The Secret of Now: Analysis

Season 1, Episode 4: The Secret of Now

Analysis

I've mentioned elsewhere that I find Being Erica, as a series, very difficult to categorise. One of the reasons is the mixture of humour and emotion, which I always feel shows from across the Atlantic pull off much better than we do in the UK.

This episode is packed full of humour, and that's largely down to the introduction of Julianne and Brent. I'll come onto the pair of them later, but much of what they do is hilarious - although they clearly have a bit of a darker side to them as well.

Before I get to them though, we begin with Erica clearly determined to make the best possible impression on her first day at work. I guess one of the advantages of being a guy is we just throw on a shirt and tie, whereas for girls there's so much more to consider.

We also have the strange incident where Erica's ceiling begins to crack as she's getting ready - leading to what she describes as an "unintended skylight." Now, I may be wrong, but I don't think we ever hear of it again after that episode. It just seems to fit the narration at the start rather than serve any other plot line purpose.

Anyway, Erica and Ethan share a sort of awkward encounter in the hallway. The sexual tension is obvious, and Erica's description of "the thing we did with our mouths" is quite funny. I guess it is weird after you've been friends for so long to suddenly be looking at somebody different.

It's also nice how they acknowledge how well they know one another - whether it's Erica talkative nature when nervous or Ethan's lack of cooking skills.

One thing we know about Erica is how clumsy she is, once again perfectly demonstrated as she manages to break her heel when trying to hail a taxi. I've never lived in a busy city like Toronto, but I can imagine it is a nightmare during rush hour and reminds me of the classic opening to Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Eventually, she does manage to get into work, wearing flip flops, where we are first introduced to Brent and Julianne. First impressions? A gay guy and a ditzy blonde. I'm sure that's what the writers meant us to think, anyway.

Erica is clearly swimming against the tide early on, making a terrible first impression when joking about her new boss's great book success.

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I find Julianne seems to take more than a few leaves out of the book of The Office's David Brent. From her air quoting to her management speak and general demeanour. If she wasn't the boss, it would be laughable.

Her interview with Marcus Stahl is hilarious, him playing such a straight bat to her questions, and then we have the classic "Debbie Downer" line. Now, I had no idea what this meant, so had to look it up. I can't believe people actually use it, do they? It soon becomes her catchphrase though.

Throughout the episode, it's hard not to get the impression that she is out of her depth in her job - promoted off the back of one success and is destined to flounder.

As for Brent, everything about him is so camp, but then we are given mixed messages with the way he talks about Julianne's "sexy lip curl." Erica certainly doesn't know what to make of him. Still, great acting from Morgan Kelly.

That brings me onto her coffee - why are people so fussy when it comes to coffee? It's easy for me to say, as I just take mine black with no milk, sugar, or anything added. Seriously though, how picky do people need to be?

While at the coffee lounge, Erica encounters Dr. Tom. He seems to be in a particularly playful and impish mood, winding up Erica, admitting to having finished off Julianne's favourite bag of coffee beans, and then using air quotes just to annoy her. It's just part of what makes Dr. Tom so cool.

We then get the talk with Judith about Erica's kiss with Ethan. I know it's what women do, but I don't think it does the self esteem and self consciousness of us guys any good when we know that how we kiss is going to be analysed and discussed so deeply.

I'm always reminded of that scene in Friends where the girls want every last detail of Ross and Rachel's first kiss, whereas Joey just wants to know whether there was tongue involved. Perfectly displayed the two sexes different attitudes to such things.

Either way, one thing is clear, Erica is clearly interested in Ethan - even daydreaming about him later - and wants to talk things to the next level. It's just a question of timing - a fact emphasised at the episode's conclusion.

We see the real bitchy side of Julianne after Erica thinks she's helped her with her ideas for Stahl's book. Reading her short stories out loud for everyone to laugh at was really harsh. Indeed, it's the kind of thing that happens at school, but for a grown adult in a work place?

Erin does really well to convey the hurt and pain Erica is feeling inside without saying anything. You can't help but feel really bad for her and it's no surprise to see her crying later.

As she composes herself in the restroom, she tells herself that she is older than her new boss - which is one of those strange things in life in itself.

We go through education, a system where age matters and denotes seniority. However, in the working world, you can often find yourself as junior to someone younger than you - as Erica does.

I wonder if her determination to stand up to Julianne, albeit ending in her losing the ability to talk, is a product of her short time with Dr. Tom and what he has tried to instill in her?

Still, in her moment of need, he opens the door to his office to her, ready on hand pouring a glass of water. He cares, but then we also know he likes to joke - his explanation of Erica's dry mouth syndrome, as well as his "harsh your mellow" line, is classic Dr. Tom.

We also see that, at this point, he is insistent that he knows what is best for Erica. She is going to sit down and she is going to relive one of her regrets, even if she thinks it's best that she goes back to work. He is doing what he thinks she needs, and is probably right.

Mind you, I've never quite got how he knows exactly which regret is perfectly suited for her to go back to for helping with her present life problem. I guess it's by the same way he's able to whistle and a taxi immediately appears for her.

Her answer of her mom to his question is very funny, but she realises he's referring to Lozar in the end. As for Lozar - how over the top is he. Must have been great fun to play that character.

In all seriousness though, a teacher can, as well as being inspirational, also put you off doing something by the way they act. They are in positions of great responsibility and influence and I can understand why Erica did what she did.

I remember during my first year of uni having a course with one very intense lecturer. He was a grumpy old Scottish guy - which made him a bit scary when he raised his voice. I remember being desperate to try and impress him and get on his good side.

I'd turn up early for class, I'd be as warm and friendly as I could, I tried extra hard with my work. However, nothing worked. Indeed, I remember one time him refusing to listen to my explanation about some work I'd done.

His arrogance annoyed me so much, I wish I had had the confidence to go up to him at the end of the class and set him straight. Indeed, if I had a list I would put it on there and go back and re-live that regret.

I ended up hating his class, looking forward to it ending every week, and counting down with dread the days until I had to go back.

Still, Erica is sent back to re-encounter Lozar, despite protesting that she needed more time and telling Dr. Tom to stop. I think this is another example of his 'cruel to be kind' philosophy. He knows he has to push Erica, as, like me, she is someone who needs to be pushed.

It's another clever transition from the writers with the water and coffee being spilt, but the real highlight of that scene is Ethan's poem. How funny is that. It's also great when you can have fun in class because you don't really care about impressing the teacher.

Again, referring to my own experiences of university, I remember one lecturer who some people found intimidating. I didn't. Indeed, rather I ended up having banter with him. We didn't see eye to eye, and I was quite happy to be a nuisance to him.

Ethan's poem with all his 'pings' is very funny, and in direct contrast to Erica's. Lozar is, once again, overly dramatic with his ripping up of her paper and then shouting and climbing up on the chairs.

It all leads to Erica adopting the words of Britney for herself and finally winning his approval. The beauty of such time travel is that the person from the future has the prior knowledge, so his dismissal of her name for the poem in favour of Voice of Flame is amusing.

Claire makes another appearance in this episode - and we see that she is clearly hostile when it comes to Erica and her close friendship with Ethan. After marking her territory with a kiss, she sends Ethan away so she can make it plain to Erica that Ethan is spoken for.

This confrontation is ended as Erica spots Dr. Tom who, this time, is taking on the role of a dog walker. I think we see for the first time just how seriously he takes Erica's therapy and is keen for her to live her regrets properly.

She has come back to do something specific, not use Britney's words to win affection. He feels let down by her - which we see to more dramatic effect in the season finale, of course. However, he still has time to get in a quip courtesy of Britney and leave Erica to figure things out for herself.

Erica then shares an awkward moment with Ethan. Of course, seeing him shirtless would never have bothered her before. Now though, she looks at him in a totally different way.

He comes to her aid as he remembers the final lines of Snowflakes for her. We see just how much she longs for him as they look into one another's eyes and she tells him how lucky Claire is to have him.

At the Poetry Slam the writers get another chance to joke with future knowledge about the fortunes of Chumbawamba. Always good when things like that happen. It's one of the benefits of the time travelling aspect - so use it when you can.

Ethan is there, wearing a baseball cap backwards which - I might be wrong in saying - seems to have died out now? Was all the rage in the '80s and '90s, but I see it less and less now, a bit like people tying a sweater around their waist.

Anyway, Erica recites Snowflakes - much to Lozar's anger, and jokes that he will just have to wait a few years to hear Voice of Flame. Ultimately, she has realised that she doesn't have to impress him and just needs to be true to herself.

She is transported back to the present day - where she encounters more clumsiness in overpouring water into a glass. We see Julianne stoop to another low - passing off Erica's words as her own in the presentation to Frank.

Erica loses it at this point and seems to have kept up her tradition of not being able to hold down a job with Julianne firing her. However, she then rides to the rescue. I do think Erica was quite petty about her ideas.

True, Julianne shouldn't have passed them off as her own, but she is working as part of a team and I guess she needs to adjust to that. It was big of her to step in and save Julianne's skin though.

We're also given another funny and confusing exchange between Erica and Brent when, to her surprise, he asks her out. You can hardly blame her for thinking he was gay though, a point emphasised once more by his flamboyant "call me" gesture. As I said at the start, very comical.

Before Erica leaves work, she meets up with Dr. Tom in his office again - this time via the elevator doors, which is pretty nifty. We see how comfortable she is talking to him, which I suppose is how it should be.

However, we also see a level of pride from Dr. Tom at how Erica is developing and the greater courage she is showing in life. She thanks him on her way out. I think that's the first time she does so. She is recognising the difference he is making in her life.

Of course, the episode ends on a sad note. Erica is ready to take her friendship with Ethan to the next level, but he is not in a position to do that.

However, she sacrifices her desires to be the friend that he needs right now. Erica struggles at many things in life, but you get the impression one thing she is good at is being a good friend.

Despite this set back, I think we begin to see in this episode that Erica is definitely growing under Dr. Tom's tutelage.

So much of what he does is basically just helping her to help herself. She even asks him if he will ever answer a direct question, however, he prefers to just point her in the right direction for her to discover it herself. As he indeed tells her during Season 2.

Dr. Tom's main goal is simply to help Erica release the potential inside her. Taking away the roadblocks - some of which she has created for herself - and setting her on the right path. He just likes to joke and quote along the way. Which makes it fun for the rest of us - even if it makes classifying the show a little tricky.