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| The more things change.... |
ABC
May 14, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
B+
In this Flebotte & Herschlag story, Ellen finally moves into her house, but the title has other meanings. When Audrey, who is enthusiastically supporting Ellen's sexual identity every chance she gets, creates a "sisterhood" display for books about lesbianism, Ed objects. Ellen comes out to him and he pretends nothing has changed, but he lies so that she will no longer babysit his daughters, seven-year-old Emily and (probably six- or five-year-old) Willa (Cara Rose and Sara Dampf for the last time). Meanwhile, Paige is uncomfortable around Ellen now, feeling like their relationship has changed. Paige comes around but Ellen realizes that Ed won't, and she quits the bookstore. I like how the episode can go from serious moments to Three's-Company-like farce, as when Ed misunderstands Ellen's relationship to her realtor Margaret (Nancy Lenehan for the last time). And this time the Bee Gees sing in the title sequence. All in all, the season ends much better than it starts.
Ellen in its fourth season ranges from C to A-, averaging out to a B-, but then fourteen of the episodes are B-s. As I recall, the main change for the final season would be that more (but not all) storylines would deal with Ellen's sexuality, despite a skittish ABC. The supporting cast would fade further into the background, which is not necessarily a bad thing, even for a series originally called These Friends of Mine.
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