakfast. (Tony tells Jonathan this and Michael plays along.)
This is the first of two two-parters with Michael. I wish there had been more. He actually helps the fivesome feel more like a family. And there's a scene where he issues dinner invitations and then has to explain he doesn't mean the Micellis. Jonathan says that Sam and Tony are family, but Tony pretends they already have plans.
Married with Children: All in the Family
